'I can imagine the PSV fans are completely fed up with that bloke...'

Ryan Flamingo has come in for heavy criticism from ESPN after PSV’s hard-fought 2-1 win away to Excelsior. The defender lost a key aerial duel to Casper Widell in the second half, which led to the Rotterdam side’s equaliser. Mario Been and Hugo Borst were both critical of the PSV player’s display.

Been's main issue with Flamingo is his lack of ruthlessness. "This is simply a matter of winning your duel and Flamingo loses it quite easily," said the analyst. "Maybe with this kind of ball you need to defend a bit further away from goal."

For Been, the moment reflects a bigger problem in Flamingo’s game. "He loses the duel far too easily and that shows he is not really a ruthless defender. He has had great moments in midfield, especially in his time at Utrecht, but I do not think he is ruthless enough to clear this kind of ball away in central defence."

Borst goes even further. "I do not support PSV, but I can imagine that as a supporter you are completely fed up with that guy," says the columnist, prompting an immediate response from Marciano Vink. Borst also wonders whether a different environment might do Flamingo good.

Vink, however, is keen to defend the 23-year-old centre-back and points to previous strong displays. "When Boscagli was next to him and later Schouten as well in the Champions League, he defended big spaces on his own against real super strikers who are sold for tens of millions. Against Gyökeres (then playing for Sporting CP, ed.), for example, he really stood his ground."

"He is a player who needs confidence," Vink continued. "I also think that goal he scored against Fortuna last week really did a huge amount for him." At the same time, the analyst admits carelessness can sometimes get the better of Flamingo: "That is part of him a little bit."

He then compares him to Frank de Boer. "He used to make these kinds of mistakes as well, only Frank de Boer was also very intelligent, tactically very strong and strong positionally. Flamingo does not have that." Asked whether Flamingo might be more of a midfielder, Vink answers in the affirmative: "He is actually somewhere between a midfielder and a defender."