While the media judged that Ajax’s defense is vulnerable after the draw with AEK Athens (1-1), Devyne Rensch is of the opinion that the team from Amsterdam defended well as a team in Greece. This is what the twenty-year-old defender said in conversation with NOS. Rensch compliments teammate Jay Gorter in particular.
Josip Sutalo and Gastón Ávila in particular had to suffer in the media after the match against AEK, but Rensch is very mild about Ajax’s performance. “It’s difficult to play out here. You know their audience is going to stand behind it for ninety minutes, with lasers, you name it.”
Rensch himself also experienced problems with laser pointers, caused by AEK fans. “It bothered me once when throwing in, and then Stevie (Steven Bergwijn, ed.) took the penalty, I saw a hundred. You have to deal with that. I think we could have killed the game.”
Rensch sees an upward trend at Ajax, even at the back. “I think things are going much better than before. We concede a lot of chances, but if we kill the game faster we make it a bit easier for ourselves. Jay Gorter saved us, but I think we defended well as a team.”
It is logical, according to Rensch, that many teammates still have to acclimatize in Amsterdam. “The Ajax game is different from their previous clubs, which takes some getting used to. That has to be included, and that is happening more and more. Ajax occasionally wants to defend one-on-one and apply high pressure. Things are getting better, you see players getting used to it, communication is improving.”
Rensch’s words are at odds with the opinions in the media. Ávila in particular had to suffer after the draw in Athens. “That’s seriously a big joke. With Ávila you cannot play at the center back, that is very dangerous. Either as a left back, or not playing at all,” Kenneth Perez concluded afterwards ESPN.
His colleague Sutalo was also featured in the morning newspapers. “It was dramatic from a constructive and defensive perspective. The guests never stood compact for a moment. And the number of long balls that reached an opponent was astonishing,” writes journalist Mike Verweij The Telegraph.