09 Feb 2014: PEC Zwolle - Ajax

[Van basten]

We need a creative midfielder so bad, that it hurts.. Fisher on Bojan, Siggy on De Jong and Duarte on Serero please.

[Orange14]

Reidewald....bad position cost the equaliser!!!!

My replay didn't show this very well; I'll have to see if they show it again but I do think Veltman was principally at fault here for not covering his man goal side. If the player is that close, you don't gamble on the off side trap unless you are fully confident that the others on the back line are ahead of you. In any case, Riederwald has been playing much better than at midweek. I'm not sure that the team gains much by moving Blind to left back but we'll see what FdB does.

[Orange14]

We need a creative midfielder so bad, that it hurts.. Fisher on Bojan, Siggy on De Jong and Duarte on Serero please.

+1!

[Tom_]

Ok, bad defending....BUT....who played him onside????

Actually, who are you referring to? Riedewald was a couple of metres further upfield than Veltman and Moisander, as far as I can tell... (not that it matters, just wondering what I missed)

Same story as last game, we were on top for a lot of the first half but we didn't put our chances away. Unfortunately for us PEC are a much better team than Groningen and are more likely to make us pay for it.

Edit: me too on those subs. Three subs at half time anyone? Was it Koeman who used to use up all his subs by half time when he was our manager?

[Orange14]

They just showed the replay of the PEC goal and it was Veltman's mistake clear and simple. He let the man get past him on the pass. The other three defenders were all in front. No off side trap was going to save Veltman on this one.

[saddlerian]

Reidewald....bad position cost the equaliser!!!!

I'll have to see if they show it again but I do think Veltman was principally at fault here for not covering his man goal side.

Both central defenders were at fault as the Zwolle striker passed in between them to attack the ball...but he was past them and BEING PLAYED ONSIDE which gave them the goal!!! I agree that Reidewald is playing better than in mid-week, but his desire to go forwards is leaving the wing bare, meaning our defensive m/f player has to defend at left back....the postion he left last year!!!

[rjf1]

Our playing style is designed around holding on to possession, not charging into defenders and giving the ball away (which is also exactly why they play the ball backwards a lot. The idea is to recycle the ball and start a new attack).

Ok, Tom, I agree with the recycling to keep posession...but you can only recycle so much!!! Unless you make a positive attempt to use your recycled material, the quality of it is diminished...

Those tactics are self defeating in this day and age. You wind up playing at half speed all the time, you surrender whatever momentum you have generated, and when the other team comes forward at speed they run rings around you because they are in full speed mode and you are still going at half speed. It happens game after game. Only after we get burned do we start actually attacking again -- sometimes we can make up for it -- I hope we can today. But as soon as we start with the pitty pat instead of making a way forward we turn the game over to the opponents -- even if they get 1% of possession and we have 99 pitty pat % -- if they turn that 1% into a goal -- which happens quite a lot to us -- the 99% is meaningless.

[saddlerian]

That's it!!! Serero's got to come off!!! 2 mistakes since Half Time!!!! Get Poulsen on...along with Fischer!!!

[Tom_]

Those tactics are self defeating in this day and age. You wind up playing at half speed all the time, you surrender whatever momentum you have generated, and when the other team comes forward at speed they run rings around you because they are in full speed mode and you are still going at half speed. It happens game after game. Only after we get burned do we start actually attacking again -- sometimes we can make up for it -- I hope we can today. But as soon as we start with the pitty pat instead of making a way forward we turn the game over to the opponents -- even if they get 1% of possession and we have 99 pitty pat % -- if they turn that 1% into a goal -- which happens quite a lot to us -- the 99% is meaningless.

Whether the system works or not, when your whole team is in the opponents half (based on the assumption that you're going to hold onto the ball) it's counter-productive to give it up cheaply. This triggers counter-attacks, which is ultimately how teams score against us.

[Tom_]

Wow, what's Duarte doing?

[Ayman]

I really detest these long balls that Ajax do frequently, its like a hit and hope

[Ayman]

Wel on the bright side we are 5 points clear at the top. And vitesse play away to twente next weekend.

[paladinby]

I don't want to become too specific but some players are a waste.

[souras84]

De Jong... I don't wanna see him again

[saddlerian]

Yes, 5 points clear...but draws like this aren't really good enough!!! There seemed no-one in the team who really wanted to attack apart from Schoner...de Jong, although he's got 90 minutes under his belt now, seemed well out of touch.....might have been better to use Poulsen as the playmaker and Blind at LB....Fischer wasn't given a touch...almost as though Duarte didn't see him!!!

They'll need to improve!!!!

[SPL]

Very poor again and could have lost it . OK Siem had 3 chances but only 1 was a real sitter ,they missed a sitter to even it up. I talk up Fischer but his input was nil and did Siggy even touch the ball. Vermeer tried his best to give away a goal ,hope thats the last we see of him .

We need to get some forwards to score goals unless we do the race will go to the wire even though the others are dropping more points.

[souras84]

We need a way to attack against teams that defend with 11 behind the ball... And why on earth are our midfielders hiding when our defenders are searching for a pass?????

