Kenneth Taylor made a good impression on the analysts of Saturday night ESPN† The nineteen-year-old midfielder of Ajax made his basic debut against NEC (0-1 win), after he had already played eleven games as a substitute in the first team. Kees Kwakman saw Taylor provide the necessary dynamics and found his apparently complete two-leggedness ‘very funny’ to watch.
“I thought he played well. It was not a very easy match, but he brought dynamism,” the analyst of ESPN together at This was the Weekend† “I find it very striking that he plays football completely with left and right, that is really funny. He came very often in the sixteen, had the most dribbles and the most passes. Incidentally, also the most loss of the ball, although that does not always mean something It also says he takes risks in his passing.” Taylor was indeed the Ajax player who lost the ball most often (25 times), but with his 58 passes he was left behind Nicolás Tagliafico (59) and Daley Blind (101).
“He also has a bit of that ‘give me the ball’ air, but I thought he played well. In the final phase he made good choices”, Kwakman refers to, among other things, on a pass that Taylor gave Jurriën Timber in minute 32, after which Timber was knocked down by Jordy Bruijn and earned a penalty kick. “He did an excellent job for his first starting spot. He really brought a bit of dynamism, something different. I think Tadic could also use someone on the left who moves around him.”
Presenter Jan Joost van Gangelen asks whether Taylor with his two-leggedness is comparable to Wesley Sneijder. Kenneth Perez avoids that comparison. “New. You don’t really see whether Taylor is left-footed, but with Sneijder you get the kicking technique on top. I also still have the doubt whether Taylor will play 34 matches in Ajax 1 per season. But with its competitor Mohammed Kudus you never know whether you will get the great version or the version that suffers a lot of ball loss. Taylor is more the safe choice.” That last statement is somewhat striking, because Taylor suffered the most loss of possession of all Ajax players against NEC.