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René van der Gijp and Ruud Gullit regularly discuss Frenkie de Jong's game, the analyst says in the podcast KieftJansenEgmondGijp. The two football friends, former teammates at PSV and the Dutch national team, do not always agree on the added value of the 26-year-old midfielder of FC Barcelona and Oranje.
“Sometimes you have those players…,” Van der Gijp starts. “I often have a discussion with Gullit about Frenkie de Jong: he doesn't think much of it. Then he says: 'He's going to get it, he's going to walk with it for a while and then he's going to play it.' He thinks it's all a bit too easy.” Van der Gijp then mentions a midfielder that Gullit can charm: Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham.
“Gullit likes to watch midfielders make decisions,” said Van der Gijp. Kuijt, also a guest in the podcast, notes that De Jong often receives the same criticism. “The point with Frenkie is often that he does not provide enough assists or scores goals, Bellingham does not receive that criticism at Real Madrid.” Gibe thinks that's too easy. “Busquets never did that, did he? Although I do think that Busquets always had a very compelling presence. A really compelling presence.”
Kuijt mentions another difference between Busquets and De Jong. “In the end, Busquets won all the prizes, which means he also receives that appreciation. The Champions League, the World Cup and the European Championship.” Van der Gijp tries to think like Gullit. “But he has scored four goals in ten seasons.”
“Frenkie is not the controller that Busquets was, but also not the Bellingham who appears in the box and scores goals,” Van der Gijp continues. “That's what they say. Then you are actually a little bit of everything and you just hang in there.”
According to Kuijt, Busquets played more defensively than De Jong. “He was really controlling and sometimes even came from the defense into midfield.” Kuijt also expresses his own opinion about De Jong. “I think Frenkie is fantastic, but there are many people who, like Ruud, are more critical. Hopefully that will change after the European Championship.”
“During his Ajax period, I really thought Frenkie was a conductor,” Kuijt continues. “He was really good then and he did get that appreciation.” Van der Gijp joins in. “At Barcelona I saw him play in five games and I really thought: this is not normal.”
“But he will never reach that level in forty out of sixty matches. He only taps that a few times,” concludes Van der Gijp. Kuijt puts an end to the topic of conversation. “Maybe that's exactly why people aren't completely convinced yet.”
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