27 NOV 2016 Heerenveen - Ajax Match Day 14

[Orange14]

Ajax head over to Heerenveen for what will be a difficult fixture. Heerenveen are in good form and stand fourth in the table. Ajax was able to rest a bunch of starters on Thursday so should field a fresh squad. Feyenoord are away to Utrecht and have some injury problems as well as suffering a loss to ManU in their Europa League fixture. Can Ajax end up top of the table after Sunday's matches? Ziyech is recovering from the flu and is questionable right now.

[SPL]

Squad of 21 for the game.

Not counting Krul or Serero we have in effect 20 first team squad of which Gudelj and El Ghazi are suspended and Westermann is injured. The other 17 regulars ,with Bazoer back in, are joined by v d Beek,Nouri Cerny and de Ligt.
Ziyech has recovered from flu but doubt he will play 90 mins . A tough game awaits

[SPL]

Normal side

Onana

Veltman,Sanchez,Viergever Sinkgraven

Ziyech,Schone,Klaassen

Traore ,Dolberg Younes

[Orange14]

Normal side

Onana

Veltman,Sanchez,Viergever Sinkgraven

Ziyech,Schone,Klaassen

Traore ,Dolberg Younes

I guess Bosz learned nothing from the mid-week EL match. Expect some woeful football but hope to be proved wrong.

[Tom_]

Interesting game. Heerenveen look good, they're applying pressure all over the pitch and forcing loads of mistakes. But they can't keep it up for 90 minutes so there will be chances in the second half if we can avoid conceding.

Ziyech looking out of sorts and will probably have to come off, which could cause problems if Schöne can't last 90 minutes.

[Orange14]

Both teams had a couple of good chances but could not convert. Spacing is still poor in the Ajax midfield. This could very easily be a very low scoring match with a single goal determining the winner. Interesting battle between Dolberg and St. Juste who is a very promising defender.

[SPL]

Apart from 1 Dolberg chance it was a very moderate half by us until that last minute when a bit of good football saw a Klaassen chance. Another halftime when I would take a draw but usually we improve in the 2nd half.

Defence looks dodgy ,midfield creating nothing,is Ziyech really fit after flu!

[rjf1]

The backline has had problems in figuring who is supposed to cover who - leading to some good scoring chances for them. Sinkgraven is having a disaster of a game - hope he gets his defensive coverage better in the 2nd half. 3 good scoring chances for us 2 by Klaassen (1 very early on; one at the end); and a good chance by Dolberg. With a little bit of luck we may be able to pull this one out yet.

[SPL]

Sinkgraven is not a defender ,we still need 2 proper fullbacks Veltman is a CD

They are playing better and we are looking worse

[Amol]

How the eff does Younes miss that one? Also I think I saw a Heerenveen handball leading up to Younes' shot.

[Amol]

GOOOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!

Schone - Van De Beek and Klaassen!! Great ball by Donny!

[Orange14]

No complaints at all about that Klaassen goal. Kept his cool and was good on the ball.

[SPL]

What a goal by Davy.Not a great MF but he scores goals and that could well be a vital one.

[rjf1]

After missed gilt-edged opportunities by Younes and Traore, the "good for nothing" (except scoring and setting up goals) Klaassen cooly takes the ball around the keeper and rolls it into the net.

[Tom_]

Oof, I thought he'd waited too long there! Nice play to get the ball through the centre

[Amol]

Oof, I thought he'd waited too long there! Nice play to get the ball through the centre

Me too. He could've shot a little earlier and I thought he's going to bungle up the chance.

[Amol]

How many balls has Traore shot into the stands today? He's making sure that the ball boys/stewards are earning their salary today.

I wold like to see Cerny come in for either Traore or Younes.

[rjf1]

Sinkgraven off -- DeLigt on -- that should be a big help for the defensive effort in the final push.

[SPL]

That was a penalty imo

[SPL]

de Ligt means we have improved our defence

[Ayman]

The way Mathijs de Ligt is developing, it's safe to say that this is Viergever's last season, since de Ligt would need more first team football for his development.

[SPL]

A great win thanks to Klaassen's goal and he should have had a penalty.We did not play well and Traore and Younes were both poor. This was a game we were lucky to win but in football you have to score goals and they did not.

So this time next week I should be sitting in the Arena,cannot wait.

[Tom_]

Good result from a tough away match! Vd Beek was excellent, Traoré worst on pitch

[Amol]

The way Mathijs de Ligt is developing, it's safe to say that this is Viergever's last season, since de Ligt would need more first team football for his development.

De Ligt will have his ups and downs for the next 2-3 years.

I wouldn't mind having Viergever here for a couple more years. He never complains about sitting on the bench, always delivers to the top of his ability and doesn't seem to make silly mental mistakes. I don't ask for any more than that.

[SPL]

Agree about de Ligt, when he came on I was pleased