Mark van Bommel and Ruud van Nistelrooy said Monday they would not be honouring international call-ups to play against Bulgaria and Albania on October 7 and 11 respectively.

And that has left the Dutch press, who are still simmering over a perceived fiasco at the World Cup, divided over the coaching credentials of the man who enjoyed a hugely successful playing career with AC Milan and Holland.

"Van Basten has blinkers on and is not professional," commented the Algemeen Dagblad (AD), publishing the opinions of a management specialist.

The specialist believes that van Basten made a serious error of communication when he kept van Bommel and van Nistelrooy on the sidelines at the World Cup without having discussed it with the pair first.

"Van Basten is limited when it comes to putting himself in the shoes of others," the newspaper added.

Van Basten, part of the Dutch team that won the 1988 European championships, included van Bommel in his World Cup squad but the pair did not see eye-to-eye as the Netherlands lost 1-0 to Portugal at the last 16 stage.

After some lacklustre displays, van Nistelrooy was left on the bench for an ill-tempered defeat 1-0 defeat to Portugual which handed them entry to the quarter-finals stage.

Some of the country's top athletes were asked by De Volkskrant newspaper about van Basten's apparent unforgiving style.

The opinions ranged from the abrasive: "He is inexplicably brutal with the players", to the defensive: "van Nistelrooy and van Bommel are just not honest enough players."

De Telegraaf meanwhile appeared to criticise the two players in question.

The newspaper said they timed their refusal to join up with the squad in perfection.

"Was it by chance ? In the opinion polls two days before (their statements) two-thirds of those polled supported the two players," commented the paper.

Bayern Munich midfielder van Bommel said Monday he no longer wants to play for the Dutch while van Basten is in charge.

Real Madrid striker van Nistelrooy was also called up, as a replacement for the injured Klaas Jan Huntelaar, however he too has turned down the Dutch Football Association (KNVB).

Van Basten made a surprise phone call to van Nistelrooy over the weekend, but failed in his bid to lure the ex-Manchester United forward, who had recently criticised the national coaching staff, back to the squad.

Van Basten said that no players would be called up to replace van Bommel and Huntelaar.

Netherlands top the seven-strong group G, in which they are the only team to have won their two games so far.