Here is as close as we might get to that: Probably ideally, the midfielders dots would be closer to each others size.. meaning they would share the load of moving the ball more. You may also notice the lines to Klaassen are also not as thick, meaning less passes to him. Additionally, it may be safe to assume that with a more active CM, there might be less action around the back line as well - but maybe not, when the opponent sits back and asks you to break them down, then of course it's natural that the back line will see a lot of the ball. FourFourTwo has a great app powered by OptaStats but unfortunately it does not track the eredivisie - so hard to scrutinize Klaassens' game much further, statistically speaking. Anyway, seems as though Bosz will not make changes to his lineup while his team is winning.
Not to mention, that Klaassen is his choice for Captain and seems to find a way to pop up and produce a goal or an assist pretty regularly (and for the first half of the season, more regularly then any of the other Dutch CMs.. maybe worth mentioning too).
11 tegen 11 usually does pass maps for all the Ajax games. The one just posted is rather typical with Klaassen's circle routinely the smallest of all the MFs. Yes, he does score goals but the big question is whether his play is worse for the team because of his poor ball handling. In the Sparta game he broke in on goal and couldn't bring the over the top pass under control. Good AMs should be able to do that. His goals tend to come from being in the right place at the right time and there is nothing wrong with that at all. However, if you have to play with five players who can control the ball out of six, that's not good.
Yes, I agree. Actually I read your reviews, appreciate them and usually agree with you. I suppose we know the answer to your 'big question', as answered by the actual professionals and not us fans, and that is that Klaassen's inclusion is definitely not worse for the team, despite our disapproval for the level of his technique. I find his continued selection by all of managers' very fascinating. He is obviously not the silky smooth playmaking AM that it seems you and I both probably prefer (not by any means - watching Frenkie de Jong in there for 5 minutes should not convince me he is superior to Klaassen as a midfielder, haha), the midfield play when he is involved is not the free flowing football which most of us love. And you could also say his involvement blocks more talented (I think we agree?) attacking midfielders on the bench at Ajax, and perhaps also then with his inclusion in the NT team as it might mean other players do not get tested (though that is pretty arguable, given timing with injuries and club/ competition preference). So - what is it which outweighs these marks against him to all of his managers so far (apparently)? What is it which has him as always his clubs captain, pretty much playing unless unfit or suspended (def starter for club/ arguable for the NT), and has more goals (realize that stat is padded a bit since he takes pens, lots of assists too) then any of our other AMs over the last 1.5 years or so? (maybe van Ginkel's rate is a bit better, just so many fewer matches - Sneijder is right there, too) Is his energy or passion that galvanizing? Is his work ethic so inspiring?
@ syber pals Hope you realize it wasn't a rant above all. What orange 14 is saying is quite logic and a fact.
Ah, I see now.. he is referencing to me a conversation from a different blog (although totally out of context)). Wilson00 - please spare these good people your misunderstanding of my opinion.
After eriksens departure to Tottenham,there was arguably no midfielder who could have filled the vaccum left by him. Sinkgraven and Gudelj were brought in but were not able to convince FDB.then there was Bazoer who was thriving at BTB which meant pushing Klaassen to # 10 was the best option after which he starting popping up as discussed above. Unless there is an upgrade of klaassen in that midfield ,I don't think they will sell him.even the youngsters coming up in the ranks will find it hard to dethrone him and secure a spot in the first team unless they prove beyond doubt they are better than him or unless if he ( klaassen) decides to leave by himself . At club level, the coaches are getting the results they want but obviously this hasn't been the case at European level and at same stage they will realize this and eventually will be forced to bring a tradition # 10. At NT level , danny has been trying to use him in the same way as at Ajax in an effort to get the same results as at Ajax but to no avail.he has scored in some games but you just can't expect him to raise on big occasions. Remember that last game of the season when De Graafschap pegged them in the decider of the season.
