Steven Berghuis reacted irritably to a question in the mixed zone on Sunday evening. The Ajax winger was asked about coach Míchel's rotation, but he had no interest in discussing it. "I decide for myself what answers I give," Berghuis concluded.
Ajax started well in their home match against sc Heerenveen on Sunday. The Amsterdam side led 2-0 after half an hour through an own goal from Bernt Klaverboer and a long-range strike from Abdellah Ouazane.
Then the game turned. Jakob Trenskow pulled one back for Heerenveen before Maxence Rivera rifled in the 2-2 late on, leaving Ajax to drop points.
"In general, new signings at your club have to train with the squad for four or five weeks, but at some point they must then be ready to start or to play a bit longer, mustn't they?" Berghuis is asked.
"Let me just have a look. The coach is coming too. This seems more like a question for the coach," the veteran responded with some sarcasm. "Yes, but how do you see that?" he is then asked in return.
A second journalist then asks how long it usually takes in Berghuis' experience before everything falls into place at the start of a new season. Berghuis replies with a laugh: "So you thought, I'll take a different approach. Had a good education, did you?"
"There has been a lot of spending, when are we going to see those lads? You've been through these kinds of processes more often, haven't you? I'm not asking an 18-year-old boy," the journalist tries once again.
By then, Berghuis had clearly had enough of the exchange: "Yes, and I decide for myself what answers I give. As a 34-year-old," he concluded.