Why Tete Should Play

Why Tete Should Play

05/11/2017

The fact that Kenny Tete has to play has to do with the hands of Joël Veltman.
Everyone who follows Ajax knows that when an opponents threatens to pass Veltman, he puts his arm around the opponent and holds him for a while. This happens in almost every game, typically several times. Of course, this does not belong in soccer at all, and he should actually be yellowcarded every time, but that does not happen in the Eredivisie, so Veltman does not learn it.
In European matches, the referee only looks objective and when he sees this type of fault, Veltman will quickly receive a card. It is therefore the case that Veltman takes an average of 1 card per 2 matches in European matches, almost twice as much as in the Eredivisie during this season.
I can not remember ever having seen Tete use his hands when an opponent had already passed him. It does not happen often at all that Tete is losing an opponent.
Of course, Tete also picks up the occassional card. Of the 11 yellow cards that Tete has received so far, 9 were in the second half, and that is a lot better than half in the first half and half in the second half, that Veltman has.
Bosz seems to prefer Veltman over Tete because of his offensive input, which I find difficult to judge, especially because I have seen Tete only play so few matches this season. Earlier this season I did notice Tete's offensive contributions in a match were not that well (which is not too strange if you only get so few minutes), but at Ajax - Olympique Lyon he was one of the best players. This should be rewarded. Besides the better defensive contribution of Tete, I also value the increased chance that we end up with 11 men.


Filed under: Kenny Tete, Joël Veltman