Ajaxtalk

Big one coming up on Saturday, again with not much rest. PSV who again seem to be running away with the league but not doing much in Europe come to Amsterdam.

Will be in sunny Aruba for this one. Need to find a good Dutch bar to go watch the game.

Fitz-Jim for Taylor,Brobbey and Traore for Weghorst and Godts. I would be happy with a draw although 3 points would be great

What a pass from Hato!

Best half of football that I've seen from Ajax in three years. Great passing and players are getting open. Fitz-Jim was remarkable. Of course Luuk de Jong had to score against Ajax again. Looked like Rensch got picked and Sutalo didn't get out fast enough. Hato's cross was a thing of beauty!!

Very much in the game,but did not think much of the marking of de Jong a free header !

I missed this Ajax Perfect week completed.

Great performance and a great win .We were the better side and deserved 3 points .We are on the way back Feyenoord and PSV both beaten within 3 days wonderful .

This was the best I have seen Ajax play since ten Hag left for ManU. Yes, they conceded two goals but they never lost the thread and offensively were always the more likely of the two teams to score. There was some great passing and Ajax snapped at every turn over by PSV and moved quickly to the attack. Godts gets the match winner off a blunder by Tillman of PSV as the guests were could not deal with the deep pressure from Ajax. Defensively they were up to the task. de Jong got his usual goal against Ajax off a corner kick. It looked to me that Rensch was supposed to prevent him from cutting in but got picked and Sutalo was too far back to challenge. The second goal was just a great effort by Maura Junior who was challenged by Rensch and looked to be taken out of the play. Unfortunately, the ball was moving too slowly towards the end line and the PSV back got up and crossed the ball. Klaasssen was a step away from intercepting it and it fell to Pericic who drilled it home.

Player Ratings:

Pasveer (6.5) - really had very little to do other than passing and kicking; had no chance on either goal
Rensch (7)- defended well keeping Lang out of the game, and was relentless moving forward both in the inside channel and outside
Sutalo (7.5) - he was zonal marking on the de Jong goal and a step too far back but the rest of his defending was textbook
Baas (7.5) - defended well and as with Sutalo was cool with the ball at his feet
Hato (7.5) - what a cross to Klaassen for the first Ajax goal and his defense and passing were top rate
Henderson (8) - kept everything organized and hardly had a pass go awry
Davy One Goal (7) - played deeper today but signaled his run to Hato well and buried the header; slowed down a bit in the 2nd half but still made a couple of good interceptions
Fitz-Jim (8) - MOTM for me with great ball skills and two shots in the first half that almost went in; scored a great goal with his off foot on a poorly cleared ball
Traore (7.5) - thought this was maybe his best game this season, he tracked back well and was really good with the ball in the attacking zone
Brobbey (7) - I'm sure he will score before the season is out but he held the ball up so well despite getting mugged on every single pass to him, had a couple of good passes right at the 6 yard box
Akpom (7) - good game both defensively and pressing when PSV were in their territory
Godts (7.5) - dangerous from the moment he came on for Akpom in the 2nd half and got the match winner
Taylor (7) - had a cracker of a shot that just kissed off the left upright
Weghorst (6.5) - worked hard when he came in for Brobbey
Rugani (NR) - on late as Ajax went to a three man back line and had a couple of clearances
Berghuis (NR) - finally back after a length absence

Maccabi Tel Aviv at home in the Europa League and then off to Enschede to play Twente, who also have a Europa League match next weekend.

A big difference this season is they are a lot fitter and last the whole game.No ET goals so far unlike last season .Hopefully all the pundits will stop moaning about Farioli subs and changing the starting line ups.With 2 games a week he is keeping players fi.Hope Berghuis keeps fit as he will be important.

Had a perfect day , my 14 month old granddaughter came for 2 or 3 hours and is hyperactive and on the go all the time and then Ajax beat PSV .Magic.

It’s great having a coach who doesn’t seem obliged to play a 4-3-3 all the time. Can anyone remember another Ajax manager who *started* a game with two central strikers both playing centrally? Worked really well as both were able to come short and help with the combinations in the midfield, particularly in the first half.

6 points is about 6 more than I was expecting from the last two games!!!

At the start of the season I thought 3rd place was as good as we can expect and even that will be hard.I am more positive and see us and Feyenoord going for 2nd and 3rd.
It is early days 24 games to go and Twente next week will not be easy .A lot depends on us being able to improve the squad with 2 or 3 players in January. A back up left winger and an attacking MF should be added. We will need to get rid of some players and Tahirovic and V D Boomen plus Wijndal should go. V D Boomen gets paid over 2m pa which is bonkers for such a limited player but he was in no hurry to leave in the summer.

One plus so far we have 7 regulars from our own youth playing regularly (Godts does not count only locals do)

Missed the game unfortunately. Spent a lot of time calling up bars in Aruba (including the hotel bar) and went to a couple but none of them were showing the game. Turns out that the bar right outside the hotel showed it and I found out after the game was done.

Still haven't had a chance to see the whole game.

In rotation we trust.

Also playing in different systems during practice and games works. Who knew?! Loool.