Jermaine Jenas wasn’t impressed by reported Everton target Gianluca Mancini last night, blaming the Roma defender for Ajax’s opener in the Europa League quarter-final first leg on BT Sport (8 April, 8pm).
Speaking in the build-up to arguably the competition’s most intriguing last-eight tie, Mancini was at pains to point out Roma couldn’t afford to make mistakes against one of the most prolific sides on the continent.
Inevitably, Ajax’s first-half opener – rolled into an empty net by former Toffee Davy Klaassen – came following a catalogue of errors from Paulo Fonseca’s Serie A giants.
Amadou Diawara set the ball rolling, quite literally, with a misplaced pass inside his own half. But it was the usually reliable Mancini who drew Jenas’ ire, standing stock still as Klaassen picked up possession, exchanged passes with Dusan Tadic, and slotted home with consummate ease.
“What’s (Mancini) thinking? He’s got to come out and deal with that,” said the clearly baffled former England and Tottenham ace.
“He just backs off and backs off and backs off and ends up doing nothing. The ball was there for him to win and he allowed Klaassen to take advantage of the situation.
“A really strange goal.”
Thanks to a missed Tadic penalty, plus second-half strikes from Lorenzo Pellegrini and Roger Ibanez, Mancini’s indecision counted for little in the end.
Roma’s 2-1 comeback win in Amsterdam means they are now clear favourites to set up a meeting with Manchester United in the Europa League semi-finals.
In March, Calciomercato reported Carlo Ancelotti’s Everton would have few qualms about meeting Mancini’s £35 million price tag, with Bayern Munich, Inter Milan and Chelsea all keen on the 24-year-old.
But, in the Dutch capital, Mancini certainly didn’t perform like a £35 million centre-half.
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