Hey guy's,
My first post here. I've been lurking around for a while, but haven't been bothered to post yet.
I'm Dutch and I support Ajax. I think I might be pretty well equipped to tell you something about Davy Klaassen. I've seen a lot of rubbish posted in this thread (no offense). But some of you have surprisingly good knowledge of the Dutch league.
Let me get a few things out of the way first:
The Dutch league is trash - True
Davy Klaassen is a goal scoring midfielder - False
Davy Klaassen is the Dutch Barry Ferguson - False
Davy Klaassen is a good player - True
Dirk Kuyt scores 20 goals in the Dutch League at 36 - True, 15 to be exact (embarrassed and crying)
My first question to you guy's is, what do you expect to get in a player like Klaassen? His stats suggest he is a goal scoring midfielder, but that is in the Dutch League where defenders are crap or inexperienced. I definitely don't see him score 10+ goals a season in the Premier League like Van der Vaart did at Spurs for example. That doesn't mean he is a bad player though. His game really changed this season. Instead of the number 10 people always saw in him, he became more of a dynamic box to box midfielder. He's the one who drives this young Ajax team forward, pressing opponents and linking up defense and attack. And make no mistake, when he is on his game he does this very well. His work rate is second to none. He will run after every ball and press the opponent for 90 minutes. Unfortunately sometimes he goes missing from games and you won't notice him even being on the pitch. In some cases this might have something to do with the opponent. Like in the Europa League Final. Where Man United basically parked the bus and had no intention to play. (Though to be fair to him none of the Ajax players showed up that game and he wasn't going to do it all by himself). In games like that you don't really have good use for Klaassen. He is not a creative player like Eriksen who can open up a defense. He is intelligent though and he knows where to position himself and run between the lines or in gaps left by defenders. This is where he gets his goals.
It's all about expectations (knowing what type of player you get). I don't think he is worth 30 million euro's. But in this day and age and the money available in the Premier League nothing really surprises me. Ajax will try to get the best deal possible and I'm sure Koeman knows him very well and what type of player he is. So there is a match. I hate to see him go, but I understand he needs a new challenge. I personally think Everton is a really good fit, because he is getting a manager who knows exactly how to get the best out of him and Klaassen has room to improve (playing in a better league).
