The next Van Nistelrooy?
After his phenomenal goal scoring feats with Ajax in the Dutch Eredivisie, Huntelaar has naturally drawn comparisons with Ruud Van Nistelrooy. Huntelaar, like Van Nistelrooy, has the rarest of talents, the natural ability to get to the right place at the right time. Simply put, Huntelaar is a goal scorer. There are a less than a dozen players currently playing in Europe who can guarantee you 20 goals or more a season and Huntelaar, while playing in the Dutch league at least, has been one of them. The Dutch Eredivisie is considered a second tier competition by European standards and herewith lies the problem. Statistics can be misleading if the standard of the leagues are not taken into account. Mateja Kezman was the top scorer in Holland for three seasons but he hardly set the world alight when he arrived at Chelsea. Many believe Huntelaar’s pace will let him down in the quicker leagues of Spain, Italy or England. Nevertheless, slower goal scoring forwards can survive in the top leagues as long as they can understand and read the game. We only have to look to craft and guile of Henrik Larsson or Teddy Sheringham in past seasons.
Improvement in Huntelaar’s game
Over the last season Huntelaar has tried to expand his game outside of just finding the back of the net. He has started to show for the ball in better positions, make better decisions with his combination play and improve his somewhat jumpy first touch. Still, as a player, Huntelaar bears more resemblance to Filippo Inzaghi at AC Milan than he does to Van Nistelrooy. There is a common misconception that Van Nistelrooy is only a finisher but his ability to link the play and make the best decisions at the highest level was on full display for Holland during the Group stages of the European Championships this summer. It’s reasonable to assume that Huntelaar will struggle to fill the shoes of Van Nistelrooy in the national team. Although his goal scoring talents have been almost peerless domestically, his lack of pace to stretch defenses or give midfielders the option for longer defense turning passes could continue to haunt him. Until now, despite Huntelaar’s dedication to improving his game, it is clear that his contribution remains restricted to pure finishing and finding space.
The future at Ajax
What it boils down to is that Huntelaar may not be a fantastic player but he is a fantastic striker. Stereotypically, a striker scores the goals for the team and traditionally a player’s worth can be justified if, after doing nothing for the entire game, he can grab a winner in the dying seconds. Huntelaar has been that type of player for Ajax. However, if Van Basten’s purchasing spree is anything to go by it is clear that he is ready to give himself different options in the central striking position of Ajax’s 4-3-3. Van Basten has shown confidence in Huntelaar by throwing him the captain’s armband but Ajax have also prepared themselves with a plan ‘B’ by signing nippy Serbian teenager Miralem Sulejmani, Argentina bred Croatian forward Dario Cvitanich and youth team forward Darko Bodul in the off season. With so many options available and a youth academy full of promising forwards Ajax are clearly geared for life without their current captain.
What is Huntelaar’s next move?
Sooner or later Huntelaar will head overseas; it is the nature of Dutch football business. To be successful Huntelaar needs to sign for a team where he is expected to do little for 90 minutes but put the ball in the net. Arsenal and Manchester United may lead Huntelaar’s personal wish list but the Ajax man would not be quick enough to fit in with their style of play. Luiz Felipe Scolari often relied on the poaching talents of Nuno Gomes with Portugal and in that system of play Huntelaar would be the perfect match at Chelsea. Carlos Ancelotti’s AC Milan is also a team that suits the Dutch striker and with the aging Inzaghi slowly running out of time and maybe luck, you might think that the Rossoneri would be scrambling across Europe to land the comparable Huntelaar. How good Huntelaar will become depends on where he ends up after Ajax. He has a lot to do to develop his game and at 25 years old time could be against him. He will continue to honour the Ajax tradition by adding goals to their flowing football but it may be a sign of the times in Amsterdam that questions are being raised about his chances of succeeding abroad. Still, the bottom line is, if Huntelaar can keep on scoring then fame will follow no matter how well he plays.
