05 NOV 2023; Ajax - Heerenveen: Match Day 10

[Orange14]

Will Ajax still be relegation fodder after this one?

[SPL]

Same starting lineup as Volendam so Martha stays. I am confident we will win.

[saddlerian]

20 minutes gone, 3 heart attacks!!

Come on defence..."keep playing like you mean it!

[GangstaRiB]

Ajax is as shaky as the last couple of weeks. Midfield gets overrun. John must fix it asap. Heerenveen is looking to score.

[saddlerian]

1-0

[saddlerian]

Long wait...is it offside???

[saddlerian]

GOAL

[saddlerian]

BROBBEY....2-0

[saddlerian]

BROBBEY....2-0

[GangstaRiB]

Great assist from Branco. Can’t be defended.

[saddlerian]

2-1....good goal, no real fault..defenders must attack the ball though, not let strikers get front of them!!

[SPL]

2 good goals but letting them back in the game.A quick 3rd and that surely will be good enough.

[GangstaRiB]

That disallowed goal from Brobbey would never be disallowed in the UK.

[saddlerian]

Haha...they'd still be VAR ing it!!!

[saddlerian]

GOAL....3-1...

[saddlerian]

4-1...a good win, no way was it solid, but a win's a win!
Another nice cameo from Akpom...

6 points better off than last week!!!

[SPL]

So my Arsenal loving sons and all my Brighton mates will be very amused to know Ajax fans have a new unlikely hero Chuba Akpom. 2 well taken goals. They should have scored to make it 2-2 hitting the post and missing almost point blank but luck on our side. Brobbey's disallowed goal did not look much like a foul to me.

Our defence is still shaky and MF weakish but we are now getting confidence with 2 wins in 4 days. Our 5 remaining games before Christmas are all against sides we should beat in normal circumstances.Still frustrated that RKC game wont be completed until December.

6 academy boys on the park and thats the way it will remain for the time being.V d Boomen, one of the 6, had a good game and superb cross for Brobbey's goal.

[Orange14]

Two down and 24 to go to crush the Eredivisie with van't Schip directing things. Some dicey moments today but Ajax came on late with two Akbom goals to lock this game up. The Heerenveen goal was quite nice to look at but I think Vos fell asleep letting his man get free but the post saved Ramaj and the follow up was shot wide. Still need to tighten things up with the defense but the offense and MF passing is looking much better now.

Player Ratings:

Ramaj (6.5) - didn't have much to do in goal but did have an amazing long kick up field right to an Ajax wing player
Gaaei (6.5) - pretty solid game and had a couple of good interventions
Sutalo (7)- had some good clearances today and stood his ground on defense
Hato (6.5) - beaten on the Heerenveen goal but it was going to be tough to defend
Martha (6.5) - solid effort for the second game in a row
van den Boomen (7,5) - passing was so very good all game long
Taylor (6) - worked hard all game long
Hlynsson (6) - pressed well and had a good shot on goal
Berghuis (7) - maybe his best game of the season, worked hard all over the field
Brobbey (7) - too bad he wasn't playing in the EPL today as his goal that was called back would have stood in England, really great header for the match winner
Berwijn (7) - another who worked hard on both ends of the field and opened up the scoring for Ajax
Vos (6) - other than one error that wasn't punished put in a good shift
Rensch (NR) - on late but defended well when he was called to do so
Akbom (NR) - two good goals to seal the deal
Forbs (NR) - on very late but had one good run with the ball deep in the box before losing control
Sosa (NR) - had a couple of good crosses

Brighton at home for Thursday night football this week followed by an away game at Almere City.

[Tom_]

The refs are calling some total BS against Brobbey this season. If the roles had been reversed I’m sure he’d have been given a yellow for diving.

[Amol]

What a wonderful change the past couple weeks have been. The joy is back in our football.

Things to improve? Absolutely. But headed in the right direction by leaps and bounds - 100%!!!

Based on the teams we have to face before the winter break, we should be somewhere between 5th and 7th. Such a far cry from the doom and gloom under Steijn.

I wonder if Steijn was trying to wreck us on purpose.