19 MAR 2017 Excelsior - Ajax Match Day 27

[Orange14]

A lapse of concentration by de Ligt led to the Tete own goal (though I don't know why it was given as such as the shot looked like it was going in but maybe Onana might have saved it). Nice that he put it behind and had a very nice first half otherwise. Looked like Onana made a keeper mistake on the shot that Tete cleared.

Very poor passing by Schöne and Sanchez are not helping things. Other than the cross through the goal mouth, Ziyech has been poor. I wonder if Traore could have been called for a push just before the ball got to Kluivert. Looks like a lot of Thursday night hangover so we will have to see what happens in the 2nd half.

[SPL]

Unfortunate mistake by de Ligt but it was going to miss until Tete touched it .Nice cross by Ziyech for our other 17 year old to score.

Traore Younes and Klaassen ,what have these 3 done and add Schone to that.

[Orange14]

Younes had the nice pass to Ziyech that set up the goal.

[SPL]

Sorry your right .

nb wife has grabbed the lap top ,as my main computer is in the other room I wont be posting until the end

[Amol]

If I was the opposition coach against Ajax, I would ask my players to not worry about fouling near the box. None of the free kicks come to anything anyway.

Ziyech and Schone look really serious and talk about something, Ziyech shoots and misses the goal. Rinse and repeat.

[Ayman]

Sanchez needs to be rested for a while before he came to Ajax he had just finished a season at his previous club. He never even got a break in between seasons.

[rjf1]

They don't seem to get it that a tie means season over -- and maybe not even 2nd place. Absolutely no drive -- no sense of urgency -- no sense that they have to get the winning goal.

[Ayman]

Nouri is on for sinkgraven on 83 minutes. A bit late isn't it?

[rjf1]

I don't get what Bosz is thinking. Right down to the last few minutes he had them play the same slow, pathetic style reminiscent of deBoer. What is the point of holding them back from an all out attack when a loss is no worse than a tie at this point. You have to realize that either it's a win or the season is over. We may not even get second place.

[SPL]

One of the worst performances I have ever seen . Sums it up our 2 best players were 17 year olds .de Ligt sadly gave away the goal but had a very good game. Kluivert the best attacker but the others never turned up.Midfield as always a waste of time. Klaassen never touched the ball Schone too slow and Ziyech although he set up the goal he just seems to shoot over the bar.

Even if we beat Feyenoord we would be 3 points behind ,well 4 as their GD is better. Title over for me.Not sure we will get 2nd place.

[SPL]

Football under Bosz is worse put Keizer the Jong coach in charge ,he actually knows the way Ajax football should be played

[Orange14]

Call it Thursday night hangover or lack of squad rotation, I don't particularly care. A listless performance ends the title run today. Certainly this is very disappointing to we supporters who expect and demand more. Only a massive collapse by Feyenoord will let Ajax back in and there is more danger of finishing 3rd right now. I can see dropping two more points when they play Feyenoord as this team just cannot score goals. Bosz needs to think long and hard about this one. Off of a lot of matches, why wasn't Schöne rested and used as a substitute as needed in the 2nd half. Why is no better than average Eredivise MF Ziyech even on the pitch these days? Just too puzzling to believe.

Player & Manager Ratings:

Bosz (2) - did pull Sanchez who was mediocre out for Viergever at the half but failed miserably in starting Schöne who looked tired and out of sorts and Ziyech who is looking like a €12M bust

Onana (6.5) - one keeper error that was saved by Tete and a nice near post save to prevent a loss
Sinkgraven (5.5) - just a shade above average and the experiment is looking more and more unsucessful
de Ligt (6.5) - yes he had a major lapse of concentration but otherwise was rock solid
Sanchez (5.5) - poor passing and out of sorts play, rightfully subbed off at the half
Tete (6.5) - unfortunate on the own goal but his play makes one want to see Veltman permanently out of consideration as a RB
Schöne (5) - one stinger of a shot, some very poor passing, and generally looked tired
el Capitan (5) - his usual hard working shift of average football
Ziyech (4) - what is there to lose by starting Nouri?????
Younes (6) - yes he is predictable but he at least worked very hard to try to make something happen
Traore (4) - couldn't hold the ball up at all and was rewarded for a beautiful dive with a well deserved Yellow card
Kluivert (6) - did the club really need to spend a lot of money for a Brazilian winger who never plays?
Viergever (7) - rock solid match defensively and offensively, had probably the best passing day of anyone out there
Cassierra (5) - had a header near the end that was off target
Nouri (NR) - on way too late in the match and had one touch of the ball

International break next week with a number of Ajax players summoned to the NT. Two weeks it's the Classic at home but a number of questions remain to be answered for this team.

