Davids issues Marco riposte

Edgar Davids has issued a withered riposte in the direction of Marco van Basten.

The combative Tottenham midfielder was left out of van Basten's squad for the World Cup in Germany, a tournament in which the Dutch were knocked out of at the first hurdle after the group stages.

Holland's failure to progress beyond the second round has not though been treated as a disaster, with van Basten credited as creating a young and energetic side that saw a number of the squad's elder statesmen cast aside.

Davids was one such casuality of van Basten's cull, along with Milan's Clarence Seedorf, and now as the tournament draws to a close the former Juventus and Milan man has launched an outspoken attack.

The player was less than enamoured with van Basten's decision to respond with 'I won't select Jan Wouters anymore either,' when asked why he no longer selects Davids.

''I personally think van Basten has crossed all borders over good morality and respect,'' wrote Davids in an open letter to Dutch magazine Voetbal International.

''With all his comments he shows a lack of personal class. Mostly because this doesn't look like an accident.

''In the past he has been disparaging about other players with a successful international career also.''

Davids feels van Basten's choices have shown all the inexperience of a youthful coach and that his squad lacked a certain depth when faced with more savvy opponents. 

''The choices van Basten has made looks like they are based for a main part on romantics and idealism,'' he added. ''It lacked a certain realism.

''The shortages of the Dutch national team shown at the World Cup were for the coach a big surprise but for many, for sure in foreign countries where they don't get sand thown in their eyes by charm and personal sympathies, these gaps were predictable.

''A young inexperienced coach makes unavoidable mistakes and that doesn't matter. It is, however, frustrating if these faults are predicted by many and the coach has flagged them away with disdain and arrogance.

''Therefore the choices of the coach are afterwards very difficult to justify.''