Kees Luijckx believes that Erik ten Hag has shown ‘vulnerability’ by bringing Nicolás Tagliafico into the field as captain during Ajax’s match against Sporting Portugal (4-2 win). The Argentine wing defender was critical last week, stating that Ten Hag should talk more with his substitutes. Marciano Vink proposes in the program football talk by ESPN however, that Tagliafico deserved more than a substitute in his eyes.
“I had hoped that Tagliafico would play”, Luijckx begins in the talk show. “In advance I would say that Ten Hag wanted to put a heel and did not line up, because he said something about the fact that he should talk more with substitutions. We talked about that a little bit. But in the end Ten Hag puts him to rest as captain in the field. Yes, I think that’s a very nice move by the trainer. He thus sends out a signal to the group, saying: it’s okay to say something, I don’t blame you. I think that’s very strong. You could also see it as a trick, but that’s not how I interpreted it.”
“It was a tactical move, by playing more in midfield with Blind. You do that less with Tagliafico and Mazraoui, so it can be explained tactically. In the end, Tagliafico comes in at halftime and then immediately as captain. I think that shows a strong personality of the trainer,” Luijckx, who stopped working as a professional football player last summer, continues about the decision to keep Tagliafico out of the starting eleven. Tagliafico came in at halftime as a replacement for Daley Blind and immediately took over the captain’s armband.
“If you want to put him in the window to make him a transfer, I would have liked to have him start in this match,” says Vink. “Eventually he comes into it in peace. Kees thought it was nice that he was given the captain’s armband. I think it… Well, I’m like, put him in from the start without a captain’s armband. But that’s my depraved mind. I think Tagliafico is very loyal and I think he deserves more than this.”
“When you hear that interview, you hear a very sensible player. A team player, who knows very well that he doesn’t have much to say when Ajax is running so well. You should also hate it, but he doesn’t burn Ten Hag or his fellow players. Very neat. Only Ten Hag will bring him onto the field at half time and I think that he shows vulnerability,” says Luijckx. Vink agrees: “You have enough trainers who can get quite a lot of irritation from an interview like this. Ten Hag has solved it fantastically, by talking openly about it.”