Bayern Munich Alumni: Andries Jonker appointed head coach of the Netherlands women’s national team

Former Bayern Munich assistant and interim men’s first team coach Andries Jonker has been hired as the new head coach of the Netherlands women’s national team, per The Associated Press:

“During the last European Championship we also saw how incredibly fast women’s football has developed in recent years,” Jonker said. “We have ambitious goals, but also an enormous amount of quality and talent that we can draw on for the 2023 World Cup.”

Jonker has a tough legacy to live up to. The Netherlands won the 2017 European championships under Sarina Wiegman and reached the Final of the 2019 World Cup, where they lost to the USWNT. Wiegman departed in 2020 for England — and has just won another EURO this summer, with the Netherlands enduring a quarter-finals defeat to France under Mark Parsons.

Jonker’s stint at Bayern began in 2009 as assistant coach to Louis van Gaal. He briefly took over as caretaker manager following Van Gaal’s sacking in 2011, and was undefeated (4-1-0) in his stint. He also played an important role in the rejuvenation of Arsenal’s academy — bearing fruit now with Hale End products like Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe starring for the first team. His most recent managerial stints have been with VfL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga and SC Telstar in the second division of Netherlands men’s football.

With another edition of the Women’s World Cup just around the corner, Jonker will have a short turnaround to implement his ideas — indeed, they’re currently still in the thick of World Cup Qualifying. They hold a narrow lead over Iceland in their group, but play the final game of the group stages against them on September 6. At stake will be who qualifies automatically and who enters a play-off for the remaining spots.

All the best, Andries! Do Bayern proud!