Wim Kieft has in his weekly column in The Telegraph a sneer thrown at Steven Bergwijn. The Tottenham Hotspur attacker shot the Dutch national team this week with a goal and an assist to the World Cup at the expense of Norway (2-0), but the former footballer thinks it is too early for a jubilant mood. Kieft is also concerned about the level of the Eredivisie, which, according to him, does not give players any guarantees to succeed abroad.
“Certainly the individual top talents of Ajax from two and a half years ago are having a hard time”, Kieft expresses his concerns. “With Hakim Ziyech, Donny van de Beek, Matthijs de Ligt and even Frenkie de Jong, but also Steven Bergwijn, from PSV. Their shortcomings come to light abroad while they were camouflaged in the Eredivisie. That worries me. De Jong came to the fore under Ronald Koeman because Sergio Busquets is a class better in De Jong’s position. He accelerates the game like no other, puts players in front of the keeper and never loses the ball. De Jong is still short of that top level while at his current position more forward he has too little return.”
Kieft is also not particularly pleased with De Ligt’s development. The center defender, who had to give up his place in the Dutch national team under Louis van Gaal to Stefan de Vrij, is not always assured of a basic place at Juventus either. “He has to compete at Juventus with oldsters like Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini and then you have a hard time in a country like Italy, where they love experienced defenders at age,” said Kieft. “De Ligt wants to manifest himself too much and then he makes mistakes. While he better give himself time and trust his qualities. He has enough of them.”
De Ligt, who returned to the the Dutch squad on Tuesday due to De Vrij’s absence, saw how Bergwijn claimed a leading role against the Norwegians. The attacker shot the 1-0 against the ropes on a pass from Arnaut Danjuma and not much later was the declarant at Memphis Depay’s 2-0. “Everyone is excited about Bergwijn after his goal and assist against Norway, but in almost two years of Tottenham Hotspur he is not lucky to conquer a starting place,” Kieft is critical. “You have to see whether he succeeds under Antonio Conte. Bergwijn needs space to distinguish himself. That is the big difference with Antony from Ajax. He has depth and speed, but can also work well in the small space .”
Kieft, on the other hand, was able to enjoy the performance of Virgil van Dijk, who took the team by the hand against Norway and showed leadership. The Liverpool defender faced criticism after the draw against Montenegro. “In addition to Van Dijk, the experienced Daley Blind, Frenkie de Jong and Stefan de Vrij also kept their mouths shut,” writes Kieft. “Memphis Depay is often put in this list, but he does not belong there. Like Marco van Basten, he used to be an attacker, an intuitive player, who is much more concerned with himself than with the team. Players such as Depay and Van Basten are important because of their goals and assists.”