EXCLUSIVE: Tim Krul on Xavi's Netherlands, Newcastle's new era and life after football

Speaking to Flashscore after his panel at the Portugal Football Summit, the former Netherlands and Newcastle goalkeeper discussed Xavi's appointment as Dutch head coach, the start of a new chapter at St. James' Park and his future after recently completing his master's degree.

A new cycle for the Netherlands under Xavi

The Netherlands exited this summer's World Cup on penalties against Morocco. Many people have remembered that maybe Oranje should have tried the tactic that famously worked for them in 2014, when Krul was substituted on and saved two penalties, helping his team beat Costa Rica.

"Australia tried it recently, with my good friend Mat Ryan. It's a good tactic but there's no guarantee things will work," Krul said. "It's still very much a percentages game. Ultimately the takers are at an advantage. But some goalkeepers are maybe better specialised in penalty shootouts than others."

The Oranje are now entering a new era with Xavi in charge, and Krul admitted the choice of a foreign coach initially caught him off guard given the country's total football heritage.

"I was surprised originally to see Xavi appointed as a foreign manager, because of Dutch total football," he explained to Flashscore. "But I think Xavi knows the Dutch way. Johan Cruyff, Rijkaard, van Gaal, that's his DNA. And the Spanish way of playing, the tiki-taka, and the Dutch way are really closely aligned. So I've got high hopes, because he's a top, top legend of the game."

Krul believes a fresh approach is exactly what the national team needs. "It's a new cycle. A few players will move on. You see it with a lot of countries: Germany with Klopp coming back and having different ideas, Belgium, Italy changed a lot. It's going to be an exciting time for Holland to see which players are staying for this cycle and which ones will be moved on."

As for who could flourish under the new coach, Krul singled out one familiar name. "I still love Frenkie de Jong. For me, he's still the best player. He's been struggling a lot with injuries, but I think he'd be very important for the way Xavi wants to play. The Ajax way, the Barcelona way and the Dutch way."

He also noted that since Xavi left out Memphis Depay, a new striker will have to step up. "(Brian) Brobbey is doing amazing in the Premier League with Sunderland. He's a really top striker. There's a new wave of talent coming through, so we need to see who's going to step up," he said.

Newcastle's transition

Krul spent a decade at Newcastle, and he was quick to pay tribute to Eddie Howe before assessing new boss Matthias Jaissle.

"There's a lot of respect that has to go to Eddie Howe, because he brought the trophy to Newcastle that everybody had been waiting for all those years," he said. "I rate Eddie Howe very highly, so it's a hard act to follow. But Jaissle has started really well. I like his press conferences and the way he conducts himself. I feel like the team is responding really well to him."

He pointed to Yoane Wissa as an example. "He looks like a fresh new player, because he had a really tricky start last season. The spirit looks good. The club is going through a transitional time, but there's some positive news coming out with new training grounds and potentially new stands or a new stadium. And extending Lewis Hall's contract is a big statement, because he's one of the most exciting talents in that team."

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Newcastle's new goalkeeper is Czech international Lukas Hornicek, who arrived from Braga, and Krul sees a very different profile from his predecessor Nick Pope.

"Young, exciting talent," he said. "Nick Pope was already a really good goalkeeper, but Horníček is a totally different style of keeper. He's a lot more all-round, with his distribution, as a sweeper-keeper. He looks really agile. Newcastle spent a lot of money on him, so they clearly see a big future for him."

Life after the playing career

Since retiring, Krul has kept busy with investments in several businesses. The turning point, he revealed, came long before he hung up his gloves.

"Everybody knows the end is coming, but we don't know when," he said. "For me, I was 29, and I had a really bad knee injury that could have been career-ending. That was a light bulb moment where I realised I needed to prepare and think more about life outside football. I managed to recover, but I started investing and seeing the business world from the other side."

Three years ago, while still playing, he enrolled in a programme run through the players' union and the University of Portsmouth, which he has now completed with a master's degree in sporting directorship.

"I finished it two weeks ago," he told Flashscore. "Reading academic papers and writing essays is totally different from playing football, of course. But it opened my mindset. When I have discussions with directors or owners, it helps me understand that whole ecosystem. I did 20 years on the pitch and I wanted to understand football off the pitch."

A sporting director role is on his radar, but only in the right circumstances. "When the time is right, with the right projects and the right people. For me, people are really important. One day I would love to do that, but I know I need to develop myself.

"At the moment I like the media, and I like exploring cities I've never been able to see properly. When you're playing, you're just going into the stadium and out, and staying in hotels. Great events like this give me the opportunity to see that as well."