Willem van Hanegem expects a less dominant role for Steven Berghuis at Ajax than in recent seasons at Feyenoord. The attacker is still waiting for his first goal for his new club and made little impression on Sunday afternoon in the away game against FC Twente. In his column for the General Newspaper Van Hanegem writes that he sees Berghuis ‘still looking for a lot’ at Ajax. He wonders to what extent Berghuis will be in his element in Amsterdam.
According to Berghuis is not yet playing the stars of heaven the curve ‘not crazy in itself’. “Because at Feyenoord everyone tried to keep him happy. When they got the ball, they looked for Berghuis. He was allowed to walk everywhere and he just didn’t take the back balls, the rest of the set pieces were for him,” says the Feyenoord club icon. . “The people who love statistics thought he was very good against NEC last week with an assist and preparing a few chances, but I really didn’t see the Berghuis of Feyenoord and sometimes in the Dutch.”
According to the columnist, numbers ‘rarely tell the true story’ in football. As an example for his position, he refers to Ibrahim Sangaré of PSV. “I often see him handing in clumsy balls, but according to the people who embrace statistics and hardly look at the game, he is just like Andrea Pirlo in terms of statistics,” said Van Hanegem. “Whether Berghuis needs time alone, I wonder. Ajax simply has a lot of players who want to be played immediately if the opportunity is there. Dusan Tadic demands a lot. Berghuis will really make his goals, but the absolute leading role he wanted and got in De Kuip, it will certainly not be there every week.”