I'm tough on everyone!! He still has a lot to learn when he is on the ball. Too often he is not aware of what is happening around him and tries to do too much. Contrast this with Neres who when confronted with no way out gets rid to the ball quickly to someone who is open. I've given Kluivert some very high ratings including last season when he broke through. He is probably the best player on the team at bringing long passes under control.
Indeed, I guess it depends on how you view what he's doing on the field. I think the way he draws attention with his dribbling, getting into space and as you say his touch and control might be a bit underrated in your ranking. Whoscored for example had him as the MotM this game. I like Neres as well. He's a very good, smart player.
Nope, I'm not the only one: https://www.telegraaf.nl/sport/1658821/elftal-van-de-week-ziyech-terug-aan-top
Ajax – FC Twente 2-1 Ajax: Onana 6; Veltman 5, De Ligt 7, F. de Jong 6, Tagliafico 6,5; Ziyech 5,5, Schöne 5,5, Van de Beek 6 (90. Wöber -); Neres 5 (63. Kristensen -), Huntelaar 5, Kluivert 6 (83. Younes -). FC Twente: Drommel 6.5; Ter Avest 5 (79. Van der Lely -), Bijen 5, Lam 6, R. Jensen 5, Maria 6; Holla 6 (87. Slagveer -), Vuckic 6, Maher 6; Boere 6.5, Tighadouini 6.5 (90. Hooiveld -). Arbiter: Gözübüyük 6. Man of the Match: Achttien jaar is hij pas, maar nu al een stabiele kracht in de verdediging van Ajax: Matthijs de Ligt. De mandekker, die terugkeerde na een schorsing, stond uitstekend zijn mannetje. Typical 020 bias from the local fan magazine. AD Sportwereld gives him a 5.5 rating.
A win is a win even if it is filled with mediocre football against an opponent that is really not all that good on the ball. Two points picked up this week but Ajax still have to win out the rest of the season and judging by today's match this will be a heavy lift. There really was very little outstanding play and lots of poor finishing passes and shots. Good to see that Schöne was subbed off for Eiting as the Dane was much too slow in the first half to have any impact on play. Player Ratings: Onana (5.5) - some poor kicking and I will give him the benefit of the doubt on the two 2nd have shots that he unconvincingly punched away; the first one looked like a wicked shot that was swerving away Tagliafico (5.5) - was playing well until he poorly defended the PEC winger late in the 2nd half was was really lucky that nobody was their to finish the cross F de Jong (6) - some very fine defending on the day but as we all know he is wasted in his current position de Ligt (6.5) - convincing on defense and maybe the best player on the pitch today Veltman (6) - didn't screw up which was a plus on the day Schöne - (4) - fortunately didn't have to watch his lackluster play in the 2nd half Ziyech (4.5) - why did we pay so much money for him when he only has a couple of decent matches every year van de Beek (5.5) - OK and not much more Kluivert (4.5) - should watch some clips of how Neres plays football; one good play when he took a long cross pitch pass and got a shot off that hit the cross bar Huntelaar (5.5) - got the match winner but missing three other decent chances is not the mark of a great striker but I will say he was being mauled on every pass to him Neres (6) - still the most dangerous attacker for Ajax Eiting (5.5) - did enough to keep things together S de Jong (NR) - on late Five back with ADO at home next weekend while PSV take on Feyenoord
Really happy to see Eiting get his debut. This midfield is the future of the Oranje: Eiting van de Beek - de Jong
Any ideas what point is the coach trying to make by playing Frenkie as CD? I'm really baffled. It's so obvious that he should play in midfield. At the same time we have a more than decent defender, Wober, warming the bench and probably contemplating his future with Ajax and the Austrian NT.
^^Wöber and Viergever have both been out injured. The only other option right now is to slide de Ligt over to the left and Veltman move to right center back with Kristensen playing RB. ten Hag doesn't want to do that.
What a fail! Looks like in a couple of months we will have a new egghead on the bench. Only thing is that nothing changes in this club.
