Struggling Calvin Bassey CAN turn it round at Ajax as his former Rangers coach Roy Makaay reckons the Dutch media are overreacting to his poor form. And fellow pundit Hans Kray Jr admits he feels sorry for the Ajax star, insisting he needs time to get used to Dutch football.
Bassey joined the Eredivisie side from Rangers in a deal worth more than £20m and it's been a rollercoaster for him since. He was sent off in the Johan Cruyff Shield meaning he missed their first two games, but recovered to become a regular in the starting XI and played every minute of their Champions League group stage campaign.
But the Dutch side went an incredible seven league games without a win between November and January which led to Bassey, often a scapegoat for frustrated fans, being dropped from the team ahead of their clash with Excelsior. They won that 4-1 and beat Cambuur 5-0 on Sunday, with Bassey snubbed from the team altogether.
But asked on Dutch TV if Bassey is a better player than he's shown so far, Makaay - who coached him at Ibrox under Gio van Bronckhorst - said: "Yes, I think so. I was able to experience him up close for a year and saw him develop enormously in that year. He went from left back to central defender. He's very strong and fast.
“He is a boy who plays better and better when he has more confidence. I now see that he is struggling, but that also makes sense. Of course there is a lot of criticism of him. You know that criticism is part of a club like Ajax.
"I'm sure he can be of value to Ajax with his qualities. Of course he still has to develop on the ball, but he had a fantastic year last year."
And Hans Kraay Jr added: "I never feel sorry for football players, but I do feel sorry for him sometimes. We judge him on the things he doesn't really have, namely the qualities in possession. He can head excellently, is super fast, can cover well. Ajax has also seen that, so use it that way and don't use it as a left back in the build-up. This boy can't help it that he didn't grow up in the Ajax school."
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