Tim Krul has had a bit of a funny season. In the summer he was linked with AC Milan. In January it was Napoli. And since then the Magpies have had a bit of a nightmare, not least of all a 1-0 defeat to bottom of the table Fulham. A score line in which the Dutch keeper has been held responsible.
The club’s poor run of form in January and February saw the St James’ number one left out of the Netherlands squad to face the French in March, a game which was essentially the last chance to make an impression on Louis Van Gaal before he announces the squad which will board the plane to Rio.
Both Krul and Fulham keeper Maarten Stekelenburg failed to get the nod ahead of Jasper Cillessen, Jeroen Zoet and Swansea’s Michel Vorm; which is a far cry from earlier in the season with those on Tyneside seeing him as a sure thing for Brazil in the summer.
The Netherlands reached the final back in 2010 and with the likes of Robin Van Persie, Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben the Dutch will no doubt want to go one better this time round. And despite a difficult group with Spain, Chile and Australia, they could well do that.
The Oranje are outsiders at 29/1 with most bookmakers to lift their first World Cup, but as they showed in South Africa where they defied the odds, that price could tempt many into backing a Netherlands free bet.
Tim Krul will most certainly be one fighting for a place. It’s likely his omission from the squad just a few weeks ago was hampered by the Toon’s erratic form of late, but with what seems to be a corner turned, minus the Fulham blip, with wins over Hull, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace, there is still chance for the 25-year-old yet.
There is no doubt Krul is good enough to play at the top level, he has already experienced a tournament environment at Euro 2012 and has kicked on since then to become one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League.
It’s likely there will be serious questions posed if he fails to make the squad this summer and all that could stop him from leaving Pardew and co. Van Gaal has said that he used the recent friendly in Paris to assess newcomers so we could still see Krul turn his five caps into a dozen for the Dutch.
