Owen Wijndal surprised by Heitinga’s statements: ‘Did he say that?’

After the match between Ajax and AZ (0-0), Owen Wijndal reacted with surprise to John Heitinga’s statements. Prior to the meeting with the Alkmaarders, the trainer of the team from Amsterdam stated that he thinks Jorrel Hato is better than Wijndal. The latter has lost his basic place for some time and also had to settle for a substitute against AZ.

Ajax did not convince on Saturday evening in its own Johan Cruijff ArenA. The team from Amsterdam did get opportunities to score, especially through Brian Brobbey, although AZ also came very close to a goal in the second half in the person of Mayckel Lahdo, who saw his effort roll out of the goal mouth via the inside of the post. It was not footballing at Ajax as people hoped in the stands. “It wasn’t great yet,” Wijndal agrees in conversation with ESPNreporter Milan van Dongen. “But if you do make the chances, it is probably much easier to play football. But we will not do that in the second half.”

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Wijndal himself made a good impression, says Van Dongen. “Where was that Wijndal in recent months?”, the reporter wonders. “On the bench, right?”, the left back reacts wittily. Van Dongen thinks that Wijndal ‘should play’. “Yes, I think so myself,” Wijndal responds. “But the trainer sometimes makes different choices. Then it’s up to me to show that I want to play and belong in the base. I think it went pretty well today. Only yes, that’s no guarantee for next week.” knows Wijndal.

Heitinga indicated before the match against AZ that he currently thinks Hato is better. “There is a lot of progress in the development of Hato. Wijndal has to respond,” he said at ESPN. Confronted with Heitinga’s words that he thinks Hato is better than Wijndal, the latter reacts with surprise. “Did he say that? It’s up to me to show it and I think I started doing that today. I’m very happy to be able to play here. This is the biggest and best club in the Netherlands. Of course I had it suggested something different when I came here, so that’s a bit less, but I’m still very happy to be playing here.” For Ajax, the battle for third place with AZ remains in the coming weeks.