Valentijn Driessen cannot understand Ajax's decision to bring Yves Bissouma to Amsterdam. De Telegraaf's football editor fears the Mali midfielder would bring more problems than solutions.
On Today Inside, Driessen delivers a blunt verdict on Bissouma. "He's some Malian who is more into nitrous oxide than he is present at training," he says.
Two years ago, Tottenham Hotspur suspended Bissouma on disciplinary grounds after a video appeared on social media showing him using nitrous oxide. "Nitrous oxide for recreational use, and for a footballer at that!" Driessen laments.
What Driessen really cannot understand is how a move for Bissouma fits with Ajax's earlier decisions. "Jordi Cruijff didn't want Noa Lang because he was supposedly a difficult footballer, but if you bring this one in... Then you really are bringing in problems."
On Monday evening, head coach Míchel Sánchez also came in for criticism from Driessen. The journalist disagrees with the Spaniard's decision to start Oliver Edvardsen on the left wing against Fortuna Sittard in a 5-1 win. "As long as you don't play your best player, Ouazane, you will never be champions. That Míchel doesn't do that."
Even Julian Brandt does not escape Driessen's criticism despite his fine opening goal. "In Germany they thought that Brandt was a soft touch. When there was a battle to be fought, he wasn't there," the reporter says.
Afterwards, Driessen also dismissed Brandt's explanation as too easy. The midfielder said he was unhappy with his first half and therefore reacted in a subdued way to his goal. "He took that shot very well, but afterwards it is all too easy to say: I didn't play well, that's why I didn't celebrate."