Last season I read he was the quickest over the 40 - quicker even than Hucks.

Wouldn't surprise me as he was obviously the most athletically built player. Unfortunately I think the problem is he was schooled in the PSV system since he was a kid. The Dutch don't play the original total football anymore, but they do still stick to the principles, and one of the biggest principles is to avoid running as much as possible by compensating with movement and changing responsibilities.

In England, we like overlapping full-backs who bomb forward and whip in crosses. I just don't think he could get his head into that system after so many years being told it was wrong.

First of all I thought he'd be better as a centre-back (which he himself said he preferred), and still believe he could have done a job there in the English game, but recently he's been moved back to right-back for Ajax to allow Jaap Stam to play CB, and he is doing fine in the Ajax system.

Posted By: Steve in Holland, Aug 30, 12:56:09