Kenneth Perez hands out the compliments to Jurriën Timber. The center defender called teammate Dusan Tadic to order after the Serb made a foul in a dangerous place in the lost Eredivisie match with PSV (1-2). “It says about Timber that he is a young player who dares to express his opinion,” concludes Perez.
Gakpo cut in from the left midway through the second half and was caught by Tadic on the edge of the box, while Timber appeared to have the situation under control in back cover. Referee Danny Makkelie whistled for a free kick in the dangerous position, although Anwar El Ghazi eventually hit the crossbar. Timber was furious with Tadic for his intervention. Perez agreed that the center defender expressed his frustrations towards the captain of Ajax.
“Hierarchy must be there and Tadic is at the top”, opens Perez in the program This was the weekend from ESPN. “But the less you perform, the faster you sink into that hierarchy. In that situation there is nothing wrong and then Tadic comes to make a violation. You then see Timber say to Tadic: what are you doing? I’ve got it under control, so you don’t have to commit that offense in such a dangerous place. It says something about Timber. He is a young player who dares to express his opinion in a good way.”
“Hierarchy is also relative,” Vink adds to his colleague. “I think Tadic will fall a bit faster than a Luuk de Jong if he didn’t play well in many matches. People accept a little more from Luuk de Jong than from Tadic. I do have the feeling that the public, partly due to the protection that Tadic has received in recent months, is now starting to wonder: why is he not being replaced?” Vink concludes.