Aaron Bouwman believes he has made great strides at Ajax. The centre-back regularly made small mistakes in his first appearances, but those moments have become increasingly rare. He now considers himself a much better footballer.
Speaking to ESPN, the Ajax player looks back with satisfaction on Thursday evening's 2-0 win over Atalanta. The defensive display pleased him most. "The clean sheet felt especially good. It was mentioned straight away in the group that we had finally managed to keep one again," Bouwman says.
Bouwman looks increasingly composed in possession, too. "You always have to stay calm if you want to find space," he explains. For the defender, that means drawing an opponent out of position before finding the unmarked team-mate.
Despite some strong performances early in his time with Ajax's first team, Bouwman made the occasional unnecessary mistake. He puts it mainly down to being too eager: "You want to get in front of your opponent too badly instead of staying behind more calmly, or simply contesting the ball, so that you win those kinds of balls more easily."
After 28 matches for the first team, he notices a clear difference: "I think I can call myself a much better player now than I was a year ago, yes."
Coach Míchel Sánchez has noticed his performances, recently comparing Bouwman to Virgil van Dijk. "It was nice to hear. It's a lovely compliment when the coach says that about you," Bouwman says. Alongside Raphaël Varane, Van Dijk has always been one of his great role models.
Ahead of the away match against Sparta Rotterdam, Bouwman has his sights set on the title race. Ajax are fourth but could benefit this weekend from the meeting between PSV and Feyenoord. The defender is clear about their ambitions: "I definitely think we're right in it. We're fourth now, so we're right in it. We want to win the title."