What a lousy evening in Spain. Feels like there has been some regression the last few matches. The injuries certainly don’t help either.
Had to watch the final 20 minutes on replay as we were over at friends for dinner. My Thanksgiving Day was ruined by a lackluster performance by an Ajax team that made too many defensive mistakes and with a shortage of attacking options could not muster anything more than a couple of shots off the post. It was a winnable game against a struggling Real Sociedad team but when Brobbey went off injured midway in the first half, the team was always going to be shorthanded. Hato made a mistake on the first goal by not getting a tackle in and Fitz-Jim did not get back fast enough and let the second attacker take an easy pass and cut the ball across to two Real players who were in on goal with only Rensch left to defend that side. The second goal was a nice bit of dribbling by Kubo whose shot bounced off Baas and then past Pasveer. Ajax drop down to sixth but there are a lot of teams within striking distance and the match against Lazio in two weeks is looming large. Can't say that any Ajax player was outstanding in this one. Player Ratings: Pasveer (6) - had no chance on either goal and didn't face any difficult shots otherwise Rensch (6) - didn't do anything wrong Sutalo (6.5) - had a good block and was decent defending Baas (5.5) - had a bad pass and an ill-timed dribble that was easily taken away Hato (5) - one of the players at fault on the first goal and he knew it Henderson (5.5) - was really laboring in the 2nd half Berghuis (5.5) - not much of a factor Fitz-Jim (6) - mixed bag for him; had a shot that bounced off the post and a second that was easily saved but gave the ball up a couple of times and didn't defend well Traore (5.5) - nothing to write home about Brobbey (5.5) - hit the post of a tough angle and had to go off shortly after colliding with the keeper Akpom (5.5) - lost out on the wing and not much better at striker Rassmussen (6)- created a chance when he intercepted the ball but could not convert Banel (5) - really not at this level of competition but was the only option left van den Boomen (5) - just an average player Hlynsson (NR) - on late and not game ready Wijndal (NR) - picked up a YC and mercifully won't be on the bench for the Lazio match NEC this weekend and then Utrecht in the make up game mid-week
Disappointing result tonight and Ajax really had nothing to offer. Far too many passes in their own end, and overall just lacked progressive movement going forward. Brobbey took another battering after the GK just blew him up. Hopefully it won’t be serious. Lack of cutting edge showed tonight.
I have to agree but I think we should recognize that the run of form against PSV and 010 was probably a bit deceiving as well. The team is definitely better than last year but also not as good as those results indicated. Still, depending on how things go against Lazio, their chances of getting straight through to the round of 16 are pretty good.
The constant meaningless and dangerous passing between GK and defenders in our PK box is killing me. Farioli should do something about it. Half of the time we are not playing football but just kicking the ball around.
This was the kind of game they would have lost last season. Ajax were at sixes and sevens on defense all game long and only some fine keeping by Pasveer and the crossbar kept the Ajax victory at 1-2. Ajax now go ahead of Utrecht with a home match against them on Wednesday night. Lots of free attacking space down the Ajax left side and several times Hato was not to be found at all. Hlynsson, a makeshift LW, did not help out much and there was not much help from the MF either. Weghorst had two nice goals and Taylor's smart assist on the second made it the match winner. It looks like all the matches in a row are catching up with Ajax. There are still six matches to go before the winter break including a home Europa League match against Lazio and a Beker game with Telstar!! Player Ratings: Pasveer (7.5) - had to be really alert with all the shots that were coming in, his kicking for the most part was decent, and he had a lot of balls passed back to him. Rensch (6) - was playing pretty well before he suffered a leg injury and had to come off in the first half Sutalo (7) - kept his head and position and had some good blocks Kaplan (6.5) - decent enough despite a bad pass or two Hato (6.5) - don't know why he seemed to be so out of position on defense van den Boomen (5.5) - pretty much immobile as the deep MF which doesn't help things out at all but Henderson cannot play all these back to back matches Davy One Goal (6) - OK but nothing really special, was totally out of gas in the last 10 minutes Taylor (7) - fine play on the second goal and moved up to the LW when Fitz-Jim came in Berghuis (6) - had a fair amount of the ball but was not incisive with is passing Weghorst (7) - good job on holding up the ball and his two goals were the difference Hlynsson (5) - just ordinary in one half of play Gaaei (6) - great going forward on attack, not so great when he has to defend Fitz-Jim (6.5) - smooth with the ball and managed to help Ajax keep the ball when they were on attack Traore (5) - not much impact coming in with 20 minutes left Akpom (6) - had a couple of opportunities with the ball but could not convert Henderson (NR) - on late to help the defense Utrecht on Wednesday and a trip to Alkmaar to play AZ in a week's time.
