Former Manchester United and Netherlands national team coach Louis van Gaal has given plenty of praise to Chelsea ace Hakim Ziyech unprompted. It came during his pre-match press conference for his nation's World Cup quarter-final tie against Argentina, where he may have laid down a challenge to Graham Potter.
It comes amid a struggle in domestic form for the forward, but a complete transformation on the international stage with Morocco. Since making the switch from Ajax, Ziyech is yet to grab hold of a place in the Chelsea team, but with his national team, he has helped guide them to an unlikely World Cup quarter-final tie with Portugal.
Former Blues star Joe Cole explained why that switch in form may happen, telling ITV: "He just looks like a happier player for Morocco. He’s had a very difficult time at Chelsea and he hasn’t had a rhythm to his game. The Premier League doesn’t suit him. It’s aggressive, up and down. Playing for Ajax he could hug the touchline and the team would very much play through the lines, give him the ball and he’s got a lovely left foot, comes inside and delivers the ball.
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"But when we’ve watched him here, he’s playing with an intensity and a smile on his face. Ziyech is a talented boy but it’s just not worked for him at Chelsea."
It's a similar sentiment held by Van Gaal, though his praise was unprompted and stemmed from a question over head coaches. In his pre-match press conference, he was asked for his thoughts on Morocco coach Regragui, to which he responded: "Well I can’t judge [axed Spain head coach] Luis Enrique nor can I judge or assess your head coach [Regragui].
"But I can answer the other question by talking about Ziyech for instance. He was of course trained in the Netherlands and Ziyech is a wonderful player. He makes an enormous contribution to the Moroccan squad and before this new head coach came in he wasn’t being played, so that says something about the head coach."
The last bit suggests that the new head coach has managed to get something out of the Chelsea man, given the last coach forced him out of the national team altogether. It's now the challenge of Potter to solve the conundrum that is Ziyech in his team or find a potential exit.
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