18 FEB 2021; Lille - Ajax; Europa League Round of 32

[Orange14]

Ajax have a tough fixture in their opening match of the EL group stage facing French top of the table Lille. Lille have some quality players and it will be good if Ajax can snatch an away goal or two. Gravenberch is suspended for this match and perhaps we will see a MF of Klaassen, Blind and Alvarez.

[SPL]

Mazraoui out injured so with no Gravenberch ,Haller or Onana this will be very tough . As to replacing Mazraoui I would have Schuurs at Cd and Timber at RB. I rate Rensch but not sure he is up to playing 90 mins in a game like this.

[SPL]

Steks ,Rensch,Timber,Martinez,Tagliafico,Blind,Alvarez,Klaassen,Antony,Tadic,Neres is the lineup. Tadic as striker seems the best option and 2 teenage defenders from our academy is brilliant. Maybe Schuurs will come on later and Timber moves to RB.

[GangstaRiB]

0-0 at half time. Ajax are playing very clean, very composed and very concentrated.

Totally in control. We’re only lacking a goal.

[Orange14]

Alvarez has been poor, beaten several times. Lille are playing very physical and that always causes problems for Ajax. The match official is terrible letting fouls go by without warning. Botman is unimpressive and Ajax made the right decision to sell him on. Ajax just need to get a goal and I think that will open up the game. It doesn't look like Lille have any players that are really exceptional with the ball.

[Amol]

Field looks pretty slow and soggy.

Ajax are doing decent and need to watch out for the counter. Lille don't look impressive at all and I have no idea why everyone is scared of them.

I'll take the 0-0 draw, give Kudus more minutes this weekend and add him back, in the return game.

[SPL]

Missed the first 20 mins getting a stream but from what I have seen Lille dont look much even though they are top of the French League. A load of hype about Botman being worth 40m ,given Blind and Martinez are both better than him at theLCD position they too must be worth 40m!!

[Amol]

Missed the first 20 mins getting a stream but from what I have seen Lille dont look much even though they are top of the French League. A load of hype about Botman being worth 40m ,given Blind and Martinez are both better than him at theLCD position they too must be worth 40m!!

Yeah I like Botman and I was sad that we let him go. But no way he's worth 40-50M.

[Tom_]

Bet we could all see that one coming. Don’t know if Steks called for the pass but he probably could have got out to it more quickly.

[Ayman]

Well that was a relief! Wouldn't it be ironic if Brobbey took Ajax all the way to the final?!

[Manneken Pis]

We were clearly better (even the biased French commentators were saying so). As such winning was not just right, but earnt. Brobbey coming on and scoring was fine for me, given the rest is decided, and shows ten Hag being intelligent and not emotional; A great night...

[Manneken Pis]

Well that was a relief! Wouldn't it be ironic if Brobbey took Ajax all the way to the final?!

Suits me fine. In fact it's a perfect send off...

[Ayman]

We were clearly better (even the biased French commentators were saying so). As such winning was not just right, but earnt. Brobbey coming on and scoring was fine for me, given the rest is decided, and shows ten Hag being intelligent and not emotional; A great night...

Does this win help with Dutch Coefficient points, given the fact that PSV lost to Olympiakos

[SPL]

Should have been a lot easier against a very moderate and completely overhyped team.A Taglaifico howler of a back pass their only real chance.Again how long does it need VAR to decide.The ref saw the tackle twice on his monitor a clear penalty.

Good that Brobbey scored but lets face it if Haller had been playing he probably would not even have come on and I quess thats his issue,how much playing time would he get by staying!!Probably as much as at Leipzig or Dortmund.

Anyway a good night for Ajax in the end and thanks to us Dutch coefficients are good as PSV as always are crap.

[Orange14]

Ajax catch a big break with a dubious penalty call that Tadic converted to draw the match level. The match official was horrible all game long missing obvious fouls. All the YCs were deserved but there could have been several others on both sides. Brobbey (yes, I know some of you don't want to see him play because of the contract problem but I don't care ) gets the match winner. Lille are a very poor football team and just rely on a lot of rough play. I was unimpressed by Botman who is just a big lumbering center back with little technique at all. Martinez is far better and Ajax made the right choice to send him away. Ajax need to keep their heads next week and should advance to the next round.

