Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez thinks that Netherlands Coach Marco van Basten was unprofessional with his recent public criticism of Jan Kromkamp’s decision to move to Anfield.

The former Ajax star, who now coaches the Dutch national team, said publicly that Kromkamp had made bad decisions for his international career, first by moving to Spanish side Villareal, and then his recent transfer to European Champions Liverpool.

Van Basten left Kromkamp out of his squad for last Wednesday’s friendly against Ecuador, and has given warnings to players that they need to get plenty of matches under their belts to be chosen for his final 23 for the World Cup Finals, complaining that he has too little time to work with his squad.

Then, in an astonishing outburst Van Basten said: “It’s annoying Kromkamp, who is a good player, made the wrong choices for his career. It seems to us Jan is more busy with peripheral events. Jan has to make choices. I have no influence on that but, if he wanted my advice, that was possible.”

Rafa Benitez thinks, whatever views the Dutch manager may hold, he should have made them in private, not through the media.

“I have seen the comments. If you want to say something like this you should talk directly to the player, not to the press. If you want to control the career of the player, talk to him, not to the newspapers. In football now you expect to hear agents talk like this, but not people with no daily relationship with the player.”

The usually calm Spanish manager, who is obviously annoyed by van Basten’s comments: “It’s not his business. We’re talking about the future of a player and his family. I don’t see how joining Liverpool can be negative.

“Kromkamp was not playing in Villarreal and we decided to make a good swap.”

Van Basten may be distressed about how little football Kromkamp has played recently. The highly rated defender joined Villareal last summer from Dutch Eredivisie side AZ Alkmaar, but found it difficult adjusting to life in a foreign country, having experienced problems with learning Spanish.

The defender was virtually frozen out of the first team at Villareal, appearing just six times for Villarreal in La Liga. He did however feature in Champions League matches against Everton and Manchester United earlier this season.

Since his move to Liverpool in January, Benitez has been working on getting him ready for the Premiership. He played a full match last weekend, and with long-term injuries to Momo Sissoko and Kromkamp’s fellow Dutchman Boudewijn ‘Bolo’ Zenden in midfield, he looks likely to start being used more and more as the season goes on.

“He started for Liverpool last weekend and worked hard as a right winger. We used him because we need a solution and he showed he is a good player,” finished Benitez.

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