Jack van Gelder does not have a high opinion of Anton Gaaei, he writes X. According to the presenter and commentator, the twenty-year-old Ajax player lacks defensive qualities. “I prefer a defender who can defend,” said Van Gelder, who points out Gaaeis’s past as an attacker.
Gaaei made his basic debut at Ajax on Thursday. The Dane, who came over from Viborg FF this summer for at least 4.5 million euros, replaced Devyne Rensch in the right back position against Olympique Marseille (3-3). According to Van Gelder, Gaaei did not do that properly. “Gaaei is an attacker who has recently been transformed into an attacking back. I prefer a defender who can defend,” he wrote before the final whistle.
Kees Kwakman showed up ESPN has also been critical of Gaaei. “That right back…” sighed the analyst at half-time. “There is so much loss of ball. It is impossible to play against that. Then it becomes a back-and-forth match. There is no idea behind it, not even in the build-up. It is even a miracle that it is 2- 2 is at rest.”
In Viborg’s Under 19s, Gaaei still played as a left wing attacker. There he scored 28 goals in 64 games in two years. Gaaei has only one year of experience as a right back: last season in the first team of Viborg. That was enough for Ajax to bring him to the club. Gaaei is competing with Rensch this season and is the successor to Jorge Sánchez, who has been loaned to FC Porto.
Three more dissonances
Brian Brobbey, Steven Bergwijn and Benjamin Tahirovic also suffered from Van Gelder. According to the analyst, the former pair ‘had a constant argument with the ball not only tonight.’ About Tahirovic, Van Gelder wrote: “The peace and control of a team must be arranged by the number ‘6’. Tahirovic only looks at the ball and is constantly losing his opponent and overview.”