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Sam Lammers has endured a miserable start to the new season at FC Twente. The striker has dropped behind Wout Weghorst and Lucas Vennegoor of Hesselink in the pecking order, much to his own frustration.
Earlier this week, coach John van den Brom admitted as much on ESPN. "Sam is not happy about it either," he said. "It is simply a matter of communicating, sitting down, and then you understand that players do not like that. I played enough as well and found myself in that situation often enough, I know it is not nice."
Following Twente's 1-0 defeat to Heerenveen, Lammers also addressed the situation himself. "For you, it came into the spotlight a bit after that interview, but for me it had been going on for a bit longer. It is a frustrating period, that seems clear to me."
He then went into more detail. "There was already less communication with me. It was only last week that I had a real conversation for the first time. They made it clear to me what the order was. That also ended up in the media, because the coach brought it out. For me, it was a bizarre start to the season. It is a shitty situation," he said.
Lammers quickly turned his focus to what comes next. "I said that I find it hard to understand, but I also immediately said that I will keep giving everything every day, every match," he said. "I am trying to make the best of it, I cannot blame myself for anything. This is a choice by the club, and I have to deal with that. What will happen? We will see. If needed, I will be there."
Van den Brom later offered further explanation. "We are trying to create clarity within the squad, to give the lads perspective. As long as Sam is with us, we will use him. He is simply a good striker. We have three good strikers, and we have determined an order among them, that is all."
Speaking on the matter, technical director Erik ten Hag insisted Lammers had not asked to leave. "No, he has not asked whether he may leave," he said. "We have spoken and we made it very clear what his position is at this moment. John (van den Brom, ed.) communicated that to him. But that can also change again just like that. No, so he has not yet let us know that he wants to leave."