13 FEB 2021; Heracles - Ajax; Match Day 21

[Orange14]

Assuming there is no inclement weather, Ajax are to travel this Saturday for a match against Heracles. Gravenberch is back in the squad for this one and there appear to be no injuries from yesterday's fine win over PSV.

[SPL]

Ko changed to 18.45 CET

[Ayman]

Just hope Ajax keep up the good form and Ten Hag rotates a little. That said, I want to see Martinez more often, the guy is a nitty gritty type of player, he crunches in and is effective at the back. At the same time, Blind is doing well, as too is Alvarez, also with Taylor on the fringes, and further up in midfield, Klaassen and Kudus returning. Good times ahead!

[kezme44]

psv drop two points at ado. Kramer scored on a bicycle kick in the 94th minute let’s put some more distance between them

[SPL]

Yes a good start to the evening with PSV dropping points again. My 70th last week and one of my sons gave me a 20/21 home shirt.I dont buy one every year .It has my surname Lund with 51 on the back ,my year of birth.

Will Traore get on tonight as Haller wont play v Lille.I dont want Brobbey waering our shirt again.

[kezme44]

happy belated 70th spl! I hope Ajax gives you a 7-0 victory present today

[GangstaRiB]

Yes a good start to the evening with PSV dropping points again. My 70th last week and one of my sons gave me a 20/21 home shirt.I dont buy one every year .It has my surname Lund with 51 on the back ,my year of birth.

Will Traore get on tonight as Haller wont play v Lille.I dont want Brobbey waering our shirt again.

Congrats!

Ten Hag solely looks at the game at hand, it doesn’t seem he is planning in advance. So that could explain why he stays with Haller.

[kezme44]

tight first half. we scored on perhaps the only shot on goal we had. heracles looking dangerous on the ball and pressing. I hope they run out of gas in the second

[SPL]

Very scrappy half I have no problem with VAR in principle but when they take over 3 mins to make a decision then its a joke.Lucky the goal stood after all that time .Heracles are giving us a much tougher game than PSV did the other night and we will have to work hard for the 3 points

[Orange14]

I had real trouble staying awake for this half of football.

[kezme44]

two goals on three shots. glad we kept the sheet clean. that much to say about this game

[SPL]

A dreadful game to watch but once Haller made it 2-0 I thought that was it.I think we had 2 clear chances all game and scored with both.
Heracles no better and Steks was hardly troubled.Timber impressed me and Rensch already looks a decent RB.

So 8 wins in a row,6 in the league and we are 6 points clear with a game in hand .Not sure we have played that great in any of those games though!

[Orange14]

-6C makes an artificial surface feel like concrete; not a pleasant place to play. Firsts for Ajax: oldest field player to start a league match (Steks), first time ETH wins at Heracles, first five consecutive away wins at the start of a calendar year since Cruyff led the team. Decent enough match though things were scruffy in the first half and
Ajax could have very easily conceded a goal. PSV drew today so Ajax pick up another two points to go up six points with a game in hand.

Player Ratings:

Stekelenburg (6.5) - had one moderately difficult save to make and sucked time off the clock when it was still 0-1
Tagliafico (6.5) - had a couple of crosses that were decent and defended OK
Blind (6.5) - decent enough match
Timber (7) - his positioning was quite fine and he compensates for his lack of height quite fine
Mazraoui (6.5) - had some good moments in the first half but had to come off after taking a ball to the side of his face
Alvarez (6) - not up to the quality of his past matches with a couple of poor defensive plays
Gravenberch (6.5) - had a couple of good runs but rather quite otherwise
Klaassen (7.5) - great game winner and then an assist to Haller for the clincher
Tadic (7) - solid match on the ball
Haller (7) - great hold up play and his movement with the ball was outstanding
Neres (6) - probably the weakest match of all the starters
Antony (6) - had a fair amount of the ball coming on for the final 20 minutes
Rensch (6) - good match in the 20 minutes he played
Kudus (NR) - on late for his first match time since getting injured against Liverpool last fall
Labyad (NR) - on late for Tadic

Europa League match against top of the table Lille next Thursday. this will be a tough one for Ajax with Haller not able to play.

[Ayman]

The away game against Lille will be critical. They are top of the Ligue 1. Brobbey is closer to 100% fitness than Traore, it would make sense if he starts. As for the right back position, Mazroui seems a little off form, that said, Rensch is not ready against a top quality side.

[Tom_]

Very scrappy half I have no problem with VAR in principle but when they take over 3 mins to make a decision then its a joke.Lucky the goal stood after all that time .Heracles are giving us a much tougher game than PSV did the other night and we will have to work hard for the 3 points

Happy birthday SPL.

I agree about VAR, couldn’t they give them 60s to look at it and then stay with the on-field call if it’s too close to tell?