After the home match against SC Heerenveen (4-1), Ajax coach John van ‘t Schip was very pleased with the performance of , and . The two attackers played a major role in the second win in a row for the Amsterdam team with a goal and two assists respectively, while Sutalo perhaps played his best game since his arrival.
A new central defender was at the top of the wish list of then technical director Sven Mislintat in the last transfer window. The German had all sold Jurriën Timber (Arsenal), Calvin Bassey (Fulham) and Edson Álvarez (West Ham United) and Ajax could really use a new man. De Telegraaf reported the news at the beginning of July that the number three of last season in the Netherlands had ended up with Sutalo in the search for defensive reinforcement. However, Ajax and Mislintat had to be patient. After long negotiations, Sutalo finally settled in Amsterdam at the end of August.
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Expectations were very high, but the Croatian has had a very difficult period. He has been the target of criticism several times and his performances have not improved in recent weeks. But Sutalo also seems to be slowly but surely climbing out of the valley. While he occasionally looked very unsure against FC Volendam, he made a much better impression against SC Heerenveen on Sunday. Van ‘t Schip saw that too. “It certainly wasn’t an easy match. When the fresh guys were introduced in the second half, things turned around a bit. Of course, there were also some boys who were perhaps a bit tired after last Thursday. But I have also seen that boys have risen above themselves. I thought Sutalo played very well,” Van ‘t Schip said at the press conference.
“Concentrated, focused,” the interim head coach of the Amsterdam team summarized the performance of the million-dollar purchase. Sutalo was not the only Ajax player who received compliments from his trainer. “Bergwijn scoring the first goal is important, Berghuis being involved in three goals. Then you talk about the two boys who more or less have to carry the team. I think they have done that very well in the last two games. But of course there is still a lot of room for improvement for this team. That has also become clear,” says Van ‘t Schip.
