Kenneth Perez praised Antony and Jurriën Timber on Sunday evening. The Ajax winger was accurate in the Eredivisie match with FC Utrecht (0-3) and he also made a good impression on the analyst from a physical point of view. ESPN. Perez calls the Brazilian a ‘hit’, while the analyst in Amsterdam’s defense thinks Timber is the absolute star.
“Whether Antony made a good impression today? He makes a good impression all the time,” Perez responds when asked during This was the weekend. “I think Antony is a really good player. Not only in the Netherlands, but also in the Champions League. This is what I wanted to see from him”, Perez points to images of Antony’s goal in the fifth minute of play and various actions where he cut in from the right.
“What I’m always curious about is whether he can play higher. Does he have it physically for that? He’s a little guy. It’s kind of the same as with Wesley Sneijder. It’s a little guy… But his core, his cleverness… His strength could of course lie elsewhere. Also in a duel with Tyrell Malacia, also a strong boy, he is not pushed away. So that’s fine. In general, I think people think he’s a good player. I think he is a very good player. He is not a Brazilian international for nothing. So that will be the hit.”
“But there is someone in the defense who I actually think is even better,” Perez continues. “God, that Timber, man. In everything he does, there is peace. He never panics. At the beginning I had my doubts about whether he would be tall enough to play as a central defender in Europe, but that doubt is really gone. Its speed makes it easier to play one-on-one. What a great player.” Marciano Vink fully agrees with his colleague.
“Besides the fact that he is fast, can play fantastic football and is strong, he also anticipates like the best. He already foresees where danger or problems may arise. Then you don’t have to use a sliding or a stupid tackle. It all looks cool and then it comes purely from reading and seeing what is going to happen,” says Vink, who is finally supplemented by Perez. “He is only unlucky in one respect: in the Dutch national team there are three others who are also great,” the analyst refers to Virgil van Dijk, Matthijs de Ligt and Stefan de Vrij.