16 FEB 2020; Ajax - RKC Waalwijk; Match Day 22

[Orange14]

Ajax are still stuck at match day 22 after the postponement of last Sundays game at Utrecht. Ajax will host RKC Waalwijk this Sunday and next week travel to Spain to take on a tough Getafe club in the Europa League. It was good to see Blind back in the lineup last night. I have not seen any report on Schuurs injury and maybe Alvarez gets another match this weekend. Does Onana play Sunday or should Ajax play one of Varela/Scherpen/Kotarski since one of those three will have to play in the Europa League match.

[SPL]

Ziyech back for Gravenberch ,but Blind on the bench and Alvarez at CD.Schuurs a calf injury.

[Orange14]

Ziyech in for Gravenberch is the only change from the Vitesse cup match. Schuurs still out injured and not on the substitutes bench.

[SPL]

1-0 penalty for Tadic

[GangstaRiB]

Very cheap penalty. Ajax playing on 60% hoping to conserve energy... at least that’s what it looks like.

[SPL]

we are on top but should have got a 2nd Need to wrap it up quickly

[rjf1]

Aside from a couple of bright spots, a pretty much mediocre half of football. Sadly, we still haven't gotten to the level of slick attacking football that we had before the break. While not offering much for the most part, RKC has looked dangerous on a couple of occasions. Felt relieved to get to the half without conceding. Hope we can do more than just hold on in the second half.

[SPL]

2-0 should be it now

[SPL]

Once we went 2 up it was game over and we played all the game in 2nd gear. Nice that KJH got a goal and nearly a 2nd .Lovely to see Daley fit again and playing. Now a very tough game in Spain.

[rjf1]

With the win we move 6 points clear of the fading AZ. If we hope to be successful vs Getafe, though, the ball movement is going to have to be a lot faster and the passing is going to have to be a lot more accurate. And we have to stop trying to force everything through the middle. We do best when we make those diagonal crosses from the side.

[Orange14]

A routine 3-0 win over bottom of the table RKC Waalwijk. Ajax had most of the control in the opponents area and probably should have done a better job of finishing chances. The defense was seldom tested.

Player Ratings:

Onana (6.5) - routine game but his spilled save in the final minute of play was a bit fortunate as there was no lurking attacker
Tagliafico (6.5) - not much defending to do
Martinez (7) - good match splitting time between CD and MF
Alavarez (7) - solid shift but still needs to be quicker in his decision making
Dest (7) - another good game going forward with some nice penetration
Eiting (6.5) - decent but not overwhelming performance
van de Beek (7.5) - best player on the pitch constantly beating the defense
Ziyech (7) - solid half of football and subbed off as a precaution
Babel (7) - good on the ball for him and seldom troubled by any defender
Traore (7) - made a nice run to tap in the second goal and is looking better with each match
Tadic (7) - calm with the PK that was the match winner
Blind (6.5) - solid half of football
Huntelaar (6) - caught off sides twice on runs and despite a couple of poor finishes did get the third goal
Ekellenkamp (NR) - on for a short time near the end but made a couple of very good plays in the box

Fixture congestion is coming up as Ajax are still in contention on three fronts. Utrecht match has to be rescheduled and they will face them again in the Beker semifinals. A trip to Spain to take on a tough Getafe team this coming Thursday. I watched the Barcelona match where Getafe lost 2-1. Getafe employ a lot of good pressure but can be beaten with long balls over the top. Ajax have to be defensively sound which may be a problem without Onana.