YES, WE DO HAVE A THE TALENT AND THE says his ex-boss
MARCO VAN BASTEN has hailed Hakim Ziyech as the new Arjen Robben – five years after telling the Chelsea winger he was not good enough for Holland.
Van Basten, the Dutch legend who helped his country become European champions in 1988, has endured an uneasy relationship with Ziyech since handing him his senior debut when he was a teenager at Heerenveen.
And in the summer of 2015 – after being made assistant manager of the national team he had served with such distinction – the advice Van Basten gave to head coach Danny Blind not to pick Ziyech prompted the player to turn his back on the country of his birth to represent Morocco.
Van Basten insists it was the right decision – despite admitting Chelsea’s £35million summer signing, 27, has now matured into a player comparable to ex-Blues star Robben (below).
Van Basten said: “Yes, we have a history – but when Ziyech was 17 years old at Heerenveen I could see he was a big talent.
“Ziyech has done it in his own way. Most players leave this country early and then face a difficult time.
“He has followed a different route. From Heerenveen to
FC Twente and to Ajax and now he has arrived at
Chelsea. He has kept developing himself.
“It is a proper way to build up your career.
“He has got something similar to Arjen Robben in that he not only has the talent but also the brain to see things in a game.”
Ziyech, born in the town of
Dronten to Moroccan parents, was handed his Heerenveen debut by Van Basten against
Rapid Bucharest in the Europa League.
Then, later that same month, he played in the Eredivisie for the first time.
But he was hauled off at halftime in a 2-0 home defeat to NEC Nijmegen and was banished to the reserves for six months.
Ziyech claimed Van Basten never gave him an explanation and felt his progress stalled.
However, fans voted him their Player of the Year the following season and he was sold to FC Twente before joining Ajax in 2016.
By then he had made his debut for Morocco, despite having previously featured for Holland’s youth teams and Under-21s.
Guus Hiddink’s plan to cap Ziyech at senior level failed when injury forced the winger to drop out of the squad named to face the United States in a friendly and Lithuania in a Euro qualifier in May 2015.
It was when Hiddink’s successor Blind made Van Basten his right-hand man later that year that Ziyech committed himself to Morocco.
Van Basten added: “I felt he should make his own choice. I did not think we had to go down on our knees and beg him to come and play for Holland.
“It was almost a situation of, ‘Please Hakim, come and help us’, and I still have the same opinion about that.
“We did not select him because FC Twente were 17th in the table.
“I know it was a painful experience for him and people have made out that it was my fault – but I don’t think that it was.
“I a still remember him as 17-year-old, when he stunned everyone with a goal from his own half. ‘ That was pure class.
“I could always see his talent. “It was his attitude that would decide how far his talent would reach.
“But Ziyech is proving it now. He has really got it going.
“His passing and crossing has been brilliant so far at Chelsea. “Ziyech plays with a lot of risk in his game. Some passes don’t get there and that makes a team vulnerable for counters.
“If the pass is good, it can be a goal. If it is not good, it can lead to danger.”