Sutalo passed it to RWB there... If he passes to Taylor, it's a 3 on 2. This happens quite a bit in matches and it's maddening. Evidently Sutalo is hurt and Kaplan may start next match.
There are rumours L. v. Gaal has set his eyes on bringing in Liverpool assistent of Klopp, Pepijn Lijnders. Jan van Halst was spotted 3 days ago in Liverpool.
Lots of rumors about Lijnders who has been highly important to Klopp. My question though is why would Van Halst be doing any bidding? I thought he’s out at Ajax once Kroes starts which is quite soon I believe. There are strong rumors of Ten Hag returning if he’s sacked by United also I’ve been reading.
Why would any person in his right mind want to come to a grossly mismanaged club like current Ajax to coach a team of mediocre players? There is neither money nor glory in this.
I'm sure Kroes has final authority on hiring the next manager. Just lots of rumors right onw. I read a story that Graham Potter, good at Brighton and bad at Chelsea, is interested in the job.
We all know it’ll be a Dutchman like Jansen or something who was just at AZ. Maybe Henderson could have some sway vis a vis Potter or something. But I’m not holding my breath. (I’m not anti a Dutchman as manager obviously, just that I wish Ajax would be open to a foreign manager as well)
Well, if it were Ten Hag, it would basically be an even swap in this regard. There's always someone with enough ego to think they can turn things around and in the case of Ajax, unlike in the case of United or Chelsea, there's a pretty good chance it can happen, given how little parity there is in the Eredivisie. AZ drew again, just to toy with us.
Pretty decent first half against Utrecht. Could have been different if Lammers kept his head with his one good chance. But still, overall encouraging-ish. Kaplan looked confident on the ball which was a pleasant change from Sutalo.
2-0 in the 76’. Good they put this one away… and it was Taylor who had a cool finish for once! (And we just had the token Jansen sighting, too.)
And Ajax has to make it hard on themselves by playing the last ten minutes with ten. Appreciate the defensive intensity by Rensch - but definitely a bit dumb coming flying in with a stomp like he did.
Finally a clean sheet!!! Rensch added some drama to what should have been an easy win by recklessly stomping on Lammer's ankle. VAR signaled down for a look and a RC was rightfully given. Another strong match from Brobbey who was MOTM with the match winner and then a nice asssist to a breaking Taylor who slotted home the insurance goal. Ajax looked very comfortable in the new formation which I guess is a 5-2-2-1. Taylor and Hlynsson are not wingers but do move up to press when Utrecht had the ball deep. Mannswerk and Henderson sealed up the deep MF and until going down to 10, the Ajax goal was seldom threatened. One win in the books and 10 more to go as Ajax seek some late redemption in an otherwise horrible season. Player Ratings: Ramaj (6.5) - didn't have to make an hard saves and did manage the back with some decent kicking Goojier (6.5) - no mistakes and did venture forth on a couple of occasions but it looks like the instructions are safety furist Rensch (4.5) - was decent until the sending off for a stomp on the ankle Kaplan (7) - solid in the middle of the back 3 CBs, great upfield pass to Sosa on the match winner Hato (7) - good enough match as the Cal Ripken steak continues Sosa (7) - actually a good defensive match!!! very nice pass to Brobbey for the match winner in the first half Mannswerk (7) - I counted only one turnover and it's clear he has a much better awareness of the game than Tahirovic Henderson (7) - skippered the team and was solid Hlynsson (6) - did a workmanlike job but had little opportunity in the attacking half Brobbey (8) - utterly dominated whoever tried to defend him, great shot with the left foot for a goal and better assist on the Taylor goal Taylor (7.5) - did nothing wrong and got the insurance goal Akpom (NR) - on for Brobbey late in the 2nd half but had little impact on the game van den Boomen (NR)- on for Mannswerk late Medic (NR) - on after the Rensch RC and had a couple of good clearances Aston Villa up on Thursday in Amsterdam. I hope this type of solid performance can continue. Fortuna Sittard up next Sunday
Pretty comfortable for Ajax and a shutout? Wow! Looks ok with the 5-3-2 with better organization, and balance, but the opposition is far from top quality. Orange14 covered the key points of Kaplan, Mannsverk, and Brobbey. Big one on Thursday!
Certainly we do not want to see that. Bad news to report that Bergwijn and Berghuis miss out. Huge losses for Ajax. Perhaps Forbs can do something to exploit the Villa high defensive line.
Defense will be the worry, given Aston Villa's high line. Clean sheets in Europe are a rarity these days. If the stat I saw is correct, they had only one in 17 matches. The defensive shortcomings will have to be compensated for by scoring themselves.. Brian Brobbey is the one for the goals. Scoring is easy, fifteen, when it's in the Eredivisie. In a European context, this is significantly less easy. In the last eleven European appearances at home, the striker has not scored. He last managed to do it against Young Boys in 2021.
In the last couple of months Brobbey is a completely different player compared to 2021-2023. With proper support he can score against AV. The main problem is will he get this support.
That's the only issue I have with him. It always seems to take him 3 chances before he scores a goal. But when you play for Oranje you're unlikely to get 3 chances in every game
Well that's the whole point. If you look at zirkzee once he receives the ball in the box with space, he is decisive. Not sure though if villa are saving up for game vs spurs in the weekend.4th vs 5th.
Seemed that Villa came out for a 0-0 from the beginning and that if they happened to score, then good for them. Felt like an old fashioned away European tie in their regard. shame that Ajax didn’t put home one of the chances (Brobbey or Taylor.). Anyways, Gooijer is no big loss for the return tie in England. And super glad not to lose Brobbey or Hato who were on yellows. and how about that Kaplan! Sutalo, who?!