Already an integral part of the Ajax first team, Riechedly Bazoer’s rise to stardom looks set to continue this season.
- By Chaka Simbeye
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Riechedly Bazoer is extremely talented but the thing that could guide him in his career is his abundance of character. A player who has turned down Manchester City, left PSV for Ajax, had a phone thrown at him while playing for Ajax against PSV and was berated with racial slurs in a match away against ADO Den Haag all in his fledgling career. However, he continues to progress as he is already an integral part of Ajax’ makeup. His beautifully floated chip for Viktor Fischer away at FC Twente last season and his strike against Feyenoord in Der Klassieker added glitz to a solid season for him. The season before he had a 100% pass success rate in his first few games and scored in the Europa League knockout phase. For someone with such god gifted physique, strength meshing with fine technical skills, he should be controlling games for Ajax as he did last season.
Playing style
His career began at centre-back and there is fair bit of dark irony that him and Jorrit Hendrix won the Under 17 Euros as centre-back partnership and have both excelled in midfield professionally, only playing together in midfield at Under 21 level. He is stocky and intelligent on the ball and is the deep-lying playmaker to Nemanja Gudelj’s box to box midfielder and for the Dutch National Team, he is the pivot in front of the defence. His ability on the ball is spectacular, being able to pick someone out with some of the finest long balls you will see, while he is also clever to work elegant one-twos in tight spaces. He is strong enough to shield the ball from opponents while has the energy to drive the ball from deep while his shooting improved last season from the season before. He seemed to struggle at times last season, especially when Frank De Boer switched to the diamond 3-4-3 as he was either out wide or left to build up from deep with static movement in front of him. He has not learned to take games by the scruff of the neck which should come with experience. Under Peter Bosz, one might wonder who is midfield partner is as the choice should be between Gudelj and Jairo Riedewald. With Bosz’ higher press and constant engaging of the opposition, he will be a vital conduit in recycling the ball to attackers.
What does the future hold for Bazoer?
He is on the shortlist of most Europe’s finest but has made it clear that his immediate future is in Amsterdam while he continues a new cycle at club and international level. He mixes raw physique and elegance while being the modern all-round midfielder. This stage of his career should be about learning and gaining experience while pining down his best role in order for him to shoulder responsibility and not be limited. A player that could certainly be a top midfielder for a top club in the future but now, his talents are exclusive to Ajax and the Eredivisie as we can only hope that they can continue to hone his style.
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