Sonny Silooy believes that Ajax should maintain confidence in Maurice Steijn, the club icon of the Amsterdam team says in conversation with ESPN. The former defender concludes that a 1-1 draw with AEK Athens is a ‘good result’ given the current situation at Ajax.
Silooy believes that Ajax fans should remain patient. “There are always years when things don’t go well. I have experienced that too, but we always ended up well.” Silooy himself played for Ajax in two different periods and has no fewer than 343 official matches to his name.
Although Silooy is not a critic of Steijn, the right back does resent the fact that Ajax is among the top three teams that play the most long balls in the Europa League. “That is of course not a good development. We are famous for our positional play, but you have to deal with a lot of new guys. They may not be in control of that.”
Silooy himself is used to a different Ajax. “We played from the back, through midfield. Occasionally you had to give a ball deep, but it was placed in the right color. That was important…”
Yet Steijn’s way of playing can also be understood in some way. “You now have to play simply and the long ball comes back a lot. We are not stable at the back,” Silooy provides the Hagenaar with binding advice.
Ajax’s performance in Greece was certainly not bad, says Silooy. “If you draw 1-1 away at AEK Athens, then that is simply a good result given the situation. You can be happy that you came out of this well and can now continue to develop. That is Steijn’s plan: one step forward every time.”
While other club icons are worried about Ajax, Silooy remains calm. The Amsterdam team, who are currently fifteenth in the Eredivisie, will play against AZ on Sunday. The match will kick off in the Johan Cruijff ArenA at 2:30 PM.