Ex-Eintracht Frankfurt: Ajax’ Haller on speed deficit and departure from West Ham

Ajax professional is the best CL clipper

Ajax Amsterdam goalgetter Sébastien Haller makes no secret of his speed deficits. “I asked my mother for speed, but she couldn’t give it to me,” said the most accurate professional of the current Champions League season with a laugh Guardian interview. “I’m also not one to dribble for a long time because I’m not good at it. That’s a shame, but also a blessing. I always have to think twice about my decisions, I have to find other ways to create space and time my runs well because it’s difficult for me to overtake a defender.”

Former Frankfurt professional Haller switched to Ajax in January 2021 after a year and a half at West Ham United for 22.5 million euros – for almost half the amount that the “Hammers” had to transfer to Eintracht in summer 2019. In 2021/22, the Ivorian had 28 goals and eight assists in 28 games in all competitions. This puts him in the prominent ranking of Ajax’s top scorers with the best goals-per-game rate in a season – just behind Luis Suárez, who netted 1.02 times per game in 2009/10. Haller is currently at a rate of 1.0 goals per game in all competitions. Overall, Haller has scored 41 goals (15 assists) in 51 matches for the top Dutch club.

“Where I’m from, there were 10,000 more talented guys on the street. But it’s the choices you make that make the difference,” said the Ris-Orangis-born French forward. However, Haller does not want to put the responsibility for his moderately successful chapter at West Ham on others. “I was brought in by Manuel Pellegrini, but then David Moyes came (in December 2019; ed.) and we got into a situation in which we were … trapped,” said the 27-year-old.

West Ham move to Ajax: Haller doesn’t blame Moyes

“I played in a system that I didn’t really like. Moyes preferred someone like Michail Antonio up front and I’m very happy he’s doing so well. That goes for all the boys at West Ham. I had a good time with them there, but I was also very angry about the situation, about the way we played, how I played, how I felt,” Haller said . His newborn child had health problems and kept him busy at night. “Then you have to adapt to the new environment, to a new competition, and then there was Corona … That was maybe a lot to deal with.”

He therefore does not want to blame coach Moyes. “Sometimes a playing style doesn’t suit a player and I wasn’t the striker he needed. And I wasn’t his obligation either,” Haller said. Meanwhile, his move from the Premier League to Amsterdam was well thought out. “I thought for a long time whether I should do that,” revealed the offensive man. “You can say, ‘Look at me, I play for a Premier League club even though I’m always on the bench’. Fortunately, Moyes and West Ham would have agreed to his move. Haller scored 14 times in 54 games for the London club.

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