Roma are welcoming Devyne Rensch as a new signing, but it’s fair to say the defender is a relative unknown to followers of Italian football.
Netherlands international Rensch has only played for Ajax in his senior club career until now, and with Roma desperate for a high-quality right-back, there’s been a bit of uncertainty – and even anxiety – about whether he will reach the desired standards or fall short.
To set the record straight, Giallorossi Yorkshire has spoken to Finley Crebolder, an expert on the topic as the founder of Dutch football hub Clockwork Oranje.
First things first, most Roma fans have seen those quotes about Rensch from Marco van Basten: “With all due respect, he is not a particularly good player. He has no footballing ability whatsoever. When he’s got the ball, he has no ideas. Without the ball, he always makes mistakes. He makes one mistake per game.” How much should we take that judgement seriously?
Fin: “I wouldn’t take much notice of what Van Basten says, he’s been highly critical of pretty much every Dutch player you can think of over the years. Maybe he just has stupidly high standards given he was one of the best players ever or maybe he just wants to be controversial like many pundits these days, but either way, what he says is always hyperbolic and often completely inaccurate.”
There’s also the inevitable comparisons with Rick Karsdorp in the backs of people’s minds at the moment, a player who had his more positive times in the past but most fans were relieved to see the back of in the summer. How would you compare those two players and, in your opinion, who’s the better right-back?
Fin: “I think the biggest difference between Rensch and Karsdorp is their mentalities. Rensch is a player that is always focused and committed and always gives everything for the team, and I’m sure I don’t need to tell Roma fans that wasn’t always the case with Karsdorp…
“They’re pretty different players in footballing terms too. Karsdorp is a marauding wing-back who likes to bomb forward on the touchline and get crosses in, while Rensch is a bit more conservative and safe in possession, preferring to start moves with progressive passes from deep.
“He’s a little better defensively too and less injury prone, so I’d definitely rather have him than Karsdorp in my team.”
Roma have been playing a 3-4-2-1 formation recently, so how would you see Rensch fitting into that? And if the next coach after Claudio Ranieri prefers a back four, would he be able to fit in that way?
Fin: “I personally think Rensch is better in deeper more central areas on the pitch than hugging the touchline so I like him as a RCB in a back three, able to make passes and dribbles through the lines from deep.
“For the same reasons, I think he’s best inverting into midfield in a back four like he’s often been doing at Ajax this season.”
Roma’s full-backs have been criticised for their poor crossing ability in recent years, especially Zeki Çelik who Rensch would be competing with. Is crossing one of Rensch’s strengths or something he needs to work on himself too?
Fin: “I think he’s a pretty good crosser of the ball but he’s not great at taking on his man and getting into dangerous positions to cross the ball from, so Roma fans may be a little disappointed if they’re hoping for a player that can be a real attacking force on the wing.”
If we think back to some of Roma’s previous Dutch players, someone like Kevin Strootman (who was 23) took the move in his stride, whereas Justin Kluivert (who was 19) arguably took the leap too soon. Rensch was going to be out of contract at Ajax in the summer, but at 22, would you say this is the right time for him to move on and is he ready to test himself in a new league?
Fin: “I’d say the move comes at the right time for him. I don’t think he’s got the talent to be as big a success as Strootman but the last few years at Ajax have been full of stress and turmoil and he’s ended up being one of the more senior members of the squad there, so I think they’ve given him a lot of resilience and experience that will help him acclimatise.”
Leave a Reply