Van Hanegem: Wenger will come for Afellay!

Willem van Hanegem’s column in the AD

“I hope everyone understands that I wished FC Utrecht would have started this competition better, but when the chagrin of the end-result faded away, what’s left was my admiration for Ibrahim Afellay. Man, that dude can play some football! I am happy to be able to say that I always praised him, otherwise this statement would be too obvious after his game against us. I think Afellay is indeed a super player. I understood that half of Europe was after Croatian playmaker Modric, who certainly is a class act - and I expect a lot from him too at Tottenham - but I think that Afellay is better and further than Modric.

Afellay is more complete. He grew physically. It’s hard to play him off the ball and he acquired an acceleration. He is obviously very skilled with the ball, has a tremendous shot in his feet and he scores easily. The latter is of high value for any club. To top it off, Afellay sees the game. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Arsene Wenger will have a chat this season with Afellay’s manager.

Arsenal loves these types of players. It’s a shame that he will leave the country, but there’s not a lot you can do about it. It’s a good thing players like him will always be Oranje player, so we will still have a lot of fun with him in the future.

Foppe de Haan once said Afellay is injury-prone. I think that’s a bit exaggerated. He has learned how to shield and defend himself, because a player like him will have to fend off many attacks and challenges. I don’t know who taught him, but he has improved his position play, which keeps him out of the typical cul-de-sacs resulting in challenges.

Another thing, Afellay is always available at spots where he can cause danger right away. He knows exactly where to be in order to create something or pull the trigger. I hope people won’t think I am too positive about him, because I truly think Afellay is an out-of-this-world player. I hope he will remain cool and collected in this phase of his career. He shouldn’t get worked up by peripheral stuff like referees, sponsors, fans and admiring friends. If he stays centered, he will get to the absolute world top and will stay there for a long while.