Willem van Hanegem has criticised Feyenoord goalkeeper Tjark Ernst on the Willem & Wessel podcast. In the same breath, the former Rotterdam player and manager has called for the return of a familiar face.
Last week, Van Hanegem watched Ernst make several mistakes in the 5-1 defeat to FC Barcelona in the Champions League. ''It is not all his fault. But several goals are. I get the feeling he does just too little every time, otherwise he might save them.''
As a possible replacement for Ernst, the retired manager pointed to a familiar name. ''Can’t we bring Bijlow back? That would be nice. You know one thing: he is a Feyenoord man. So why not? You have to make sure you have plenty of real Feyenoord men in your team. That is the very best thing.''
Bijlow swapped Feyenoord for Italian side Genoa in January. On Saturday, the Dutch goalkeeper started the home match against Frosinone, who left with a 1-1 draw.
Van Hanegem was pleased with Sunday's 0-7 win over PEC Zwolle. De Kromme quickly added a note of caution, though. ''If we now start shouting again only about how good it was, then next week you will get another slap in the face. Don’t celebrate too quickly, that is part of Feyenoord.''
Most of all, the Feyenoord follower was pleased for Jivayno Zinhagel, who scored after half-time in Zwolle. ''Another young lad, that does me good. I am not saying he was brilliant straight away. But that goal, that was a great strike. Because he is a Feyenoord boy, I will say he meant it.''
Still, Van Hanegem also pointed to what happened a week earlier. ''It is absurd, though, that last week on the other side another seventeen-year-old lad scored a goal like that as well. It would be nice if they keep that up'', he said, referring to Jerayno Schaken, who scored away to NEC.