Gastón Ávila has to pay the price for Kenneth Perez after his dramatic performance against AEK Athens (1-1). The defender, who was again in the center, lost the ball no fewer than 29 times and was therefore a source of unrest within the Amsterdam team. “That Ávila, seriously… That’s just one big joke,” Perez said in the studio ESPN.
Ajax’s midfield barely got the ball, Perez notes. “If one of the central defenders has the ball, Ávila for example, what do you do in midfield? Then you try to create space to offer yourself. But if he then hands in every ball, it is very difficult to keep on top of that. the right time…”
Maurice Steijn made the remarkable choice on Saturday at RKC Waalwijk (2-3 lead at strike) to put Ávila in the center back and shift Jorrel Hato to left back. This was maintained in Athens.
For Perez, that experiment completely failed. “Maurice Steijn must intervene one hundred percent. The trainer decides what he will and will not accept.”
“You cannot play with Ávila at the center back, it is very dangerous,” Perez says very firmly. “You can put him at left back, where he is less painful for your team, or not play at all.”
Josip Sutalo, the most expensive defender in club history, is also not convincing at all at Ajax. Yet Perez has more confidence in the Croat than in Ávila. “I feel like Sutalo is a more stable guy, who doesn’t want to do crazy, stupid things all the time.”
Perez believes Sutalo is a victim of the instability of the entire team. “Sutalo is now playing in spaces, which makes him look so bad. But I would now opt for stability as much as possible, and then I think Sutalo is more stable than Ávila.”