Rafael van der Vaart and Ibrahim Afellay are impressed by the development Erik ten Hag is going through as Ajax’s trainer. Although a trainer is rarely decisive according to Van der Vaart, he finds the influence of Ten Hag ‘very great’. The two analysts of Studio Football recall that the trainer had to overcome a lot of skepticism after his appointment and believe that he has now succeeded in doing so.
“I think he is the first coach of Ajax about whom things were said such as: he has an accent, he does not come out very well,” says Van der Vaart in the broadcast of the talk show. “But if you see how Davy Klaassen came in today and Tuesday, if you can keep all that satisfied, you are doing something incredibly well as a trainer. Everyone is so satisfied.” Van der Vaart refers to Klaassen’s raids against Borussia Dortmund (4-0 win) and PSV (5-0 win). He scored against the Eindhoven team on Sunday. Van der Vaart thinks it’s great that Ten Hag manages to keep Klaassen happy now that he has lost his base place to Steven Berghuis.
“What I find so great about Ten Hag is that he had to break through so many barriers,” Afellay adds. “From the moment he was appointed, there was a lot of resistance. He had to prove it over a very long period. He reached the semi-finals of the Champions League, after which not the least players were bought,” Afellay refers to among others. more Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt. “Now he has put together a fantastic team again. He has also developed in the media: there is now a confident person. He will always have an accent. That’s not bad, but he does have that against him. I I just think it’s better looking.”
Van der Vaart admits he is wrong when it comes to Ten Hag’s decision to continue to give Edson Álvarez a starting spot. “What I think is especially clever, and I never thought I would say it, is that he stuck with Álvarez, who has played incredibly in the last two games,” says the former midfielder. “The most important thing was the starting position for Berghuis. That made me really think: now you’re finally going to listen to me a bit,” he adds with a laugh. “I’ve always said it. I’m just going to prove myself right, I’m not ashamed of that either. I think Klaassen is a great player, but if he doesn’t score, he’s not much use. Now someone out of 10 plays that does have the creativity. Then Ajax is really that dangerous.”