Fred Grim comes to the rescue for Ko Itakura. The coach believes that the criticism of the Japanese was unjustified. Itakura’s game is getting better and better, he says.
“I think we could show a little more respect for a player of Ko’s caliber in recent days,” Grim said at the press conference after the Classic. “He played a little less for a period, but he is now getting more minutes again. Defensively it got better and better, with the ball it was also good at times, so he is taking steps.”
The plan Grim had laid out was properly executed. “We also knew that we would get opportunities in the transition. Feyenoord is good on the ball and dynamic, but they also have many players in front of the ball, which allowed us to dive into those spaces. We discussed this with the staff in advance and we were able to let the players execute it well.”
Although Ajax managed to win for the fourth consecutive time, Grim does not want to blow the praises just yet. “Last Wednesday was a very nice victory with good football at times. We are on the right track, but we are still far from there.”
