These guys that don't want to stay and fight for their position should be all transferred in January. There is no place for them. el Ghazi was decent in the Jong match yesterday before coming off with an injury and maybe he will use the month to show he deserves to stay. We'll see.
So there is trouble looming on the bench? Not good if you have to ride three competitions. Is El Ghazi the next talent going to the dust bin the Metro article mentioned?
Why do we watch Ajax matches? I think it's because we take perverse pleasure in seeing how many poor plays that result in conceded goals. Yet again, defensive miscues and an offense that had huge amounts of possession in the 2nd half with lots of players in the box but end up splitting points with a mediocre AZ. Only Viergever can be singled out by understanding how to play defense. A mediocre first half yet again and the team digs itself into a hole. Puzzling substitution by Bosz in taking Ziyech off for van de Beek. Hey Bosz, did you realize your team needed a goal to take all the points? Player Ratings: Bosz (3) - continues to stick with Klaassen and Veltman when both are excruciatingly poor players; subs off his best midfielder late in the game (but maybe there was an injury we didn't know about) Onana (5.5) - poor ball handling in the first half that cannot be tolerated given the defense in front of him Sinkgraven (4) - I was thinking what a nice 2nd half he was having and that he would get a nice rating and then....he falls asleep and bingo the game is tied up 2-2 Viergever (7) - very nice match and had some nice chances in the offensive half when he made things happen Sanchez (5) - warning, you cannot rely on physical skills alone; get your head in the match Veltman (3) - summed up for me late in the match when he was lackadaisically bringing the ball up field and the AZ winger comes from behind and strips him of the ball; just an awful game Schöne (5) - time for plan B here; he cannot play 90 minutes and really wasn't creative enough el Capitan Bad Touch (4) - his teammates won't pass to him because he cannot handle the ball well and his only redeeming feature these days is getting the occasional stray ball in the box and slotting it home; Bosz - wake up playing Klaassen is like conceding a half a player to your opponent Ziyech (6) - decent enough overall Younes (5.5) - good interception and pass on the goal but otherwise ordinary Dolberg (5.5) - didn't do much but it wasn't his fault Traore (6.5) - some very nice play coupled with some really poor play van de Beek (5.5) - had some decent touches but came in for the wrong player Guess what? We don't have to endure any pain next weekend as there is NO game!!
For some strange reason Ajax managers are in love with el Capitan Bad Touch. I'm watching Liverpool just poor in goals right now and realize how great a manager Klopp is. Too bad we don't have someone in that mold.
I didn't watch the first half but Younes looked very dangerous in the second half. He created both goals and was dribbling past players with ease. 5.5 is a bit low, don't you think ?
He was awful in the first half, contantly dribbling and never looking to pass which is his major fault. He comes up with one spectacular play every match but is rather poor otherwise.
He was looking at it from close range. Even he must have been aware. Should have yelled out "in je rug!". Maybe he did and Veltman didn't hear it. That's possible.
Could that strange reason be the goals he scores? How many did he score this season that made Ajax save/win points? He had 7 goals and 3 assists. So who do you expect to do better on that task. El Ahmadi plays far better than Klaassen, but only scored 3 and assisted 1 time. So in direct/personal contribution to the points of Ajax Klaassen is more valuable than El Ahmadi. In making the team play better, not so.
This season two are from PKs, two are garbage tap ins that any one can score from. Maybe one of the seven was something out of the, ordinary. This does not make up for all the deficiencies on his game. He is just not that good.
Well, look at PSV. If they managed to score their penalties they would be above Ajax. And even for tap ins you have to there to be able to tap. So how many points did he salvage for Ajax with his goals? That's what matters. Did Ajax loose points because he was there? I cannot recall mistakes he made that did cost points.
Klaassen was horrible in both Rostov matches and his lack of ball handling skills allowed Rostov to focus on the other players with the result Ajax was unable to win and move on into CL play. I looked back at my match summaries and he only has had one really good match, one of the PAOK CL qualifiers. Yes, you do have to be in the right place to get tap in goals and Klaassen often is. However, a normal football team has 11 players, but with Ajax it's only 10 1/2 and sometimes only 10. Look at how many times teammates pass to him, you can usually count this on one hand. I think they all realize he has a terrible first touch. I watch as many Jong Ajax games as I can find streams for. Here is a group of 18-20 year olds often playing against teams that are much older and more experienced. Ball rotate around to all the MFs and they manage to create dangerous opportunities all the time. Rarely do you see passes back into the defensive half of the pitch. Last Friday they played NAC and manhandled them, pressing all over the field and NAC only had two shots all match long. This team created quick triangles all over the place so that individual players never got hemmed in. When you look at the senior team, Klaassen is always too static and never moves into a passing lane so it's easy for double teams to set up. the only thing that is saving him right now is that Traore is very good on the ball unlike el Ghazi and sees the double team approaching and moves before it's set up. This should not be happening as the MF on that side needs to move to space. If I were a Feyenoord fan I would want Klaassen to play as many minutes as possible.
I did not like sometimes the permanent Klaassen's bashing here. He is a player that personally I find exemplary, who sincerely loves the shirt of Ajax. Which is increasingly rare in modern football. That being said, I must admit that these performances on the field have become untenable. I feel he even avoids touching the ball, which is problematic for an attacking midfielder. Still, he scores goals, that's the most important thing in football. So it is very hard for Bosz to get him out the team.
I agree that he But Feyenoord like to bring back their old players (von Bronkhorst, Makaay, Dahl Tommasen) they have so much to contribute.
Our striker will be worth more than their entire selection in a year time. Come to think of it, only Kongolo, Karsdorp and Vilhena represent some transfer value there. The rest of their selection can be written off. And if a miracle were to happen and they do become champions it's most likely that they will have to play qualifications in order to try to enter the CL next year. Which they are unlikely to win. Becoming champions would probably costs them more in bonus fees than they would earn. And I don't see any talented up and coming youth players either that could be sold for big money. Looks like a financial disaster is looming. Good thing that feyenoordfan can't read this cause he might get worried.