Sideways Sammy

In what has been a difficult campaign at times for Milan van Ewijk, the right-back has continued to demonstrate his class as a footballer. The team’s only right-back this season, purely because there would be few players the club could sign of a close enough level of quality to Van Ewijk who would be content to play back-up, the Dutchman has very rarely had a rest and has thus been forced to play through difficult spells. Milan van Ewijk hasn’t quite been able to match some of his best form from last season, but he has remained a very reliable performer who serves vital functions for this team both defensively and in attack.

Milan van Ewijk’s pace goes a long way to assuring a certain level of performance, meaning he is very rarely beaten for speed by opposing wingers, but there are a lot of fast players who aren’t able to translate that consistently onto the pitch in the manner Van Ewijk does. It is the Dutchman’s positional discipline and timing in the tackle, on top of his raw pace, which is why he is such a strong defender. It is in attack where Van Ewijk has frustrated in his lack of development this season, still hesitating over putting crosses into the box or attacking the byline, although this hasn’t been aided by not having Tatsuhiro Sakamoto available as often as last year to combine with him down the right. Furthermore, since the appointment of Frank Lampard, Milan van Ewijk has clearly been instructed to tuck inside more often and act as something closer to an additional midfielder/third centre-back rather than a traditional overlapping full-back.

The frustrations over Milan van Ewijk’s performances this season aren’t because he’s been playing poorly, but rather the sense that he’s been stuck in second or third gear. Any accusations that Van Ewijk isn’t trying his hardest are wide of the mark, the overriding sense is that the team hasn’t quite been set up for him to excel this campaign. He remains one of the team’s most reliable and highest-calibre performers and is clearly someone who could take a step up in level in their stride. When a team has a player of Milan van Ewijk’s quality on their books, the challenge is to harness it and match it with results on the pitch or risk them outgrowing the football club,