Calvin Bassey finds rare Ajax ally as former Rangers defender urges Johan Cruyff mantra to be applied
Frank de Boer has jumped to the defence of his fellow former Ibrox stopper.
Dutch legend Frank de Boer has rushed to the defence of another former Rangers star Calvin Bassey after the Ajax defender was swamped with criticism.
Ajax splashed out £19 million for Bassey in the summer, with the Nigerian international enjoying a superb season as Rangers reached the Europa League Final where they were agonisingly defeated after a penalty shootout by Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt.
But he's been plagued by criticism of his displays with the Amsterdam giants enduring a nightmare season. They sacked Alfred Schreuder last week and interim manager John Heitinga's first act was to drop Bassey to the bench as Ajax chalked up their first win in the Eredivisie since October following a 4-1 victory against Excelsior. However, former Netherlands, Inter Milan, Ajax and Crystal Palace boss de Boer - who had a spell as a player at Rangers in 2004 - has backed Bassey to come good and believes his teammates need to improve. He said: "I think Calvin Bassey is a very good left central defender. I would be very happy with Bassey next to me if I was playing, because he is so fast. They just have to help him with the ball.
"Johan Cruyff sometimes said that the people around you are responsible for how well you play. Ajax should apply that to Bassey because he has a lot of weapons in his armoury. He has to play to his strengths. He is better in the centre of defence and going tight on strikers. He can do that. But at Ajax, when things go badly, then they often find a scapegoat and that's what happened."
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