Anton Gaaei is going through a difficult period at Ajax, as he acknowledges in a video item on the official channels. He recently had to take a hard blow in the Eredivisie match against AZ, when he was taken off early. He immediately deleted his publications on Instagram to avoid ending up in even more negativity.

“Everything happens for a reason,” Gaaei says in the candid interview. “Of course I would have preferred not to have such a difficult period. But in the end, difficult times only make me stronger. As long as I stay humble and continue to work hard every day like I am doing now, my opportunities will come again.”

“Of course I had a bad feeling after the substitution against AZ, also because it was the second time. Even though I made mistakes that game, I also did some good things offensively. It hit me hard, but the trainer then explained to me why he had done it. Fortunately I was able to talk to him about it.”

Immediately after the change, Gaaei decided to make all his photos on Instagram invisible. There was a clear reason for this, he now indicates. “I hadn't read anything yet, but I saw that there were a lot of comments on my photos.”

“Then I decided to remove everything, because I knew it wouldn't be nice messages. I deactivated everything, but not permanently deleted it. I just didn't want to be negatively influenced.”

Furthermore, Gaaei could count on a lot of support from some teammates. “Sivert Mannsverk and a few other players came up to me and let me know that they were there for me. That was very nice of them. I often talk to Mannsverk in particular.”

Henderson also offered words of encouragement to Gaaei. “He said I'm a good player, but I need to find my self-confidence again. It's all about self-confidence and that's what I need right now. I have to keep smiling and not give up. I am happy that people around me and at the club offer me a lot of support,” said the Ajax right back.

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