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New coach Xavi Hernandez leaves Memphis Depay out of the Netherlands squad for Nations League

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Cite

Corder, M. (2026, September 18). New coach Xavi Hernandez leaves Memphis Depay out of the Netherlands squad for Nations League. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/sports/soccer/new-coach-xavi-hernandez-leaves-memphis-depay-out-of-the-netherlands-squad-for-nations-league/article_afd76982-91b1-52ce-b1db-de6f7d19e14a.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Toronto Star · collected 2026-09-18 · by Mike Corder

Quick Summary

Xavi Hernandez, the new coach of the Netherlands national team, has excluded Memphis Depay from his squad for upcoming Nations League matches. Depay, the country’s top scorer with 55 goals in 112 appearances, is currently playing for Corinthians in Brazil. Xavi included younger players like Ruben van Bommel and Gjivai Zechiël to evaluate options and build a team that can dominate possession-based play. The Netherlands will face Germany, Serbia twice, and Greece in September and October.
Written by AI on 2026-09-19, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

New Netherlands coach Xavi Hernandez has left out Memphis Depay, the country's all-time top scorer with 55 goals in 112 appearances, from his squad for upcoming Nations League matches. Depay, now playing for Corinthians in Brazil, was omitted as part of a strategy to observe players closely and assess his options ahead of four matches. Hernandez included PSV Eindhoven player Ruben van Bommel, son of former Netherlands midfielder Mark van Bommel who is now Belgium's national team coach, marking the young winger's first call-up. Additionally, 22-year-old Feyenoord midfielder Gjivai Zechiël was called up after scoring five goals in six Eredivisie matches this season. Xavi took over from Ronald Koeman following a disappointing World Cup campaign for the Netherlands.

Written for “Xavi Excludes Depay” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Xavi Excludes Depay
Sports · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

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How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

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Claims extracted
11
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
9%
1 of 11 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
64/100
Toronto Star's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-19 · how these are computed

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Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Who wrote this

Mike Corder
4 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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🔮 “For me as head coach, it is also valuable to observe them closely and get to know them better over the coming weeks, as we will be working together intensively for the first time,” he said in a statement.
2026-09-18 · assertive framing · New coach Xavi Hernandez leaves Memphis Depay out of the Netherlands squad for Nations League
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

Barcelona Feyenoord Liverpool Netherlands PSV Eindhoven

Subjects

Netherlands GPE · 7× Liverpool ORG · 4× Xavi PERSON · 3× Barcelona ORG · 2× Feyenoord ORG · 2× Gjivai Zechiël PERSON · 2× PSV Eindhoven ORG · 2× Ruben van Bommel PERSON · 2× Serbia GPE · 2× Sunderland ORG · 2×

Narrative

The former Barcelona great, who took over the Netherlands team after Ronald Koeman left in the wake of a disappointing World Cup campaign, said the 26-man squad gave him flexibility over four upcoming matches and a chance to evaluate his options.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-19
🔮 “For me as head coach, it is also valuable to observe them closely and get to know them better over the coming weeks, as we will be working together intensively for the first time,” he said in a statement.
2026-09-19 · Toronto Star
New coach Xavi Hernandez leaves Memphis Depay out of the Netherlands squad for Nations League · assertive framing

Claims (11 extracted, 1 hedged)

New Netherlands coach Xavi Hernandez left the country’s all-time top scorer, Memphis Depay, out of his 26-man squad for upcoming Nations League matches and called up the son of former Netherlands midfielder Mark van Bommel for the first time. asserted
Hernandez → leave → time
The 32-year-old Depay, who now plays for Brazilian club Corinthians, has scored 55 goals in 112 international appearances. asserted
who → play → appearances
Ruben van Bommel, 22, a left winger who plays for PSV Eindhoven, has impressed this season with two goals and two assists after recovering from a long-term knee injury. asserted
who → play → injury
Xavi also called up talented 22-year-old midfielder Gjivai Zechiël, who has scored five goals in six Eredivisie matches for Feyenoord this season. asserted
who → call → Feyenoord
The former Barcelona great, who took over the Netherlands team after Ronald Koeman left in the wake of a disappointing World Cup campaign, said the 26-man squad gave him flexibility over four upcoming matches and a chance to evaluate his options. asserted
squad → take → options
“For me as head coach, it is also valuable to observe them closely and get to know them better over the coming weeks, as we will be working together intensively for the first time,” he said in a statement. asserted
he → observe → statement
At his presentation last month, Xavi said he wanted to build a team that is able to “dominate the game, to take the initiative with the ball.” asserted
that → say → ball
Before taking over the Dutch national team, the 46-year-old Xavi had been out of work since leaving his job as Barcelona coach in May 2024. uncertain
Xavi → take → May
Koeman left the role after the World Cup, where the Netherlands lost in a penalty shootout to Morocco in the round of 32 and faced criticism for a lack of attacking ambition. asserted
Netherlands → leave → ambition
The Netherlands plays Germany in Amsterdam on Sept. 24 and three days later takes on Serbia in Belgrade. asserted
Netherlands → play → Belgrade
The team then travels to Thessaloniki to face Greece on Oct. 1 and hosts Serbia in Eindhoven on Oct. 4. asserted
team → travel → Oct.
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