In a recent speech for De Telegraaf, Wim Kieft disagreed with the growing criticism of Ajax’s coach, John Heiitinga. Kieft, while acknowledging the frustration of the environment, believes that attention is unfairly focused on Heiitinga, thus shifting the gaze of the strategic mistakes of Marcel Kroes’ arrival as Technical Director. He points out that Kroes is responsible for Heiitinga’s controversial choice as lead coach, after a pre-Amsterdam failure, as well as for the acquisition of Marcel Keizer, already ruled out by Marc Overmars. Kieft also criticizes previous summer’s purchases, noting that Heiitinga keeps expensive players like Raúl Moro and Oscar Gloukh on the key, suggesting that they do not meet Kroes’ expectations and require more time to adapt.

Kieft insists on the need for Heiitinga to trust Kasper Dolberg, a back-to-lending player who has not yet received a regular position. He argues that Dolberg has a higher quality of play and a higher goalability potential than Weghorst and that he deserves to start the games. Kieft believes that the entire EU industry should support Dolberg, stressing that he is a more complete player and that he must have the opportunity to prove his value. It is clear that Kieft perceives an inconsistency in the human resources management of Ajax, where talented players are put aside for the benefit of questionable choices.

At the same time, Marcel van der Kraan in the De Telegraaf podcast Kickoff showed confidence in the strength of Feyenoord’s defence, which granted only one goal in the first five games of the season. He anticipates a 0-1 victory for Feyenoord in the next home game against AZ, despite the arrival of new central defenders. The exchange then diverges to discuss an anecdote about an Ajax player, Lucas Rosa, who was not recognized in Amsterdam, illustrating a certain disaffection of the public with players who are not constantly present in the media. Van der Kraan compared this to Henderson, who was walking quietly in Amsterdam without attracting attention.