20 NOV 2016 Ajax - NEC Match Day 13

[rjf1]

Never fails -- Traore turns around and makes a lovely run and shot to score the 4th and shut me up.

[SPL]

Good finish by Traore ,and now Schone for 5

[Orange14]

OK, it's now over as Schöne nails a beauty off a pass from Dolberg. Bring on Riedewald, van de Beek and Nouri!

[rjf1]

Everyone wants to be a shooter now. Schone makes it #5. Where is it all gonna end?

[King Litti]

This is a message to Fword and psv. This is our year. And with the talented generation we have coming, let's say this is our decade!

[Ayman]

This is a message to Fword and psv. This is our year. And with the talented generation we have coming, let's say this is our decade!

I would prefer if Ajax go extremely far in the Europa league while finishing 2nd in the eredivisie, rather than win the eredivisie and say crashing out of the Europa league in the knock out stages.

[zeux]

This is a message to Fword and psv. This is our year. And with the talented generation we have coming, let's say this is our decade!

Not with the likes of Barca, ManU and others of that ilk lurking around to snatch a talent or two.

A decade is absolutely inconceivable.

[SPL]

A fine performance and 5 fine goals with Dolberg showing his class as a striking talent. My only moans ,pity we did not score at least 6 or 7 and why did Clement come on and not Nouri. Clement plays wide for Jong Ajax but is really a midfielder.Well he is not a winger so why was Nouri not played .

Riedewald is still a CD in my mind and Schone in that DM role is far more creative.

So we are top for a couple of hours .

PS 2 weeks today I will be inthe Arena ,cannot wait

[Orange14]

Some lackluster play in the final five minutes but otherwise a dominating performance by Ajax. Other than the mental mistake by Sanchez early on where his man was goal side and in on Onana there was little defending to be done and possession was firmly in control. A nice hat trick by Dolberg in the first half and he had some other chances as well. Were it not for the NEC keeper this one could have been 8-0. Sinkgraven picked up a knock and had to be subbed off so Nouri did not have a chance to get in the match. Clement with his first senior team appearance in a league match and Riedwald came on early in the second half for Cerny and Schöne.

Player Ratings:

Onana (7) - really had little to do but make a couple of good saves
Sinkgraven (7) - never tested defensively but was very good on the ball and had some nice interventions
Viergever (7) - good strong match
Sanchez (6.5) - other than the mental mistake early on in the match very solid game and had a screamer of a shot well saved
Veltman (7) - good match but really would have liked to see Tete given a run out
Schöne (7.5) - ran the midfield very well and his goal was well taken
el Capitan no touch (6.5) - had some rocky moments early in the match with some give aways but ended up with a really nice performance
Ziyech (6.5) - decent enough but took some silly shots when others were in better positions
Cerny (5.5) - didn't see a lot of the ball
Dolberg (8.5) - MOTM, outstanding first half and showed how good he can be on the ball, looks to shoot when he has the slimmest of openings but that's what strikers are paid to do
Traore (7) - nice goal and despite some early turnovers had a solid match
Riedewald (7) - good field vision and passing coming on for Schöne; needs to get more playing time as he is the DM of the future
Clement (5.5) - a little hesitant but made a nice run into the box barely missing putting a foot on what would have been a certain goal
Dijks (5.5) - on late for Sinkgraven and only had a couple of touches

Home to Panithanaikos on Thursday in EL play where they can clinch the top spot in the group followed by a road trip to in form Heerenveen on the weekend

[SPL]

I do realise but for Sinkgraven's injury Nouri might have come on .Riedewald may well be the future DM ,I just rather have him at CD .v d Beek , deJong and Nouri are still the MF of the future

[Ayman]

Only around 7 games till the end of the year, I think its time to experiment. Play Dekker on the left, Cerny on the right, Riedewald back in the midfield position.

[ajaxcolombia]

The good thing about Dolberg being the star is you get post match interviews in English. He doesn't seem to like typical football questions like 'how do you keep yourself down to earth?' But he seems very like a nice quiet guy like Bergkamp. Of course, Dennis is my all time football hero so I'm just giving Dolberg the highest is of praises on his current form.

[SPL]

His agent has made comments that he is in no hurry to go to a big league and needs 1 or 2 more years with us to develop.He will bound to have a form dip so hopefully not too much pressure will be put on him.

[Orange14]

Here is the pass map for today's game. Anyone want to bet on who was the poorest player on the pitch? This is a pretty common theme from recent games and el Capitan just does not figure in the match most days. Yes, he does score goals but that's not all there is to football.

[ajaxcolombia]

Oh that's some great statistical information. Klaassen seems to have problems finding a space to receive the ball. Against Luxembourg he also had problems finding where to play, with Sneijder having to command the midfield and play left wing. He was never much of a passing option during the game either.

[Orange14]

Oh that's some great statistical information. Klaassen seems to have problems finding a space to receive the ball. Against Luxembourg he also had problems finding where to play, with Sneijder having to command the midfield and play left wing. He was never much of a passing option during the game either.

I'm probably Klaassen's biggest critic around here. I was watching him most of the match yesterday and of his first six touches he immediately turned the ball over three times. He seldom runs to space and his teammates seldom pass to him. It may be that they realize his ball handling limitations. I'm still puzzled why he is in the starting lineup. I remember last season in the final three games, de Boer left Bazoer out of the lineup and probably destroyed his confidence as well while keeping Klaassen in. IIRC, Klaassen admitted he had let the team down in the final two matches when they could have won the league. the fact that he is still in the national team highlights the mediocrity of current Dutch midfielders.