Kenneth Perez sees Ajax as a ‘very smart move’ by Maurice Steijn in times of crisis
Sunday, September 24, 2023 at 9:05 PM
Kenneth Perez thinks that Maurice Steijn has made a wise choice by betting on Ajax youth. During the broadcast of This Was the Weekend on ESPN together with colleague Marciano Vink, the analyst assesses whether the Ajax coach consciously chose to pass on several purchases from Sven Mislintat. In any case, Perez thinks that Steijn will win the sympathy of the Ajax fans if he opts for more players with ‘Ajax DNA’.
“You would almost think that Steijn wanted to make a statement to Mislintat by introducing Salah-Eddine,” says Vink. “There is a player on the bench who was signed for 12.5 million euros (Gastón Ávila, ed) and only played for Royal Antwerp for six months. At one point he opted for youth players and he also had Van Axel-Dongen on the bench, while he actually didn’t make enough minutes to be in the first team. Steijn said it wasn’t a statement, but it felt that way.”
More: Johan Derksen puts forward ideal crisis manager for Ajax | Steijn: ‘I read that on the internet, what should I think of that?’
Perez suspects that Steijn has made certain choices to win the hearts of the supporters. “Apart from the discussion of whether it was a statement or not, I think that Steijn did it smartly. In this way he is creating goodwill among the supporters for himself. No matter how you look at it: this is a battle for who can stay seated. I I think people are very happy with the introduction of Silvano Vos. At one point there were eight boys from the Ajax youth on the field.”
“If you have to save yourself, then this is of course a smart move,” the analyst concludes. “I think that the call for the departure of the Supervisory Board and Mislintat is greater than the call for the departure of Maurice Steijn.” After half an hour of play, the coach brought Devyne Rensch in for Anton Gaaei, while Borna Sosa was replaced by Anass Salah-Eddine immediately after half-time.
2023-09-24 22:11:00
#Kenneth #Perez #sees #Ajax #smart #move #Maurice #Steijn #times #crisis
