In December, the long absence of Gernot Trauner led to the question of whether Feyenoord should not enter the transfer market for a central defender over Lutsharel Geertruida. Two months later no one is talking about the absence of the Austrian defender. That has everything to do with Lutsharel Geertruida’s excellent playing.
Geertruida has been playing in the center of the back at Feyenoord since the winter break on the side of Dávid Hancko and has been making an excellent impression in that position for weeks. The 22-year-old defender also played convincingly in last Saturday’s top game, as is also apparent from his assessment (7.5). AZ created hardly any chances in De Kuip.
“I thought Geertruida was head and shoulders above the rest,” said Ibrahim Afellay in NOS Studio Football on Sunday evening. “Pavlidis did not get a foothold and is currently one of the better strikers in the Netherlands. He was hopeless. Every time he was right in between and he had a good footballing solution.”
Selection problem for Arne Slot
Geertruida’s excellent performance means that trainer Arne Slot may soon have to deal with a luxury problem, because Trauner resumed training at Feyenoord this week. Afellay has yet to see what happens when the Austrian is fit again. He added, “Maybe the pharmacist should take a step back then.”
Last week, after the competition match with SC Heerenveen (1-2 victory), Slot already discussed Geertruida’s game. “I think Lutsharel plays excellently as a right central defender, just as I thought he was excellent as a right back. He does give us a lot of peace in the construction. The ease with which he walks past players,” he continued
Afellay goes on, “In that respect, Geertruida is a completely different type of defender than Trauner, Slot also knows. They’re not the same types. Gernot is perhaps a bit stronger. Lutsharel is a bit more comfortable on the ball, especially dribbling. You can’t really compare them. But they are both good defenders for Feyenoord.”
The loss of Trauner has in any case not had a negative impact on Feyenoord’s performance, as was feared for a while. “If they become champions, it will be a world achievement, given the individual qualities,” says Afellay. “In that respect they have the least selection of the top four. Then Slot indeed deserves a statue.”
