Frank de Boer has questioned Ajax manager Míchel's decision to hand Jofre Torrents his first start in the Amsterdam club's away defeat. The former Ajax manager believes the 19-year-old left-back was thrown in at the deep end and would rather have seen Owen Wijndal in the starting XI.
After the match, De Boer took aim at Míchel's decision in the Ziggo Sport studio. "So now you put in a left-back who has never played before... I don't want to blame him, because it's not just his fault, but to start that 19-year-old for the first time in an atmosphere like that... I would rather have seen Wijndal, to be honest."
Torrents arrived from FC Barcelona last summer but had barely played for Ajax's first team before his first start. De Boer questioned why Míchel picked the Spaniard for an away match of this kind.
When presenter Sam van Royen asked whether Míchel had made a mistake, the former national-team manager replied: "It's always a risk to start a young player in a match like that. You want to start a match like that well, but he has hardly played a match yet."
Míchel also faced questions afterwards about Jofre Torrents' performance, with the defender playing a negative part in both goals conceded. "He made a mistake for the second goal, but his performance wasn't bad," the Spaniard replied.
In the Ziggo Sport studio, Van Royen pointed to other young players De Boer had given an early chance at Ajax, but the former manager rejected the comparison. "They had proved themselves in the second team," said De Boer. "They had played enough minutes to be strong and ready for minutes in the first team."
De Boer also felt Ajax again failed to show the control expected of them. "Normally, you force those moments. It's clear they're not in good form, because how secure you are on the ball often shows how good you are as a team."
For De Boer, Ajax's problems went beyond the decision to start Torrents. "A team that wants to dominate, like Ajax, depends on that above all. They didn't show it again today, which is why they keep conceding those goals. That really has to stop," warned the former international.