Kees Smit, total football

The Erediviese and the Netherlands in generalThey are always the cradle of talents. Ibrahimovic, Cruyff, Rijkaard, Robben, Van Nistelrooy, De Boer, Ronaldo, Romario, Van Basten, Berglamp, Koeman, Van Bommel, Kluivert, Gullit… Some were trained, others matured and many of them already achieved their best football in the Dutch ecosystem, which has always nurtured aesthetic taste and talent development.

The latest name to emerge from one of the world’s talent factories is that of Kees Smith. The footballer surprised the fans with his debut in the UEFA Europa League, where he showed himself to the public as a footballer of superior talent and ability. But the truth is that this high level has been shown in recent years in the lower categories of AZ Alkmaar, as one of its most famous pieces in the training phase.

Smit came to AZ with nine years after completing a study cycle at De Foresters, a grassroots football team from Heiloo, a neighboring city of Alkmaar. His arrival set a precedent: he was AZ’s youngest talent at the time and an exception to the general rule. He exceeded his expectations in all the lower categories, He played unseasonably in the youth team and made his professional debut in 2023. at 17 years old. His debut with the first team came last season, but Maarten Martens decided to wait until this season, Smit slammed the door.

A talent beyond compare

Kees Smith did not take up the baton of the classic Dutch midfielder. It has a higher individual technical quality, which makes it unique to dribbling and long passes. But, apart from having a really delicate foot, his physical performance This puts him in categories where he competes with footballers twice his age. This certainly made his adaptation to senior football be superlative and miss the speed where he showed the details of the quality.

However, the footballer must still define what his position is. Where his qualities are best displayed is in the mobile steering wheel of the 4-3-3but that was shown Despite having a lot of defensive intelligence, he also has a talent for scoring goals.. Therefore, everything indicates that his quality and clarity in dribbling, especially through the pipe, will earn him positions as the weeks go by and he will move closer to midfielder.

Either way, Smit will always be a total midfielder. With a natural stealing ability and a positional intelligence higher than any football player in the training phase, like him. By virtue of being able to play with his head up and distribute for a long time.

for now, His physical development shows his technical qualities even more. It is very appropriate in its context, but we have to observe its evolution in a football where, normally, you don’t have an extra two seconds to think how to execute.

Maarten Martens’ confidence will be key

Now it’s your coach’s turn. must manage and teach which is surely AZ Alkmaar’s greatest commitment in the last five years. Although he played just one game in the Erediviese – his last – Kees Smit has already shown he deserves more time in the first team.

So that he can continue to show what he can do. For him to play with adults. So that he can determine his position in professional football and so that he can hone his skills in a context where there is no time to think. Erediviese football favors the growth of talents and is an incubator for talented footballersso Smit is in a very favorable context to develop.