Ajaxtalk

Fresh off qualification to the Champions League group stage, Ajax head to Rotterdam for a match with Sparta on Sunday. Another game on an artificial surface which is not good for players legs. I wonder if we will see some squad rotation.

Squad rotation you say. As if we have some kind of typical starting 11

ETH has named the same lineup that played against APOEL with the exception of Promes in for Huntelaar.

I don't think the latin American duo in the MF can help us in the build up...

when van de Beek returns he will come into midfield. But unlike last season, this season may have a few dilemmas of the starting 11.

KJH to come off the bench and get the winner!

2 well taken goals leaves us comfortable and just need a quick 3rd after HT to settle the match.

Another very slow start by Ajax but Sparta really don't have much quality to threaten. Onana did not have anything difficult to do. Great over the top pass by Martinez to Promes for the first goal and then Tadic with some magic moves to slot the ball across to Ziyech for an easy tap in. It looks like ETH may have confidence in Martinez as a holding MF as Alvarez is pushing up into the offensive end much more than he did the other night.

Ajax should get a couple of more goals in the 2nd half.

Was a clear penalty 3-0 game should be over but we ought to go on and get 5

4-0 glorious goal

For me, there was too much futzing around with the ball in the final third. All that passing back and forth to the guy standing 1 meter away from you - and him being covered and even double covered - wasted opportunities to set up someone to get a step on the defender and take a shot. Same criticism for the back line where they got in trouble on more than one occasion by passing back and forth to each other in tight circumstances instead of putting the ball up the pitch.

Slow out of the blocks in the first twenty minutes and too sloppy in the final twenty didn't hamper Ajax as they scored four times for an easy 1-4 win over Sparta. A nice pass over the top by Martinez led to the first one and then Tadic with a great move and through pass to set up the second were the major highlights. Ajax again dominated possession 65-35 and had more shots than Sparta.

Player Ratings:

Onana (6.5) - really hardly anything to do
Tagliafico (6.5) - OK match from the LB
Blind (7) - strong defending inside the penalty area
Veltman (7) - also strong inside defending poking the ball away on several occasions
Dest (6.5) - one great play to disrupt a Sparta break away but just above average the rest of the time
Martnez (7) - outstanding pass to pick out Promes for the first goal and maybe he stays in MF now
Alvarez (6) - good for 70 minutes and then too sloppy with his passing
Ziyech (7.5) - very nice game with two balls in the net
Promes (7) - made some good runs going the full 90
Tadic (7.5) - nice ball control in tight spaces again and on target from the spot
Neres (5.5) - disappointing match, posing some danger on only a couple of occasions
Mazraoui (6) - on for a half hour and decent at LB
Huntelaar (5.5) - little impact on the match
Lang (5.5) - lots of speed but he has to harness it

No match next weekend because of the international break

Well once we went 4-0 up we then played the rest of the game in 1st gear and got caught letting a silly goal in . Mazraoui was not back defending and Veltman found himself having to mark 2 men in the area.

Promes will have been pleased he got playing time and a goal and will still be very useful as the season goes on. Blind showing he must be at Cd especially now de LIgt has gone . Martinez and Alvarez both looked better today but whereas Martinez has played a few games Alvarez was making only his 2nd start. Donny should be back in 2 weeks time. Camera picked him up a couple of times in the crowd.

So a 2 week break and we are in the CL proper and top or joint top of the league. Thankfully the transfer market closes tomorrow.

Right off for a cycle ride now to get some exercise.You American lads,for whom its still morning, can now enjoy a full day relaxed .

SPL schreef: Right off for a cycle ride now to get some exercise.You American lads,for whom its still morning, can now enjoy a full day relaxed .

Heading out for my five mile walk and I think it's safe to wear the Ajax shirt today!!

Will wear mine on the bike.

I guess ETH will not try and play the same way as last year, considering the Martinez-Alvarez are in no way the Schone-De Jong type... Maybe it's for the best. But who knows? I bet there are more changes coming to the line up. Can't believe Veltman is our starting CB for the rest of the season

Martinez is more impressive with every match. He was really solid today. Ajax have not had a real solid defensive MF in some time. I wonder if Christian Poulsen will give him lessons?

@souras84 Veltman came up as a CB and played quite well in that position - he got moved to RB as an emergency replacement and got stuck there afterward - which is why he never was that good in that position. IMO, he's been decent enough at CB so far.

rjf1 schreef:@souras84 Veltman came up as a CB and played quite well in that position - he got moved to RB as an emergency replacement and got stuck there afterward - which is why he never was that good in that position. IMO, he's been decent enough at CB so far.

Remember van der Hoorn was bought from Utrecht where he was player of the year as that club qualified for the Europa League to replace Alderwiereld who was sold on to Athletico Madrid. van der Hoorn was error prone and Veltman beat him out as first choice RCB. IIRC, he moved over to RB under Bosz as Tete was felt to be too limited a player going forward.

Making a mistake in the Eredivisie won't be that big a problem, now that we score 2-4 goals per game. But in the CL level? With fast and tall opponents such as Chelsea or Lille??