ETH got the tactics exactly right. He pushed the FBs high up the pitch and relied on a three man back line with Martinez anchoring things allowing Blind to freely flow between the back line and MF with Alvarez occasionally dropping back.

Player Ratings:

Steks (6.5) - did not have to make any tough saves at all and his kicking is much better than Onana
Tagliafico (4.5) - other than the awful back pass he had a very nice match
Martinez (8) - just an outstanding game and I think he needs to start full time; my MOTM for Ajax
Timber (7) - kept good position all game and his passing was excellent
Rensch (6) - his major problem is getting too reckless with challenges and needs to fix that part of his game, the YC was deserved
Alvarez (6.5) - he had a dicey first half but was almost flawless in the 2nd
Blind (7.5) - another good game in the manner of Rijkaard
Klassen (6.5) - great assist but only average otherwise with some poor passing and shooting
Neres (6) - better game tonight but there were precious few openings
Tadic (7.5) - very active with the ball and the PK was sublime
Antony (6.5) - was decent with the ball but the compact shape of Lille didn't give him many chances
Brobbey (6.5) - got the match winner; enough said
Idrissi (NR) - poor pass on what should have been a goal scoring opportunity but this was his first match appearance
Schuurs (NR) - on late

Sparta up at the weekend

[Orange14]

We were clearly better (even the biased French commentators were saying so). As such winning was not just right, but earnt. Brobbey coming on and scoring was fine for me, given the rest is decided, and shows ten Hag being intelligent and not emotional; A great night...

Does this win help with Dutch Coefficient points, given the fact that PSV lost to Olympiakos

Fewer coefficients for Europa League matches.

[Tom_]

Should have been a lot easier against a very moderate and completely overhyped team.

Summed up perfectly SPL - Ajax made it difficult for no reason, but got away with it.

As usual when the second leg is at home we will be walking the away goals tightrope, but we've got to be favourites to get through now.

[Tom_]

Ajax catch a big break with a dubious penalty call that Tadic converted to draw the match level. The match official was horrible all game long missing obvious fouls.

Standard UEFA Cup / Europa League reffing IMHO, it's always been weird in this comp!

Alvarez (6.5) - he had a dicey first half but was almost flawless in the 2nd
...
Klassen (6.5) - great assist but only average otherwise with some poor passing and shooting

Thanks for the ratings as always Orange!

Álvarez is quickly winning me over after I was really negative on him at the start of this season. With Klassen I'm finding the opposite... today he was getting swamped by 2-3 defenders when the ball went to him and at times he looked like a kid drowning in his first seniors game.

[Jinne]

We were clearly better (even the biased French commentators were saying so). As such winning was not just right, but earnt. Brobbey coming on and scoring was fine for me, given the rest is decided, and shows ten Hag being intelligent and not emotional; A great night...

Does this win help with Dutch Coefficient points, given the fact that PSV lost to Olympiakos

Fewer coefficients for Europa League matches.

Per win its the same. Only in the CL you get bonus points for reaching main tournament and playoffs.

[Orange14]

Closest to the Dutch in coefficient points is Belgium who also have two teams alive in the EL. Brugge drew today and Antwerp lost so there should be a little widening of the gap when today's games are factored in. As usual Wikpedia is a good reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_coef ... nt_ranking

[Ayman]

Ajax catch a big break with a dubious penalty call that Tadic converted to draw the match level. The match official was horrible all game long missing obvious fouls.

Standard UEFA Cup / Europa League reffing IMHO, it's always been weird in this comp!

Alvarez (6.5) - he had a dicey first half but was almost flawless in the 2nd
...
Klassen (6.5) - great assist but only average otherwise with some poor passing and shooting

Thanks for the ratings as always Orange!

Álvarez is quickly winning me over after I was really negative on him at the start of this season. With Klassen I'm finding the opposite... today he was getting swamped by 2-3 defenders when the ball went to him and at times he looked like a kid drowning in his first seniors game.

Klaassen is played in the wrong position, he isn't a number 10, he is a box to box midfielder, When Gravenberch retruns he should be the number 10 instead.