Borussia Dortmund coach Niko Kovac gave his assessment of Joey Veerman's performances at a press conference on Friday.
After his €22 million move from PSV to Dortmund last summer, the playmaker took time to settle but has started the last few matches.
"The pace here in the Bundesliga is much more intense than in the Netherlands," Kovac said ahead of Dortmund's league match against SV Elversberg. "Defending here is also much more intense, and there is more of it than in the Netherlands."
While playing styles in the Netherlands and Germany differ sharply, Kovac believes Veerman is now 'right at the top' when in possession. "In the Netherlands, much more importance is attached to playing football," he explained.
"What I like so much about Joey on the ball is simply his simplicity. In that simplicity lies the difficulty, but also the beauty. You don't need to play backheels or do other complicated things, because he has to try to move the play from back to front."
"He does that very well, of course in conjunction with the players around him," Kovac said. "But you can see that the central defenders in particular have a lot of confidence in him. They keep looking for him. He repeatedly positions himself very well, with excellent body positioning, so that he can move the play forward quickly or
switch the play."
Kovac believes Veerman's move to Dortmund has been a resounding success so far. "He is a very intelligent player who looks ahead. He doesn't wait until he has the ball to try to find a solution; he already has one ready before he receives it. That means his decision-making is lightning-fast. So it benefits not only him, but above all the team."