04 March 2018; Vitesse - Ajax; Match Day 26

[SPL]

Shambolic Ajax.We now need to hope we get 2nd place ,AZ only just behind us.

Ten Hag should be sacked and V d Sar and Overmars ,sadly just go and let someone who knows how to run aside take over.

[Ayman]

The hashtag #tenHagOut is trending

[SPL]

No point in ratings I wouldn't give anyone a 5 .

[Orange14]

Was this match the nadir of an already disappointing season? Right now the club is headed for a third place finish as it is difficult to see how they will defeat either PSV or AZ. Perhaps this is fitting for a season that has been marred by injuries, a change in manager, and overall average at best play. We still have a midfield that is adrift of any knowledge of how to play football. Look at the second Vitesse goal where there were three attackers on de Ligt and Wöber; yes the ball was mishandled but where the heck was Schöne for an outlet and why was the ball played in such a tight space to begin with. Just dumb football. Also look at all the too cute short passes inside the VItesse penalty box that were poorly thought out. This club needs to get back to basics!!!!

There are some players on this team that are just too slow or easily dispossessed when they do have the ball. Things will not change until those issues are addressed. It's time to say good by to S de Jong, Schöne, Veltman (as a RB is not fast enough to play the position) and Ziyech who just cannot do much in an Ajax shirt. Kluivert's level of play is over-hyped and he's clearly not ready to play at a higher level.

I thought the Ajax management over reacted in sacking Keizer and am now sure of it. ten Hag seems not to have any clue how to run a team and just looks puzzled at what goes on around him. We are seeing some talented players not playing up to their abilities and this is the shame of it all.

I had a bad stream so the Player Ratings below should be taken with a grain of salt:

Onana (4) - not much he could do on any of the goals but he should have at least given a shout out for either de Ligt or Wöber to clear the ball out on the 2nd one
Tagliafico (5) - average
Wöber (3) - very poor skills on the ball leading to turnovers
de Ligt (5) - average
Veltman (4) - really too slow today and the poor back pass let to the first goal
Schöne (4) - gets slower and slower with each match
van de Beek (4) - looks like he doesn't have a clue about his role on the pitch
Ziyech (4) - flattered by this rating as he did have a good pass to Younes that set up de Jong for the 2nd goal but he is too easily dispossessed and is shooting wildly
Kluivert (3) - Younes deserves a start next week
S de Jong (4) - great player when the ball is perfectly delivered but otherwise plays with the speed of molasses on a fall day
Neres (4) - first poor match in a long while
Cassiera (5) - worked really hard to create something and had a nice header for the goal but we should not think he is the solution to any of the current problems other than he is a better striker than S de Jong
Younes (5.5) - played really hard in a difficult situation
Mazraoui (5) - had a couple of nice touches coming on late

Fortunately I will miss the next too matches as my wife and I are traveling out to California to visit our daughter. I can safely say that I will miss the aggravation of watching substandard football!!!

[SPL]

Actually I would say de LIgt and Tagliafico were the best 2 of the starters and the other 8 crap.All 3 subs were better than the 8 starters.

[saddlerian]

As I said last match...."Why sack Keizer? " What has Ajax gained....what has changed?

I'm afraid ten Hag has proved his limitless ability....sorry, severely LIMITED ability. When the method of play has not changed at all, and many players SEEM to be puffing and panting after 75 minutes of each game... he has proved that he lacks the ability to instill discipline in the players as it is THEIR responsibility to get and stay fit....and also the total lack of tactical nouse!!!

I wonder who will take the hot seat...and, possibly, the bumper cash "incentive", next??

[SPL]

Agree with you Ian. I have calmed down now but ten Hag should go now and v d Sar and Overmars, both responsible for the shambles should go.

I actually wonder if ten Hag has lost the players. Are they playing for him as it does not look like it.If he stays for the season we will continue to decline and finish 3rd. We then have to play a playoff with 4th 5th and 6th teams for Europa cup qualification and I would not put money on us winning this play off ie 4 games need to be played.

[Orange14]

Vitesse had a team of Eredivisie retreads (I thought Roy Beehrens retired several years ago but here he is a starter) several loanees from the EPL and a pock marked pitch. Ajax seems not to have progressed tactically at all. This team requires ball movement to succeed and stuff is still way too slow. You cannot pressure with players such as Schöne and S de Jong in the lineup. For his faults, Ziyech and van de Beek work hard at pressing but as long as the opponent has some weak links to work against, high pressure won't succeed. The injuries certainly have not helped things. F de Jong should have never been playing on the back line and Veltman and de Ligt should have been paired up until Wörber got healthy. Frenkie could have slotted in the MF where he belonged. Now he's out of commission and the team is suffering.

I'm glad I'll be away on vacation for the next two matches; I can't bear watching much more of this.

