Kjell Scherpen was the schlemiel on the side of Ajax on Thursday in the first match of the quarter-final of the Europa League against AS Roma. The goalkeeper made an error with a tenable free kick by Lorenzo Pellegrini, with which the Italians equalized. In the end, a goal from Roger Ibañez took Roma away with a 1-2 victory. Theo Janssen thinks that Scherpen shows character by being in front of the camera afterwards RTL to appear.
“Yes, then everything you did before was forgotten,” says Scherpen guiltily about his mistake. “He shoots the ball into my corner, which is what I expected. But there were many people in front of it. Not good. Now that I see it again, it seems like I’m diving too soon. What do you have to say about it? It’s a mistake, a shame. Not much happens, everything went well before and you try to build on that. Well, this will come in of course. Then you have to continue. Is it tension? I don’t know, it was not visible in the first half. Maybe that will stick. It’s just a bad time. You get a ball like that a hundred times and you get it a hundred times. ”
AS Roma is 1-1 after a free kick by Lorenzo Pellegrini and an error by Kjell Scherpen. #ajarom #UEL pic.twitter.com/YsWY6A5uRH
– VTBL? (@vtbl) April 8, 2021
“You can keep talking about it, but that won’t change anything. It seems as if the ball was too soft, as if it had left too soon ”, Jan Boskamp responds after seeing the interview with Scherpen. “That free kick was taken so badly, that’s why he miscalculates”, Janssen explains. “It is quite far behind the wall. So if he says he didn’t see the ball go, he should have taken a step to the left. Apparently he has not seen that, there is still two or three meters next to him. A free kick over the wall from that distance is almost impossible. If he steps one meter to the side, he sees that ball coming. That is important for a keeper. ”
Presenter Bart Nolles points out that Scherpen had a good save in the first half with a shot from Bryan Cristante. Janssen: “That 40-meter ball? When he takes a step, he takes that ball on the chest. No, that is an exaggeration. A great rescue. But the third keeper of Spakenburg had also caught that. He shows character, it is neat that he is there and has his say. It’s the worst for him and we’ve been talking about it for too long now. ”
Kjell Scherpen! The goalkeeper cleverly returns a dangerous shot from Cristante. #UEL #ajarom pic.twitter.com/Ee8OxJpB9H
– VTBL? (@vtbl) April 8, 2021
“As a club and team you can only support him, he is under pressure and makes a mistake in an important match. Then you have to put an arm around him and give him confidence so that it will be better next time. He knows himself that he made a mistake and he is most disappointed about it “, says Janssen. Ajax coach Erik ten Hag turned to Scherpen after the match.” I told him after the match that he should keep his head up. . He kept a good match, but if you make a mistake as a goalkeeper, it is often a goal “, the coach says in conversation with ESPN. “You have to learn to deal with that, it makes you a big boy. He has a lot of qualities, but at this level you cannot afford these kinds of mistakes.”