After every match that Ajax plays, there is enough to discuss. Beautiful goals, annoying moments, joy and sadness. Ajax Showtime looks back every week with one of the editors on the match and weekly current affairs in De Afterview. Today: Ajax fails to close perfectly after block two and loses poignantly to FC Utrecht. This time with editor Thijs Zwagerman. Read his view on the match here and join the conversation!
Position: Erik ten Hag was waiting against FC Utrecht too long with substitutions. ‘I don’t agree with that. He made three substitutions around the hour, which I also thought was logical. Antony, Klaassen and Blind for Neres, Gravenberch and Tagliafico. You could say that Ten Hag should have intervened in the break, but I don’t think so, because with Neres and Tagliafico you choose people who don’t have much rhythm yet and who want to give you the chance to show themselves. Then I don’t think you should intervene after one half, when the score is 0-0 at half time. Ten Hag looked at it briefly in the opening phase of the second half, saw little improvement and then that is the time to intervene and he did that fairly quickly.’
Who was your Man of the Match despite the defeat?
‘Then I choose Edson Álvarez, despite the fact that I didn’t like him very much with the ball, unlike the past few weeks. He had a few moments where he turned the wrong way or acted too slow, killing a promising situation, which was especially the case in the first half. So I still choose him as my man of the match, because he has again conquered a lot of balls today and was really one of the drivers.
‘He also had some moments where he showed up dangerously in the box on crosses. He then collapses in full and is also someone who can still force something. Moreover, he was also very important in the rest defense today, so I choose Álvarez, especially for his defensive contribution.’
David Neres and Nicolás Tagliafico were given a starting spot. To what extent have they made it difficult for Ten Hag in terms of choices? ‘I found Neres very threatening with his running actions. He was very fanatically working to release and create depth. However, if you look at what he has brought to the ball, that is of course far too little; from the start of the match to the moment he was substituted. Unlucky on the ball, actions that failed, passes that didn’t arrive.
‘There were also simple things that went wrong and times when he just made wrong choices. That may have to do with rhythm, but on the other hand, as an attacker in a team like Ajax and a competition like the Eredivisie, you would have to grow a bit during the match and that didn’t happen with Neres. In that you see a big difference with Antony who came in strongly and where the threat immediately splashed off. Neres certainly didn’t make it difficult for Ten Hag today.’
‘I thought Tagliafico played a great game. He was strong in the combination a few times and sought depth at the right moments. Defensively, he was solid and didn’t really get into trouble, so he played a good game in that regard. I understood that Blind was brought before him, I don’t think that had so much to do with Tagliafico, but more with the fact that Ajax needed an extra suitable/creative player to open the defense of Utrecht.
‘I think that Tagliafico, as has been mentioned before, is especially unlucky that a place has to be found for Blind somewhere. In this case that happens on left back, which makes the most sense with a Gravenberch and Martínez that you neither want nor can pass. Tagliafico will at least have made it more difficult for Ten Hag than Neres and he has once again shown that you can rely on him when he plays. That is a nice knowledge with the busy program that Ajax has.’
Ajax was very searching against Utrecht from an offensive point of view. What do you think was the cause?
‘It is a combination of several factors. After ten minutes of play there was a big chance for Haller and that was comparable to what Ajax often has in the Eredivisie, that the opening phase is a bit tentative. If one of those first chances is right in, then such a match becomes a lot more open, but now that that doesn’t happen, you notice that Utrecht comes out very well with a very solid plan and the right players. Hake has done a very good job in that regard. Utrecht, of course, played from a compact defense and collapsed a bit, but also really had the intention to come out on their own when there were spaces.
‘The main cause, however, lies with Ajax itself. You play with almost the same players as the past few weeks and all guys who normally have to be able to force something. It has of course been busy the past few weeks; you have played many matches and there is still an international match to come, so it is possible that you are just missing a few percent sharpness in that regard. As a result, you get things like sloppiness in the passing, players who make a little less meters without the ball and everything that happens at a slightly too slow pace. After an hour you could see a little more tempo in the combinations and Ajax also created some opportunities from that. However, that was lacking, especially in the first half.’
What did you see go wrong with the goal against?
‘Jurriën Timber initially covers, as he often does. Normally he wins the ball with that, but now he loses the game in an unfortunate way. Then Van Overeem can take off and he takes the pace off a bit by playing the ball on Quinten Timber. However, he keeps the counter alive by playing the ball hard and tight on Warmerdam, who shoots in. From Ajax’s side, in addition to Timber’s loss of ball, the switch from midfield goes wrong. If you close that gap faster, you might also keep that pass towards Warmerdam out.
