To the Future: Ajax, 2018-19

Some luck on the first two goals but the Tagliafico-Tadic connection was sublime!!! Keep Kiev to one goal is now critical.

 

Nice 3-1 win over Dynamo Kiev in the first round of the tie. Ajax were a bit unlucky not to have had a fourth as Huntelaar hit the crossbar and Ziyech the post. Defense did enough in the second half tightening up their marking and Onana had a sparkling match with some very clutch saves. I was a bit surprised to see De Wit come on for van der Beek but I guess ten Hag wanted some speed and pressing in the final five minutes.

ten Hag opted to push Tagliafico up the field as much as possible going with a back three of de Jong, Blind and de Ligt. I was wondering what the tactic would be in the absence of Neres. It was a logical move and worked out.

Player Ratings:

Onana (8) - made some very difficult saves and did as much as he could on what ended up as the Kiev goal
Tagliafico (8) - played extremely well and was a little tired coming back when he barely clipped the Kiev player's heel but it was enough to lead to a suspension in the return leg
Blind (7) - played positionally very well covering the center back most of the first half when Ajax were on the ball
de Ligt (6.5) - some poor marking in the first half on corners but other than that strong play
Mazraoui (7) - no doubt this was a much stronger game from the RB; some good interventions and kept his position most of the time
Schöne (7.5) - kept his head in the match and controlled the ball well surely he needs time off on Saturday
de Jong (5.5) - far too many mistakes on the ball for me
van der Beek (7.5) - worked hard all match long and was always busy on the attack as well as tracking back
Tadic (7.5) - solid match other than sometimes not tracking back
Huntelaar (7) - unlucky not to have scored with two solid strikes on frame and his hold up play was the best I've seen this season
Ziyech (8) - caused trouble for Kiev all match long
De Wit (5) - came on late to help press and that's just what he did

There were some tired players out on the pitch by the end of the match. Seven matches so far since the start of CL qualifying and surely there has to be some rotation on Saturday. ten Hag needs Dolberg back so that Huntelaar doesn't have to carry all the burden at #9.

 

Really good question. There were two unmarked Kiev players in that space after Onana pushed the ball away. Ajax marking on free kicks was suspect all match long.

 

Very simple 5-0 against a side that is not worthy of the Eredivise. The one strange thing was that Wöber did not get a start or even come off the bench. Tagliafico is suspended for the return tie with Dynamo so the question is how will Ajax line up defensively? Perhaps they go with a back three with de Jong dropping back to help out. I guess we will see on Tuesday. Ziyech was the MOTM with a very good game. Lots of good pressing all over the field and some easy recovered possessions.

Player Ratings (low because this opponent was so poor):

Onana (6) - had a couple of wayward kicks and I cannot remember a single save
Tagliafico (7) - very nice match going forward
Blind (6.5) - got beat badly at about the 70th minute but de Ligt bailed him out
de Light (7) - usual strong match
Kristensen (7) - played the full 90 and did so quite well
Eiting (7) - still a little hesitant when making the first pass but had a very nice cross into the box on the 4th goal
de Jong (7) - solid
van de Beek (7) - all over the field today on offense and defense
Tadic (7.5) - best transfer in a lot of years
Huntelaar (7) - got two goals that were both deserved
Ziyech (7.5) - incisive passing and strong shooting
Mazraoui (5.5) - on for de Jong in the MF
Serhuis (5) - really didn't get a chance to do much
Johnsen (5.5) - on late to play on the left wing and had a couple of nice touches

A trip to Ukraine coming up (notice the correct grammar!!) with a big CL qualifying match on Tuesday.

 

I couldn't figure out why they kept cutting to the person in the stands with the long dreadlocks at Saturday's match. Turns out it was Bob Marley's son and he was in Amsterdam for a Sunday concert. https://www.ajaxlife.nl/updates/marley-zingt-als-bedankje-three-little-birds-in-zijn-ajaxshirt

 

Still a lot to do in the 2nd half. This club has to be better at finishing if they want to play CL football.

 

On to the Group Stage of the Champions League!!!! In the end, Ajax just had too much talent on the ball compared to Dynamo. Outside of the first fifteen minutes, Ajax were in control of the match and should have finished things off at several points during the match. This kind of finishing will certainly be punished when they move on to more talented competitors. Ajax really need to get Dolberg back to the pitch. Huntelaar cannot keep up this kind of playing schedule for much longer and I was surprised that he was not substituted off for the final 15 minutes.

Player Ratings:
Onana (7.5) - had some work to do in the first fifteen minutes of the match and was up to it
Wöber (7) - more than adequate substitute for Tagliafico and it was good to see him go forward with purpose
Blind (7.5) - he really had a fine game on defense and his passing was incisive
de Ligt (7.5) - great match from our Captain, really strong in keeping things organized on the back line
Mazraoui (6.5) - poor defending on the early break into the box by his man but after that was fine
Schöne (7) - good field sense with his passing and he managed to defend pretty well
de Jong (7) - very good first half and then tailed off a bit; never make a back heel when you're deep in your territory and you don't know what is behind you!!
van de Beek (5.5) - really ran hard all game but his finishing was mediocre
Tadic (7) - two centimeters off on the PK but he sits on the ball so well and makes some great plays as a result
Huntelaar (6.5) - really tired down the stretch and was unlucky not to have scored
Ziyech (8) - strongest player for me tonight and he was relentless challenging for the ball everytime there was a turnover

Group Stage draw is this Thursday and I believe Ajax will be in Pot 3