Matthew Wheatley
After his phenomenal goal scoring feats with Ajax in the Dutch Eredivisie, Huntelaar has naturally drawn comparisons with Ruud Van Nistelrooy. Huntelaar, like Van Nistelrooy, has the rarest of talents, the natural ability to get to the right place at the right time. Simply put, Huntelaar is a goal scorer. There are a less than a dozen players currently playing in Europe who can guarantee you 20 goals or more a season and Huntelaar, while playing in the Dutch league at least, has been one of them. The Dutch Eredivisie is considered a second tier competition by European standards and herewith lies the problem. Statistics can be misleading if the standard of the leagues are not taken into account. Mateja Kezman was the top scorer in Holland for three seasons but he hardly set the world alight when he arrived at Chelsea. Many believe Huntelaar’s pace will let him down in the quicker leagues of Spain, Italy or England. Nevertheless, slower goal scoring forwards can survive in the top leagues as long as they can understand and read the game. We only have to look to craft and guile of Henrik Larsson or Teddy Sheringham in past seasons.
Improvement in Huntelaar’s game
Over the last season Huntelaar has tried to expand his game outside of just finding the back of the net. He has started to show for the ball in better positions, make better decisions with his combination play and improve his somewhat jumpy first touch. Still, as a player, Huntelaar bears more resemblance to Filippo Inzaghi at AC Milan than he does to Van Nistelrooy. There is a common misconception that Van Nistelrooy is only a finisher but his ability to link the play and make the best decisions at the highest level was on full display for Holland during the Group stages of the European Championships this summer. It’s reasonable to assume that Huntelaar will struggle to fill the shoes of Van Nistelrooy in the national team. Although his goal scoring talents have been almost peerless domestically, his lack of pace to stretch defenses or give midfielders the option for longer defense turning passes could continue to haunt him. Until now, despite Huntelaar’s dedication to improving his game, it is clear that his contribution remains restricted to pure finishing and finding space.
The future at Ajax
What it boils down to is that Huntelaar may not be a fantastic player but he is a fantastic striker. Stereotypically, a striker scores the goals for the team and traditionally a player’s worth can be justified if, after doing nothing for the entire game, he can grab a winner in the dying seconds. Huntelaar has been that type of player for Ajax. However, if Van Basten’s purchasing spree is anything to go by it is clear that he is ready to give himself different options in the central striking position of Ajax’s 4-3-3. Van Basten has shown confidence in Huntelaar by throwing him the captain’s armband but Ajax have also prepared themselves with a plan ‘B’ by signing nippy Serbian teenager Miralem Sulejmani, Argentina bred Croatian forward Dario Cvitanich and youth team forward Darko Bodul in the off season. With so many options available and a youth academy full of promising forwards Ajax are clearly geared for life without their current captain.
What is Huntelaar’s next move?
Sooner or later Huntelaar will head overseas; it is the nature of Dutch football business. To be successful Huntelaar needs to sign for a team where he is expected to do little for 90 minutes but put the ball in the net. Arsenal and Manchester United may lead Huntelaar’s personal wish list but the Ajax man would not be quick enough to fit in with their style of play. Luiz Felipe Scolari often relied on the poaching talents of Nuno Gomes with Portugal and in that system of play Huntelaar would be the perfect match at Chelsea. Carlos Ancelotti’s AC Milan is also a team that suits the Dutch striker and with the aging Inzaghi slowly running out of time and maybe luck, you might think that the Rossoneri would be scrambling across Europe to land the comparable Huntelaar. How good Huntelaar will become depends on where he ends up after Ajax. He has a lot to do to develop his game and at 25 years old time could be against him. He will continue to honour the Ajax tradition by adding goals to their flowing football but it may be a sign of the times in Amsterdam that questions are being raised about his chances of succeeding abroad. Still, the bottom line is, if Huntelaar can keep on scoring then fame will follow no matter how well he plays.
Matthew Wheatley
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