Shell-shocked Ronald Koeman tears into his Netherlands players after thrashing

Ronald Koeman has slammed his Dutch side after a 'poor' showing in the first game of his second spell as national manager.

The Netherlands were beaten 4-0 by France on Friday, with a Kylian Mbappe brace adding to early goals from Antoine Greizmann and Dayot Upamecano.

Their preparation for the game was undoubtedly less than ideal after five players were sent home due to a flu virus, but the result was still a disappointing one for Koeman.

'We showed very little in this game', he said in a press conference after the game. 'I did not expect such a gap. It's not the team I had in mind to line up, but you know the circumstances.'

'I don't want to make excuses for this poor performance. We should have been much more aggressive and should have made fewer mistakes. There was nothing very positive. We showed major shortcomings in all areas of the game.'

It came in the Netherlands first game since being knocked out of the World Cup by Argentina last year.

Louis van Gaal resigned after the tournament, and Koeman returned to the job he previously did from 2018-2020 before leaving for Barcelona.

The manager seemed particularly vexed at the nature of the goals conceded, as he continued: 'What hurts is that the first and fourth goals came from defensive errors, and, of course, it's also down to the quality of Mbappé.

'We had identified that we had to be very careful about these plays, and we did not pay enough attention.'

'France are a very strong team. They are complete, very physical, fast, especially in attack, and possess world-class players in all sectors. And we are not there yet.'

The Netherlands should find the going easier in their next match when they face Gibraltar on Monday.