Where is the Magic? Ajax 2020-21 Season

I had a meeting and missed the 2nd half. First half was bad in both passing and defending. Maybe it was because of the screwed up COVID-19 tests.

 

I would only note that they were not so good at predicting the outcome of the US election though there are still votes to be counted.

 

Are you still living outside the US? Kamar Taj is really a nice spot to live.

 

I finally watched the second half of the game. Good example of catanaccio by EtH's team. I though for a moment I was watching the old Frank de Boer days. I guess the manager figured the weird travel stuff had taken something out of the team and he told them to close the match down. There were a couple of dicey moments but by and large they kept control of the ball and avoided danger. Klaassen continues to impress, Alvarez did just what needed to be done coming on for Schuurs. Blind is still one of the best passers on the team but too slow to be in the MF. Gravenberch had a much better second half. Ahead of Atalanta on goal difference as they got crushed by Liverpool.

 

It's always best to stay off the grid as much as possible. Kamar-Taj is as good a place as any. Give my best to Dr. Strange!

 

This was a good win over a team that always causes Ajax trouble in Utrecht. The defense recovered well when they were exposed and it took a while to break the Utrecht defense down. Great splitting run by Neres to open the field up and Klaassen drilled home the match winner in the early part of the second half. Have to give him my MOTM award. I'm glad that EtH is rotating players in and out of the lineup as the fixtures are getting congested with the compressed CL schedule. International break coming up next weekend which will give some of the players some rest.

Player Ratings:

Onana (6) - Maybe he had a save to make but I can't remember
Tagliafico (7) - had to do more defending today and was up to the job
Blind (7) - good passing game again
Schuurs (7) - lost position one time when he was beaten to the goal line but Utrecht couldn't make anything of it
Mazraoui (7)- good game and was more involved going forward
Klaassen (7.5) - had only one poor pass at the beginning and then was a stalwart in the MF
Gravenberch (7) - put in a solid shift
Labyad (6.5) - had a wicked shot in the first half that was well saved by the keeper
Tadic (7) - solid game again from the skipper
Traore (6.5) - drew a penalty but otherwise didn't have a major impact
Antony (6) - had a lot of the ball but didn't do much with it
Neres (7) - on for a solid 2nd half and his run set up the first goal; was solid with the ball the whole half
Alvarez (6.5) - had a very nice shift coming in for the final 20 minutes
Promes (6.5) - still can't figure out how he slid the third goal home but it was good to see him have a solid 20 minutes of play
Klaiber (NR) - on late for a stint against his former club

Home to Heracles in two weeks time before the return CL game against Midjtland in Amsterdam.

 

A pretty simple win over Heracles with some well taken goals. I hope the players who came off because of injury are all OK. Ajax had to do very little defending as Heracles really did not mount any offensive threats. Onana only had to make a couple of saves off of weak attempts. There were some good moments but Ajax always looked like they were in second gear during large spells of the game. Back to CL action on Wednesday against Midjytland and Ajax need to win that to continue to stay in the hunt for the knockout round.

Player Ratings:

Onana (6) - had little to do
Tagliafico (6.5) - was never threatened on defense
Blind (7) - some good passes and maybe made a couple of clearances
Schuurs (7) - didn't have to defend and had some very nice moments offensively
Mazraoui (6.5) - hope he is not badly injured as he only played the first half
Klaassen (NR) - only saw 20 minutes before coming off with a leg injury
Gravenberch (6.5) - didn't have a lot of the ball today but was above average in his play
Labyad (7) - nice goals and some great free kicks that were well saved by the keeper
Tadich (6.5) - decent enough match
Traore (7) - wonderful strike for what was the game winner
Neres (7) - great strike for goal #2
Ekkelenkamp (6.5) - on for Klaassen and put in a good shift
Klaiber (6.5) - decent enough subbing for the whole second half at RB
Promes (5.5) - on for Tadic and had some good touches
Huntelaar (NR) - on for Traore to finish the match
Matinez (NR) - on for Blind to finish the match

 

This game should have been over in the first half. A good save off a Labyad shot and some really poor shooting from Ajax kept it scoreless. It also has to be said that this was one of the worst passing games Ajax have had in a long time. At one point the statistics on the screen indicated they had only completed about 60% of their passes. This is OK against a poor quality team but not against higher competition! Defense did well enough and the conceded penalty is one of those that can go either way. Onana almost had the PK saved. Atalanta kept pace with Ajax by defeating Liverpool 0-2. I hope we are not heading towards a CL group outcome like last season.

Player Ratings:

Onana (7.5) - had some tough saves to make tonight and almost saved the penalty
Tagliafico (7) - good game going forward and defending
Blind (7)- defensively sound and had to come off with what looked like a hamstring issue
Schuurs (7.5) - really solid tonight and passes were solid
Mazraoui (7) - outstanding run and receipt of the pass from Tadic to score, tough call on the penalty but he did nick the player who went down
Klaassen (6.5) - worked hard but his passing was not great before coming off in the 2nd half
Gravenberch (7) - solid game and a wonderful strike of the ball for the first goal, his field awareness is improving each game
Labyad (7) - solid match but he had a couple of openings that he should have done better
Tadic (7) - good game from the skipper
Traore (5.5) - strikers get paid to score and Traore muffed two chances
Neres (7) - despite being one of those whose passing was poor, he was a constant thread down the right side and his goal was excellent
Martinez (6) - did well enough coming on for Blind
Alvarez (6) - put in a nice shift and had some good passes
Promes (NR)
Klaiber (NR)
Ekkelenkamp (NR)

Travel to Anfield next week against an injury riddled Liverpool team who are not guaranteed a way out of the group yet