Dirk Kuyt has serious doubts about Erik ten Hag’s choice to replace Steven Berghuis with Mohammed Kudus in the match between Borussia Dortmund and Ajax (1-3). Halfway through the second half, Berghuis made way for his teammate, who made his first minutes of the season in the Champions League. Although Kuyt acknowledges that Berghuis did not play a great game, he would have liked to see the attacker on the field for ninety minutes.
Ajax’s most important winger was Antony on Wednesday evening, whose three crosses led to Ajax’s goals. “Antony is a player who can always create danger and creativity. In my view, Berghuis is exactly the same player,” Kuyt says in the studio of RTL7. “He wasn’t as good in the game as he was two weeks ago against Dortmund, but Kudus is a completely different type of player. You actually want Berghuis in that position.”
Kuyt highlights a moment from fifteen minutes before the end, when Kudus received the ball in the corner of the penalty area from Antony. The substitute was able to play the detached Ryan Gravenberch and offer a shot chance, according to Kuyt a ‘simple ball’, but waited too long. He then played the ball to Daley Blind, who was quite a bit further from the goal. “You actually want Berghuis here, who always has the creativity to shoot or to spread the ball.”
“I didn’t think he came in well,” continues Kuyt about Kudus. “When the 1-2 fell, he came in a bit better and Ajax kept the ball in the team. But I’d rather have a creative player there, especially if you play with a man more. I would like to know from Ten Hag what the reason is for exchanging Berghuis for Kudus. And my second question is: why is Berghuis changed so often? Is he not fit enough yet? He is substituted for Klaassen quite often, which I can understand. Klaassen was already on the field and I thought Berghuis could play a whole game. What’s the reason that didn’t happen?”
Ten Hag made another substitution during the break: Edson Álvarez, who had a yellow card in his pocket, made way for Davy Klaassen. The Ajax trainer can do little with the criticism of his substitution policy. “If you don’t understand that…”, the trainer sighs after a question about Berghuis’ substitution. “I took Álvarez off because we needed ball possession and more attacking power because we had a surplus. Klaassen is a player who is good with the ball. Kudus came in because he has the ball solid and can create something. Berghuis was not bad, but what fresh energy seemed desirable to me. That paid off.”