Ajax was once again supreme in the Eredivisie on Tuesday evening and ran out to big numbers against Fortuna Sittard for the second game in a row: 0-5. The team of coach Erik ten Hag thus set a record. Ajax has a goal difference of +26 after 6 rounds, something that Ryan Gravenberch was not aware of. The Ajax midfielder was clearly surprised when he was informed of that fact by ESPN reporter Jan Joost van Gangelen.
“I always enjoy it, so yes I do like it,” responds Graveberch to the question whether he still enjoys it after two monster victories in a row in the Eredivisie. “We don’t mind it of course. You just want to win, that’s it. The last two games have been easy. Last year we also saw that it went well in the beginning and not later, that can of course happen again. How come we’re so good now? We’re in a bit of shape, I think. Everything works.”
When Van Gangelen comes up with the goal difference and associated record, Gravenberch is visibly surprised. “Seriously? We’re doing that right,” Gravenberch laughs. “If you see a match like last Saturday, the difference in power is very big. I don’t think that happens often. Sometimes I have trouble with that, if we take the lead quickly, to keep the focus continuously. Then I become a little too easy. Of course that shouldn’t happen, but that remains difficult. At halftime the trainer also came to me. He said I was getting too easy. Then I have to switch the button again.”
In the interview, Van Gangelen then made a comparison with Matthijs de Ligt, who he had in front of the camera a few years ago after a match against Excelsior in the same situation and eventually ended up with a transfer to Juventus. “Soon, when you play at Real Madrid, those kinds of moments have to go,” Van Gangelen stimulates the pupil of Ajax. “That will take a while,” says Gravenberch with a wink.