Huddersfield Town midfielder Carel Eiting is featured in a pretty good interview with Dutch outlet NOS today.
The 22-year-old, who’s loaned by Ajax until the end of the season, is currently back in the Netherlands to recover from a knee injury.
Following the 19 appearances he’s made with the Terriers this season, Eiting now has a lot to say about how things have been going for him in England.
He claims he’s struggled a little to adapt to Championship football, claiming things are done totally different from what he was used to seeing at Ajax.
“I’ve had five interviews at Huddersfield Town. With different people. I’ve seen them train. They’ve explained and told me all kinds of things”, Eiting told NOS.
“And the Championship has 46 league games. I wanted to play a lot of games. In England a lot is demanded of the box-to-box game. I wanted to add that dynamic aspect to my game.”
“Everything happens here at high intensity. Every exercise in the training, such as a pass and kick form, is combined with a sprint. It’s a completely different way of playing than at Ajax. Very tough. In the beginning I was really demolished after a match. If you only think: how Ajax does it, is the best, then it will be difficult. I had to get out of my comfort zone.”
“Take the game with Barnsley for example. A dramatic and small field. You come there and you already know: there’s no football here today. They had the kick-off, shot the ball over the sidelines with us and started putting pressure. A throw in is always a kind of corner. Defenders come along.”
The midfielder had a special story to tell about the time when Huddersfield faced Wycombe Wanderers, when he had a specific challenge ahead of him.
“There you have that great striker: Adebayo Akinfenwa. That boy is very strong and big. And that’s their system: all the balls on him. During the preparation for that match, the coach said to two players:’Both as the striker, next to each other’. So two players had to imitate Akinfenwa in practice, because together they were just as tall as him alone.”
“The coach said to me beforehand: ‘Tomorrow it will be a match that you have never played in your life, but you have to make sure that you show something. And that you also adapt to the circumstances. Win challenges and win your head duels.”
Eiting was also quizzed about his future, since his loan spell at Huddersfield expires in a few months. Without mentioning the chance of staying at the Championship side, he claims it’s only Ajax who’ll decide what should happen to him.
“After this season I still have a contract for one year, so it’s actually quite simple. Whether you are sold or you renew… I still have to talk to Ajax. I leave everything open.”
