11 DEC 2016 FC Twente - Ajax Match Day 16

[souras84]

Got what we deserved. When you waste the chances, you can't complain. Plus it was Dijks' mistake to begin with. He was in a wrong position when the counter started. Shit. Now, it's time to contemplate! We have to be ready for next week.

[rjf1]

How was that not a foul on Schöne?! Well, don't think that would have helped anyway. I mean how many set pieces we got in this game and how many of them were dangerous?

None - because Ziyech kept taking all of them instead of Schone. Why they let him continue to do it is the real question to ask.

[Orange14]

A loss is a loss even when it might not be deserved. Just when I was thinking that Viergever was the best player on the pitch he gets his feet tangled up falls down and swipes at the ball right in front of Onana. He knew it was a stone cold penalty. Not really much to say that is positive from this match. Most of the starters had Thursday night off and they really looked bad other than Sanchez's winning every aerial duel that came his way. Passing was the worst of any match this season and good first touches were non-existent. I hate to continue to harp on Klaassen but until he leaves the club there won't be a functioning midfield and I don't care how many goals he scores this season.

Player Ratings:

Onana (6) - guessed wrong on the penalty
Dijks (5) - all around average
Viergever (4.5) - played very well until the hand ball
Sanchez (6) - great intervention to save a goal when Dolberg turned the ball over; only fault was several outlet passes right to Twente players
Veltman (3.5) - horrible passing and a cross that sailed 10M over the crossbar
Schöne (5.5) - yes he was fouled in the last 20 seconds and deserved a free kick and no it would not have mattered
Ziyech (4.5) - a couple of good passes amidst great mediocrity
el Capitan no touch (4) - typical match from one who cannot control the ball; does Bosz not see this?
Younes (5.5) - great chance in the first half and was looking to create danger unlike his teammates
Dolberg (3.5) - horrible touches and give aways
QeG7 (6) - played quite well and was surprised at the end of the half when he beat three players and then could not get a shot off
Cassierra (5) - had no impact as a sub

Cambuur cup tie mid-week and now a home match against PSV that is a must win if Ajax harbor any title chances. They are not going to make up the current goal differential that Feyenoord enjoys.

[SPL]

We deserved nothing today and got nothing . Dijks is rubbish but we really do need 2 decent wingers .Sorry but Younes does nothing ,just runs into defenders ,had one chance today .El Ghazi thinks hes Ronaldo ,he too is a waste of space.

We need to buy a LB who can defend ,cover a right winger and attack and a left winger and send Klaassen away .

At least in the cup this week we will see young kids playing really good football.

A pitiful performance but apart from NEC the other week we have struggled in recent matches .

[ajaxcolombia]

Terrible match, and just before the big one against the team I hate to lose the most in the world Phillips football club. Well, I hope Bosz sits down and does his homework and realizes there's a lot to correct tactically and formation-wise. Stat time:

Most shots on goal: Hakim Ziyech with 5.
Most shots on target: Lasse Schöne with 2.
Most amount of possession: Davinson Sanchez with 10.4%. Probably Ajax's most decent player on the pitch today.
Most amount of touches: Also Davinson Sanchez with 114.
Best passing accuracy: Davinson Sanchez with 93% accuracy. If only we could distribute that passing close to the box.
Most amount of accurate passes: Also Davinson Sanchez with 93.
Most amount of key passes: Hakim Ziyech with 6. This is when statistics fail to show the reality of the game, I don't remember any of those "key passes" leaving any Ajax forward with a clear chance.
Most amount of successful dribbles: Amin Younes with 4, completing a 100% of his dribbles. Not much came out of it though. I also remember two instances in which he lost the ball because of inability to control a pass.
Most amount of aerial duels won: Nick Viergever with 4.
Most amount of tackles: Joël Veltman as always with 5.
Most clearances: Joël Veltman with 5.
Most amount of blocks: Lasse Schöne with 5.
Most amount of interceptions: Nick Viergever with 7. Pretty decent game from him, right up until the last moment.

