Ziyech DOES have midas Dutch
VAN BASTEN GAVE HAKIM HOLLAND AXE... NOW HE RECKONS CHELSEA STAR IS THE NEW ARJEN ROBBEN
MARCO VAN BASTEN has hailed Hakim Ziyech as the new Arjen Robben – five years after telling the Chelsea star he wasn’t 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 (above) still insists it was the right decision – despite admitting that Chelsea’s £35million summer signing has now matured into a player comparable to former Blues star Robben.
Van Basten said: “Yes, we have a history, but when Ziyech was 17 I could see he was a big talent. He has done it in his own way. Most players leave this country early and 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. It is a proper way to build your career.
“Ziyech is 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.
Ten days later he played in the Eredivisie for the first time – but was hauled off at half-time in a 2-0 home defeat by 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.
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 international debut for Morocco despite featuring for Holland’s youth and Under-21 teams.
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 USA 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 has since labelled the player “stupid.”
But he explained: “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 it was my fault but I don’t think it was.”
Van Basten added: “I still remember him as a 17- year- old when he stunned everyone with a goal from his own half. It was his attitude that would decide how far his talent would reach. But Ziyech has really got it going.
“His passing and crossing has been brilliant so far at Chelsea.
“Ziyech plays with a lot of risk. Some passes don’t get there and that makes a team vulnerable to counters. If the pass is good, it can be a goal. If it is not good, it can lead to danger.”