The so-called ‘new manager bounce’, it seems, is not merely limited those taking permanent charge of a new club. For John Heitinga, stepping in for the sacked Alfred Schreuder during Ajax’s Eredivisie trip to Excelsior over the weekend, it was a case of ‘interim manager bounce’ instead.
Following a run of seven without a win in the Dutch top flight – their worst spell in two decades – Ajax blew away the cobwebs. And, more specifically, blew away Excelsior; a confidence-boosting 4-1 win in which the football looked quicker, more incisive and more ruthless than an expectant fanbase has seen for months.
But Heitinga will not need reminding of the improvements that must still be made if Ajax are to claw their way back to the top of the domestic tree. Excelsior’s 1.95 XG was only just shy of Ajax’s 2.12. The hosts caused their visitors no end of headaches on the counter attack, and Edson Alvarez in particular would have been relieved to see goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli in top form between the sticks.
Arsenal reportedly like Ajax enforcer Edson Alvarez
“Edson Alvarez was great last season. Since the summer, he’s been really poor,” Eredivisie expert Mike Bell told the Football Oranje podcast recently.
“Ajax may be thinking we could have got £30 or £40 million in the summer. (Now he will be worth) half that, because he’s been terrible.”
According to The Athletic, the £40 million-rated Alvarez was one of a number of defensively-minded midfielders under consideration by Arsenal during the January transfer window; the Gunners eventually landing Chelsea’s Jorginho on deadline day.
But while you could make a case for those eye-watering Moises Caicedo bids – the Brighton battleaxe is just 21 years of age, after all, and possesses about every attribute you need in a potentially world-class midfielder – Alvarez’s own eye-watering price-tag is becoming increasingly difficult to justify.
He was given the runaround in Rotterdam by an Excelsior side promoted from the second-tier less than 12 months ago; Alvarez performing a passable impression of that guy who used to run marathons with a fridge strapped to his back.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side prides itself upon it’s aggression, energy and it’s speed. On current form, it’s difficult to imagine Alvarez slotting in and looking like a natural fit. .
‘He never passes forwards’
“I’m not a fan of Alvarez,” Dutch legend Wesley Sneijder told Veronica Inside.
“The only thing that Edson Alvarez knows how to do is play the ball sidewards or backwards. He never passes forwards. The truth is that I don’t know how he continues at Ajax because he doesn’t fit with the philosophy. He i’ not worth the 50 million euros they ask for.
“If it’s true that Chelsea bid, I would have sent him to London in the blink of an eye.”
Alvarez, per De Telegraaf, was desperate to seal a switch Stamford Bridge, eventually admitting that he was frustrated to miss out on such an opportunity.
“I am very disappointed,” he said. “But I am convinced that, one day, a big club will come.”
For that to happen, however, Alvarez must quickly rediscover the form that caught Chelsea’s eye in the first place.
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