Probably all plastic fans joining the ride from Serbia (Tadic), Brasil (Neres), Argentinia (Maxima), Denmark (Schöne), Zyech (Morocco), Dolberg (Norway), Onana (Cameroon) It's more like a bloody foreign legion, is it?
A Sunday stroll in the park for Ajax today as they were hardly troubled by Fortuna Sittard. A brace apiece by Tadic and Neres and Onana was hardly troubled in goal. ten Hag continues to put out the top eleven in every match only rotating things at the striker position. I hope this doesn't come back to haunt him and the team. Player Ratings: Onans (6.5) - nothing at all to do in the first half and only a couple of balls to save in the second Tagliafico (6.5) - good match and got some rest coming off in the 2nd half Blind (7) - solid on defense and ventured forth on offense when there was an opening de Ligt (7.5) - really nice pass to Dolberg who then delivered the ball on a gold plate for Tadic Mazraoui (7) - little defending to do which freed him up to attack down the line de Jong (6.5) - played the first half as the deep lying playmaker van de Beek (6.5) - decent game Ziyech (6.5) - some wild shots but very good pressing the ball Tadic (7.5) - picked up right where he left off in Madrid Neres (8) - always industrious and freed himself up on several occasions for an attack on goal Schöne (6.5) - took over for de Jong at the half Sinkgraven (6) - got some good minutes in Labyad (6) - on late for Ziyech PEC Zwolle who drew 0-0 with AZ is up next on Wednesday with a trip to Alkmaar next weekend.
Ajax U-19 lost to Lyon on penalties in the Youth CL league. I only saw the final 25 minutes and Ajax were generally second best to the ball. They were fortunate to get even on a stoppage time goal by Brobbey even though they were down to 10 men because of a sending off in the last ten minutes. I think it was Nunnely who had a chance to win the match for Ajax on the fifth PK but he could not convert. Hoogwerg took one of those stupid stutter step approaches on the eight PK and botched things up giving Lyon the win. I don't know why players do this; they should be confident and just hit it hard and force the keeper to make a save.
On a related note: some rules this tournament has. Ajax always plays the only tie away from home, whilst other teams always play at home. There should be some rotation in hosting the games so all fans can see their team play live. I watched the whole game and don't think we deserved to win. What worries me is not the team performance (subpar as it was) but rather the lack of talent. Granted the kids have still a year or two before they become eligible for the first team but a true talent should be visible even at this age.
Nerve wrecking finale but it was to be expected. The team looked emotionally and physically spent. Hope they will recover for the AZ game.
A dismal second half performance but Ajax rescued all three points with a very nice pass into the box by Noa Lang to Blind who drilled the header past our former #2 Diedrich Boer. Ajax were too sleepy in the 2nd half and PEC Zwolle siezed the upper hand. Player Ratings: Onana (6) - had little to do and had little chance on the goal Tagliafico (6) - strong game going forward but a couple of lapses on defense Blind (6) - great goal but too many lapses on defense de Ligt (7) - swept up everything in his area Mazraoui (6) - a couple of wild shots on goal Schöne (6) - pretty ordinary Labyad (5.5) - very nice pass to Tadic for the first goal but missing the rest of the match van de Beek (6) - had a couple of good runs into the box and one hard shot that was blocked Tadic (6.5) - good first goal but he looked really tired in the second half Dolberg (5.5) - drew some fouls and scuffed a couple of shots Neres (6) - shade above average Huntelaar (5.5) - OK in a sub role Veltman (6) - defended decently when it was needed Lang (6) - I think this was his first senior team appearance and he brought needed pace to the team; great assist to Blind Away to AZ who PEC played tough last weekend and then a break for the first set of Euro qualifiers for NTs
These are the teams I want: Tottenham Hotspur FC Porto Manchester United Manchester City Liverpool These are the teams I dont want: Juventus Barcelona
[QUOTE=" Lang (6) - I think this was his first senior team appearance and he brought needed pace to the team; great assist to Blind [/QUOTE] As discussed earlier he looks better in the midfield than on the wings plus the energy and pace he brings is what you wanna have in a modern day mid fielder. he could be a good upgrade to Gini. klopp did the same by bringing Ox in the midfield and it paid dividends big time. unfortunately he got injured. just wanna ask what do you think of Vito Van Crooj based on the game.
Of the teams we might face in the next round, I think Spurs, Porto, ManU, and Juve are all beatable. We beat out ManCity for third in the CL group about six years ago but they are a far better team these days. Ajax show no fear but I worry they have such a thin team and five players are still on Yellow Cards going into the next round and could be suspended for the second match.
Obviously some of them will need to purposefully take a yellow towards the end of the first leg once we've built up a comfortable lead.
Well, we got Juve and in an ideal world of fair play we have nothing to fear. Unfortunately we live in a real world where all teams are equal, but some teams are more equal.I'm afraid we got one of the latter but will be more than glad to be proven wrong. Good luck and hope to meet Spurs in the semis.
CR7 might get suspended for the 1st leg: https://www.voetbalzone.nl/doc.asp?uid=348198 On the other side of the coin, I'd love to see deLigt go up against him