AZ Alkmaar boss in conversation with Goes about gamesmanship: ‘Wouter knows it was just too much’ | OneFootball

Maarten Martens has reportedly spoken with AZ Alkmaar centre-back Wouter Goes regarding his gamesmanship on the pitch.

The 21-year-old defender received heavy criticism after AZ’s league match against Feyenoord (D3-3)for the way he pinched and pushed opponents.

As per Simon Zwartkruis of Voetbal International, Martens addressed his player’s actions ahead of his side’s match against PEC Zwolle at the AFAS Stadium on Wednesday evening.

“We don’t condone that and have been discussing it with Wouter for some time now. But we cherish his winning mentality. He needs to handle that better and smarter.”

Last season, Goes also came under fire for his approach to opponents. This weekend, he was seen pushing and smacking Ayase Ueda.

Martens continued, “In top-level sport, it’s part of the game to unbalance your opponents. I’ve been pinched, myself, in the past and had all sorts of things thrown at me. Wouter needs to get to a place where he needs these kinds of things less and less. That will happen. He’s still young and will continue to mature, become physically stronger, and tactically better. So he can increasingly dominate his opponents based on those aspects.”

Goes received his first yellow card of the Eredivisie season against Feyenoord. “Opponents might try to provoke Wouter. You can already see that. That’s okay, because he’s doing it himself; it’s a two-way street. The downside could be that referees will start to look at him more, and he’ll get too many cards. That would be detrimental to the team, and that’s never good, of course. It’s up to the referees to keep everything on track.”

Admittedly, Martens and Goes are trying to keep all the media commotion at bay. “We’re shielding ourselves as much as possible from what the outside world thinks. Wouter himself knows it was just a bit too much against Feyenoord. We discussed it together, and now he’s fully focused on the next match.”

GBeNeFN | Max Bradfield