Willem van Hanegem critical of specific Ajax player: 'I find him worked up this season'

Willem van Hanegem has had his say on Ajax after Saturday's 2-2 home draw with Excelsior. In his column in Algemeen Dagblad he discusses, among other things, the penalty that was not given after the alleged foul by Youri Baas on Irakli Yegoian.

Van Hanegem praised goalkeeper Stijn van Gassel. "He played very well against Ajax. Ajax had enough chances to win, but let's not exaggerate about their play either."

"After an hour they were simply behind at home against Excelsior and in the end they dropped two costly points," wrote De Kromme, who watched the Kralingers go ahead in the second half through Aymen Sliti. "Undeserved? Ajax were better, but afterwards they could still be satisfied with it."

"Baas, who I find a bit wound up this season, kicks Yegoian in the face and it is a mystery to me that they did not see a penalty in that in Zeist. That would have made it 2-3," judged the 82-year-old former footballer.

Nor did Van Hanegem sound impressed by the refereeing. "I hear that that referees' chief (Raymond van Meenen, ed.) loses half his morning every Monday telling clubs that they have been wronged."

"Well, then Excelsior will probably get a phone call as well. Earlier, that kind of foul cost Joey Veerman a red card against AZ, now at Ajax it was nothing," Van Hanegem said about Baas's high foot in the face of the Excelsior player.

He also questioned Ajax's team selection. "I think Ajax could have made quick work of Excelsior with Tolu Arokodare in the starting XI. There are now three weeks without league matches, so why not start with the best striker? If he was not completely fresh, they could still have tried it from the start, right? Now he also plays quite a long time as a substitute," the Feyenoord legend concluded.