Erik ten Hag thinks that Kik Pierie still has every chance to succeed as a defender of Ajax. However, due to the fierce competition in the back, the trainer of the national champion does not expect that he will be eligible for a basic place in Amsterdam in the short term. Pierie himself agrees with Ten Hag’s lecture and there is a good chance that he will also play elsewhere next season.
“As the situation is now, with the composition of the selection at Ajax, I see little perspective for him that he will play a lot. And he does need that”, admits Ten Hag in conversation with reporter Hans Kraay junior from ESPN. Pierie is a guest at Thursday morning Good morning Eredivisie and in that program the defender, who is rented to FC Twente, discusses the latest state of affairs. “Over the past few weeks, of course, we have spoken through the agent with Marc Overmars and Jan Streuer about what the plan is for next year. Of course I also follow Ajax closely and there you have Daley Blind who comes back, Lisandro Martínez who has it all. It looks like you will become a third left central defender there. Yes, then you won’t have many minutes to play “, the realistic Pierie sighs.
“Then it is very good for me to gain experience elsewhere, as Ten Hag said,” adds Pierie. “I want to play a lot next year. It can go very fast in your development. I think I can still develop on so many points that the overall picture is not there yet.” Presenter Milan van Dongen then asks how Pierie experienced his initial period at Ajax as a learning experience. “In the beginning it took some getting used to. Of course I came out of bed as a boy of the club, played at sc Heerenveen for two years. It was clear that they were going to earn something from me, so you are pushed forward and praised. For a moment it was Ajax’s lid on the nose, said flat. “Who are you then and what are you doing here?” I had difficulty with that and I think that was also the reason that I played in Young Ajax for too long. I got stuck in that for too long. And I went along with that rut of disappointment. “
“I am glad that I experienced that, because now I also know what it is like and I can do something with it again”, Pierie continues his analysis about the first period at Ajax. “But that was a learning moment, certainly. I did not expect that I would be there from day one. Blind was there and that is a very good player. But I had ambition to grow into that role. In the first year you play about ten matches and the year after that even more to grow in that role, “said Pierie, who so far came to 24 matches in the Twente shirt.