Kieft: 'Someone has to tell that boy that he can't do it any more...'

Translated by Wim Kieft questioned Bram Nuytinck's role in the NEC defence on Monday evening. The 36-year-old defender started against Feyenoord on Saturday in the absence of Philippe Sandler, but Kieft felt it became painfully clear that Nuytinck struggles with the way the Nijmegen side want to defend. With coach Dick Schreuder favouring an attacking style, NEC's defenders often find themselves exposed in big spaces, Kieft noted. "Even with Sandler, NEC did not have a great deal of pace. Now Nuytinck was in there... Someone really needs to tell him that he can't do it anymore, don't they?" On Rondo, Valente's 1-2 was singled out in particular. A long ball was flicked on, then Valente burst through from midfield to restore Feyenoord's lead. Youri Mulder saw it as a clear consequence of NEC's tactical choices: "That is the consequence of going one-on-one all over the pitch." Theo Janssen felt Nuytinck himself could also have anticipated his lack of pace in that situation. "If you're Nuytinck and you know: OK, I'm not the quickest, and that long ball is coming, then you could also think: let Ferri head it. I'll already drop five metres deeper and gamble on picking up that second ball." Rafael van der Vaart believes the problem does not lie with Nuytinck alone, but also with NEC's system. "If you play this system, then a defender like Nuytinck will indeed always end up in trouble. Then it has to be very quick and very good, and those kinds of players often do not play at a higher level than NEC," said the former midfielder. Still, Van der Vaart is pleased NEC are willing to play in such an attacking way. "It's nice and you're going to win a lot of matches, but if things are not quite working, you just get slaughtered."