Klaassen was highly regarded coming up in the youth system. He had a bad groin injury just before he broke into the first team and was out a considerable period of time. The club did buy Sinkgraven when Eriksen left but as with the purchase of Zivkovic a year or so later, it was probably premature. Sinkgraven would have benefited from another year at Heerenveen as he really was not ready to step in at Ajax and certainly was no replacement for Eriksen. The die is cast now with his move to LB and I think that's were he will stay. Only FdB can tell us why he selected Klaassen as captain. Veltman might have been a more logical choice as he was already a starter. What was especially strange is the comparative treatment that he and Bazoer received down the stretch last season when the title was Ajax's to lose (and lose it they did). Both MFs were playing especially poorly but only Bazoer was kept out of the lineup. Klaassen's last two games of the season were especially poor. IMO, with Klaassen in the lineup it's like playing 10 1/2 against 11 as his ball skills are so limiting. Watch him during a game and other than the occasional run into the box he is pretty much stationary in the midfield. He certainly doesn't create any passing option which allows opposing defenses to double team other players. The inability of Ajax to quickly rotate the ball in the MF is one of the key reasons that they have trouble scoring. Even when they play lesser opposition they seldom can break down defenses. I watch a lot of Jong Ajax matches and there you see real dynamism in the MF. Passes are quick and fearless. If the ball is turned over they quickly try to win it back. These kids are playing against teams who have older, more experienced players and are in 2nd place. It's all the more surprising in the Keizer often is missing key players as they have been moved up to the first team. Of course he also doesn't have a proper striker as Dolberg who was supposed to be that player starts for Ajax! Unfortunately, I think Wilson00 is right, the club won't sell Klaassen, he is going to have to leave. If he doesn't leave this summer it will be an interesting training camp for next season as some of the young players are clearly much better skill wise than he is. I hope he leaves (but you all know that!!!)
Yes O-14, that is a much more accurate historical recap.. good point on last seasons' run-in with Bazoer as well, curious that Klaassen was not taken along for Oranje's friendlies while Bazoer was.. As for the future, I'm not sure that Ajax will not sell Klaassen (though maybe they have a tough time getting what they might think he's worth by then) but who knows. But my questions remain, maybe none of us can really answer besides our best guesses anyway - if he is so clearly not the best CM/AM option for Ajax or Oranje, then why does he continue to be selected, and seemingly so easily? His managers must recognize other benefits that outweigh his inadequacies..
Klaassen is not perfect but he is useful. He is strong off the ball especially in his offensive movement, his tenacity is good and he's a big game player. Despite what people say about his touch and such he is quite clinical in offensive chances both created and finished. He's the type of player that can really contribute a lot almost like a midfield Muller without having any obvious outstanding flash or anything. You insulate him with a team that can make up for his deficiencies (carrying the ball, etc.) and he can come up big for you.
I can't let that one go by. He is the primary reason that Ajax didn't win the league last season. He came up empty down the stretch. He's also done very little in any of the European matches Ajax has played in since he was named Captain. Yes, you can describe him as clinical in finishing chances but he creates so few of them that his % is bound to be good. He had two sterling chances against Sparta last weekend and failed each time. I've commented in the past that he is good inside the box but worthless outside it. Consider the superb Ajax #10, Jari Litamen. Here was a player with great ball skills and one that could score as well. Klaassen is no Litamen.
logical answer - conversion rate. when sneijder was injured, nobody matched him (klaassen)with the performance stats that he has at Ajax. wijnaldum, yeah but he was continuously played out of position by Danny and the rest were either playing for bottom feeder clubs elsewhere, whom Danny will never call unless there is major injury crisis and as far as in eredivisie no body matched his conversion rate stat from that position. well things have certainly changed now. Van Ginkel for PSV and Toornstra (Feyenoord) are both starting to flourish from that ATM position and given their conversion rate from over the past few weeks, both could well be an upgrade to klaassen if there is further injuries . anyways with all the players available to Danny, the midfield would be sneijder, wijnaldum and strootman.
Yes exactly, we spoke of Klaassen's statistics above. When Sneijder was injured.. do you mean versus France after Belarus? Sure, but Klaassen has pretty much been in Blinds' teams since he took over from Hiddink, besides the pre-Euro16 friendlies, but Sneijder was not there either.. Wijnaldum doesn't play AM at Liverpool, and has not put up similar numbers (except until recently, and against good teams too). I don't really see them as competition for each other's positions, do you? I also haven't been particularly impressed by them playing together, although, Klaassen does have 2 goals and an assist in his last few matches playing with Wijnaldum.. so what do I know? hehe You might be right as well about Blinds preferred midfield, but has only used it once (Greece). Hopefully Sneijder is not injured too long and comes back into good form as it seems he keeps doing.. if not, I image Klaassen steps in again.
Yet another disappointing Thursday night in the Europa League. Ajax went down to 10 men when Tete was called for a niggling grab that never gets called in England. His first foul was a good professional foul as he had to come across and defend for Schöne who was so far out of the play it wasn't funny. Ajax created chances to be sure and also gifted some chances to Legia. Here we are for the fourth straight year with no clue at all how to play the ball out from the back when there is pressure. The whole second half Legia pressed and all we saw were weak passing and nobody from the midfield coming back to try to create a passing zone. This is so maddening! Player Ratings: Onana (7.5) - under siege from his own team who were constantly losing the ball in bad situations Sinkgraven (6) - other than on bad turnover, a pretty decent game Viergever (6) - most consistent of the back line players Sanchez (5.5) - woeful first half with some bad give away and a better second half Tete (4) - thrust into the lineup to fill in for an ill Veltman and suffered from a lack of playing time, seemed to get back on track in the second half but was undone by a second silly Yellow card; he had some good interventions including one that saved a goal but was badly beaten just before coming off Schöne (4) - woeful defending and other than a couple sparkles on offense his star was quite dim el Capitan (6) - had a good match but his poor touch let the team down several times when there was a chance to set something up Ziyech (4) - lots of €s spent on this player who failed to show up to play Younes (6) - worked hard and managed to create some danger Dolberg (4.5) - had a blue plate special delivered and made a hash of it Traore (5) - average and no better Kluivert (5) - super sub came on and then right off when Tete was sent off Westermann (5) - First game in a long time and at least didn't screw up Return match in Amsterdam should be interesting as the team cannot afford to concede an away goal. Even if they get by Legia I can't see them progressing very far.
It thought Ajax was decent the first 30 minutes. Definitely the better team. I was hoping some good Piet Keizer videos would show up this past week but disappointingly it didn't happen. He was a great legend, true class and a loyal Ajacied for his entire life. He will be missed.
That was absolutely the ugliest 0-1 victory that I've seen in all my years watching Ajax. Can any of the so-called players do anything right. Awful ball control, passing, decision making, defending - every part of the game was just awful. Fortunately, Vitesse could not finish any of the chances they had so Ajax live on to fight yet another week. Maybe it was the hangover from the trip to Warsaw but games like this are not acceptable. Player Ratings: Onana (6) - that flap at a ball near the end of the match was comical and he was lucky that it was a poor shot and Veltman had the clear Viergever (6) - some OK defending and he was trying to do something on offense with a couple of crosses Riedewald (6) - decent match for someone who has not played in several months Sanchez (5.5) - some very poor defending from someone who has been steady Veltman (4) - redeemed himself with two good interventions in the last five minutes of play other wise he is a '2'; just a horrible match Schöne (5) - a charitable average mark but really did very little el Capitan (6.5) - got a goal, missed a penalty, ran like hell all match, had a goal line clearance, and showed his usual poor ball skills Ziyech (4) - the coming of Miralem Suleijmani; another waste of transfer money Younes (5.5) - played with a sense of control and had a great pass to Klaassen for the goal Dolberg (4.5) - too selfish on one of the two possessions he had in the match Traore (3.5) - back to Chelsea ASAP van de Beek (5.5) - kept a cool head when one was needed Cassiera (NR) - hard to say anything about his short performance Feyenoord have the late match today but that doesn't matter as this team is just very poor. I don't think Bosz has done much to make us forget the last couple of seasons under FdB. Anyway, a chance to stay in Europe on Thursday when Legia visit the Arena and then home to Heracles next Sunday. Is it too much to ask for some football players to show up on the pitch?
Only watched the first half, yeah pretty dull performance all in all. That sequence leading up to the goal was probably the only notable moments. Onana had a big save. A few minutes later Vitesse player went down under a very light challenge... Klaassen did very well counter-attacking with a long ball forward to a collapsed Vitesse defense, and of course, his finish was well taken.
Peter explained in Studio Voetbal his playing of Klaassen and hopes he stays. So Klaassen haters...you're sc..d. He's not going to sell him.
Yeah I read that. I honestly don't get this at all. It's like playing with 10 1/2 players because his ball skills are so bad. He did score the winner yesterday but his penalty was really weakly taken. He had three good defensive interventions but a bunch of poor touches with the ball on offense. He really is a tireless worker but he's not as good as any of the young midfielders who are waiting their chance right now (van de Beek, Nouri, de Jong, Eiting). I hope Overmars comes to his senses and sees the talent waiting in the wings and can get some decent money for Klaassen.
And I mean clubs worth going to of course. Any transfer would have to be to a club thats at the very least 1 or 2 steps up from Ajax
Plenty of clubs would buy a player like Klaassen. Again, you guys are really undervaluing him. The hardest thing in soccer is to score a goal. Klaassen, for all his faults, is still a very efficient player at producing that final moment to either score or create a goal -- and that's from midfield. He has a very good work ethic and a lot of stamina and does a lot of good off the ball work. People complain about him way too much. Yet another 3 points delivered because of Klaassen this week.