Afellay Raves About Ajax’s Star Steven Berghuis

Afellay looked open-mouthed at the ‘beautiful’ action of Ajax’s star

Sunday, November 26, 2023 at 11:45 PM

Ibrahim Afellay enjoyed Steven Berghuis’s game on Saturday. The Ajax attacker distinguished himself several times in the home match against Vitesse (5-0) with beautiful passes and assists. That has not escaped Afellay’s attention. “The players only have to start running when he gets the ball,” the former midfielder tells Studio Voetbal, among others.

Ajax easily dealt with last-place Vitesse on Saturday, which faced a double deficit within fifteen minutes due to goals from Jorrel Hato and Kristian Hlynsson. After the interruption, Ajax scored three more goals in the Johan Cruijff ArenA via Dominik Oroz (own goal), Chuba Akpom and Kenneth Taylor. Berghuis excelled with the assists to Akpom and Taylor, while the pass to the own goal also came from his foot.

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“When he (tablemate Rafael van der Vaart, ed.) came in, he immediately asked: ‘Is Berghuis’ moment also in there?’ I said, ‘Yes, of course,'” Afellay laughs. “There was no pressure from Vitesse, but how he puts them away every time… He put everyone away. Here too, he puts him down perfectly behind the last line,” says Afellay when seeing images in the 28th minute. A deep pass from Berghuis ended up perfectly with a teammate on the right.

“The players only have to start running when he gets the ball. Here too,” Afellay says on images in minute 33. “He offers Akpom a shooting opportunity by placing it diagonally in front of the keeper.” Berghuis also distinguished himself in minute 50. He crossed sharply from the right and saw his pass promoted to ‘assist’ as Oroz worked the ball behind teammate and goalkeeper Eloy Room. “This cross is Berghuis through and through.”

According to Afellay, the highlight took place just fifteen minutes after halftime. Berghuis was stuck on the right sideline when he looked up and served Taylor with a beautiful pass between the lines. “This was really the pass of the match. This was such a beautiful pass. He should actually scold him for missing that opportunity.” Taylor saw his right-footed shot saved by Room.

Although the highlight mentioned by Afellay had already been achieved, Berghuis continued to excel in the opinion of the former PSV and FC Barcelona player. For example, the veteran was at the basis of Kenneth Taylor’s 5-0, by offering him a lot of space in the sixteen after beautiful combination play. Taylor then finished by finding the far corner after a drag move. “Here is also the combination… Great action by Taylor, who also played a good match.”

Berghuis started the season in the number 10 position, but has been playing as a right winger for some time, where he is preferred to Carlos Forbs, among others. Berghuis has not had a very productive season so far. Including the match against Vitesse, the 31-year-old attacker and midfielder has 1 goal and 5 assists in 14 games. On Thursday, Berghuis and Ajax will face Olympique Marseille in the Europa League. Then they have to win to have a chance of wintering in the second European club tournament.

2023-11-26 22:45:00
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