Peter van der Veen is very impressed with the development that Devyne Rensch is currently going through at Ajax. As national coach of the the Dutch Under-17s, he took the just eighteen-year-old right back and center-back to the youth World Cup in 2019 and the trainer already realized that Rensch is a very special player. Van der Veen even draws the comparison with former Ajax defender Matthijs de Ligt.
“I recently saw the home game against ADO Den Haag”, explains Van der Veen in an extensive interview with Football International. “Dusan Tadic was looking for him there, but his pass came just too early, or Devyne came too late. When Ajax then scored, Tadic walked over to him to explain how that could have been done better. That is very characteristic for Devyne, that people really take the time to help him, because they just know that he is going to get started “, the former national coach of the Dutch Under-17 indicates Rensch’s status within the Ajax selection.
“Apparently he showed that during the training sessions at Ajax. He really does something with feedback from older players and then you will be accepted more quickly, which is very important. I thought it was a very typical moment for Devyne, he is very eager to learn “, emphasizes the impressed Van der Veen, who immediately comes up with a suitable example.” When he was in the group with me, Devyne made his warm up always with his wrong leg, so that he also continued to develop it. I always thought that was so special. And you see it now: he’s just two-legged. That is so handy, you can always get out of situations where others have to give up first. “
In Van der Veen’s view, Rensch, despite his youth, is already a very mature player, someone who takes his profession very seriously. “Devyne has exactly what he wants. If you compare him in terms of mindset, then he is close to Matthijs de Ligt “, the coach sets the bar high for the young Ajax player.” That is a completely different player, of course, but in terms of mindset are those guys unique. With so much talent and such a good mentality, it can go very quickly. Of course we saw that with Matthijs and now it is also happening with Devyne “, Van der Veen looks hopefully to the future.