Steven Bergwijn is no stranger to seeing a bright start give way to long spells of frustration. The Dutch international marked his Tottenham Hotspur debut back in 2020 with a stunning volley in a 2-0 Premier League victory over Manchester City.
But, until that last-gasp brace away at Leicester City 13 months ago, Bergwijn had found himself on a run of just one goal in 36 games across all competitions.
His latest barren spell is not quite that drastic but, not for the first time, the former PSV Eindhoven talisman has descended from feast to famine. In his last 15 appearances for current employers Ajax, Bergwijn has hit the target just once. And that came against relegation-threatened Emmen back in November.
And the frustration etched upon his face told a story on Sunday afternoon; Bergwijn failing to cap one of his liveliest performance in some time with a confidence-boosting goal as Ajax put bottom-of-the-table Cambuur to the sword in Leeuwarden.
“The biggest signing, Steven Bergwijn, is not in the form from the start of the season. Somehow, it seems it’s like the valve is emptying,” former Ajax midfielder Jan van Halst tells Showtime.
“I thought; ‘He’s too good for the Eredivisie’. But, after four or five games, he has already got worse. It also seems that he lacks motivation. It seems that he is playing with lead in his shoes.”
Steven Bergwijn struggling for form after swapping Tottenham for Ajax
The statistics, it must be said, paint a far more positive story. Since joining Ajax in a club-record £26 million deal in June, Bergwijn has eight goals and four assists in just 16 Eredivisie starts. The majority of those, however, came between August and October; the Bergwijn who struck fear into the heart of Dutch defences in late-summer becoming a symbol of Ajax’s malaise as they stumbled towards the end of the ill-fated Alfred Schreuder era, a run of seven league games without a win their worst in two decades.
Under interim boss John Heitinga, the confidence and the goals are flowing again; a 5-0 thrashing of Cambuur blowing away those cobwebs. But, while Dusan Tadic, Steven Berghuis, Brian Brobbey and co already look reborn and revitalised post-Schreuder, Bergwijn still seems stuck in his latest ‘famine’ phase.
“Steven Bergwijn was completely invisible in (the Qatar) World Cup,” two-time Eredivisie Golden Boot winner Wim Kieft tells De Telegraaf. “Last autumn, he had a very short good period against mostly small opponents.
“Playing and performing under pressure on the highest level requires quality. Judging by his failed actions and shots, he lacks that.”
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