Erik ten Hag, this one is on you. How could you not imagine that ADO would play everyone behind the ball and go for the 0-0 draw? The first half Ajax were totally unprepared for what ADO set out to do. Things got better in the second half when Ajax started to figure things out. Still the 29 shots with 11 on frame was quite flattering. The ADO keeper got lucky on the S de Jong header that glanced off the post and then off of him for an easy clearance by a defender. The only difficult save of the day was the F de Jong shot from distance that was swerving away. Everything else was pretty much routine for any keeper who got good position. Let's again single out Ziyech for an absolutely awful performance. I counted ONE decent over the top pass, lots of very poor free kicks and one nice shot on goal that just didn't want to curl into the upper corner of the goal. Was I missing anything? Why did Ajax pay all this money? He is no better than our big buy of 10 years ago Suleijmani. Let's hope he has a good WC for Morocco and someone offers to take him away next summer. What troubles me even more is that the club just paniced at the end of the match lofting lots of high balls that were easily defended when some patience might have led to an actual shot on goal. Maybe Feyenoord do us a favor and beat PSV today but all indications are that van Bronckhorst is focusing on the mid-week cup tie against Willem II. I expect a PSV win that moves the margin up to an impossible 9 points. Player Ratings: ten Hag (2) - I give him some credit for substituting in some players but it should have been done earlier Onana (5) - had a really bad throw out that was intercepted and created immediate danger; didn't have any difficult saves to make Tagliafico (5.5) - decent enough match and defended well; got called for two phantom fouls in the 1st half F de Jong (5.5) - had the best shot on goal and was a net plus on the day de Ligt (6) - defensively a giant and I can't see him staying with this Ajax club past June Veltman (5) - what can one say about a player who is too slow to play the position and can't deliver a cross? Eiting (5) - average on the day van de Beek (4.5) - could he have been more of an impact Ziyech (3) - he is really bad and F de Jong should be moved into the MF for the rest of the season Kluivert (4) - is he tired or just regressing? nothing positive to say about his performance that was marked by too many turnovers S de Jong (5.5) - no complaints as I always thought he was a better striker than MF; had some decent passes and was unlucky on the header Neres (5) - had trouble with ball control in the box and by the time he got his shot off the keeper had it well blocked Cassiera (5) - everyone starts with a '5' and he did little to move the dial in either direction Younes (5) - a couple of touches coming on late and perhaps he should have been in the match for the whole 2nd half de Wit (NR) - on at the same time as Younes but I didn't see a single touch I can't say much more than this really SUCKS!!!
Ajax – ADO Den Haag 0-0 Ajax: Onana 6; Veltman 6, De Ligt 6, F. de Jong 6, Tagliafico 6; Ziyech 5, Eiting 5 (85. De Wit -), Van de Beek 5; Neres 5, S. de Jong 4,5 (76. Cassierra -), Kluivert 5 (85. Younes -). ADO Den Haag: Zwinkels 8,5; Ebuehi 7, Beugelsdijk 7, Kanon 7, Meijers 7; Immers 8, Bakker 7, El Khayati 6 (89. Gorter -); David 6 (46. Hooi 5,5), Johnsen 6, Falkenburg 6 (77. Duplan -). Arbiter: Van Boekel 6,5. Man of the Match: Mogelijkheden om te scoren kreeg Ajax vanmiddag meer dan genoeg. Maar keer op keer stuitten de Amsterdammers desondanks op een aanvaller, middenvelder, verdediger of keeper van ADO. De doelman, Robert Zwinkels, hield er niet geheel toevallig verreweg het meeste uit. Met liefst negen reddingen, en een beetje hulp van de paal, beleefde Zwinkels een meer dan prima middag in de hoofdstad en bezorgde hij zijn club een mooi meegenomen bonuspunt.
Just to follow up, according to OPTA Ziyech had 45 turnovers (this includes bad passes and free kicks as well as being dispossessed). this was the highest number of turnovers recorded by OPTA since they began keeping Eredivisie statistics.
Jus wanna ask what does the future hold for daley sinkgraven.should he go out on loan or stay and fight for spot.dijks has already signed a pre contract with Bologna.Tagliafico and Viergever are more suited fullbacks which leaves him in pecking order. Looking at NT, I think a left footed winger is long overdue and I think this is where sinkgraven should be groomed at .NT could really utilize a left footed winger which has been vaccant since Elia came in spotlight in 2010.the left flank has been under utilize in my opinion over the years due to sneijder and Depay constantly taking the play into the central area via cutting inside.it kind of makes you predictable or unless if you are both footed like martial. I still think NT needs a left footed winger on that left side so that instead of cutting in they can overlap outside and stretch the defense.this will further free up space for the ACM in the middle.you even hardly see wingers swtching this days which use to be a strong hold before for NT with Zenden,Overmars etc. It always amazing to see how Neymar execuate this every time when he0 breaks on that left flank.
Viergever is out of contract in June and likely to depart. Michell Bakker is a promising LB coming up through the youth ranks. Sinkgraven played out on the wing under de Boer. I don't think he has the speed or quickness to play that position. I've commented in the past that he seems to be pretty much of a left footed player and wondered if this makes him easy to defend in the MF. His persistent knee injury is also troubling. It may be that this was another Ajax purchase that was done in haste and the he could have developed much better at Heerenveen. Last I saw he is still not training with the first team.
Sinkgraven needed to develop in midfield and Ajax never really gave him the chance to do that. Another waste of talent IMO. Too much instant gratification with buys from Ajax/PSV lately that have stunted the development of their Dutch talents. You can say what you will about them winning spots if they were good enough, but in reality a manager is usually not going to play a youngster when going for the title/trophies if they've just bought a player like a Ziyech or keeping a guy like Schone around.
Bad news, Frenkie de Jong suffered ankle ligament damage during training today. Ajax website mentions 'weeks' out of action.