René van der Gijp is disappointed in Ryan Gravenberch, he says on Monday evening during Veronica Inside. The analyst is of the opinion that there are only four or a maximum of five players that Ajax ‘must rely on’. Van der Gijp indicates that he thinks Gravenberch falls in ‘lvarez’s group’, while Sébastien Haller also does not fall in the top five.
The Eredivisie defeat of Ajax against AZ (1-2) is discussed at the table. According to Van der Gijp, AZ did well to start with a defensive tactic, not least because in his eyes there are only few players at Ajax who can make the game. “But Wimpie (Wim Kieft, ed.), if you take that Ajax team. Then I think to myself: who are we talking about there? Daley Blind, Berghuis, Tadic and the little one on the right (Antony, ed.). That’s only four, isn’t it!”
“So there are four, and I would prefer to add Gravenberch as number five,” continues Van der Gijp. “But if you never shoot on target, and you never give a pass that results in a goal, then you are no longer part of it for me. Then you’re in Álvarez’s group for me. Haller isn’t one of them either, because he needs to be fed. So you have four players that you say: they have to do it. If those players don’t do it, then it stops. Mazraoui? Yes, I think that’s part of it in recent weeks,” concludes the analyst, who is interrupted by Johan Derksen.
The latter is of the opinion that Blind also adds little value during matches in which the opponent plays very defensively. “I think Daley Blind is so vulnerable in the counter.” Van der Gijp: “No, but he does have a ball that I say: I may not have seen it coming. But Gravenberch doesn’t have one such ball. I don’t see him giving balls that make me think: well!” Derksen certainly agrees with his colleague as far as Gravenberch is concerned. “I think Gravenberch is becoming a bit like Frenkie de Jong: playing nice football in a safe spot on the field and never getting into the opposing team’s penalty area.”