I could buy your argument about a one man MF if Klaassen plays but not with Berghuis who does a lot in terms of ball movement. It is not Alvarez's job to go forward but to be the big block in front of the back four. Yes, his ball handling last season was not up to Ajax standards but this year he has spent 15-30 minutes after practice working with Witschge and other trainers on improving this aspect of his game. I think he is 80% of the way there in terms of passing. Also, he is a very real threat on corner kicks and short free kicks into the box.
The Swiss Ramble has a Twitter thread on Ajax finances: Thread on #Ajax financial results for the COVID impacted 2020/21 season, when they swung from €27m pre-tax profit to a €12m loss, as revenue fell €37m (23%) from €162m to €125m. Figures boosted by €86m profit from player sales https://t.co/OlpiZqqjkJ— Swiss Ramble (@SwissRamble) October 4, 2021
From the thread: Furthermore, #Ajax €8m post-tax loss is dwarfed by the massive losses reported by other leading European clubs for the COVID impacted 2020/21 season, including Barcelona €481m, Inter €246m, Juventus €210m, #MUFC €105m, Milan €96m and Borussia Dortmund €73m.
To reinforce the enormous revenue disparity for Dutch clubs, the Eredivisie €530m revenue in 2020 was around 10% of the Premier League €5.1 bln. Also miles behind Germany €3.2 bln, Spain €3.1 bln, Italy €2.1 bln & France €1.6 bln. Also below Russia €877m & Turkey €670m. pic.twitter.com/12fFQai9Oi— Swiss Ramble (@SwissRamble) October 4, 2021
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but #Ajax €68m commercial revenue is the highest in the Eredivisie, well ahead of Feyenoord €42m and PSV €40m, but it is less than a fifth of the elite European clubs, such as Real Madrid €383m, Bayern Munich €361m & Barcelona €340m. pic.twitter.com/i91Jfu4P9M— Swiss Ramble (@SwissRamble) October 4, 2021
Full credit to Pasveer who came up with some big saves and gets the MOTM award from me. Ajax were cruelly exposed on a number of counters but Heerenveen could not find the net on the night. Maybe some of this was because of the absence of Alvarez in the MF. Blind looked to be lost on defense, too often up the field leaving Schuurs to defend attackers and he did a very good job of that. Tadic had two nice assists but otherwise was ordinary and he has difficulty beating defenders these days. IMO, Daramy who has great speed needs to get more playing time on the left side. Dortmund won today with Haaland back in the lineup. Ajax will face a stern test on Tuesday and their hopes of making it to the knock out round may well depend on a good result. Player Ratings: Pasveer (8) - some very good saves kept Heerenveen from scoring Blind (6) - just above ordinary for him Schuurs (7.5) - made some crucial interventions when dealing with a speedy winger one on one Timber (7) - was better in the MF than on the back line Mazraoui (7) - nice match playing much of the time in the Heerenveen half Gravenberch (6) - started off as the holding MF and saw little of the ball Klaassen (6.5) - worked hard as usual but his touch let him down more than I like Kudus (6) - had some good plays but some sloppy give aways Tadic (6.5) - the assists were there and that was about it Haller (6.5) - put away the match winner early on but didn't have much of a chance later on Berghuis (6) - above average but didn't influence things Neres (6.5) - came on as a sub and was lively getting a nice goal on an open header Martinez (6.5) - defense markedly improved with his entry Rensch (5.5) - on for Mazraoui and had a couple of touches Daramy (5.5) - speed to burn and almost combined with Taylor for a goal Taylor (5.5) - on late
So I just got home and didnt watch the game, but I hope this ends the Berghuis as CAM experiment. I want Klaassen back in that position from here on out, and looking at the todays lineup thats what Ten Hag thinks too
Timber was really, really good with ball on his feet… quick, smooth and confidence. Couple highlight moments for me… that one sharp pass, a flick by Berghuis to Tadic (who couldn’t get the ball wrapped around his feet). And that one time he dribbled with ease to the penalty box. Maybe he should be indeed tried as a DM… Defensively, he had a huge relief… beaten squarely in the air by Van Beek, only saved by the bar. Blind was overwhelmed by the speed of Heerenveen RB (Van Ewijk) and RW (Musaba)… but, lucky to Blind, both youngsters were very inexperienced, and they kept messing up and losing the ball unnecessarily.
Berghuis played only on the RW until he was subbed off for Neres. Kudus was the attacking MF most of the time until he also was taken off. Klaassen was just average.
Watched up till neres goal and agree. Again for me Timber at CB is not a good investment. In eredivisie it maybe accomdated but on big stage his ariel weakness will become his downfall. His on the ball skills is exceptional but that doesnt covers his vulnerability in other areas. That Musba guy is a good talent in making. I think he is on loan there from Monaco.
There is a reason why he flopped at epl. He cant handle the high intensity of the game as an when it requires him to come back and go forward simultaneously. He will also diminish in NT vs big teams. It has mainly being soft schedules so far and this is where the tempo suits him.When this changes, you will see how he fades out.
You really wanna use that argument here when he was good in air even though with his short frame. Schuurs for me is a more complete defender than Timber.
I think Timber is a must tray as a defensive midfield with his speed, good positioning, marking and passing. I mean, it’s not like we have any solid defensive midfielder anyway, and we seem to be well stack up on the central defenders department.
Plus we're talking about a guy who had tons of experience when he became a star and thus knew from that experience what was needed to compensate his physical limitations. Timber has shit experience. Koeman was slow, but his tactical astuteness and experience made him know what to do to not get into trouble. Timber in the long run may become great, but for now lacks the needed experience that made other CD's able to overcome their physical shortcomings. And we had in the Orange shirt much hyped Ajax defenders who in the end were not that good.
Cannavaro was outstanding at the youth level as has been Timber. you get experience from playing and Timber beat out Schuurs for a starting position last season because he was mentally a better defender. You're hatred for Timber is because he plays for Ajax and was called up to the NT and maybe that wasn't a good idea but neither you nor I are the trainer of the Oranje squad. Joris Mathijsen is exactly the same height as Timber and he was a starter on a World Cup team that made it to the finals. He was not as quick as Timber. .... and exactly the same thing can be said about all the Feyenoord defenders of recent years who were no better and at least one, van Beek was let go by Feyenoord. We know where you stand on this matter and these posts are getting tiresome. If you wish to continue, put it in the NT or Defender's thread and not this one that is 'supposed' to only be about the current Ajax season. I will more or delete any future post like this in this thread. You have been warned!
I dont know how much they played in their qualifiers, but Nico, Antony and Alvarez are all questionable for tomorrow
Antony came off the bench in both matches. Alvarez did not play in the final Mexico match and Tagliafico did not either. ten Hag stated that Alvarez will start tomorrow in the press conference today.
All Ajax supporters, take the quiz: https://www.ad.nl/fun/quizzen/~g387316 And make sure you post your results I got 5 out of 8 right, 2 better then the average person
Huge test for Timber today playing against arguably one of the hottest strikers at the moment (Haaland… 13 goals in 9 games so far this season). Obviously one game doesn’t define anything - but wow, what a massive opportunity to gain valuable experience at the highest level. Going from marking a light pole Henk Veerman to Haaland… that’s a nice step up
Ajax are slight favourites across all betting sites https://www.flashscore.com/match/vNF4zXk2/#odds-comparison/1x2-odds/full-time