Negatives
Worst pass accuracy: Kasper Dolberg with 71% only attempting 14 passes.
Player dribbled past the most: Davy Klaassen who was dribbled past twice.
Player who lost possession the most: Kasper Dolberg a staggering 8 times!
Penalties committed: Nick Viergever with a handball on the floor.
Red cards: Nick Viergever.

Goalkeeper
Onana had 3 saves and that's it.

[SPL]

Sanchez was for me our best player ,ok a few wayward passes but very solid defender. Viergever played well for 90 mins but then cocked up big time. Still think we need Tete at RB and get Haps of Az ,the best LB I have seen this season.

Midfield sell Klaassen along with Bazoer Gudelj Serero play de Jong,v dBeek and Nouri .Ziyech was rubbish today Schone ok . To repeat myself dont think those 3 kids would play as poor as our midfield today .

Upfront Dolberg was poor but has had a decent season. Games like today it would be good to have an older experienced striker .On the wings go and buy 2 who can actually beat a player and cross the ball into the area.El Ghazi is ok nothing special just wants to score flash goals.Like Bazoer if he goes next month I wont shed tears. Younes beats a player goes into the box and loses the ball nearly every time . Sorry time to get rid of him.

[Orange14]

Terrible match, and just before the big one against the team I hate to lose the most in the world Phillips football club. Well, I hope Bosz sits down and does his homework and realizes there's a lot to correct tactically and formation-wise. Stat time:

Most amount of possession: Davinson Sanchez with 10.4%. Probably Ajax's most decent player on the pitch today.
Most amount of touches: Also Davinson Sanchez with 114.
Best passing accuracy: Davinson Sanchez with 93% accuracy. If only we could distribute that passing close to the box.
Most amount of accurate passes: Also Davinson Sanchez with 93.

Most amount of aerial duels won: Nick Viergever with 4.
Most amount of tackles: Joël Veltman as always with 5.
Most clearances: Joël Veltman with 5.
Most amount of blocks: Lasse Schöne with 5.
Most amount of interceptions: Nick Viergever with 7. Pretty decent game from him, right up until the last moment.

Negatives
Worst pass accuracy: Kasper Dolberg with 71% only attempting 14 passes.
Player dribbled past the most: Davy Klaassen who was dribbled past twice.
Player who lost possession the most: Kasper Dolberg a staggering 8 times!
Penalties committed: Nick Viergever with a handball on the floor.
Red cards: Nick Viergever.

I don't know what the source of the statistics is but they are highly misleading and I think in one case wrong. To me Sanchez had more aerial wins than Viergever but maybe they define it differently than I do. Also Sanchez passing statistics are highly misleading. He had more back passes to Onana than maybe any other player and I don't think these should be counted. The reason he gets so many touches in the game is that our midfield is just bad. On most teams it is one of the midfielders that 'should' have the most touches, the fact that a defender does means the ball is coming back rather than going forward.

I try to look to see what the midfielders do to create passing openings. When you watch a Jong Ajax game you see constant movement among the MFs. with the senior team there is a lot of standing around and they you also have Klaassen whose touch is so poor his teammates won't pass to him except under dire emergency. this is another big difference between Jong and senior teams. I hope he sits out the cup tie with Cambuur and we have a real MF to watch.

[Cruijff]

I try to look to see what the midfielders do to create passing openings. When you watch a Jong Ajax game you see constant movement among the MFs. with the senior team there is a lot of standing around and they you also have Klaassen whose touch is so poor his teammates won't pass to him except under dire emergency. this is another big difference between Jong and senior teams. I hope he sits out the cup tie with Cambuur and we have a real MF to watch.

Jep with Donny van de Beek in the team it would probably had gone better.

[SPL]

Orange and I are spoilt as we watch most Jong Ajax games. The midfield play of Donny Appie and Frenkie is sublime quick passing and movement . Beautiful football and inspiring to me. These 3 must lineup v Cambuur. They played together for those last 25 mins v Panathinaiakos and completely out passed and outplayed the Greeks .