‘I’m also looking at Antony, because it might be difficult to expect him to go all the way with Warmerdam. By not doing so, however, he saddles the already undermanned defense with an extra problem. So if Antony sees that the defense is down, he will have to push so that that pass can’t go to Warmerdam or so that Antony can at least put pressure on.
‘The The last thing that goes wrong has to do with Pasveer. It is not his fault, that is presumed, but it is striking that he is not quickly in the corner. That is comparable to the previous goal against Ajax in the Eredivisie, because this is only the second. Pröpper’s goal, from FC Twente, was also a shot that fell low in the corner and Stekelenburg was too late. This was a shot from closer, and Warmerdam also shot it in well, but it is a shot that you have to expect as a keeper. You also see that Pasveer lets himself fall to the corner, while I think that if he really pushes himself off and dives into that corner with more force, he will come just a little further and might be able to tap the ball away. So it’s certainly not a big mistake or blunder, but I do have the feeling that Pasveer can do more there as well.’
At 0 -1 brought Ten Hag Danilo for Lisandro Martínez, what did you think of that substitution?
‘I can understand that switch from the idea that you want to force something. The substitution I was less able to understand was Daramy’s for Haller, because at 0-0 I would have to force something in the final phase and normally go in and around a full penalty area. play football, just leave Haller standing. You need that there, because he is always strong there, shows up, will get his chances and can force something. Danilo isn’t the type for that, although he does have the instinct to show up in the right places. Now you take Haller out for Daramy, whose arrival I liked, but then I would have taken Berghuis or Tadic out sooner. With one of those two on the field, you still have plenty of creativity left. I also thought Daramy was good and threatening substitutions, the same goes for Antony. The substitution of Danilo for Martínez was in my eyes a bit of desperation, but understandable. So I thought Haller’s substitution was much worse.’
What are the implications of this result for the remainder of the competition?
‘I think that in itself is manageable. In any case, you will retain the lead for the time being and Ajax may have been put on edge again, because of course it went very easily in recent weeks. Then you know that sooner or later you will get the lid on your nose sooner or later, but the luck or the nice thing is that you have built up a margin through the victories of the past period and you can afford this. In addition, you don’t exactly let the points lie against a relegation candidate. Utrecht will seriously participate at the top this season, so if things have to go wrong, Utrecht is a serious opponent.
‘In this case, you are simply confronted with the facts. You can’t get away with playing at such a low intensity and with so little (offensive) inspiration in the Eredivisie either. Certainly not against teams from the top of the Eredivisie, to which Utrecht belongs. But the leading position is retained and of course you still have everything in your own hands, so there is not a lot going on.’
Bademba Barrie (Twitter: @Bademba__Barrie | Email: B.Barrie@Ajaxshowtime.com)
Note: This article have been indexed to our site. We do not claim legitimacy, ownership or copyright of any of the content above. To see the article at original sourceClick Here
‘I found Neres very threatening with his running actions. He was very fanatically working to release and create depth. However, if you look at what he has brought to the ball, that is of course far too little; from the start of the match to the moment he was substituted. Unlucky on the ball, actions that failed, passes that didn’t arrive.
‘There were also simple things that went wrong and times when he just made wrong choices. That may have to do with rhythm, but on the other hand, as an attacker in a team like Ajax and a competition like the Eredivisie, you would have to grow a bit during the match and that didn’t happen with Neres. In that you see a big difference with Antony who came in strongly and where the threat immediately splashed off. Neres certainly didn’t make it difficult for Ten Hag today.’
‘I thought Tagliafico played a great game. He was strong in the combination a few times and sought depth at the right moments. Defensively, he was solid and didn’t really get into trouble, so he played a good game in that regard. I understood that Blind was brought before him, I don’t think that had so much to do with Tagliafico, but more with the fact that Ajax needed an extra suitable/creative player to open the defense of Utrecht.
‘I think that Tagliafico, as has been mentioned before, is especially unlucky that a place has to be found for Blind somewhere. In this case that happens on left back, which makes the most sense with a Gravenberch and Martínez that you neither want nor can pass. Tagliafico will at least have made it more difficult for Ten Hag than Neres and he has once again shown that you can rely on him when he plays. That is a nice knowledge with the busy program that Ajax has.’