The referee was absolute shit. His little ego trip with Weghorst was ridiculous. He needs to go back to the keuken league for a bit.
I'm glad we won, but we can't count on the opposing team kicking it into Pasveer's feet when right in front of the goal mouth. Lucky Ajax strikes again.
It's even worse if he did. In cases like this I'm always wondering if the ref is biased towards the club or certain players or he's just incompetent.
Regarding the NEC match the other day it was certainly not a well played match by Ajax but happy to secure the 3 points against the scrappy hosts who had to feel very unlucky. Have to say both of Weghorst’s goals were contributed to some weak Goalkeeping by Roefs to be honest. Wout for me was a form of entertainment with his antics on the pitch. Any thoughts on Philip Sandler? He came off early in the second half but I thought he was pretty solid. Confident on the ball and has the look of a higher quality player. I know his background and injury issues, but he’s pretty good.
Wasn’t there talk of Ajax maybe picking him up (Sandler) back in the summer? He wouldn’t be a bad backup perhaps. And he’s a veteran player, that’d be good to have on the back line too.
Dropped points against Utrecht who is certainly a tough side. Starting to look more and more leaky and disorganized in the back.
The team is obviously regressing playwise. I'm not surprised by this, I'm more surprised by the run of positive results until recently, considering the quality of the current squad. Maybe the congested schedule took its toll. I don't expect miracles from this team but IMHO it can be a valid contender for second place.
Another disappointing result for Ajax. The team had too many sloppy passes and once Utrecht got the ball they had numbers on Ajax all match long. The soft 4-2-4 formation was not one where Ajax were pressed at all and Farioli's team had the bulk of the possession. However, they really were not able to reliably get the ball into the attacking zone and only wonder strike by Gaaei and Hato's deflected shot off Toornstra were able to find the back of the net. Pasveer had to be alert and made some nice saves. It's unfortunate that the tying goal came off the post and deflected off of him. I think it would have been a goal anyway as there was a free Utrecht attacker who could have put the rebound in. The only bright side was Ajax psressure when Utrecht had the ball in deep, they were not able to play the ball out and create much of anything. In the end, Ajax were again fortunate not to have lost this game. The winter break cannot come soon enough as the team really looks tired from all the matches. Player Ratings: Pasveer (7) - solid game in terms of saves, waves of Utrecht attackers came in on counter attackes Gaaei (6.5) - phenomenal strike to even the match and he was good going forward but still poor on defense Sutalo (6.5) - had a very poor pass early in the match but otherwise was OK Baas (5.5) - I counted three very soft passes that went right to Utrecht players Hato (6.5) - OK match and it was his deflected shot that gave Ajax the lead Henderson (6.5) - one of the few players whose passing was decent and near the end had a shot on goal that went wide left Taylor (6) - not much of an impact player Fitz-Jim (6) - same as Taylor Traore (6) - same as Taylor Weghorst (5.5) - did a lot of running on the press and that was it Akpom (6) - got the ball on a lot of occasions but could not create anything Davy One Goal (5) - very ordinary Berghuis (5) - same as Klaassen van den Boomen (NR) - on for the final 15 minutes and ordinary Brobbey (NR) - on for the final minutes and went down when the keeper clattered into him but was OK AZ coming up on the weekend and they will be well rested. Four more matches including home to Lazio after that.
I think it was Utrecht's 4-2-4. Anytime the ball was lost they went forward with speed and overloaded the Ajax defense. Wingers had no chance to get back and help out. Utrecht really didn't create anything from open play otherwise.
He was linked with Ajax I thought I read somewhere. Good player and with Ajax having financial problems it would be smart business to shop within the Eredivisie especially if they start selling guys at the end of this season.
Another bad match today for Ajax who despite having the better possession they just had no cutting edge. Once again Ajax were completely vulnerable defensively, and just seemed sluggish. Very hard watching Traore and Akpom who provide nothing. Farioli will need to tighten things up again as Ajax are exposed badly through midfield trying to slow down opponents counter attacks which are causing big problems.
What's happening to Julian Rijkhoff. I see he has been relegated to jong ajax. Weghorst signing just closed his doors to clock minutes and I don't think he will come into the picture either next season. Ajax shud loan him out to an eredivisie team.
He has some minor injuries that he is dealing with. Quite frankly, I don't think he is all that good. Don Angelo Konadu is a much more clinical striker. Rijkoff was told he would play mostly at Jong Ajax this season.
Farioli noted in his post game comments yesterday that Ajax have played 10 more matches this season than Utrecht have.