Erik ten Hag is not counting on the presence of Noussair Mazraoui in Sunday’s match between Feyenoord and Ajax. The right back is struggling with an injury he sustained last Tuesday in the Champions League match against Sporting Portugal (4-2). He was replaced by Devyne Rensch in the league match against AZ (1-2 defeat) and the cup match against Barendrecht (4-0 win).
“I have serious doubts. How I estimate it at the moment: sooner not than yes,” said Ten Hag on Thursday afternoon at the press conference about Mazraoui playing along. Rensch is again his designated replacement, although the back did not make a strong impression against AZ. “You see that often, a player comes very quickly, then it becomes less and now he is trying to wrestle himself from that. Such a game on Sunday can help to get back on the right side of the process.”
Rensch’s development is ‘varying’, notes Ten Hag. “I saw improvement with Rensch against Besiktas, Sporting Portugal and Willem II when he came in. Not against AZ. But last night for what it’s worth, again clearly. And yesterday I saw things again that I saw with him last year. That is the Rensch we would like to see, not the conservative Rensch we saw against AZ.”
Rensch was criticized after his performance against AZ in Studio Football. Rafael van der Vaart concluded that the back lacked rhythm. “He was very sloppy, was never open to playing to Antony and gave strange balls. Really zero confidence,” said Van der Vaart. Ibrahim Afellay noted the same thing. “Antony was directing Rensch to where he had to walk. In such a match you expect such a boy to go along effortlessly, but you can’t blame him for the difficulty. Rensch plays little or never.”