[Orange14]

Football under Bosz is worse put Keizer the Jong coach in charge ,he actually knows the way Ajax football should be played

That's what my signature line says!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SPL]

Well with odd exceptions we have played poorly all season. Apart from Dolberg we have no forwards who can score goals. Cassierra is not good enough as back up. Traore is a waste of space and money. El Ghazi would have been better,well he could not be worse. Younes is also a waste of space ,he tried hard today but is a headless chicken . Kluivert and Cerny may as well start.We needed a winger in January but pay 12m for a kid with zero experience and at present is not as good as a 17 year Kluivert.

Not buying a decent experienced striker back in the summer and then spending silly money on a winger with zero experience is mainly down to Overmars.

Bosz still has us playing slow boring football and unless injury wont replace 3 under performing midfielders . Schone is too slow,Klaassen just is Siem de Jong mark 2.Gets in good positions to score a few goals but creates nothing.Ziyech a,waste of time ,mainly just smacks the ball over the top of the goal. A few nice passes but then again we have 4 kids in Jong,who cost us nothing, who can make nice creative passes.

In defence we got lucky as Sanchez has done well although Thursday and today not so good. Onana although still cocked up v Groningen is a very good goalie.

I know Orange and I go on about it but I am serious as I want Bosz out ,take his useless Traore with him ,and put Keizer in charge. He gets kids to play the Ajax Cruijff way attacking fast passing and moving even though without de Ligt his defence is woeful with a poor goalie.

I have had it with Bosz and his woeful slow performing football with 2 inverted wingers who play like headless chickens,and a poor creative midfield.

[Tom_]

6.5 points, the title challenge is obviously over. Realistically the 1–1 at Groningen was our last shout. Not quite as painful as failing to beat de Graafschap on the final day...

Ajax still have to play PSV in Eindhoven in the second last game so beating Feyenoord in the ArenA is just as important as ever, except it's for second place, not first.

Can still get something out of this season, i.e. by beating Schalke in the EL.

[Cruijff]

6.5 points, the title challenge is obviously over. Realistically the 1–1 at Groningen was our last shout. Not quite as painful as failing to beat de Graafschap on the final day...

Don't agree with this... although wasting points against Groningen and Excelsior is of course painful.
With 6 points, 6,5 points and 21 points to score including a match between number 2 and number 1 everything is still possible. Much stranger things did already happen in the history of football.

[SPL]

Glad someone is positive. We may dream of beating Schalke but even though they are not having a great season they are in a difference class to minnows Legia and Copenhagen.

Unless injury or suspension Bosz picks the same under performing 11 and does not use subs properly. Our midfield did not perform yesterday so Nouri gets 10 mins . Nouri and de Jong should have come on after 60 mins for Ziyech and Schone.

As for Traore can someone keep him in Africa next week and stop him returning.

[Cruijff]

Glad someone is positive. We may dream of beating Schalke but even though they are not having a great season they are in a difference class to minnows Legia and Copenhagen.

Tricky opponent.
They started the season with 5 defeats in a row in the Bundesliga so since their very weak start the team is doing better. Huntelaar didn't play the past weeks as the coach things at the moment he is not good enough compared to the other Schalke attackers.

Can still get something out of this season, i.e. by beating Schalke in the EL.

On a good day Ajax can beat Schalke and with a bit of luck you can reach the EL final.
Ajax has played 14 European games this season, we did not have 'the Lucky Ajax reputation' on our side yet. Against Rostov we got eliminated and that was deserved, the other 6 opponents, PAOK, Panathinaikos, Celta di Vigo, Standard, Legia and Copenhagen were beaten and none of the victories were stolen.

Now time to have the referee on our side with an easy penalty or just some lucky goals.

In 2015 Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, a side who was not at all better than us reached the final, in 2016 Liverpool was in the EL final, a team even 5 times weaker than Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.

Ajax has now a stronger squad than in 2015 when Nicolai Boilesen was our captain.
Following this logics Ajax can reach and win the Europa League final!

[souras84]

If you ask me (and why should you?) I prefer a serious Europa League challenge than keeping up with feyenoord. Let them win this, at least they look like they deserve it. After all our team hasn't been a European Cup challenger since... the 90s

[souras84]

On a good day Ajax can beat Schalke and with a bit of luck you can reach the EL final.
Ajax has played 14 European games this season, we did not have 'the Lucky Ajax reputation' on our side yet. Against Rostov we got eliminated and that was deserved, the other 6 opponents, PAOK, Panathinaikos, Celta di Vigo, Standard, Legia and Copenhagen were beaten and none of the victories were stolen.

The return leg against PAOK in Thessaloniki, was one of the biggest robberies ever. We could be down 3-0 in the first half. Did nothing right until the final 10-20 minutes or so...

[King Litti]

I agree that on a good day, we can beat any of the teams left in the EL.

