The Schreuder Era Starts and Ends: 2022-23 Ajax Season

A nice combination goal by Kudus was the match winner as Ajax head into the next round of the Cup with a 0-1 victory. Ajax defended well in the 2nd half and were the dominant team. The positional play is so much better than under Schreuder and free kicks don't seem to be as big an adventure. Ajax did a good job in duels winning the majority of them and were good at clearing the ball in the box.

Player Ratings:

Rulli (7) - had one tough save to make but otherwise was not troubled
Rensch (7) - good defending today
Timber (7) - had a very weak pass early in the first half that was intercepted but he recovered to make an good initervention
Alvarez (7) - strong game with just a single weak pass that marred his performance; moved up in to the MF with 12 minutes to go
Wijndal (6.5) - maybe should have done better going forward but it good game overall
Taylor (6.5) - had a couple of poor passes but also had a good shot on goal that forced a smart save
Davy One Goal (6) - decent game even if he did not get his goal
Berghuis (6.5) - had a poor pass late in the match that forced him to foul conceding a free kick deep in the Ajax half
Kudus (7.5) - had to keep the ball at his feet with two defenders close by and then beat the keeper which he did
Tadic (7) - very good ball possession and his pass to Kudus led to the game winner
Bergwijn (6) - decent enough
Conceicao (6) - had a decent spell coming in for Klaassen and his pass to Tadic led to the goal
Brobbey (5) - had a couple of passes but not much involved
Bassey (6) - on late for defense and delivered

RKC waalwijk comming up on the weekend

 

Other than poor coverage on the RKC goal, Ajax were pretty much in control of the game. They were rotating the ball quickly trying to find gaps in the packed in RKC defense. Eventually the goals came for a 3-1 win. Rulli had one tough save to make but he was way to lackadaisical on the offsides call that negated a RKC goal. The back line was good in stepping up, forcing attackers into an offside position. The pressing was very effective with Ajax regaining possession more often than not. the top five teams in the table all won their matches so there is no change in the order with Feyenoord sill maintaining first place.

Player Ratings:

Rulli (6) - made one good save but had a couple of not so good plays
Rensch (7) - much better play from him before going off, he defended and pressed well and worked hard on offense with some good overlaps and passing
Timber (7.5) - had a couple of nice runs into the offensive half and was calm defending; got his first goal in a year which turned out to be the match winner
Alvarez (7.5) - strong on defense both on the back line and in the MF when Bassey came on
Wijndal (6.5) - really sloppy pass that started RKC on to the attack for their only goal of the game but otherwise was decent
Taylor (6.5) - don't know if he was directly at fault on the goal, but overall he was above average
Klaassen (5.5) - had a couple of runs into the box, but the team is much better with Kudus in the attacking MF position
Berghuis (6.5) - had some good moments with the ball and his looping kicks into the box always were dangerous
Kudus (8) - just a rock solid match but he is better in the MF than on the wing
Tadic (7.5) - some very good ball control in the box
Conceicao (6) - started on the left as Bergwijn was not fit
Bassey (6.5) - defended well which is all he was asked to do
Brobbey (6) - got a nice goal and made some good runs to get free
Hato (NR) - on late
Sanchez (NR) - on late
Rassmussen (NR) - on late

Ajax are home to Union Berlin in the Europa League qualifying match next Thursday. Union are surprisingly in 2nd place in the Bundesliga and have two former Ajax youth players: Sheraldo Becker and Danilho Doekhli who are starters. Of the leaders, only PSV also play on Thursday with a trip to Seville. Feyenoord and AZ are already qualified for the knock out round.

 

The problem is the team is so thin in terms of depth. Heitinga does not have a lot of options particularly if Bergwijn is out for this match. Klaassen remains such a huge liability. His only value is making runs in the box. I used to joke when he first came up to the senior team ten years ago that the ball died when it was passed to him as he just has poor handling ability and speed. Look at how much more impact Kudus has in the MF. In the absence of a true right wing player, I would move Berghuis up and drop Kudus back.

I think I saw Union play against Dortmund a while back. they appear to be a very sound team and this will pose a very good test for Ajax. They don't have the quickness of Napoli who tore Ajax apart in the CL group so maybe out club have a chance.

 

I don't think he is back in training.

 

right you are, Grillitch was on the bench. I'm unsure of how good he really is. He's only played in three matches this season and all were cameo substitutions.

 

The nil all tie was flattering to Ajax who were outplayed for maybe 80 of the 90 minutes spending much of the time in their own half of the field. VAR intervened seeing a the merest of hand balls on a what would have been the match winner for Union. Kudus was the only offensive player who created much at all. Everyone else was mediocre with a lot of lazy passing. Heitinga has a week to figure out how to break down the Union defense and I wish him well but don't think he has the MF players who can make a difference. Football is a strange game, and all it takes is a single goal to win a match.

Player Ratings:

Rulli (7.5) - made some very nice saves to keep a clean sheet
Rensch (4.5) - had some very lazy passes but did have some decent play as well but not enough
Timber (6) - good on the ball as expected
Bassey (6) - defended well
Wijndal (4) - mediocre and rightfully subbed off
Alvarez (6) - defended well but poses no passing threat in the MF which is needed against this type of team
Taylor (5.5) - played deep to provide a passing outlet on the left as Wijndal pushed up the field; the tactic did not work
Berghuis (5.5) - slightly above average is not good enough in a game like this
Kudus (7) - really strong with the ball all evening but got little help
Tadic (5.5) - his free kicks were next to useless, wait, they were useless
Bergwijn (4.5) - mediocre
Brobbey (5.5) - drew some fouls and had one chance where he was ahead of his defender but did not control the ball well
Klaassen (5) - worked hard which is average for him

Ajax host Sparta on the weekend and then travel to Berlin for the 2nd match of the tie. Maybe the football gods will favor Ajax.

 

Hard to say as Ajax could not get into the attacking third. Union dropped everyone behind the hall in a 5-3-2 formation. Their MF suffocated the Ajax attack

 

golf in February in The Netherlands??? Another example of global warming???

 

Aha! Did you play at the Marabella Golf Club that was designed by Robert Trent Jones?