Van der Vaart critical after Ajax: 'I fear he thinks he is far better than he is...'

Rafael van der Vaart and Wim Kieft hit out at Jorthy Mokio after Ajax's spectacular 5-3 win over FC Sion. The Amsterdam club did seal qualification for the league phase of the Conference League on Thursday evening, but according to the analysts on Ziggo Sport Míchel Sánchez's side once again gave away far too much space.

Ajax made a flying start and led after just 33 seconds through Youri Baas, only for Sion to hit back twice through Winsley Boteli. Van der Vaart in particular spotted the same weakness in transition that he believes has often troubled Ajax. "Ajax often play too openly. You saw that today as well: when they lost the ball, it was immediately extremely dangerous."

For Van der Vaart, Ajax's positioning has to improve. "They all run into the box with their backsides. That all has to improve", said Van der Vaart, who then watched Ajax pull away through goals from Davy Klaassen, Tolu Arokodare and Oliver Edvardsen.

Kieft then turned to Mokio's display. The young Belgian came on in the first half for the injured Youri Regeer and after the break moved into the position Klaassen had occupied earlier. "You can see it with that Mokio as well. He goes and plays in Klaassen's position in the second half. So sloppy! Just keep it simple, you know."

Van der Vaart believes Mokio could be hugely valuable if he simplifies his game. "I get the feeling that if you tell him: you are simply a number six and you don't pass it more than three metres, then you really have a world-class player on your hands."

Still, Van der Vaart has his doubts. "It's just that I fear he thinks he is much better than he ultimately is. Or at this moment, let's say. It looks as if he just wants to play nice football, but it's not youth football anymore, is it."

In Van der Vaart's view, a midfield role at Ajax demands more discipline and pragmatism. "You simply have to be pragmatic there. Ajax currently do not have a number 6 and he can play there. He should really be forcing his way into the starting XI now, in my opinion."