A video of the USA vs CAN game came up on my YouTube page and I noticed Dest just neutralized Davies in that game. We are lucky to have Dest.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions... but after the 2 month tear Pulisic just went on I think it's certifiably insane to say anyone but CP is the best American in the world. I'm still curious what Ajax will do. I think they're waiting out the market. But I seriously doubt Maz and Dest both are Ajax players by the start of the year.
When healthy... it isn't even all that close right now.... CP is in a class all by himself. I can only hope that another USMNT player reaches that elite level in the next couple of years. Dest and Gio have the best shots to do it IMO... only time will tell.
Sergiño Dest compared to all other Eredivisie fullbacks with at least 1,000 minutes played this season. @FCBarcelona, you know what to do.New and improved radars with the help of the brilliant @slothfulwave612. #Ajax #Dest #USMNT #Eredevisie #Barcelona pic.twitter.com/xeuAGI7MSf— Sam Gustafson (@GoalAnalysis) August 4, 2020
In my opinion, by next year Dest will be the best playa in the program... youknowwhatImsayinladies... https://lifeafterfootball.eu/sergino-dest-in-colmar/
Earnest Stewart about why Dest chose to play for the USA: https://www.ajaxshowtime.com/article/opinie/132999/stewart-daardoor-heeft-dest-voor-amerika-gekozen
For as much grief as I give Earnie and Egg, you gotta chalk one up in the win column for them with Dest. That was an absolutely massive achievement. Based on that article, it does seem like the entire program should share the fruits of success, as he was identified early with the US, and that clearly made an impact on his decision (I believe he said as much in his announcement). Still - those two landed him. And it could have gone haywire, Jon Gonzalez style. Even from a broad perspective, both of those guys (and McBride) seem to have improved with the communication. It was real concerning with, I think, Araujo said nobody was in touch with him. But more and more these last few months, any time I see a story on a young guy, he says he's been in touch with Egg.
Dest agent denies contacts with Barcelona: https://www.voetbalprimeur.nl/nieuw...ampname=highlighted-content&camplink=onderaan A soccershow pundit told Bayern were out and Dest was going to Barcelona. In the Ajax linked paper Telegraaf (they get always the scoops from Ajax) Dest agent says that Barcelona hasnot approached Dest, nor most likely Ajax is as there's no scoop about that in de Telegraaf. Ajax has a firm line drawn, that who wants Dest has to pay the transfersum wanted. Up til now Bayern isnot close to that line. They even prefer to hire him, which both Ajax and Dest reject. Nobody knows what transfersum Ajax wants, but it's rumoured to be close to 30 million€€.
There is a recent interview with Dest and he was asked why he choose USA over the Netherlands and he said he was in the Netherlands youth teams but was never selected beyond U13 and the USA gave him a chance to develop and felt loyal to the USA. He said the felt part of the team even after making the mistake against Mexico. He also said no USA team member tried to sway him to the USA side, they left it alone to make his own decision.
I think that Dest is a smart, loyal guy. His loyalty tugged both ways...it’s a tough decision to choose the people who believed in you the whole time over your home team who is just coming around to you. In the end, I think he made the smart decision. With the US, he is less likely to be subject to political exclusion. He will be with a strong group of committed professionals, many of whom he has already played with and developed friendships with. He is already in a strong position to seize a significant role on a World Cup-bound US team that will host a World Cup in his prime.
Is this saying the Dest is only the 11th percentile for succesful defensive actions? Meaning there's 90% better than him in this category? And how would that square with being in the 70th percentile for defensive duels?
I assume it's saying that he doesn't make a lot of tackles relative to other Eredivisie fullbacks, but that when he does challenge for the ball, he usually wins it. That could just mean that Ajax typically have so much possession that he's called upon to make tackles far less than most other Eredivisie fullbacks.
Playing for Ajax the number of defensive actions have are quite few and far between. That StatsBomb graphic is pretty dead on: great dribbling, accurate passing, lots of crosses. But crossing is bad and his incisive passing not good either.
It's a combo. Ajax is usually possessing. They don't ask their wide backs to defend that much and of wide back, Dest defends the least. The tell will be if you can find Maz and a few other Ajax FBs of the last 2-3 years. Maybe AZ and PSV as well... they would be good comps.
Paolo Maldini was averaging like 1 tackle for every two games played. I’m not saying Dest is Maldini but I’ll always take a player who can position well over tackle well. The best defense is the ability to force difficult passes.
the way Ajax defended seemed to be to have dest almost filter attackers to the more dedicated defenders. More harassing and herding than tackling
That's something many (US) soccerfans underestimate, the tactics the coach uses to make the most out of a combination of players. Jozy shined at AZ, not because he was a star, but because the coach put together components that produced better than based on individual talents. Bradley had a shining goal scoring season at Heerenveen, because the coach had put together a frontline and formulated a tactic that got the most out of that combo. Alfonso Alves scored his historic 7 goals in that team. Not because he's a superstriker, but because he had the benefit of a supporting cast from the wings and the midfield that was exceptional. Too often I see US fans act as if the accomplishments are solely that of the player himself or dismissing when it suits them the accomplishments of a player in this league.