Brian Laudrup believes Calvin Bassey will come good for Ajax but he wants Rangers to target the Dutch side's creaky backline in their final Champions League game.
The Nigeria international has not had his troubles to seek since swapping Glasgow for Amsterdam in a £19m summer switch to replace now Manchester United star Lisandro Martinez. Alfred Schreuder's side have been leaky in defence with Bassey earning underwhelming verdicts from talking heads over a perceived lack of class with the ball at his feet. But he's not the only one feeling the heat with Daley Blind and Jurrien Timber coming in for some serious flak. However, Ajax are Europa League-bound unless they suffer a 5-0 defeat or worse at Ibrox on Tuesday night.
And Laudrup has called upon Gio van Bronckhorst to put the heat on the Eredivisie champions as Rangers aim to finish their chastening Champions League campaign on a high note. Speaking on the Daily Mail, he said; "It's nothing personal, of course, but Rangers must try and make Calvin Bassey's return to Ibrox as difficult as possible. If Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side are going to finish a miserable Champions League campaign on a high, they need to get on the front foot, show aggression and test the Ajax defence. They cannot stand off them again.
"Bassey and the rest of his defensive colleagues barely had to break sweat when winning 4-0 in Amsterdam on matchday one. It was all too easy. Rangers offered nothing. Since then, Ajax have had plenty of their own difficulties in the section. Ten goals were conceded in two games against Napoli. Five against Liverpool. After so many changes in the summer, the Dutch champions have found Europe's elite competition to be only slightly less of a bruising experience than Rangers.
"To me, they seem like a team that can struggle if something goes against them in a game. Rangers need to try and claim the initiative and disrupt their rhythm. Since that first match, Ajax's Champions League efforts have brought a lot of criticism back home. Bassey, Jurrien Timber and Daley Blind have all been in the crosshairs of some of the pundits assessing their defence.
"I sympathise with Bassey here, having played a year for Ajax at the end of my own career. You can compare elements of the attitude in Holland to what I encountered in Germany with Bayern Munich. Basically, it's a very critical environment. If you score a hat-trick as a new player, they say: "Oh, he did okay". That's the mentality.
"Some former players are very hard on those transferred to the big Dutch teams. And, at Ajax, they have always carried a trademark of the finest football in Holland. Four European Cup or Champions League titles provide a huge legacy for future generations to live up to. When players arrive from certain countries where they don't think football is as beautiful on the eye as it is in Holland, supporters can start to pick faults immediately if things don't go to plan. I'm not totally surprised that. Bassey has come under some pressure early on. But he can handle it. Given a little time, I'm convinced he will settle because he's an excellent defender.
"He has to get used to another dimension in terms of how Ajax want to play and control games. Even more so than Rangers. The way Ajax operates means they are actually quite open. If you can find the moments of transition and get in between the lines, there are spaces to exploit. You just need the awareness and intelligence to find them.
"Rangers showed Ajax too much respect in the first game. And if you give them that amount of time on the ball, they will always outplay you. The Ibrox men need to get the tempo up tonight to try and unsettle their visitors, because it can be done. Bassey will expect a completely different game in Glasgow. And the Ajax coach, Alfred Schreuder, has already been stressing that point in the Dutch media. He's keen to root out any suggestion of complacency.
"It will be really interesting to see how Van Bronckhorst approaches this one. He doesn't have many options defensively, which perhaps makes being on the front foot even more important."
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