It has been a tough year for certain players to adjust to their new lives, and one such player is Hakim Ziyech. His descend back to the bench for the Chelsea squad that faced Real Madrid has made the Dutch legends Dirk Kuyt and Marco Van Basten furious who consider Ziyech is not at the right place.
The Moroccan professional player started his youth career at his hometown club. The seriousness started once he joined the Eredivisie side Heerenveen. There he developed with the youth side for 4 years, before getting his first-team call up in 2012.
He was soon given his debut in the qualifying round of the Europa League. Ziyech went on to have a good stay at his first club. In his two years stay, he made near 50 appearances and scored 13 goals. He joined another Dutch side, Twente on a three-year contract. His time here was the most prolific one as he displayed peak performance.
The attacking midfielder scored 34 goals in just 76 appearances before leaving the club on a rough note. He was stripped of his captaincy after he publicly disrespected the club and requested a transfer. Ajax pounced on the chance and grabbed him on a five-year deal for just €11 million.
He had a decent debut and his first two years at Ajax saw him get better and better. However, he became famous once he was part of the legendary team of the 2018-19 season. They had won the domestic double and were very close to winning a treble.
In the Champions League that season, they defeated the title-holders Real Madrid and star-studded Juventus to reach the semi-finals. They lost to Tottenham Hotspur only to a last-minute goal. Ziyech was hugely involved in the journey that attracted many clubs.
Dutch legends question Tuchel’s choice of not including Ziyech:
Hakim Ziyech made his move to the Premier League side Chelsea which cost them €40 million. He was one of the players who joined under Frank Lampard’s heavy expenditure. Although he was struggling to settle with the league’s pace, he was playing many fixtures for his new club.
However, things cannot be said to be going that smoothly now. After Thomas Tuchel was appointed, many players had to experience less time on the pitch. Since Tuchel is delivering great results, one cannot rebel much. Other than the one-loss against West Brom, Chelsea haven’t lost any fixture since his appointment. They are currently 4th in the Premier League.
Ziyech was in the playing squad that won against Manchester City last week. Moreover, The Blues progressed into the finals of the FA Cup by a solitary goal, which was scored by the man himself. However, despite his match-winning performance, he was dropped to the bench for the league fixture against Brighton and West Ham.
“Ziyech again on the couch. When he gets in, that’s like a striker. He can do that too because he is just a good player. I am sad to see rotation… He’s just not in the right place,” – Van Basten said via Voetbalzone.
“He scored in that FA Cup match against Manchester City. Then you think: well, he’s through it. The next game: boom, on the bench. Then you look at Werner, who can do whatever he wants. He plays over and over. He scored against West Ham, but he could have made one more.”
Ziyech was even on the bench for the first-leg fixture of the Champions League semi-finals against Real Madrid. However, the Dutch legends had already slammed Thomas Tuchel for how he is treating the player post-West Ham match.
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