Van Hanegem calls for the return of an old familiar face at Feyenoord

Willem van Hanegem has hit out at Feyenoord goalkeeper Tjark Ernst in the Willem & Wessel podcast. The former player and coach of the Rotterdam club also wants an old acquaintance back.

He watched Ernst make several mistakes last week in the 5-1 Champions League defeat to FC Barcelona. ''It is not all his fault. But several of the goals are. I get the feeling that he does just too little every time; otherwise he might save them.''

As a possible replacement for Ernst, Van Hanegem puts forward a familiar name. ''Can’t we bring Bijlow back? That would be nice. You know one thing: he is a Feyenoord man. So why not? You have to make sure you have a lot of real Feyenoord men in your team. That is the very best thing.''

In January, Bijlow swapped Feyenoord for Italian side Genoa. Last Saturday, the Dutch goalkeeper was between the posts for the home game against Frosinone, who left with a 1-1 draw.

Sunday’s 0-7 win over PEC Zwolle pleased Van Hanegem. De Kromme did, however, strike a note of caution straight away. ''If we now start shouting again only about how good it was, then next week you will get another slap in the face. Don’t celebrate too quickly, that is part of Feyenoord.''

What pleased the Feyenoord watcher most was Jivayno Zinhagel, who scored after the break in Zwolle. ''Another young lad, that does me good. I’m not saying he was brilliant straight away. But that goal, that was a terrific strike. Because he is a Feyenoord man, I will say he meant it.''

Van Hanegem then pointed to another teenager. ''It is absurd that last week on the other side another seventeen-year-old lad also scored a goal like that. It would be nice if they keep it up,'' he says, referring to Jerayno Schaken, who scored away at NEC.