It wasn't like he stepped up his game afterwards... those two goals were total sitters... right place, right time.
lol... ᴄʜᴇᴇᴋʏ ᴛᴀᴅɪᴄ. #heeaja pic.twitter.com/kZ7GKS6Nln— AFC Ajax (@AFCAjax) March 9, 2020 This thread has turned into mindless "US player is great" propaganda. Guy who scores 2 goals sucks. Guy who fails to follow runner then gets killed 1v2 in the box to give up the goal is great.
Tadic scored 2 goals, set up 3rd with brilliant pass = sucks. Dest was lowest rated player, very much at fault for the goal = great (BTW-- he was caught way up field which is what Tadic was screaming at him about.) People watch these matches with such blinders on, it's kinda insane to me. I don't know how anyone can rationally watch Dest play of late and think he is a good defender. Heerenveen had a couple clear chances in front where Dest "defending" was just floating around the field backpedaling. He's 19 and will get better. He has tremendous technical skills. But man, he REALLY needs to improve as a defender.
The real thing is playing for Ajax kind of is perfect for Dest right now. The style the play maximizes his strengths and minimizes his weakness (that is on ball and tactical defending). It's why for the USA he is gonna look really good against equal or inferior competition. Still a very exciting prospect and by no means is his defending going to be a limiting factor for the USA going forward, but it could impact where his club career ends up going.
Ratings by de Telegraaf (Ajax paper): Cijfers Ajax: Onana 6,5; Dest 6, Timber 6,5, Blind 6,5, Tagliafico 7; Van de Beek 7, Martínez 6; Tadić 7,5, Ziyech 6, Promes 7; Traoré 6,5.
Someone who got a flashback after seeing Tadic - Dest use google translate if interested: https://www.ajaxshowtime.com/articl...eeg-flashbacks-na-uitbrander-tadic-tegen-dest
Just to be clear: “getting caught upfield” is a BS urban myth. The coach sets the parameters for when a fullback should go and stay. No fullback on any pro team worth poop can freelance. When a full back is upfield and the ball turns over, the team has a plan for who moves where. Getting caught upfield isnt really a thing in soccer unless the player is going rogue. Ajax players don’t go rogue.
There is still judgement by a player. It isn't like they have an ear piece from the coach and as someone mentioned, there is a matter of how well they get back even when following directions.
Of course. But to read here, you’d think fullbacks have to be Nostradamus so they know when the ball is turned over so they don’t get “caught upfield”. That’s total nonsense. The only way not to get caught upfield is to never make a run.
I mean... this is what the video was 100% about. Tadic screaming at him about his positioning. He's the coach of the field.
Read the comments made after the match. Dest did and for that was called out by Tadic, then talked back and got the face to face treatment by the captain. He was told to stay behind the ball. Exactly because of the speed of the Heerenveen players. He ignored the tactical instructions from before the match and the direct instructions of the captain. One former Ajax star, Sjaak Swart, told he would have twisted Dest's ear for that. In another thread I posted in the old days if a young kid would dare to do what Dest did, ignore instructions and talk back, he would have been kicked/punched on the pitch for doing that by players like Krol, Israel, van Hanegem or Neeskens.
This is why there are never any counterattacking goals scored in soccer that a coach did not anticipate.
If this is the case, then Dest is the wingback that is most responsible for getting back on D because Tags is routinely further up the pitch. Just to be clear... IMO, Dest has certainly not played as well over the last month... but neither has the team in general and I don't think he has deserved the consistent lowest scores on the team that he keeps getting. How are we really to judge him? People keep saying he needs to be better on D... well, then people shouldn't expect him to get assists or goals... because the number of opportunities to go forward has also dwindled in the last month as the ball keeps getting turned over in the midfield and the CBs can't seem to prevent talented strikers from getting chances on long-balls over the top. Just seems like for every poster on this forum being called out for being a USMNT/Dest Homer there is another exaggerating how bad he has been.
My response was not specific to Dest, and I'm going to stay out of the Dest is awesome/horrible binary discussion. But the idea that Dest being "better on D" means "people shouldn't expect him to get assists or goals..." is not really how it works. What everyone who supports Dest should hope for is an effective 2-way player. I think that's plausible for him.
I think it is plausible too... but his opportunities to go forward have obviously gone down over the last month. Getting publicly ridiculed by the team captain isn't going to inspire him to go forward more. The CBs are getting burned on the regular but Dest gets the lowest ratings. Tags gets free reign to travel into the 18 all the time but Dest is somehow blamed for counter-attach goals created from turnovers in the midfield. Heck, a couple of games ago Blind literally passed the ball to the other team inside his own 3rd which resulted in a goal and he got a higher Dutch rating. Again, just don't see this whole "Dest is a trainwreck" on D mantra being pitched by some. Offensively, he hasn't been as tight over the last month... but neither has the entire team. I really wish he had an opportunity to play a position with less D responsibilities.... but I guess it might lower his overall value as a two-way player. I dunno... I think he would be valuable in the midfield.
Oh, for sure the whole team isnot functioning like before december, with reasons why mentioned in the past. (I'm not complaining as a Feyenoord fan) It's not Dest alone who's to blame. As I explained a couple of days ago Dutch teams for financial reasons lack sufficient depth in players with quality. So a team at some point has found the perfect composition that functions like a clockwork, like Ajax before December and the injuries. Take out a couple of the pieces and it's no longer exceptional. However Dest, due to his age, lacks the tactical awareness to adapt to the changed circumstances, and worse after instructed stubbornly sticks to his habit, is criticized for that. The other players are being rated far too high as is Dest by the Amsterdam papers I provided the ratings of. He's not singled out.
Also, it's human nature to grade/judge Dest more harshly/have higher expectations once he's a "BM prospect" vs. when he was "A Jong Ajax player outplaying the Moroccan international..."
I see truth in all three of the last posts. Thanks for the responses. Still waiting to get an opinion on my contention that Tags isn't expected to cover back nearly as much. I watch all of the games and it always seems like he is higher up the pitch. He isn't as fast as Dest, so by definition it should mean he doesn't have the same responsibilities on D. Again, not saying he doesn't get back at all... or knocking him as a player... I think he is good. Just seems like Dest has to cheat back far more often. It is often obvious when they are attacking from the left side and Dest has to stay outside the 18 even though no one is manning the far post.
Ajax has often played this unbalanced style. It was more pronounced when JOB played there and the other RB whose name started with T... dang it... the heck was his name - Feyenie will remember - was a maurading RB and JOB was a "quarterback" LB who played more as a holding/deeplying playmaker. Tags for sure has more leeway to run - he's also got more goals, more assists and more experience. the overlapping FB is not a symmetrical style all the time. (EDT: Trabelsi! always as soon as you hit send...) Dest is expected to be a 2 way player and gets forward more than many FBs, but Ajax does not play a 2-5-3
The point is and that's natural given Dest's age, he's tactically not mature to judge when to go or not. In most matches it doesnot matter too much, but in the matches since the CL elimination and the injury wave it came apparent as he didnot dose his going forward moves in relation to the actual situation on the pitch.
This article alludes to Dest's stubbornness: https://www.ajaxshowtime.com/articl...dest-heb-mijn-eigen-mening-en-handel-daarnaar Dest: 'Have my own opinion and act accordingly'
A statement from the KNVB read: “All football in the Netherlands will be canceled until March 31. This means that all matches in paid and amateur football are postponed until further notice. “This also applies to the international matches of Orange against the United States and Spain and the international matches of various youth teams. ..." https://www.independent.co.uk/sport...tbreak-game-cancelled-postponed-a9397881.html