Arsenal and Liverpool take note - Jordy Clasie is ready to join a Premier League giant

[Marlo Stanfield]

Judging when an Eredivisie player is ready to join a top team in a bigger league can be difficult. There are famous cases of players starring in the Dutch top flight only to fail completely at a higher level and drift into footballing obscurity. On other occasions, players such as Wilfried Bony need a medium-sized club to aid the transition to the big time, while some - such as Ruud van Nistelrooy - have no problems adapting.

 

At the moment, there are few clearer examples of a player ready to leave Netherlands and go straight to a top side than Feyenoord's Jordy Clasie.

 

In Sunday’s Klassieker match against fierce rivals Ajax, Feyenoord ensured they have a massive influence in the Dutch title race. Drawing 0-0 with the four-times reigning champions in Amsterdam, they were extremely unlucky not to win. While the attention will be on the worryingly flat performance from Ajax and widening of the gap between them and league leaders PSV to six points, it should instead be on this diminutive young player who completely dominated the match.

 

Not one player made as many passes as Clasie, who notched up 84, and the Netherlands international maintained one of the highest passing success rates in the entire game at 86.9 per cent. His 109 touches were more than anyone on the pitch, while Ajax's Niklas Moisander and Thulani Serero were the only players make as many interceptions as he - four.

 

However, those stats do not do justice to his performance in the Dutch capital. Throughout the match, Clasie was king. And that has been the case for much of the campaign.

 

Player Stats — Jordy Clasie

 

 

Ajax played with an uncharacteristically narrow style on Sunday, which played directly into the hands of Clasie, who prevented them from making much of an impression in the final third - they recorded one shot on target.

 

Clasie dominates the area from his side’s box to halfway into opposition territory, and from here he bosses the game. Like a bulldog in the middle of the pitch, his quick reactions and incredible desire to win every ball make him a marvel to watch. That he knows how to get it and, importantly, what to do with it, allows him to control matches.

 

In the 4-3 thriller against PSV towards the end of 2014, Clasie was spectacular, showing off his ability to snatch up possession in midfield, kill off the opponents’ attack and kick start one for his own in one smooth movement. He set up two goals for his side that way, but was unlucky to see them lose at the death.

 

Watching from the stands on Sunday, Daley Blind must have felt exceptionally lucky to have earned the favour of Louis van Gaal when he did. While a sound controller of Eredivisie games in his only season in that position at Ajax, Blind could never truly own matches the way Clasie has done this season. Clasie has more steel and would be of greater importance to the Red Devils in front of the defence, while his passing range is superior. Any Manchester United fans who have seen Clasie this season will feel their side bought the wrong Dutch midfielder in the son of Van Gaal’s World Cup assistant.

 

Feyenoord are lucky to still have the 23-year-old. He was close to a move to Porto, but considering the misfortune of Eredivisie exports to Portugal like Ola John, Filip Djuricic, Ricky van Wolfswinkel and Miralem Sulejmani, it may have been for the better that the deal fell through.

 

Clasie remained at De Kuip ready to help them get over the losses of Stefan de Vrij, Bruno Martins Indi, Daryl Janmaat, Graziano Pelle and coach Ronald Koeman. They had a rough start to the campaign, but an instantaneous turnaround has seen them become a completely different beast, playing more effective football than they did under the now Southampton coach.

 

The 5 foot 6 inches midfielder is was crucial to that turnaround and he is ready to rise from the magnificent training league that is the Eredivisie. But where should he go?

 

Despite his lack of height, Clasie is made for the Premier League. Any side in the English top flight looking for a defensive midfielder should come in for him. It's as simple as that.

 

Arsenal and Liverpool would both be boosted immensely by the acquisition of this technically adept youngster with an awesome attitude and incredible fighting spirit. The Gunners need a defensive midfielder, that much has been obvious for some time. Clasie winning the ball and turning it on to the likes of Santi Cazorla and Alexis Sanchez would be quite the spectacle.

 

Southampton, too, must be on the lookout. Morgan Schneiderlin has been constantly linked to a move away from St Mary's and Koeman has suggested he will continue to look at the Eredivisie for potential signings, following the success of Toby Alderweireld, Dusan Tadic and Graziano Pelle.

 

Clasie and Koeman have an incredible relationship. So strong that, as the former Barcelona player said goodbye to the Feyenoord fans after his last game in charge of the De Kuip club, Clasie was seen in the centre circle in tears.

 

"I will never forget him," Clasie said to the TV cameras afterwards, almost bursting into tears again.

 

"He taught me to be a leader and showed me how and when I could put pressure on the ball and the opponent, he explained how I could get the best in a game tactically.

 

"He basically raised me!"

 

Koeman did a great job in helping turn a raw midfield talent, who was once deemed too small to play professionally, into a star in his homeland. The coach would be wise to cash in on that admiration and love that Clasie has for him, but he will almost certainly have some tough competition for arguably the best midfielder in the Dutch top flight.

 

@Goal

[Luís Silvares]

3 em 5, not bad! :mrgreen:

[Sima01]

Equipamento do feyenoord :prayer:

 

O meu equipamento favorito

[Maffu]

O Feyenoord tem lá um médio melhor que ele :cool: