Totally disappointing result. There can be no complaints about the effort given by the players; hard work all match long. Two awful plays first by Schöne and then by Klaassen who let Siem de Jong in on goal. The first attempt on goal was prevented and the second was not so Ajax ends up with a 1-1 draw despite outplaying PSV in all aspects. Cassierra should have done better with his attempts but he worked hard the whole while having to come on first for el Ghazi and then moving on into the middle when Dolberg's thigh would not loosen up. Instead of keeping pace with Feyenoord, Ajax go into the winter break down five points and probably an insurmountable goal difference of 12. Player Ratings: Onana (7.5) - had two very difficult saves to make and made them as well as coming out of the goal to sweep away some danger Sinkgraven (7) - good match from him today Riedewald (7.5) - had some very nice interventions and clearances Sanchez (7) - good game but two very silly and potential dangerous turnovers Veltman (7.5) - defended well and moved up into the attack with purpose Schöne (6) - totally lost de Jong but Riedewald saved the day and he noticeably tired down the stretch Klaassen (7) - was having a great day until he fell asleep and let his predecessor as captain tie the game Ziyech (4.5) - had to step up and justify the transfer fee instead we get a most disappointing game and a stupid dive in the box Younes (5.5) - tried to lay the ball off and it almost worked on a couple of occasions Dolberg (NR) - hurt early from a Guardado knee to his thigh and had to come off el Ghazi (NR) - took a vicious and dirty hit to his kidney area from Guardado who wasn't carded and had to leave the match Cassierra (5) - some would score him lower but he ran hard and found openings where he could get the ball to shoot; unfortunately the final product wasn't there Cerny (4.5) - way too many turnovers de Ligt (NR) - on late for Cerny and really had only one touch Ajax off on winter break and then will regroup in Portugal for training and a friendly against Leipzig who stand 2nd in the Bundesliga. Back to league play against PEC Zwolle in mid January.
Schone has been really decent this season IMO but he can't go for 90 min anymore especially against PSV. I would have put De Ligt for Schone at 70 min & would have moved Riedewald to DM !
I'm not very convinced with Cerny, I don't think he is great material, looks more like a potential Heerenveen player for the future, Ajax should look for someone better.
Curious to see if we do anything in the January window, with the injuries to Dolberg and El Ghazi, the attack looks very very thin. And hey, we've got Bazoer money
Ziyech was left off of the Morocco team for the African Cup of Nations and will be available to play for Ajax. Pretty weird decision. el Ahmadi of Feyenoord is on the squad.
12m euros from wolfsburg is what i've been reading. thats good business considering he doesn't add much value on the pitch for ajax...
Gudelj is goner, I am reading Southampton maybe interested in him for 7M. That is too good to be true IMO, both the club & the money for him. There are also rumours about El Ghazi leaving. I would also sell Dijks & Viergever in the summer (Viergever is a good hand but he is 27 & his contract is up in 2018). St. Juste (CB) & Haps (LB) are my prime candidates to replace them. The other spots can be managed with Nouri, Eiting, De Jong, Beek, Riedewald stepping up. Maybe Serghius & Justin Kluivert will be called up sometime next season too!
Gudelj is off to China for a big contract. Ajax get back the transfer fee that they paid to AZ. With Traore off for the Africa Cup of Nations the club desperately need another winger or two. Maybe they go after Sam Larsson of Heerenveen.
I guess the club can simply use Ziyech on a wing during the African cup...It would allow Van de Beek and Nouri to play more.
Ajax had two friendlies today. 2nd team lost to Excelsior 3-1 with Krul committing a howler in goal getting chipped from just inside the halfway line. first team beat Red Bull Leipzig 5-1 (Leipzig are 2nd in the Bundesliga) with goals from Dolberg, Younes (3), and el Ghazi.
I don't know what Overmars is doing right now. It appears that el Ghazi will move to Lille in France for €7M. Ajax will then have exactly two healthy wingers - Younes and ....wait for it......... Justin Kluivert. Cerny and Clement are both out injured and Traore is in the African Cup. Ziyech can play on the wing though he doesn't like to and the only other player who has played up front is Sinkgraven but he is first choice left back. I guess we will find out tomorrow when Ajax play PEC.
After a very poor first half, Ajax came alive and put three past former youth keeper van der Hart. The defense was not very well organized and by all rights PEC could have done much better in taking advantage of those lapses. Ziyech was MIA for the first 30 minutes but then came alive to have probably his best match for Ajax with some very incisive passes and two difficult goals. Justin Kluivert came in for an injured Younes in the first half and had a very nice match with some good quickness and field awareness. Player Ratings: Onana (6) - spilled a ball that he should have held and was not helped by a defense that seemed out of sorts Sinkgraven (6.5) - was having a very nice match until he totally fell asleep and lost his man Viergever (5.5) - other than the horrible slow pass that was easily intercepted and converted, he had a decent match that included a half chance at goal Sanchez (6.5) - pretty solid Veltman (6) - not particularly solid defending but was good on the ball Schöne (5.5) - nice PK but otherwise his game was just average as he really didn't defend very well at all Ziyech (7.5) - two good goals and some very nice passes that freed players el Capitan (6) - decent enough match Younes (4.5) - not terribly good and came off because of an injury Dolberg (5.5) - not his fault that he never got the ball in a dangerous situation AeG7 (7) - really solid match and any thoughts of him leaving the team should be dismissed immediately Kluivert (6.5) - other than woeful defending of his man late in the 2nd half that led to a good chance on goal he played very well van der Beek (5.5) - on for Schöne who was running on fumes in the 80th minute Top three teams all won this weekend so the deficit remains five points. Tough fixture with Utrecht coming up next weekend.
In an analysis of Ajax by VI the conclusion was that they have a three fase in a match: not very commeiied first part, good to excellent second part and in the third end phase giving up too much points. Ten Hag knows that too and is tactically savvy. The question is if his players can do something with it. He almost caught us with his tactical counter moves in the match that ended 3-3.
Given his age i thought justin looked great. Obviously hes a bit slight and his crossing was variable but with age and more exprience he'll get better. I hope he gets more minutes with ajax over the coming years and develops well. I dont want see him move abroad to a middling team
^^I think Younes is out 2-3 weeks with a thigh strain so Justin will likely be starting against Utrecht.