Courageous brilliant Ajax crumbles under pressure

blog Euro 2020 WC2018
by Jan

Well, I REALLY needed to take a day extra before writing this… It was such a rollercoaster with all these amazing emotions floating through the body… From sheer exuberance (first half) to fear, horror, terror, disbelief in the second half and complete and utter shock at the final whistle.

What.The.F.Happened?

What was I watching?

How was this possible. Was Tottenham so amazing? Were they so good? Did we just see another English club smashing it, like Wijnaldum Liverpool smashed Barca?

You know what? NO!

Ajax didn’t lose against Spurs. They lost against Ajax. Ajax was Ajax toughest opponent.

And the boys who became men suddenly looked like boys again.

I was distraught. I was disappointed. And I was angry.

Not at Moura. Not at Pochetino. I was angry at Tadic. At Ziyech. At Ten Hag. Schone and Onana.

What on Earth were they thinking???

I will not give you a clear match report or anything. Forget about that.

Ok, I will. But briefly. Open Game. End to End. Ajax on the counter, Tadic forcing a corner. Great block (and terrible defending Spurs) and De Ligt heads 1-0. Great.

Spurs pushing probing shooting etc but another break got Ziyech in position. Magnificent left foot. Magnificent goal: 2-0.

Second half, yadda yadda Llorente yadda yadda long balls yadda yadda route 1 yadda yadda fight football.

So in the second half, Ajax has free kick. Blind and De Ligt move up. The rest defence looks vulnerable. Ball is turnaround, long ball is passed on to Moura. Schone doesn’t have the speed. Onana decides to stay in his goal. Easy goal. 2-1

Hmm… Was it really necessary to push so many players forward? For a free kick with a bad angle to get a real goal scoring opportunity?

Ajax is rattled and 2 mins later, their whole defence is split apart, with two Spurs players free in the 6 yard box. Onana saves miraculously but Schone decides to kick the ball away from Onana’s hands, giving Moura another opportunity. The Brazilian has 5 (!!) deft touches in the box before he buries it. WHAT? 2-2

And then: Ajax starts to play again, and Ziyech gets opportunities, Tadic too. But to no avail.

So with 2 minutes on the clock in extra time. 2 minutes! TWO!! Tadic decides to go for glory and the top corner. Curling it in. But the ball is wide and high. Lloris bring the ball back into the field and with a hail mary, the ball ends up with the Brazilian yet again. De Ligt is wrong footed and out of balance, he can’t block the shot. Tagliafico should have put his body on the line but stayed on his fee: 2-3.

End.Of.Story. End.of.Dream. What a bloody waste, what a missed opportunity.

Even when Ajax mourns the loss, their positioning is still great!

And YES: of course, reaching the semis was great. And yes, we all love these guys. And yes, they entertained us to the hilt. And yes, De Ligt, Ziyech, Neres, Van de Beek, Mazraoui, they will all get fat deals somewhere and some stage. Sure.

But they could and should have reached the finals and they can only blame themselves.

Erik ten Hag might have done better. Experienced Tadic and Blind should have managed the game better. Ziyech should have scored. Onana should have raced out of his area with that first Spurs goal. All true. But at the end of the day, Ajax gave it away.

And now, Ajax has two league games to win. And they will have to win them, otherwise their season – despite the national cup – will be a big disappointment in terms of silverware.

Sadly, this Ajax will not win a Champions League anytime soon. It’s likely that De Ligt and De Jong and Ziyech will leave. I do have faith in Eijting, I think he is a great player. He will take Frenkie’s spot I think, but there will not a second De Ligt of course.

Thanks for the memories Ajax, but really… you did end up breaking our hearts…

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111 comments

  1. thans jan. i’m agree with u. we all disappointment but alsowe lose to ourselves.
    guys, anybody remember Ajax against Milan in quarterfinals champion league in 2002 – 2003?? it was 2-2 and ajax can go to semi finals. the first leg was 0-0 in amsterdam and ajax just need 2 minutes to win that game then in 90 mins milan score a goal and win 3-2. the game was over and milan win the champion league that year. maybe that ajax can go all the way too. but lose the game by 90 min goal. i think history is repeat and repeat. u r really good but u have to defend good. u have to kill the time in last seconds. ajax ajax ajax. what ur problem?? why u dont defend with 10 men for 45 min. neres why u out when we really need u?? :((((((

  2. any body in this weblog live in netherland?? i want to know what was psv and feyenoord fan when ajax lose that game?? can anybody who live in holland answer me??

      1. Hey man I speak to a lot of people in Holland. And I can tell you that most PSV / Feyenoord fans followed Ajax, cheered for them and wanted them to win. Most of them are football fans first, and club fans second. But some of the die hard stupid fans will laugh. Of course, when Ajax plays Utrecht this weekend, their fans will chant Moura’s name haaha. That is humor.

  4. Maxim Gullit, son of Ruud Gullit, signed 3-year contract with AZ Alkmaar. He is a defender and looks nothing like his father LOL.This is what his father says about Maxim: “Max is not the super talent that will be there very soon, he just has to keep developing. He is not there yet, but thanks to AZ he has taken incredible steps”.

    On the other note Guus Til is on the radars of Zenit (Russia). I really want him to leave AZ.

  6. The full provisional squad for nations cup.

    Goalkeepers: Marco Bizot (AZ), Jasper Cillessen (Barcelona), Kenneth Vermeer (Feyenoord), Jeroen Zoet (PSV).

    Defenders: Patrick van Aanholt (Crystal Palace), Nathan Aké (AFC Bournemouth), Daley Blind (Ajax), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Denzel Dumfries (PSV), Terence Kongolo (Huddersfield Town), Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax), Kenny Tete (Olympique Lyon), Stefan de Vrij (Internazionale).

