Rafael van der Vaart takes it in the studio of Ziggo Sports up for Dusan Tadic. According to the former midfielder, the Ajax captain was unfairly criticized for his performance against Besiktas on Tuesday evening (2-0 win). Tadic missed a huge opportunity for an open goal in that game, but according to Van der Vaart should also have had four assists, if Sébastien Haller had been sharper in the completion.
“What missing an opportunity cannot do to public opinion: he would normally have made it with his eyes closed,” Van der Vaart refers to a moment in the first half, when Haller sent a tight low pass to Tadic. The Serb only had to put his foot against the ball to score, but hit the ball completely wrong and aimed wide. Besides that missed opportunity, according to Van der Vaart, Tadic played excellent.
“I thought he played insanely well,” says the former Ajax player, who shows Tadic’s assist on Steven Berghuis. “I think this assist is really unbelievable: in the crowd, with the dribble, and then give this little ball. Then we come to three crosses: they have to go in.” Tadic put the ball three times from the left on Haller’s head, who couldn’t get the ball in each time. Twice the striker headed straight at goalkeeper Ersin Destanoglu, on the last one he just managed to reach the ball in an extreme attempt, which ended on the roof of the goal.
“I actually thought he was playing crazy, but because he misses that opportunity, a bit of a hangover remains: did he play well?“, continues Van der Vaart. “Bas van Veenendaal said to me when the substitution was made: ‘Actually, Tadic has to get out, because he is the least of all in the front.’ I said, ‘Why? He should have had four assists.” Because Haller misses them, which he can’t do anything about, a lot of people said he didn’t play very well, but I thought he played really crazy.”