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Calvin Bassey’s display against Liverpool marked the debut of a world-class defender

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2 years ago

September 14, 2022

Calvin Bassey's display against Liverpool marked the debut of a world-class defender

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Calvin Bassey cut his teeth at the highest level of football in Ajax’s defeat against Liverpool and didn’t look out of place.

Ajax lost 2-1 to Liverpool at Anfield in a UEFA Champions League group stage game in what was a spirited display for the visiting underdogs.

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One of the central figures on the night was Super Eagles defender Calvin Bassey, whose performance polarised fans and divided opinion.

On one hand, he didn’t cover himself in glory with both goals Ajax conceded and on the other, Bassey excelled in pretty much everything else on the night.

Calvin Bassey’s polarising display

Calvin Bassey had a good game but was quite visibly shaken at first which is understandable as this was arguably the biggest game of his career.

The Nigerian international could have prevented Liverpool’s first goal with a little more positional awareness but he was naive at that moment which led to Mohamed Salah getting a great chance in the Ajax box which was smartly converted.

Bassey was also outjumped and beaten in the air by Joel Matip to score Liverpool’s second which is why some might believe he didn’t play well.

But statistically speaking, the 22-year-old was one of Ajax’s best performers on the night in a display that may have just established him for good on the biggest stage.

The coming of age performance

As earlier stated, this was probably the biggest game of football Calvin Bassey has ever been involved in and that is despite the fact that he put up a man-of-the-match display for Rangers in the Europa League final just about four months ago.

But playing for a big team (both historically and presently) like Ajax against an even bigger team like Liverpool in the biggest club competition in the world is as grand as it has ever gotten for Bassey, albeit in the group stage.

This was a new level for him and he cleared it, proving that he can indeed handle the pressure and scrutiny that comes with mixing it with the elites of European football.

The chance to play at this level was part of the allure for Bassey in leaving Rangers (another Champions League team) to join Ajax and being able to not just cope but excel in games like these is proof that he really does have the potential to be an elite defender.

Brilliant Bassey

The Nigerian played in central defence at Anfield as he has done multiple times for Ajax this season under manager Alfred Schreuder.

Bassey was rated 7.4/10 by Sofascore, the second-highest rating for any Ajax player, bettered only by goalkeeper Remko Pasveer.

The 22-year-old had 79 touches of the ball which was the most by any Ajax player and only bettered by Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold in the whole game with 85 touches.

Bassey’s performance was defensively sound as he had five clearances and tackles each, three interceptions, blocked two shots and was only dribbled past once in the whole game.

The left-sided defender won five of six ground duels and completed five out of nine attempted long balls in what was a good individual performance.