Ajax was very searching against Utrecht from an offensive point of view. What do you think was the cause?
‘It is a combination of several factors. After ten minutes of play there was a big chance for Haller and that was comparable to what Ajax often has in the Eredivisie, that the opening phase is a bit tentative. If one of those first chances is right in, then such a match becomes a lot more open, but now that that doesn’t happen, you notice that Utrecht comes out very well with a very solid plan and the right players. Hake has done a very good job in that regard. Utrecht, of course, played from a compact defense and collapsed a bit, but also really had the intention to come out on their own when there were spaces.
‘The main cause, however, lies with Ajax itself. You play with almost the same players as the past few weeks and all guys who normally have to be able to force something. It has of course been busy the past few weeks; you have played many matches and there is still an international match to come, so it is possible that you are just missing a few percent sharpness in that regard. As a result, you get things like sloppiness in the passing, players who make a little less meters without the ball and everything that happens at a slightly too slow pace. After an hour you could see a little more tempo in the combinations and Ajax also created some opportunities from that. However, that was lacking, especially in the first half.’
What did you see go wrong with the goal against?
‘Jurriën Timber initially covers, as he often does. Normally he wins the ball with that, but now he loses the game in an unfortunate way. Then Van Overeem can take off and he takes the pace off a bit by playing the ball on Quinten Timber. However, he keeps the counter alive by playing the ball hard and tight on Warmerdam, who shoots in. From Ajax’s side, in addition to Timber’s loss of ball, the switch from midfield goes wrong. If you close that gap faster, you might also keep that pass towards Warmerdam out.
‘I’m also looking at Antony, because it might be difficult to expect him to go all the way with Warmerdam. By not doing so, however, he saddles the already undermanned defense with an extra problem. So if Antony sees that the defense is down, he will have to push so that that pass can’t go to Warmerdam or so that Antony can at least put pressure on.
‘The The last thing that goes wrong has to do with Pasveer. It is not his fault, that is presumed, but it is striking that he is not quickly in the corner. That is comparable to the previous goal against Ajax in the Eredivisie, because this is only the second. Pröpper’s goal, from FC Twente, was also a shot that fell low in the corner and Stekelenburg was too late. This was a shot from closer, and Warmerdam also shot it in well, but it is a shot that you have to expect as a keeper. You also see that Pasveer lets himself fall to the corner, while I think that if he really pushes himself off and dives into that corner with more force, he will come just a little further and might be able to tap the ball away. So it’s certainly not a big mistake or blunder, but I do have the feeling that Pasveer can do more there as well.’
At 0 -1 brought Ten Hag Danilo for Lisandro Martínez, what did you think of that substitution?
‘I can understand that switch from the idea that you want to force something. The substitution I was less able to understand was Daramy’s for Haller, because at 0-0 I would have to force something in the final phase and normally go in and around a full penalty area. play football, just leave Haller standing. You need that there, because he is always strong there, shows up, will get his chances and can force something. Danilo isn’t the type for that, although he does have the instinct to show up in the right places. Now you take Haller out for Daramy, whose arrival I liked, but then I would have taken Berghuis or Tadic out sooner. With one of those two on the field, you still have plenty of creativity left. I also thought Daramy was good and threatening substitutions, the same goes for Antony. The substitution of Danilo for Martínez was in my eyes a bit of desperation, but understandable. So I thought Haller’s substitution was much worse.’
What are the implications of this result for the remainder of the competition?
‘I think that in itself is manageable. In any case, you will retain the lead for the time being and Ajax may have been put on edge again, because of course it went very easily in recent weeks. Then you know that sooner or later you will get the lid on your nose sooner or later, but the luck or the nice thing is that you have built up a margin through the victories of the past period and you can afford this. In addition, you don’t exactly let the points lie against a relegation candidate. Utrecht will seriously participate at the top this season, so if things have to go wrong, Utrecht is a serious opponent.
‘In this case, you are simply confronted with the facts. You can’t get away with playing at such a low intensity and with so little (offensive) inspiration in the Eredivisie either. Certainly not against teams from the top of the Eredivisie, to which Utrecht belongs. But the leading position is retained and of course you still have everything in your own hands, so there is not a lot going on.’
Bademba Barrie (Twitter: @Bademba__Barrie | Email: B.Barrie@Ajaxshowtime.com)
Note: This article have been indexed to our site. We do not claim legitimacy, ownership or copyright of any of the content above. To see the article at original sourceClick Here
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