[Orange14]

Yes, SPL and I are spoiled (US spelling ). I also see a huge difference between the strategy Marcel Kizer uses vs that of Bosz. Lots of pressing all over the field and players try to get the ball back within 10 seconds after it is lost (the Barcelona style of play). I think Kizer will be sought after as a manager of a more senior team.

[SPL]

Keizer wants to play like Barca and according to the Gospel of Johan.Luckily he has 3 superbly talented midfield kids but even last Friday when only 1 of those kids played they still played the same way.

We have Thursday v Cambuur to look forward to and Jong play Friday .2 games where real Ajax football will be seen.Next Sunday its back to boring Klaassen and Veltman both from the school of Frank de Boer!!

[Orange14]

Keizer wants to play like Barca and according to the Gospel of Johan.Luckily he has 3 superbly talented midfield kids but even last Friday when only 1 of those kids played they still played the same way.

I wonder if van der Sar and the Board notice the difference between the two styles. It's probably to early to make a change in managers but I wonder whether Bosz is best for the club in the long term.

[ajaxcolombia]

Terrible match, and just before the big one against the team I hate to lose the most in the world Phillips football club. Well, I hope Bosz sits down and does his homework and realizes there's a lot to correct tactically and formation-wise. Stat time:

Most amount of possession: Davinson Sanchez with 10.4%. Probably Ajax's most decent player on the pitch today.
Most amount of touches: Also Davinson Sanchez with 114.
Best passing accuracy: Davinson Sanchez with 93% accuracy. If only we could distribute that passing close to the box.
Most amount of accurate passes: Also Davinson Sanchez with 93.

Most amount of aerial duels won: Nick Viergever with 4.
Most amount of tackles: Joël Veltman as always with 5.
Most clearances: Joël Veltman with 5.
Most amount of blocks: Lasse Schöne with 5.
Most amount of interceptions: Nick Viergever with 7. Pretty decent game from him, right up until the last moment.

Negatives
Worst pass accuracy: Kasper Dolberg with 71% only attempting 14 passes.
Player dribbled past the most: Davy Klaassen who was dribbled past twice.
Player who lost possession the most: Kasper Dolberg a staggering 8 times!
Penalties committed: Nick Viergever with a handball on the floor.
Red cards: Nick Viergever.

I don't know what the source of the statistics is but they are highly misleading and I think in one case wrong. To me Sanchez had more aerial wins than Viergever but maybe they define it differently than I do. Also Sanchez passing statistics are highly misleading. He had more back passes to Onana than maybe any other player and I don't think these should be counted. The reason he gets so many touches in the game is that our midfield is just bad. On most teams it is one of the midfielders that 'should' have the most touches, the fact that a defender does means the ball is coming back rather than going forward.

I try to look to see what the midfielders do to create passing openings. When you watch a Jong Ajax game you see constant movement among the MFs. with the senior team there is a lot of standing around and they you also have Klaassen whose touch is so poor his teammates won't pass to him except under dire emergency. this is another big difference between Jong and senior teams. I hope he sits out the cup tie with Cambuur and we have a real MF to watch.

Well according to the source, whoscored.com, Davinson Sanchez actually played 81 of his 100 passes during the game forward. I really don't remember Sanchez passing the ball back to Onana that often, so I would agree on this case with the cold hard numbers. And yes, according to the source Sanchez won 2 aerial duels against 4 won by Nick Viergever. I said it myself that statistics can be misleading but can also help to understand our real problems, and Sanchez passing the ball backwards to Onana wasn't it.

Yes, I would agree with you that our midfield was incapable of creating danger consistently. I for one agree with your assessment of Davy Klaassen. There was an instance I remember vividly in the first half in which Dolberg received the ball with his back towards the goal. Klaassen decided to run towards goal expecting Dolberg to pass the ball back and the ball being hurled to his position inside the penalty area. But instead Dolberg couldn't find anyone to associate with and lost the ball.

Anyway statistics are supposed to be read and analyzed, I get this data from the only source I know that provides such detailed numbers. I'll keep posting them, hoping they are helpful in reading something about the the current state of the team we all love and follow on this site.

