On Easter Monday, Jong Ajax suffered a heavy defeat in the Keuken Kampioen Divisie, losing 6-1 to Vitesse. Defender Aaron Bouwman spoke to ESPN after the match, looking disappointed, and came to a painful conclusion: this isn’t good enough to earn a place in the first team.
“I played very poorly,” began Bouwman, who needed few words to describe his performance. “I could say a lot about it, but it was simply bad.”
The Ajax talent is also unhappy with the team’s performance. “This cannot and must not happen. In the last three minutes of the first half, you suddenly concede two goals.”
“Then you score to make it 3-1 in the second half, but you concede another goal straight away. It was all too easy,” concluded the defender.
Bouwman played his first minutes in over a month, but insists that a lack of match fitness is no excuse for a poor performance. “You know in advance that this match is coming up, so you simply have to be ready.”
After the winter break, Bouwman was given a few opportunities in the first team in Josip Sutalo’s position, but at the moment he has to settle for a role as a substitute. The young defender remains hopeful, though he takes a pessimistic view of the situation for now. “Eventually my chance will come again, but if I perform like I did today, that’s not good enough.”
The 6-1 defeat sees Jong Ajax drop to twentieth place in the Keuken Kampioen Divisie, leaving them bottom of the table once again. Jong Ajax are three points behind Helmond Sport and TOP Oss (35).