Anwar El Ghazi told the Ajax Podcast that the difference between fans of his former club and the Aston Villa faithful is that the latter let him ‘eat first’ when he is at a restaurant and they have ‘more respect’.
The versatile technician played for Ajax for a three-year period before that road led him to France and now to Villa Park where he is thriving in the Premier League.
Whatever El Ghazi does in his career, he will always have legendary status in B6 because he scored the opening goal of their play-off final win against Derby.
El Ghazi shared what Aston Villa fans were like leading up to that pressure-cooker of a final nearly three years ago before stating the difference between his current fans and those in Amsterdam.
“Every time I did groceries or whatever you had people everywhere,” said El Ghazi. “Everywhere you had Aston Villa people and saying ‘we have to win this game’. Young people, old people, mothers and fathers. Everyone.
“Then when I scored that goal. I don’t know what feeling came through because if I watched the crowd it was just so amazing, especially after the game when you see people and how happy they were. It just gives me a good feeling if I can make people happy.
On the difference between Villa fans in Birmingham and Ajax fans in Amsterdam: “In England, it’s a little bit less because they have more respect for you.
“If they come to you they are not like ‘El Ghazi, El Ghazi!!!’. It’s like quiet come to you. ‘Can I have a picture?’ Sometimes when I am at a restaurant, they let me eat first before they come to me.”
It’s been five years since El Ghazi was handed an international cap by Holland and he will be hoping to add another to his name this season.
His game time has reduced in recent weeks even though he was nominated for Player of the Month in December after scoring five Premier League goals.
From a technical standpoint, he is one of the best at the club and the talent is there for all to see, it’s just a case of producing the goods on a consistent basis.
But with the platform Dean Smith is building at Villa Park, there’s no reason why he cannot take his game to another level during these next 12 months.
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