Henk Fraser has named Etienne Vaessen as a potential signing for Feyenoord. The Suriname national team coach believes the FC Groningen goalkeeper is good enough to be first choice at De Kuip.
Fraser regularly works with Vaessen in the Suriname national team and knows the goalkeeper's qualities. "He plays a very important part in our build-up from the back. You have an extra man," he says on Sunday's Goedemorgen Eredivisie on ESPN.
"For me, he would actually be an excellent goalkeeper for Feyenoord. With the ability on the ball they already have, he would make the team even stronger," Fraser tells Giovanni van Bronckhorst, the manager of the Vriendenloterij Eredivisie leaders.
Presenter Milan van Dongen asks Fraser whether Vaessen is better than Tjark Ernst, Feyenoord's current number one. The Suriname coach won't say for certain. Hans Kraay junior has no doubts. "He is better than Ernst."
As for Vaessen, Fraser stresses that he has "a really good relationship" with him. "I love players like that, like Memphis Depay and Royston Drenthe. When they're angry, they ignore you. And when they're happy, they could give you a French kiss."
Henk Timmer, who is also present, knows that Vaessen has "certain outbursts". "He says it himself: I'm hyperactive, I have ADHD, I want to get involved with the crowd and be able to flick a ball up behind my heel. What matters to me is that he's a good goalkeeper."
As Vaessen gets older, Timmer hopes he will become calmer as a goalkeeper. "If he really focuses and keeps his mind on goalkeeping, he's a really good goalkeeper. He has to stop those round things. And his kicks out are fantastic."