Super Eagles forward, Tolu Arokodare, has talked about his chat with Ajax head coach, Míchel Sánchez, during the club’s UEFA Conference League win over FC Midtjylland on Thursday.
The 25-year-old scored two goals as Ajax thrashed Midtjylland 6-1 away in Denmark in the league phase of the competition.
Arokodare opened the scoring for the Dutch team in the ninth minute. Fellow Nigerian, Friday Etim, equalized for Midtjylland in the 28th minute. Arokodare then put Ajax ahead again seven minutes into the second half after a setup from Abdellah Ouazane.
Owen Wijndal, Davy Klaassen, Oscar Gloukh, and substitute Marcos Leonardo added to the scoreline.
With these goals, Arokodare now has 12 goals in 16 matches for Ajax this season. Six of those goals are in the Eredivisie, and six are in the Conference League and its qualifiers. He has also provided four assists.
During the first half, Arokodare and Sánchez were seen using hand gestures near the touchline as they tried to communicate.
After the match, reporter Noa Vahle asked about the exchange. Arokodare explained that the coach wanted him to make runs into open spaces instead of sticking to the defender.
“He tried to tell me that I shouldn’t focus too much on the defender and that I should run into the spaces more. From a distance, I didn’t understand what he meant, so I had to come over to him to ask him to explain it better. And he did, so yeah,” he said.
“He is a very funny man. You (the media) can’t understand the relationship we have.”
Arokodare also called the win a big boost for the team.
“I always try to score. I received good passes from my teammates. I am happy that I was able to score, that we scored six goals, and that various players recorded goals and assists. Victories like this are great for the team. It is a big victory to take into the next match. The next match won’t be easy,” he added.
Ajax now shift their focus to Sunday’s Eredivisie match against FC Twente.
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