Dermot Corrigan writing on Betis vs Barca in the Indepdenet:
Among the bright spots on Sunday evening for Barca and Setien was maybe the best performance of De Jong’s time as a blaugrana player. The former Ajax playmaker’s stand-out moment was the excellent run, chest control and volley to equalise at 1-1 during a helter-skelter opening period.
De Jong was also much more productively involved in the play than in his first games under Setien, when he seemed to be unclear of where he should be and what he should be doing. Instead the 22 year old did look a €75 million player here, linking the play cleverly despite Betis incessant pressing, and regularly getting forward to look to do damage in the opposition box.
The fact that a midfielder like de Jong hasn’t been able to get going since joining in the summer reveals the extent of problems at Barcelona. We also shouldn’t forget that 22 is not the easiest age to make an immediate impression at the Camp Nou, especially with midfield stalwarts like Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitic and Arturo Vidal still at the club. What I will say is that a manager like Setien who wants his midfielders to do more with the ball is a better fit for de Jong than Ernesto Valverde ever was. Lets hope for the sake of Cules and neutrals alike, we get to see the Frenkie de Jong we all loved at Ajax from now on.