Marco van Basten spoke very positively about Jurriën Timber on Wednesday evening. Prior to the meeting in Group C of the Champions League between Borussia Dortmund and Ajax, the analyst praises, among other things, the footballing ability of the center defender. “With such players, football becomes much more fun to watch,” concludes the former striker on Ziggo Sports.
“I wanted to say something about Jurriën Timber”, says van Basten. “I think he’s a good player. He is of course still relatively young and inexperienced, but he looks like he’s been participating for years. Timber had a tough night against Haaland in Amsterdam, but he still held up well. He can play football very well on the ball, which is just a plus for a defender. Of course you have to defend well in the first instance, but if you also just easily stay calm when you’re under pressure, then I think that’s special. I hope we can enjoy him for a long time at Ajax, and also in the Netherlands.”
“Yes, it is small,” continues the analyst. “But I really think his great strength is that he is calm with the ball and that he can also move forward quickly when necessary. Every attacker is dependent on a defender. If you don’t get that ball in time, it will all be full and it will all take a long time. The game moves quickly for him. He takes initiative. Actually, all footballers should want to go forward, because you are on football to score a goal. Those rearguard players often think: as long as I don’t lose that ball. Then they start playing him to the side and then it takes a very long time before he comes up front, then everything freezes and then the chances are gone. With such players, football becomes faster and so much more fun to watch.”
At 21.00 the kick-off takes place in Dortmund, where Timber forms the central heart of the defense with Lisandro Martínez. On the right back position, Noussair Mazraoui returns to the base at the expense of Devyne Rensch, who was allowed to start against Heracles Almelo (0-0).
Ajax setup: feather; Mazraoui, Timber, Martinez, Blind; Álvarez, Berghuis, Gravenberch; Antony, Haller, Tadic