Devyne Rensch did not make a good impression on the analysts of during the match between Ajax and AZ (1-2) Studio Football. The eighteen-year-old defender played as a right back, because Noussair Mazraoui was absent due to a muscle injury. In the talk show of the NOS concluded that things are now expected of Rensch that he cannot deliver.
“I thought we wouldn’t miss Mazraoui, but you can see that Rensch lacks rhythm”, Rafael van der Vaart begins. “He was very sloppy, was never open to playing to Antony and gave weird balls. Really zero trust. Mazraoui is one of the better players at Ajax this season, so it is difficult to replace him. Rensch just radiated very little confidence. I think he’s a good player, but he didn’t show that now.”
Presenter Sjoerd van Ramshorst wonders whether Rensch had a different assignment than Mazraoui normally has. “What struck me was that he dived into the striker”, Van der Vaart answers. “Mazraoui often comes to the ball, turns open and then is a kind of playmaker on the right side. There were a few moments where I thought, what the hell are you doing?”
“Mazraoui only enters when the right central defender of Ajax has the ball. Then you see him walk in, because then the line to Antony opens. But if the left central defender has the ball, you can never walk in. So then you have to slump”, Theo Janssen adds. “Mazraoui is good at that, because he was a midfielder,” Van der Vaart responds. “Rensch is just a defender, so you kind of see him looking where he needs to go.”
“You see a really big difference between Mazraoui and Rensch”, continues Ibrahim Afellay. “Also the click between Mazraoui and Antony, that automatism. That’s not trained, it’s just natural. Antony was directing Rensch where he should walk. In such a competition you expect a boy like that to go along effortlessly, but you can’t blame him for having a hard time. Rensch plays little or never.”
“Mazraoui has that naturally and then you get a replacement from whom you expect exactly the same. That’s not possible at all. He is an international, but he plays on the side with the Dutch Juniors. That is very different football than what Ajax plays. Things are expected of that boy that he cannot do,” concludes Janssen. It remains to be seen whether Mazraoui will be fit in time for the Classic against Feyenoord, which is scheduled for next Sunday. Ajax coach Erik ten Hag could not say anything about that after the duel with AZ.