Bundesliga flop is 'more complete' than €100m Real Madrid target Gimenez
Tom Weber
- 18 Nov 2023 09:35 CST
- 3 min read
Former Ajax and PSV striker Wim Kieft believes that much-maligned forward Brian Brobbey is a more complete striker than his celebrated Eredivisie rivals.
Feyenoord's Mexican sensation Santiago Gimenez and AZ's Vangelis Pavlidis have been in the spotlight in the Dutch top flight this season for their exceptional goalscoring exploits. On the other end of the spectrum is Brian Brobbey.
Like most Ajax players, the 21-year-old has not had an easy time of it this term. Once highly rated, the forward is now more known for his missing of big chances and his brief stint at RB Leipzig that saw him feature in just 250 minutes, scoring zero goals.
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Even Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman recently fired shots at him, saying: "We were shooting [in training] and you saw that his first touch and the way he finished was not good."
Nevertheless, former Eredivisie star Wim Kieft is convinced that Brobbey has a higher ceiling than someone like Gimenez, who has been touted for a record-breaking transfer amid links to Real Madrid.
What did Kieft say?
"In the Netherlands," Kieft wrote in De Telegraaf, "there is a lot of excitement about Giménez (Feyenoord) and Pavlidis (AZ), but I think Brobbey is more complete, faster and with a higher speed of action. One day those goals will come when the confidence is there. John van 't Schip knows that and does it well at Ajax by giving Brobbey that confidence."
Regarding Koeman's quotes, Kieft responded angrily: "If you have some empathy, you can empathise with the feelings and thoughts of a striker, then it is stupid for a national coach to question the scoring ability of such a person. Especially if you, as a coach, need that boy to score goals in international matches. With his comments, Koeman only made the problem for Brobbey worse in this case."
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"Behind Memphis Depay, I see Brobbey as the future striker of the Netherlands. For him, scoring breeds trust and when that comes, you won't hear from anyone about his first touch anymore."
