Mike Verweij would not think it strange if Jurriën Timber is closely followed by the European top clubs. Colleague Valentijn Driessen, in turn, is a lot more careful about the right-footed center defender, who played the match winner was from Ajax in the away match against Willem II (0-1). Driessen does think that, given his stormy development, Timber is ready for a permanent place in the defense of the Dutch national team.
“As a foreign club, you should almost consider not getting Lisandro Martínez, but just Martínez and Timber,” Verweij said on Monday. Kick-Offpodcast from The Telegraph† “Yes, I think it’s very clever what Timber is doing.” Driessen does not fully agree with Verweij’s optimism regarding the Ajax defender. “Mike, this was Willem II, wasn’t it. I also think he plays well and stuff, but they will soon be settled in the Champions League. I am curious about the physical, because they are both (Martínez and Timber, ed.) two tares high.” “Whether or not that will be a problem. I’m really curious about that, whether they can hold their own. But so far they are indeed doing more than excellent”, the defense duo receive compliments.
Fraser does not find the length of Ajax hero any obstacle to a role in the the Dutch squad
The assistant national coach of the Dutch was still full of praise for Jurriën Timber on Sunday.
“I have to say: I think Timber is a great player”, Driessen continues his praise of the Ajax mandekker. “Really, I can enjoy almost everything he does. Only at Feyenoord did he have a strange ball. Maarja, a slipper in five or six games. For a boy of nineteen or twenty years (Timber is twenty years old, ed.) , that’s part of it. But the man really controls everything.” Presenter Hein Keijser then asks whether Timber is ‘basic quality the Dutch’, which Driessen can only confirm. “Yes, of course that is basic quality the Dutch.” Keijser then raises whether that is really the case, because Timber then has to compete with Virgil van Dijk, Stefan de Vrij and Matthijs de Ligt, who are all active in top foreign competitions.
“That’s the big question and so far in the Champions League he has done very well,” says Driessen. To immediately add: “But that was Borussia Dortmund, Besiktas and Sporting Portugal. And none of them really excelled of course.” Verweij wonders whether national coach Louis van Gaal should not play with five defenders. “With Timber, you only need four defenders,” Driessen concludes right. “Timber and Van Dijk, four is enough.”
Jurriën Timber laughs at press conference: ‘Everyone asks me that question’
The defender explained on Saturday how he scored against Willem II.
Verweij thinks that the still inexperienced Timber will benefit a lot from some more experienced players within the Ajax selection. “What you hear very much within Ajax is that Timber has a lot to do with Martínez and Edson Álvarez,” reveals the club watcher. “Because in his youth he had a bit of the mentality of: ‘I’ll do it’. If he slackens for a second, with the numbers of Latinos around him, yes then you will be verbally slaughtered. called to the lesson. And such a young boy benefits a lot from that.”