Rafael van der Vaart is very impressed with Remko Pasveer this season. According to the analyst, Ajax has ‘a great keeper’ on the bench with André Onana, but Pasveer’s performance offers no reason for trainer Erik ten Hag to make a substitution. Van der Vaart does think that Onana will immediately become the first keeper again if the form of the current number one decreases even slightly.
Pasveer came transfer-free from Vitesse last summer and initially had to compete with fellow veteran Maarten Stekelenburg. Stekelenburg, however, was soon out of the running due to a hip injury. Onana was only eligible to play in November due to a doping suspension, but Pasveer also retained Ten Hag’s confidence after that. According to Van der Vaart, the performances of the veteran deserve ‘a great compliment’.
‘If Pasveer is going to keep 5% less, Onana will still play’ ??
Wytse and Rafael discuss the interesting goalkeeper issue at Ajax ??#ZiggoSport #UCL #BENAJA pic.twitter.com/raVwVx934n
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“That old prick, with all due respect”, the former Ajax player starts off. “Nobody talks about Onana anymore.” However, Van der Vaart does think that the Cameroonian will take Pasveer’s place under the bar again as soon as the latter ‘performs five percent less’. “But Pasveer is doing so well that there is absolutely no doubt about it. Even if you speak to those people there. No, Pasveer is simply number one.”
“He is top fit, in the shape of his life…”, Van der Vaart sums up. “It can last another year.” Youri Mulder joins the studio of Ziggo Sports agrees with the words of his fellow analyst, and even goes the extra mile. “I think Pasveer is the best goalkeeper in the Netherlands and belongs in the Dutch.” Pasveer made his debut in the pre-selection of the Dutch national team last August, but it has not yet made a debut.