Danny Buijs suddenly lays into Valentijn Driessen in live interview: ‘He is…’

Danny Buijs has played down last week's run-in with Shiloh 't Zand ahead of Fortuna Sittard's match against Excelsior. The Limburg club's manager says it hasn't been an issue this week.

Last week, with around ten minutes left in NEC's 2-2 draw with Fortuna Sittard, Buijs took 'T Zand off, clearly unhappy with his player's attitude. "Come on, move. Come here. Sit down and behave yourself," Buijs shouted at 'T Zand as he grabbed him and sat him down on the substitutes' bench.

"I haven't actually discussed it with him again at all," Buijs says with a laugh on ESPN. "Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but I think what matters most is what Shiloh and I think of it and how we get on with each other. We have a good relationship. I'd go through fire for him and he would for me, I know that. And yes, what all those other people think of it…"

Turning to Valentijn Driessen, who criticised the incident earlier this week, Buijs says: "These days, people have an opinion on everything. Valentijn Driessen has an opinion on everyone. From Louis van Gaal to Virgil van Dijk, he has an opinion on how Ajax should be run…"

"He wants to be a bit like Johan Derksen, but he isn't," Buijs continues bluntly. "There is only one Johan Derksen, and he isn't him. He's just a reporter at De Telegraaf, but apparently everyone these days feels they have to have an opinion on something. I don't pay much attention to that."

On the Kick-off podcast, Driessen had criticised Buijs' behaviour towards his player. "Danny Buijs is quite hot-headed, but I do think you should keep your hands off players, and he didn't," Driessen said.

"He also demanded that he sit in a particular seat. You're not dealing with babies. He's a very young player, but he is a Suriname international. After that, he just walked off."