Rafael van der Vaart believes that Sebastien Haller is a ‘wonderful’ striker for the team in Ajax’s dominant playing style. The Ivorian started on Wednesday evening in the Champions League match with Besiktas (1-2 win) on the bench, but made the difference with two goals after the break as a substitute. Haller broke the record for most goalscoring player in his first five Champions League matches with his goals against Besiktas.
Van der Vaart returned to earlier statements about Haller afterwards. “I was also critical of him, but if you start Sporting away with four goals, then you start off course,” the analyst said. Ziggo Sports. “Then he adds another one every match… He’s a big guy and if Ajax is that dominant, then it’s a wonderful striker to have around. I can no longer say that he is not Champions League worthy, although I do not think he can play in the Champions League again next season. I think you should just enjoy this for a while. I don’t think it will sell for a lot of money either. He should stay at Ajax and we are all happy with that, but he will not do this anymore.”
9 goals! ?? The man does not know how to stop and is now on a level with super striker Lewandowski ?? Unprecedented numbers??#ZiggoSport #UCL #besaja pic.twitter.com/AgehH2Y0Yc
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) Nov 24, 2021
Also in the studio of RTL 7 the analysts have praise for Haller afterwards. “He comes in in the second half and makes the difference with his goals,” says Theo Janssen. “He then missed another chance and was unlucky once with a disallowed goal, but he clearly made the difference.” The striker replaced Dusan Tadic after the break in the point of the attack, who moved to the left. “It felt familiar again,” says Wesley Sneijder. “You also saw right away that Berghuis was returning to his role. He knows that the ball is held on the left side, so he can always get into that space below. Those were the familiar things again. What Theo says, Haller makes all the difference. He is twice in the right place, he scores two. It’s a phenomenon.”
Janssen still has a comment about Haller’s goals in the Vodafone Park. “It doesn’t bother him, everything falls at his feet and he shoots them in.” Haller holds the record for most goalscoring player in his first five Champions League matches with his goals against Besiktas. “Last year we were all like: ‘Haller is not good enough’, but he is showing it now”, Janssen says. Haller himself is happy that he was able to turn the game around with his goals. He calls his own stats in the Champions League ‘nice’. “If I were surprised, it would be like doubting myself,” said Haller when asked if he was surprised at his own performance.
“I knew I would start on the bench today. I know from experience that you have to be ready then, because you can get chances in the second half,” continues Haller. “I tried to stay focused and be important to the team. The bank can make the difference and that happened today.” With his two goals, Haller can boast great stats in the Champions League. “I joined the top scorers, so that’s nice.” Like Robert Lewandowski, the Ivorian has nine goals in the billion-dollar ball this season. “That’s a big problem, because he just doesn’t want to stop scoring, haha.”