Trainer Arne Slot is positive about Santiago Gimenez’s chances of playing against Lazio. De Kuip held his breath when the Mexican stumbled off the field after an hour of play in the match against Vitesse, but the damage was not too bad according to Feyenoord’s trainer. There is more doubt about Yankuba Minteh’s employability.
Feyenoord achieved a new victory in the Eredivisie on Saturday evening without putting in too much effort. In De Kuip, the Rotterdam team were 4-0 too strong for Vitesse thanks to goals from Calvin Stengs, Santiago Gimenez, Lutsharel Geertruida and Eredivisie debutant Antoni Milambo.
“I am happy with the victory and also with large parts of the match, but I thought that we got stuck too often in the opponent’s sixteen,” Slot concludes afterwards in front of the camera of ESPN. “I thought we had too little control given the big lead.”
“I’m not talking about the number of chances given away, because I don’t think we gave anything away. But I thought the game went back and forth a little too often in the second half. We went too fast and forced a goal attempt, while we could have played it out better.”
Gimenez left the field after more than an hour of play after receiving a kick from Nicolas Isimat-Mirin, although the damage seems to be not too bad. “He told me he had been kicked. A decent one. But it’s always better to get kicked than to double your ankle or twist your knee ligament.”
“This is painful for him, but I have good hope that he will be there on Wednesday,” Slot continues. “He is of course an important, popular player, so if he gets hit and ends up on the ground, I understand that De Kuip becomes anxious.”
“Still, it always makes me ‘happy’ to see them being substituted after a kick. Because if they are changed after twisting something, they are often out longer,” says Slot, who cannot yet provide certainty about Minteh.
The medical staff was somewhat less positive about Minteh, who also had to leave. “It will have to be seen tomorrow (Sunday, ed.) whether he can be deployed. He felt something during the sprint. He still had a full sprint before his change, so I hoped it wouldn’t be too bad.”