Ajax player Ahmetcan Kaplan made a big impression on ESPN analysts Kees Kwakman, Kenneth Perez and Karim El Ahmadi on Thursday evening. For the Turkish man, the home match once morest Aston Villa was his European debut for Ajax.
Kaplan was in the starting line-up for Ajax for the second time this season and, according to ESPN’s analysts, stood up convincingly once morest Villa. “It’s only been two games, but Kaplan has really proven to be a reinforcement,” Kwakman said. ‘This boy is a real improvement for Ajax compared to what Sutalo brings. Kaplan does not get nervous on the ball and he also holds his own defensively. It’s a short period of time and every now and then you see some Turkish theater, presented with a yellow ticket.’
Perez also thought Kaplan played significantly stronger than Aston Villa defender Clément Lenglet. ‘Compare Kaplan with the left-footed central defender who stood on the other side and played for Barcelona… That’s a wooden boy, isn’t he? And on the ball it’s Bambi,” said the former Denmark international.
Rol Sutalo
Kwakman does make a comment regarding Kaplan in the ‘competition battle’ with Sutalo. ‘Kaplan came in as a substitute once morest AZ, when Ajax was more grouped and played more towards the back. We have only seen Sutalo in an Ajax that went in all directions and was open.’ Perez: ‘I agree with you, but the certainty he exudes on the ball and in duels and his orientation is on a different level.’
El Ahmadi, former Aston Villa midfielder, is also positive regarding Kaplan, who received the highest grade of all Ajax players at VI. ‘He spends all his time looking around. Sutalo was always alone with his husband. Sutalo then got out and left a gap behind him.’ Kwakman: ‘Sutalo can show it once more next week, because Tristan Gooijer is suspended and then Rensch will move to the right. I think Sutalo will play centrally once more.’
Kwakman thinks that the role of Kaplan Sutalo can also help Ajax. ‘You look for all kinds of things to make Sutalo more profitable. It can’t be that these are his qualities, can it? Something has to come up that will allow him to reach the same level as the Croatian team. Maybe that means playing in a three-man defense with Kaplan next to him.’ El Ahmadi: ‘It also makes a big difference if you play with Henderson and Mannsverk in front of you instead of Tahirovic and Van den Boomen.’
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