08 JAN 2023; NEC - Ajax; Match Day 15

[Orange14]

Finally back to some proper football after a prolonged absence because of the World Cup. Ajax take on NEC on Sunday and it will be interesting to see if they come out with improved form. There is also a Dutch Cup match next Wednesday. Europa League competition begins in mid-February.

Cheers to all for a happy and prosperous 2023!!!

[SPL]

Probably the 1st time ever I do not look forward to Ajax restarting . I am not like so called fans on Showtime ,who want us to lose so Schreuder can be sacked.No way on this earth would I ever want any Ajax side to lose. I am a born negative person so I expect us to finish 2nd or 3rd but hope we can start with a good win.

[Tom_]

If anything I think the doom and gloom around Ajax got worse over the break! The Blind saga, the bizarre press conferences from Schreuder… like you SPL I see no reason to expect a better second half of the season, but hopefully we’re wrong.

[Orange14]

I think it is going to be difficult to predict what will happen in the league. PSV are clearly damaged by losing Gakpo and Feyenoord have a couple of long term injuries. AZ might just be a team that can rise to the occasion. I also want my team to win every time out. I think if management is going to thrown in the towel, they will sell Kudus and Alvarez this month. We'll see what happens.

[Tom_]

True, the eredivisie as a whole is weaker than it has been for a while.

I hope they hang on to Kudus and play him in midfield. But he’s gone before the start of next season no matter what, which is a shame, because I think he’s a good player and he never really got a chance after his injury.

[Tom_]

It seems like half the squad is sick. Berghuis, Bergwijn, Kudus missing. Not sure about Wijndal but he’s not listed in the starting 11.

We could see some Jong players today!

[SPL]

Kudus,Bergwijn Berghuis all sick and Wijndal cannot even get in the 11.6 Young Ajax players on the bench,only Wijndal and Lucca are 1st teamers.Hope to get a stream as Freestreams -1 site has been closed

[Cruijff]

Kudus,Bergwijn Berghuis all sick and Wijndal cannot even get in the 11.6 Young Ajax players on the bench,only Wijndal and Lucca are 1st teamers.

Even Jorrel Hato (16 years old) is in the squad today.
Hopefully this Eredivisie match followed by Wednesday 11 January FC Den Bosch - Ajax in Dutch FA Cup the final two matches with Schreuder!!

[Orange14]

Ajax look decent today. The goal was really nice with Klaassen finishing off a volley pass from Tadic. Ajax had 2-3 other chances that forced good saves from Cilessen. Defensively they are doing enough. Alvarez has had several very good interventions and Rensch is OK as a fill in CB. I would like to see another goal in the beginning of the 2nd half to make things more comfortable.

[kezme44]

conceicao looking good and no pressure on Ajax goal so far but I think this will be a different game in the 2nd half

[Tom_]

Almost time to bring on one of the kids for Taylor. I think even Christian Poulsen would’ve put that chance he had away!!!

[SPL]

Looks decent so far with a nice goal and we should have got a 2nd by now. Rensch looks ok in LCD and Conceicao lively.Hope Fitz-Jim gets on ,really impresses me when I watch Young Ajax

[kezme44]

here we go!

[GangstaRiB]

New year, same old shit.

[kezme44]

should not have been a free kick on the nec goal, but neither Alvarez nor Rensch covered the defender, and it’s probably safe to say that a better opponent would have scored more goals, while we would have scored less. can’t remember last time we actually won a game…

[SPL]

Only chance for NEC they score from a free kick and our marking is woeful.Plenty of possession from Ajax but again finishing is poor.Conceicao impressed but cannot last 90 mins . Lucca apart from his height in the box adds nothing ,no good on the ball,no way should we have such a limited striker playing.Again Sanchez and Bassey didnt impress.

With 3 ill ie Bergwijn,Berghuis and Kudus we have a woefully small squad.

[Orange14]

Awful defending on a free kick leads to the tying goal for NEC and that's how the match ends. Hard to tell from the replay I saw, maybe Rensch was at fault. Ajax had chances to win the match in the end but Cillessen stood strong in goal and Ajax was just left with the one goal. Schreuder put out the best 11 he had but the lack of attackers was key. Conceicao was quite good in the game but it has to be said that Tadic is nearing the end of his playing days. He cannot beat defenders any longer and is not much of a threat on the left wing. He really needs to be a substitute player but I doubt that will happen. Good to see Fitz-Jim and Rassmussen get game time. It's just disappointing to drop points when there was a good chance to win. I think it is now five league matches without a victory.

Player Ratings:

Pasveer (5.5) - had little to do other than kick the ball up field
Sanchez (5.5) - picked up a stupid YC and had a couple of good runs on overlap but he's really not good enough at this level
Timber (7) - solid game with some moments on offense
Rensch (6) - don't know if he was at fault on the goal but he was decent at CB
Bassey (6.5) - worked hard all match but is not helped by a rather immobile left wing
Alvarez (7) - strong match with several chances on goal
Taylor (4.5) - had a couple of chances on goal that he really should have done better with but was just average otherwise
Klaassen (6) - scored a nice goal
Conceicao (7) - really good game constantly causing danger down the right side
Brobbey (5) - they need to figure out a better way to get him involved in matches; really did nothing before coming off with a shoulder injury
Tadic (5.5) - good assist to Klaassen and that was it; his free kicks were just average when they needed to be much better
Lucca (5) - had one header that missed the mark
Fitz-Jim (5) - came on too late for Taylor
Rassmussen (NR) - on late

Den Bosch in a Beker match mid week

[Cruijff]

Ajax look decent today. The goal was really nice with Klaassen finishing off a volley pass from Tadic. Ajax had 2-3 other chances that forced good saves from Cilessen. Defensively they are doing enough.

Awful defending on a free kick leads to the tying goal for NEC and that's how the match ends.

For a team that "looked decent today" ( your words ) a lot of players got a 4.5, 5 or 5.5 in your Player Ratings.
So we see again in the curious game of football: a first half and a second half really can be like totally different solar systems.

[Orange14]

For a team that "looked decent today" ( your words ) a lot of players got a 4.5, 5 or 5.5 in your Player Ratings.
So we see again in the curious game of football: a first half and a second half really can be like totally different solar systems.

Yes it was a tale of two halves but over all, Ajax had the better of the play. Cillessen came up big 3-4 times to deny Ajax a goal. I'm curious what the expected goals for Ajax were today. As much as I dislike Schreuder, I don't think today was his fault though maybe he could have taken Taylor off earlier.

[SPL]

Our defence only made one error, alas it was their goal ,and also their only real chance.I see they have 9 draws out of 15 and 17 goals conceeded so they are not easy to beat .

Given all the illnesses and injuries Schrueder cannot really be at fault today .He had already decided Wijndal was not good enough to start so only really had 11 players left .Taylor has been ill this week and should have come off at the hour mark so Fitz-Jim could have come on earlier. I do hope F-J gets a lot more minutes this season.

[SPL]

A PS to above post,no way am I going soft on AS ,he V D Sar and Hamstra should be chucked out of Ajax tomorrow. They are responsible for the current shambolic mess and dreadful signings, Wijndal Sanchez,Ocampos,Grillitsch Bassey Lucca are not good enough.

When fit Bergwijn must play left wing and Tadic sub .No futher right winger signed just play Conceicao and let Kudus have playing time there,he is not a striker .