[ajaxcolombia]

Terrible match, and just before the big one against the team I hate to lose the most in the world Phillips football club. Well, I hope Bosz sits down and does his homework and realizes there's a lot to correct tactically and formation-wise. Stat time:

Most amount of possession: Davinson Sanchez with 10.4%. Probably Ajax's most decent player on the pitch today.
Most amount of touches: Also Davinson Sanchez with 114.
Best passing accuracy: Davinson Sanchez with 93% accuracy. If only we could distribute that passing close to the box.
Most amount of accurate passes: Also Davinson Sanchez with 93.

Most amount of aerial duels won: Nick Viergever with 4.
Most amount of tackles: Joël Veltman as always with 5.
Most clearances: Joël Veltman with 5.
Most amount of blocks: Lasse Schöne with 5.
Most amount of interceptions: Nick Viergever with 7. Pretty decent game from him, right up until the last moment.

Negatives
Worst pass accuracy: Kasper Dolberg with 71% only attempting 14 passes.
Player dribbled past the most: Davy Klaassen who was dribbled past twice.
Player who lost possession the most: Kasper Dolberg a staggering 8 times!
Penalties committed: Nick Viergever with a handball on the floor.
Red cards: Nick Viergever.

I don't know what the source of the statistics is but they are highly misleading and I think in one case wrong. To me Sanchez had more aerial wins than Viergever but maybe they define it differently than I do. Also Sanchez passing statistics are highly misleading. He had more back passes to Onana than maybe any other player and I don't think these should be counted. The reason he gets so many touches in the game is that our midfield is just bad. On most teams it is one of the midfielders that 'should' have the most touches, the fact that a defender does means the ball is coming back rather than going forward.

I try to look to see what the midfielders do to create passing openings. When you watch a Jong Ajax game you see constant movement among the MFs. with the senior team there is a lot of standing around and they you also have Klaassen whose touch is so poor his teammates won't pass to him except under dire emergency. this is another big difference between Jong and senior teams. I hope he sits out the cup tie with Cambuur and we have a real MF to watch.

Well according to the source, whoscored.com, Davinson Sanchez actually played 81 of his 100 passes during the game forward. I really don't remember Sanchez passing the ball back to Onana that often, so I would agree on this case with the cold hard numbers. And yes, according to the source Sanchez won 2 aerial duels against 4 won by Nick Viergever. I said it myself that statistics can be misleading but can also help to understand our real problems, and Sanchez passing the ball backwards to Onana wasn't it.

Yes, I would agree with you that our midfield was incapable of creating danger consistently. I for one agree with your assessment of Davy Klaassen. There was an instance I remember vividly in the first half in which Dolberg received the ball with his back towards the goal. Klaassen decided to run towards goal expecting Dolberg to pass the ball back and the ball being hurled to his position inside the penalty area. But instead Dolberg couldn't find anyone to associate with and lost the ball.

Anyway statistics are supposed to be read and analyzed, I get this data from the only source I know that provides such detailed numbers. I'll keep posting them, hoping they are helpful in reading something about the the current state of the team we all love and follow on this site.

After going over Sanchez pass map, I can see there is something to be said about his backward passing. He did pass backward 18 times, and it does seem like most of this 18 passes were directed at Onana.

[SPL]

I enjoy the stats but Sanchez was the best of bad bunch and Viergever was as good until that handball.

I always think of the points dropped in injury time and we lost 2 points v Roda and 1 point yesterday .Those 3 points may well cost us the title in the end .We complain about the woeful midfield but poor defensive mistakes are still the reason why we are not top.

[Orange14]

Thanks for clarifying the source of the statistics. It just seemed like Sanchez had a lot of headed balls with a player right next to him. I agree with SPL, good teams are mentally tough in the last three minutes of matches and do NOT make mistakes. I would have watch the replay again, but it looked like Viergever got his feet tangled up and as a result fell. I guess he then thought it was better to take a chance on a PK than to concede what would have been a sure goal. I remember back in the 2010 WC quarterfinals, Luis Suarez deliberately handling a ball in the box against Ghana. The resulting PK was saved and Uruguay went on to win the match. Suarez was suspended for the next match against the Oranje team that made it to the finals.