Last updated: Dec 15, 2025, 11:58 am
Huub Stevens reflects in his column The Telegraph back on De Klassieker. The former trainer pays particular attention to two midfielders: Quinten Timber and Sean Steur.
Stevens was not satisfied with the general level of De Klassieker. The 72-year-old Limburger thought it was a disappointing match. “The Classic was not what you might expect. Ajax played for results, Feyenoord could do little in return,” Stevens begins.
He focuses in particular on Quinten Timber, who was also disappointed afterwards, but wanted to make a change immediately. “This is also football. Within two days we can play another match and this is also a Classic, a match in itself,” the Feyenoord midfielder said afterwards. NOS.
Timber has been a topic of conversation more often this season and is regularly criticized for his play. Still, Stevens stands up for the former Feyenoord captain and calls him a ‘real team player’.
“I noticed that Timber made frantic efforts to take things in stride and still make something of it. That is the right attitude. He showed himself to be a real team player. There are not many of those,” said Stevens.
Stevens’ attention also goes to another midfielder, but from the opposing team: Steur. The seventeen-year-old Ajax player has, just like Timber, managed to secure a place in his Team of the Week.
“He is only seventeen. Then it is not easy to have to play such a charged match. It was also a pointer to the future, because the club will have to rely on this kind of talent from its own academy in the coming years. Sturgeon did not stand out, but certainly did not make the cut. That is great when you play your first Classic with so little Eredivisie experience,” Stevens concludes.
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