[Orange14]

Absolutely appalling. There were more unanswered prayers than any display of quality football. I counted three players who had any clue about what to do on the pitch: Moisander, Schöne, and Klaassen. Everyone else was not even fit for a Jong Ajax match. As my signature notes, this is just a very mediocre club. There is absolutely no handling speed so we see long passes and soft entry passes that are easily intercepted. Surprised at how poor Veltman was today, he was lucky that the post and crossbar saved what could have been the winning goal for PEC after he launched yet another soft pass that led to a break away. There really is no solution to the problems that this team has other than to try to win every single match 1-0. There is just not enough quality.

Player Ratings (nobody and ever get even a 7 in a match like this one)

Vermeer (5.5) - made a couple of good saves but what was he thinking when he charged out of the box at the end of the match
Riederwald (5) - better than at midweek and didn't make any major mistakes
Moisander (6.5) - when your central defender is one of the few players who can take a defender on something is wrong
Veltman (4.5) - had a good clearance on the Vermeer error but was poor over all, IMO at fault on the PEC goal
van Rhijn (4.5) - one decent cross among a half dozen poor ones
Blind (5.5) - poor passing game
Serero (4) - just can't take a defender on at all
Klaassen (6.5) - really decent match and a couple of really strong defensive challenges to break things up
Bojan (4.5) - he cannot play on the wing, full stop!
de Jong (4) - one decent shot but right at the keeper, should focus on playing rather than complaining to the match official
Schöne (6.5) - solid match but let down by almost everyone else on the side
Duarte (5) - had no impact on the match
Fischer (5) - had no impact on the match
Sigthorrson (5) - did he even get a touch on the ball? I don't think so

Fortunately, every other team in the league is terrible so our mediocrity leaves us at the top of the table. Until we find a midfielder with attacking abilities this team is not going to score more than a couple of goals (if that). FdB need to give the captain's arm band to Moisander full time. de Jong really does not deserve to start these days.

[souras84]

If we continue like that, RB Salzburg will humiliate us.

[Ayman]

I agree souras84. Veltman needs time off. But our main problem is the 9 position.

[Tom_]

I wonder if de Boer will consider changing the formation up. We just do not have anyone in the squad who is able to contribute from the wing. Unfashionable, but I wonder if a four man midfield (e.g. Blind, Klaassen, Schöne, de Jong/Serero/Duarte) with Fischer as a 'second striker' might work better?

[Orange14]

I wonder if de Boer will consider changing the formation up. We just do not have anyone in the squad who is able to contribute from the wing. Unfashionable, but I wonder if a four man midfield (e.g. Blind, Klaassen, Schöne, de Jong/Serero/Duarte) with Fischer as a 'second striker' might work better?

Unfortunately, there are not enough quality players for any kind of formation (not to mention that I've only seen Dutch teams go away from a 4-3-3 on about 2-3 occasions in all the matches over the past years). We have only one fullback who can go forward with any degree of conviction and he's hurt most of the time (Boilesen). We don't have anyone who is within 10% of what Eriksen was able to do in the midfield. We gave away Ozbilitz who might have been the right wing player (and maybe false #9 as well since he was tried there in some games) and is better than anyone on the current squad. If we play either Sigthorrson or de Jong at striker we don't have the pressing ability that is needed which lets the opponent off the hook (Bojan for his faults is quick and can press). Other than that we are a fantastic mediocre team that keeps us all on the edge of our seats each week!

[SPL]

Orange .Fair comment on our players but I would have given Fischer a 3 as he did nothing and Siggy 2 as he barely touched the ball. Riedewald did ok and at full back is no worse than V Rhijn ,considering this is not his usual position. I did say the other day he played MF for the A1 youth nearly every game up until Roda so at 17 I am not sure he will end up at LB.

Next week Cillessen, a good reliable goalie will be back and Boilesen will be fit. Duarte could be used instead of Serero but up
front Bojan should start in the centre ,with Schone and Fischer on the wings.Siggy can be used as a sub and Siem,sorry but he should also be a sub. Although he was not great Hoesen should have stayed as he offered more than Siem and Siggy as a striker.

We are 5 points clear but Twente will probably beat Groningen on Tuesday in their game in hand (its away) and our lead will be just 2 points. Vitesse seem to be fading away and Fword are dropping more points than us. Twente will be the team that pushes us but we have for the last 4 seasons had great 2nd halves of the season. We now have 9 wins and 2 draws since that defeat v Vitesse but our squad is weakish and I do fear a long run in the Europa Cup .

Next away game at Fword and we have Vitesse away and Twente at home . If we do not get beaten in any of those games
we should make it to the title but we will have to wait and see.

Cannot say I am enjoying any games at the present. Utrecht was bad this was even worse.

[ajaxcolombia]

I wonder if I'd be a good idea to have a thread in the other section of the english forum to discuss in a more general way, tactical and selection problems and matters that the team has been presenting insetad of just focusing on the events of one match, thus recongnizing trends and multiple factors.