Ajax paid almost twenty million euros last summer to bring Brian Brobbey back to Amsterdam for good. The young striker has been accurate twelve times this season, but under John Heitinga he is anything but certain of a basic place. The trainer is talking to AjaxTV elated about Brobbey’s current role.
The center forward exchanged Ajax for RB Leipzig on a free transfer in the summer of 2021. In Germany, however, Brobbey hardly played, so that he made his comeback in Amsterdam six months later on a rental basis. A few months later, Ajax finally brought him back to the Johan Cruijff ArenA. Despite his twelve goals, Brobbey’s return to Amsterdam is not yet a success. Under Heitinga he only started in the cup match against De Graafschap in the starting line-up.
“If Brobbey comes in as a substitute, it should in principle be a win-win situation. Whether you are in front or behind. Brian should be able to make a difference with the weapons he has,” Heitinga says to the club channel. “Ultimately, he has to make sure he wins the battle against his competitor.” That is currently Dusan Tadic, who has been at the point of attack again since the trainer change in Amsterdam. Play the captain from the base. “That’s the beauty of top sport. You normally have doubles in almost every position. But only one can play. Then as a player you can think you should play, but you can also use it as motivation to show it That goes for all players.”
Although Brobbey is more often than not on the bench at Ajax, he was recently called up for the Dutch national team. The striker was part of the selection for the qualifying matches with France and Gibraltar, but he did not play. As a result, Brobbey is still waiting for his debut in Orange.
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“You come to the stadium for him”
A player who has made a big impression at Ajax since the appointment of Heitinga as head coach is Mohammed Kudus. The Ghanaian has already scored eleven goals in 25 league games this season. He also scored his goals in the other competitions, bringing the total to eighteen. “We all see that Mohammed can play football. The most important thing, which applies to everyone, is confidence,” says Heitinga. Under Alfred Schreuder, Kudus played in the striker position, but he did not feel comfortable there. Since Heitinga has taken over, Kudus has become an integral part of the right flank.
“He is a player who can make a difference, both on the ball and off the ball. But especially on the ball. I think he is a player that people come to the stadium for. He is a boy who entertains the crowd. He a man can pass and play very easily, but he also does things with a ball that you think: how does he come up with it? He comes up with it and executes it”, Heitinga is full of praise for the Ghanaian dribbler. Kudus failed to make a difference in De Classic. Ajax lost 2-3, leaving the national title hanging by a thread.
