You saw that on Saturday when he subbed on van Axel Dongen for Bergwijn. vAD is a very promising winger "if" he can stay healthy. He missed most of last year with assorted injuries. He looked like he slimmed down and was very fast. Without Mislintat looking over his shoulder, Steijn might be able to salvage something of this season. We'll see on Thursday when they go to Athens to take on AEK who are going to be a tough team at home. Unfortunately, Vos is suspended from this match and I have no clue who starts at DM.
Agreed -- Forbs is loose with the ball and technically not great. But he basically made the first 2 goals by himself. His explosiveness is incredible. I (again) did not get the tactics from Steijn in this match. He was basically made Rensch a 4th midfielder -- he was very inverted in the attack. Why not just go with a 3-4-3 and put a real midfielder out there?
Forgot about Vos being Suspended. I really don’t want to see Tahirovic who has rightfully been pinned to the bench since the best move Steijn has made by selecting the Dutch youngster. vAD also looks like there is something there. and I’m very excited to see what he brings moving forward.
Defensively it’s so bad, but I think young Vos has stabilized the middle by playing in front of the 2 Center Backs. Clearly the defensive play, and tactics need serious improvement, and I think most of the problems stem from lack of proactive movement off the ball in transition for one, but also a lack of aggressive play. Very weak mentality we are showing, and seem to vulnerable on every attack we face.
RKC keeper Vaessen appears to be OK. He was heavily concussed on the field. After spending a night in the hospital he was released to home. Scans all came up normal but I'm sure he will be observed during the days to come. He likely will be wearing a head protector like Petr Cech, did after he suffered a head injury some years ago.
Ehh, RKC has strikers who can score easily, so if you want to play with a stronger midfield, it's better to move up a defender when the opportunity calls for it and Rensch has a good pass, so it's the safe way. Especially given how shaky the Ajax defense is.
Article about/Interview with both Kroes and Mislitat https://nos.nl/collectie/13955/arti...ax-met-lede-ogen-aan-mislintat-maakte-excuses
I'd throw in Taylor's been incredibly poor in counter situations. Forbs made a great move early in the match, Taylor had tons of time on the ball and couldn't pick out Brobbey. Really frustrating to watch time and time again. For some good news... Ajax financially is not in a bad spot. Made a massive profit last year. Revenues will be down a lot this year -- however they wage bill got slashed at least. So the good news is we are not in trouble financially. This is a good threat on it: Het Ajax Jaarverslag - seizoen 22/23Normaal vrij belangrijk moment, nu overschaduwd door de chaos.Toch: #Ajax is financieel gezond en vrij stabiel.Sportieve prestaties hebben direct invloed, dus het had nog beter kunnen zijn.Dit 🧵 duikt iets dieper in de financiën.1/x pic.twitter.com/ObQC9Rbag2— José De La Verde (@j_berden) September 30, 2023
van Gaal will take up an advisory role for Ajax. It sounds like this might be done remotely as he lives in Portugal.
RKC - Ajax match will be completed on December 6. Since there was a very small amount of time left in the game, it should have been completed this past Monday as the keeper's condition was known to be OK. AEK played a full match on Monday!!!
Definition of insanity... Same lineup as normal with (I assume) same tactics. On road in hostile territory-- this is a giant test.
Finished 1-1, probably a fair result. However, there were a number of chances to make it 0-2 which would have put the game away. Oh well. Another match, another non-win. Haven’t won since August, right?
A draw is a fair result for what was a very physical match. the Slovenian CR let the players play rough and tumble football, only issuing YCs for pretty severe actions. Ajax goal came from the spot and what looked to be a scuffed penalty by Bergwijn but it was placed just right. Vida got the AEK goal on a set play late in the second half. Steijn had the team set up to defend well with everyone except Brobbey tracking back all the time when the ball was with the home team. There were still too many soft and errant passes that could have punished Ajax but poor finishing from AEK made Gorter's life a little easier. Brighton and Marseille tied in the other game so Ajax and Marseille are even on point and second to AEK in the group. This will go down to the final match day and perhaps goal differential will decide things. Player Ratings: Gorter (7) - several very good games and of course no chance on the wicked header Rensch (7) - kept his head in the game and defended exceptionally well (never thought I would say those words); didn't go forward much at all, probably by design Sutalo (6) - I think Vida was his responsibility and he let him get too much space for the tying goal Silva (6) - one of those whose passing was suspect but otherwise decent Hato (6) - really pushed around in the first half by Amrabat but adjusted and played well in the 2nd Tahirovic (6) - decent enough but still too slow in his play Taylor (7) - defended well and had a wicked shot late in the match that was saved Berghuis (7) - really played well defensively and had a couple of shots that were too weak to trouble the AEK keeper Forbs (6) - stood out defensively but offensively still tries to do way too much when a simple pass is the best solution Brobbey (6) - provided a good target for passes in to the attacking half and there was a constant pushing and pulling with whoever defended him; lost his temper and picked up a stupid YC Bergwijn (7) - slotted home the penalty after being pushed down in the box and defended well Akbom (5) - got his chance to play striker as Brobbey was withdrawn and had two touches van den Boomen (NR) - on at the 80th minute for Tahirovic and a non factor van Axel Dongen (NR) - on for Forbs and a non factor Home to AZ who are also playing today this Sunday. Let's hope the match is completed on the day it starts!!!!
This tactic with Brobbey facing our goal and trying to collect long balls obviously is not working at all. His aerial abilities are nil so he is constantly outjumped , if the ball is low he more often than not isn't able to stop and control it, as a result we lose almost all long balls. IMO he should be playing facing the opponent's goal and receiving not long balls from our keeper or defenders, but through balls from the MFs. I'm aware of the fact that right now we don't have MFs capable of delivering precise passes at a distance longer than 10 meters but still it's worth trying it. With the present tactic Brobbey is excluded from the game for long periods and we keep on losing the first ball.
In this respect Greeks are wiser than Dutch as games don't get suspended or abandoned due to lasers which is as we all know not the case with flares
The other explanation is the Greek economy is so bad off, they cannot afford to buy flares. The laser pointers are probably 10 years old as most use red light these days.