Stunned Ruud Gullit has ripped into ropey Ajax and the defensive dithering which has reduced Calvin Bassey to playing at left back.
The Dutch icon pulled no punches and he had Netherlands international pair Jurrien Timber and Daley Blind in his cross hairs. Ajax have struggled mightily in Champions League group A since routing Rangers on matchday one. Boss Alfred Schreuder has come under increasing scrutiny amid consecutive drubbings at the hands of all-conquering Napoli.
And Gullit is under no doubt the problems start in the backline and has told Manchester United target Timber he must up his game. But he fears the major issue may be the Schrueder's desire to keep faith in Blind which has resulted in the 32-year-old swapping positions with £19m summer signing Bassey. The Nigeria international has started his side's last two games at left-back - a position he was expected to move on from when joining the Eredivsie champions. Gullit, speaking on Dutch debate show Rondo, said: “It sometimes seems like he has to play (Blind). It seems that everything is being turned to make him play.
"That's how I see it. At one point I saw that he was back in the centre against Napoli, so that Calvin Bassey suddenly had to play as left back. Blind is one of the best players on the ball, but defensively… It's hard for him right now. It seems like a place has to be created for him. It seems that way."
And Timber wasn't spared - weeks after he Gullit and the Rondo panel regaled the 21-year-old over his red-hot start to the 22/23 season. The former Chelsea boss insists one of European football's brightest young players must quickly reverse his "terrible" run of form.
He added: “We talked to Timber here and then we told him he's really made progress, but after that it was terrible. He can also blame himself for that, and I mean the way in which he is walked out and he just keeps walking. When I saw him in recent duels, I thought: I withdraw those words, because this is not a defender."
"I always had: I always think you are one of the best in possession of the ball. Really, you can play football so well. I always had doubts about his defending, because he is not that big. But I can see that you have also gotten better at that, especially in those duels.
"Because you also play at Ajax with a lot of space behind you, then you have to be able to cover well sometimes. I think you have made incredible strides in that. I don't just look at what you can do with the ball, because almost every Ajax player can play football well. That is the DNA of Ajax. I look at defending. Just look at De Ligt, he has having to learn it in Italy."
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