Journalist Willem Vissers stands up for Anton Gaaei. The right back was taken off after 35 minutes by coach John van 't Schip during Ajax's defeat against AZ (2-0) on Sunday.

Gaaei started in Alkmaar due to the absence of Tristan Gooijer. The Danish wing defender was allowed to show it again from the start. However, his performance was anything but flawless. Gaaei suffered a fatal loss of ball during Ruben van Bommel's 1-0 and just before his substitution he also childishly lost the ball on the edge of the enemy sixteen, which created a huge opportunity for AZ.

Vissers, journalist from De Volkskranttakes it Football talk Remarkably enough for the Ajax defender. “I believe I am the only Dutch person who sees something in Gaaei.”

Willem Vissers stands up for the maligned Anton Gaaei:

“Ajax has been dangerous twice, twice through him”

— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) February 26, 2024

“Maybe you should look at Kenneth Perez now,” says presenter Vincent Schildkamp, ​​while the Danish analyst smiles broadly.”

“He is of course doing very poorly defensively, but he is substituted in the 36th minute and Ajax has been dangerous twice,” Vissers continues in a serious tone. “Twice thanks to Gaaei. He had a shot on goal that almost went in and an albeit wrong cross that ended up at Taylor, but that almost resulted in a goal.”

“Gaaei also provided a few crosses. I really believe that he can still improve in that area. That boy has power, speed and basically a good cross.”

Vissers points out that Gaaei's only major drawback is that he 'cannot defend'. “So if you play with Gaaei and Sosa as wingbacks, you have two defenders who are both not very good at defending. Then at least the three central defenders must know what to do. Sutalo and Hato didn't know what to do at all with Ruben van Bommel's opening goal.”

Harsh words Perez

Perez already expressed harsh criticism of Gaaei on Sunday evening after the defeat of Ajax. “He's as sharp as a knife. This level is simply far too high for him. It's just quality that he doesn't put his body into it for that first goal.”

“He is as sharp as anything and he is a pusher, but he is just not very good. He has a good mentality and he does it with all good intentions. But he just can't do it very well, like most at Ajax,” said Perez.

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