[SPL]

To correct my last post,if we finish 3rd we go into Europa qualifiers in July. Playoff for the final Europa place is for teams 4th to 7th.

I can see us finishing 3rd but in my opinion the season is over.Well due to Appie it never started.We have a very good group of talented players who are not performing.Injuries dont help but Cassierra should have played both ADO and Vitesse in place of Siem.Frenkie was missed yesterday but not wasted in Cd but in MF.

The press rumours are not helping with talk of all the big clubs wanting our players. Neres 50m to Spurs!!! and Kluivert to Man U Barca. They are not even performing consistently in Eredivisie.Have to say Younes did more in his 30 mins yesterday than those 2 put together.

Biggest problem is midfield. Schone should now just be a sub and Eiting played .Ziyech is a waste of space and we should bench him and put Frenkie in when fit . With the slow Schone and Ziyech who just sprays a few passes around and shoots miles over the top Donny struggles. I bet last night he dreamed of those magically days when he had Frenkie and his best mate Appie with him.( sorry shouldn't keep mentioning this but the thought still brings a tear to me)

I guess we will just see more games like these last 2 until the season ends. The plan was to buy all our players ready for the new season but so far Bande and Schuurs who are just inexperienced kids .

We will need to clear players out,Younes,Veltman, Dijks Viergever Ziyech, Schone Siem deJong, Orejuela most are not good enough and add Onana who wont stay.I dont see Sinkgraven or Cerny making it either.

Thanks Mr v d Sar and Mr Overmars you are making a hell of a mess running our club, please do every Ajax fan a favour and clear off and take Ten Hag with you .Today wont be too soon although Overmars can see the season out as there are loads of contracts to sort out in Jong and youth.

We were in a similar state back in 2010 when Cruijff came in but 7 year later we are still in a mess. Maybe we should get some rich Arabs to buy the club,could it be run any worse.!!

[Orange14]

About 18 months ago the club signed Ziyech and I remember some saying that this was the last piece of the puzzle that would make Ajax the champion. Almost two full seasons now and he has performed no better than Sulejmani who was van Basten's big signing about a decade ago. I can count on one hand the number of matches where he has made a difference. He's not a bad player but he is also not a very good player. I'm not sure he has much transfer value.

Just as SPL noted, I too watched some magical football from Jong Ajax last season. We will never know whether Nouri would have been the next top MF for Ajax. We can look back to that Jong MF and think this is how Ajax football should be played. I recall one match (and I think I posted about it) where there were about two dozen crisp passes in the offensive zone before a shot on goal was taken. Has this ever happened with the senior team in the past decade?

We look back at the four championships under de Boer and note that some of this was because of a very weak league and some a result of some superior players who came up through the system prior to de Boer (Erikson, Vertonghen, Alderweireld) who were leaders. With the exception of de Boer I think you need to go back to Koeman to see the last manager who stayed with the club more than one season.

Beause of the complicated nature of the Ajax corporate structure, it is very difficult to effect a change in senior management. It really took the force of Cruyff to get things moving back in 2010 and even that effort was not completely successful. The club will continue to make money and show a profit each season but then so does Arsenal who look no better than a mid-table EPL team (funny that both Arsenal and Chelsea look to miss out on CL qualification next year though I guess Arsenal can sneak in if they win the Europa League).

I am under no illusion that Ajax will be a major force in European football given the current financial situation (but then there are only about eight teams that can contend). I'll post a couple to topics for the next two games that I will miss later in the week.

[SPL]

Enjoy your trip meant to say didn't find your restaurant in Rome but found a good one near Piazza Navona.We had an enjoyable trip,highlight the Sistene Chapel.

You and I being Ajax fanatics did have the delight in Jong Ajax last season.I guess as I am 67 the memory of that beautiful football will live with me for ever.I am never going to forget Appie as long as I love football Just to rub it in the Daily Mail today did an article on 1974 WC final! Talking to a Roma fan last week he still rates Holland in 1974 as one of the greatest ever football teams.

I fell in love with Ajax and Oranje back then and my love will never change but I am pissed off with my how the club is being run at present.

[Orange14]

@SPL - glad you enjoyed Rome!!! Our big trip is this May when we visit Bilbao and San Sebastian in the Basque region of Spain. We'll fly into Barcelona and spend a couple of days there. I think the Spanish League will finish up just before we get there because it is a World Cup year.

Meanwhile look at this - https://www.ajaxlife.nl/updates/passmap ... itaja-1718 is a link to the 11 tegen 11 pass maps from yesterday's match. This is what is really infuriating. The team again woefully under-performed what they statistically should have accomplished!!! Projected score was 4-2 in favor of Ajax. It's been this way all season long except for a couple of high scoring matches against some of the minnows of the Eredivisie. Is this the fault of the players or the manager? Hard to tell.