Schalke haven't done so well this season and they are on their way to a mid table finnish. That means they don't have much to play for in the Bundesliga which means they will probably go all out to succeed in the EL. So, a tricky fixture indeed, but not impossible.

The klassiker will be a huge game. A real "six point" game. IT's not only the table, the result could have an affect in mentality as well. We could get a huge boost in morale if beat our rivals at home and reduce the gap to three. I'm positive that it would make Fword really nervous and they might start to slip up.

[Cruijff]

If you ask me (and why should you?) I prefer a serious Europa League challenge than keeping up with feyenoord. Let them win this, at least they look like they deserve it.

We will let them win nothing, they deserve nothing until the 34 games have been played.
As a top club you have to keep fighting for both prices until the end.

On a good day Ajax can beat Schalke and with a bit of luck you can reach the EL final.
Ajax has played 14 European games this season, we did not have 'the Lucky Ajax reputation' on our side yet. Against Rostov we got eliminated and that was deserved, the other 6 opponents, PAOK, Panathinaikos, Celta di Vigo, Standard, Legia and Copenhagen were beaten and none of the victories were stolen.

The return leg against PAOK in Thessaloniki, was one of the biggest robberies ever. We could be down 3-0 in the first half. Did nothing right until the final 10-20 minutes or so...

We also had a shit start against Panathinaikos and Copenhagen with giving away the 1-0 very quick.
But despite Ajax with having a weak day played against opponents that seemed even weaker than we so at the end we should have been the one going through and that's what happened.

[Orange14]

I usually begin every Eredivisie season by saying the championship will go down to the final match day. More often than not this is exactly what happens. The league is one of the most unpredictable in Europe. That being said, here are Feyenoords fixtures:

Zo. 02-04-2017 14:30 Ajax Uit
Wo. 05-04-2017 20:45 Go Ahead Eagles Thuis
Zo. 09-04-2017 14:30 PEC Zwolle Uit
Zo. 16-04-2017 14:30 FC Utrecht Thuis
Zo. 23-04-2017 14:30 Vitesse Uit
Zo. 07-05-2017 14:30Excelsior Uit
Zo. 14-05-2017 14:30Heracles Almelo Thuis

Does anyone think they will drop 6.5 points from this? I'm a big Ajax supporter and I expect them to win every match. I think the Feyenoord home match is going to be quite tight and with our current midfield set up, Ajax are at a major disadvantage. It's a must win but so were the Groningen and Heracles matches and look what happened. I don't think we are going to win the Eredivisie this season.

The EL competition other than ManU is pretty much even. We already defeated Celta. I watched the Lyon/PSG match yesterday evening as there was nothing else on the television and I was waiting to watch Homeland. Lyon looked quite ordinary and their keeper was not convincing. All the other teams in the competition are no better than Ajax so yes, reaching the final and winning it is doable particularly if ManU stumble along the way.

I was reading some of the comments over on Ajax Showtime and was surprised that there was a significant support for Bosz and that he needs more of a chance to mold the team. This is the same trainer that said Ajax would press all over the field and try to win the ball back within 5 seconds of turning it over. Not with this current bunch of players will this happen. Jong Ajax do this but they have a trainer who knows what he wants the team to accomplish out there.

[Cruijff]

I usually begin every Eredivisie season by saying the championship will go down to the final match day. More often than not this is exactly what happens. The league is one of the most unpredictable in Europe. That being said, here are Feyenoords fixtures:

Zo. 02-04-2017 14:30 Ajax Uit
Wo. 05-04-2017 20:45 Go Ahead Eagles Thuis
Zo. 09-04-2017 14:30 PEC Zwolle Uit
Zo. 16-04-2017 14:30 FC Utrecht Thuis
Zo. 23-04-2017 14:30 Vitesse Uit
Zo. 07-05-2017 14:30Excelsior Uit
Zo. 14-05-2017 14:30Heracles Almelo Thuis

Does anyone think they will drop 6.5 points from this? I'm a big Ajax supporter and I expect them to win every match.

Yes I can see them drop 8 points or even more.
But I'm not very sure Ajax will score all 21 points during the remaining 7 games.

[Cruijff]

I was reading some of the comments over on Ajax Showtime and was surprised that there was a significant support for Bosz and that he needs more of a chance to mold the team. This is the same trainer that said Ajax would press all over the field and try to win the ball back within 5 seconds of turning it over. Not with this current bunch of players will this happen.

Yeah, against Copenhagen Ajax succeeded winning the ball back in 5 seconds (even within 2 or 3 seconds.)

Jong Ajax do this but they have a trainer who knows what he wants the team to accomplish out there.

Jong Ajax is normally nice to watch, but that team also has sometimes weaker performances.......