Van Bommel rejected Van Basten's call-up for the Euro 2008 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Albania, and Van Nistelrooy has effectively himself out of ever playing for the coach again.

Both players have been contacted by Van Basten, who revealed: "Van Bommel was clear and direct - he doesn't want to play under us any more for Oranje.

"He told me he read all the articles about him and he got the impression he could not play football for the national team any more.

"Because he was so clear, there was no use at all in speaking with him further."

Van Nistelrooy was omitted from the original squad even though he has been in good form for Real Madrid. But Van Basten said their dfferences were now such that a recall would be highly unlikely.

"We spoke for a long while," said the Dutch coach. "I called him while he was driving around in Madrid and he asked me if he could call me back. He did that 90 minutes later and we had a long conversation.

"It did not bring us what we hoped for though, and there is still some coldness in the air. We have opposing opinions."

Henk Kesler, director of the Dutch FA, admits that Van Basten could improve his interpersonal skills, but also insists that the coach communicates with his players more than previous national team managers did.

"People speak about his lack of communication," said Kesler in AD Sportwereld. "I see and hear that he speaks with players a lot and often in one-on-one talks during training camps.

"He spends more of his time on that than any of his predecessors and I think that is the alibi for him to speak outside of the games a bit less.

"We have said that it may be wise to pick up the phone a bit more in such phases. He promised us he would do so."

Van Nistelrooy has accused Van Basten of selecting too many players from the coach's old club, Ajax.

Kessler is unimpressed by that argument. "That is a low feeling of a top player," he said. "And let's be clear, Van Nistelrooy wasn't happy when he was at Manchester United either.

"Maybe he had the same feeling then. Oranje has an Ajax clan, I read, and when you look at the staff, it is possible that you feel a lack of appreciation sooner if you are no part of that clan.

"But it is nonsense. Selecting Romeo Castelen was one of the first surprises of Marco and if I'm right he still plays at Feyenoord.

"It's not in the character of Van Basten to make use of nepotism."

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