‘Put himself on the English radar’ – Sunderland game seen as ideal audition

AZ Alkmaar duo Kees Smit and Lewis Schouten put themselves in the Premier League spotlight with their performance against Sunderland this week.

That’s at least the opinion of journalist Henk Spaan in Het Parool. He believes that both players will have earned admiring glances despite the 1-0 defeat to the Black Cats.

A big performance

AZ lost 1-0 to Sunderland this week in the Europa League but made a good impression against Matt Le Bris’ side, nonetheless. That was especially the case for Lewis Schouten says Spaan.

He handed the 22-year-old defender an 8/10 for his display, believing it was a successful audition for a Premier League transfer.

“Two AZ players were auditioning for the Premier League on Wednesday night,” he wrote.

“The audition went well. The defense would have kept a clean sheet, were it not for ‘Patatje’ (‘Little Chip’/Patatti) getting involved at the back and conceding a penalty.

“The lesson: Premier League clubs have a few criteria when it comes to defenders. Are they tall enough? Are they good in duels? Can they head the ball? Do they ever win possession? Against Sunderland, Schouten certainly put himself firmly on the English radar.”

Premier League eyes

20-year-old midfielder Kees Smit was also one who caught Spaan’s eye in the game.

“Kees Smit did the same, with a single moment: a lightning-fast dribble and a shot that went just wide across the face of goal,” he added.

Whether any clubs, including Sunderland, come in for either player in future remains to be seen. Interestingly, reports did link Smit with a move to the North East this summer, albeit to Newcastle.

The Magpies were told at the time that they would be signing the next Jack Grealish if they were to move for the midfielder.

They ultimately went in a different direction signing the likes of Sean Steur from Ajax. If Smit continues in this vein, though, more interest is likely to be on the way.