Riechedly Bazoer first commented on the incident that earned him a disciplinary punishment from trainer Thomas Letsch last week. After the won duel with FC Utrecht (1-3), the defender / midfielder of Vitesse gives in front of the camera of ESPN to know that everything has been said and that, in his eyes, the problem has been ‘blown up by the media’. Interesting detail: the 24-year-old Bazoer was presented with a red card from referee Jochem Kamphuis on his return to the team.
“An incident took place last Saturday, as a result of which the coach thought he should not include me in the selection against AZ”, Bazoer begins. He is said to have kicked after teammate Daan Huisman during the training prior to the meeting with the Alkmaarders, after which he verbally fought with trainer Thomas Letsch and captain Remko Pasveer. “I’m not going to go into details about what we discussed, but I’ve had a good relationship with the coach since day one. And still ”, said the central defender.
Although Bazoer does not want to elaborate on the incident, he does believe that the media have unnecessarily blown it up. “I sat with the trainer and we told each other what we think about it. Much of what has been said is untrue: it was just an incident and the media is making it much bigger than it is. We are now looking ahead. I am happy that I was able to help the team again ”, concludes the basic strength of the Arnhem team.
Bazoer also goes for the camera of the NOS also responds to his role in the two yellow cards he received against Utrecht. In the first half Bazoer received a yellow print after a tackle on Gyrano Kerk, after which Kamphuis gave him a second and controversial yellow card ten minutes before the end for holding. “For me it’s about the way it happens. If I had made a nasty offense, I would have found it annoying. But I don’t feel you can give a yellow card for that second offense. The referee was throwing yellow in the second half ”, the rearguard player responds to the question whether he finds it annoying that he is immediately sent off the field again.
Trainer Letsch fully agrees with the words of his pupil. “We’ve talked a lot about it and hopefully it’s over now. It’s all about how he gets the red card. See, if he gets a card for comments on the leadership, it’s a problem for me. But in the first situation it was a mistake by Jacob Rasmussen, who actually came too late and Bazoer had to correct the mistake. Of course I would have preferred him to join the next match, but this can happen ”, said the coach. Bazoer has been suspended for the duel with Willem II.