Background

Dijks, like many young Dutch players, is a product of the esteemed Ajax academy and Dutch youth international. Having failed to establish a regular place in the team after breaking through at 19 he was sent out on loan to Heerenveen for a season before being sold to Willem II at the beginning of last season. It was at Willem where he finally started to live up to some of his early promise. Having helped them to an unexpected mid-table finish and arguably been their standout performer alongside Samuel Armenteros, Ajax immediately brought him back to the club this summer.

This season holds a lot of promise for Dijks. He has a very good chance of establishing himself as Ajax’s first choice left-back following Nicolai Boilesen’s combination of injuries and poor form last season as well as Jairo Riedewald’s preference for playing at centre-back. This in a season in which Ajax will look to reclaim the title from a weakened PSV side.

Strengths

Standing at 6’4 he exceeds the height of most full backs but more importantly almost every winger he faces. Not only does this aid Ajax’s aerial ability at both ends of the pitch but it is also a massive bonus when defending the far post from crosses towards wingers drifting inwards in open play.

His acceleration on the front foot and general speed is surprisingly good for a big man and even with other teams’ awareness of this it still seems to regularly catch opposition players off guard.

His reading of the game is generally quite good, he’ll often intercept a pass halfway between the passer and the intended recipient. His good turn of pace then allows him to kickstart quick counterattacks whilst the opposition defence is out of position. He prefers to cross it as opposed to driving at the defence and laying it off or taking a shot.

His passing and crossing is fairly accurate although this isn’t reflected in the number of assists he got last season (1) but this is largely down to the way in which Willem II set up on attacks.

Weaknesses

His main weakness is his turn of pace when on the back foot. On the occasions in which he gets caught standing still facing a winger receiving the ball he can be outstripped by a sudden burst of acceleration and is quite slow to turn and catch up.

With his eagerness to intercept passes he can sometimes be caught out of position higher up the pitch leaving the duty of having to cover to one of his midfielders.

He lacks experience when it comes to marking from set pieces and doesn’t always get into the right position to stop his man, even with the added bonus of his height.

He is very one-footed (left), but that hasn’t been a problem as yet whilst he’s played at left-back.

Final Thoughts

I personally think that with the attributes he possesses he would benefit from copying Daley Blind before him and moving into a holding midfield role. With training in that position his playing style would earmark him as another Nemanja Matic in the making however, whether he gets a chance at holding mid or not is something we’ll just have to wait and see.

Off the back of a solid season and in line to have an even better one for a much better team keep an eye out for his progress this year and don’t be too surprised to see him making the step up to a stronger league in the next couple of years.

*Sidenote – Normally at the end of each report I will try and link a video of the player’s highlights however, as a tribute to just how much Dijks has flown under the radar so far there currently isn’t one.