    Midfielders: Donny van de Beek (Ajax), Frenkie de Jong (Ajax), Davy Pröpper (Brighton & Hove Albion), Marten de Roon (Atalanta Bergamo), Pablo Rosario (PSV), Kevin Strootman (Olympique Marseille), Tonny Vilhena (Feyenoord), Georginio Wijnaldum (Liverpool).

    Attackers: Ryan Babel (Fulham), Steven Berghuis (Feyenoord), Steven Bergwijn (PSV), Memphis Depay (Olympique Lyon), Luuk de Jong (PSV), Quincy Promes (Sevilla), Wout Weghorst (VfL Wolfsburg).

  7. Without doubt, this was an epic collapse by Ajax, and one that we’ll be haunted by for a long time. I’m still not resolved in my feelings about it.

    But the point I keep coming back to is that this was Ajax. In 2019. In the Champions League semis. Just the thought of that would have been absurd to us a year ago.

    I absolutely would have loved to have a shot at Liverpool in the final, but that is life…

    I think we all tend to personalize our experience and think that it is only our teams that suffer this way, but sports creates crazy outcomes sometimes, which is what makes football so entertaining!

    I imagine that Juventus and Madrid are still stunned they lost to Ajax, and that Man City is stunned that they lost to Tottenham, and that Barcelona is stunned that they lost to Liverpool. Liverpool has had its own share of historic and recent near misses and collapses as well. You just have to keep building and improving.

    I’m actually pretty excited for this UEFA Nations League now and very optimistic for Oranje in general. Had Ajax not had this fantastic run, I would have nowhere near my current level of hope and optimism.

    We have yet another generation of young players on the rise and more to come. And young coaches like ten Hag who can inspire such brilliant attacking play…

  8. Well, I was gutted. No other way to say…when Moura scored, I felt like my stomach dropped into the soles of my feet. I felt much like what Alaa and Balkan described; just wanted to wall it all off for awhile. I understand Balkan in particular, as I, too have, followed them since the early 80’s, and, when this ended, it certainly crossed my mind whether, given the realities of this sport, I will ever again see such a run by them in my lifetime. (Yes, losses like this lead to morbid thoughts.)

    But I guess, I always fall back on the notion that sports fans seem to fall into two categories; the bandwagoners who easily switch allegiance, and those who bond for life…and if you bond for life, even with a top tier team, you are going to have your heart broken many times, and if you bond for life with a team with Ajax’s status in the worldwide hierarchy, it is going to be broken many, many, many times…I accept that. Just makes the unexpected runs even sweeter.

    So, I’m going to go with JB’s post immediately above. I think he nailed it as far as how I feel—or will feel when there is a little perspective and I can forget Tadich not taking the ball into the corner, Ziyech hitting the post, De ligt missing the block by maybe less than the length of his shoe, and Schone kicking the ball away from Onana—because that team was enthralling and thrilling and at times played the beautiful game in a manner deserving of the designation.

    …and thank you to Jan for providing a site to help work through all of this…

    Anyhow, time to turn the page—and, fortunately, the next page is the Nations League. Looking forward to it.

  9. Correct
    Nations league is next
    I hope they will and they should beat England

    You will see many of the players are found in this Ajax spurs match , and I don’t see any reason Oranje will fail to beat England

    I am sure this defeat will make them all get stronger from it

    By the way , I hope and I don’t think Van de Beek will stay for one more year because if he Does , Ajax will still be able to keep her strength , despite de Jong Ziyech or Even Neres De Ligt etc departure

  12. Well, I am not sure if any of you saw what Mou said about Ajax after game one. Spurs literally used the same strategy as Man U 2 years ago in the Europa League final. This Ajax team has a weakness in dealing with long balls and headers. Mou said probably only Barcelona/Liverpool/Man City this year has a chance at beating Ajax by playing Ajax way (beautiful soccer style with passing and combination). However, Real failed to admit it, Juventus failed to admit it, but Spurs in the 2nd half just gave it a try with a different uglier style of play, put Lorente on, play long high balls and fight for 2nd balls, play straightforwardly and physically. This caused Ajax a lot of problem. Blind is a good player but he is a CB with a weakness. Lorente purposefully try to find him for the headers and win again and again. Philosophy is the foundation for a soccer team but you sometimes need strategy to win it all. Dutch soccer is always like perfectionist, we want to win in the most beautiful way, but to do that is really really hard., and it seems very few of the Dutch coach/team are willing to try to use some strategy sometimes.

  13. Now back to Ajax for next season. I hope Ten Hag is going to stay. I think he is really the key for Ajax’s success. Very few dutch coach is like him, he managed to combine the Dutch School of beautiful soccer with the German School of organized pressing. He just need a little of Mou’s defense strategy and experiences from big games. Which hopefully he learned a lot through this year’s champions league journey. A lot of Ajax’s talent is going to leave but there is quite a few rising talents in the academy that might be able to fill the void.

    At the back line, Peer Schuurs is a very talented CB with great body build up and height. I am not sure why Ten Hag is not willing to give him more chance during the season. He could have been the person to deal with Lorente.

    Kik Pierie is coming in next season, not sure he is going to take the LB or CB position. He is a little short to fill De Ligt’s void though but the kid has some serious potential.

    Liam van Gelderen at RB is showing some nice leadership, he is ferocious in defense. Unfortunately too short for CB s he moved to RB.

    Rio Hillen another great CB talent Ajax bought from AZ for the future.

    In midfield, hopefully Ryan Gravenberch can start getting regular playing time next season and I really hope he does not turn out to be the next Bazoer. This kid clearly has a lot of talent.

    Carel Eiting at the beginning of the season already showed his worth. He is definitely a talented player. Hopefully he can fill Freekie De Jong’s spot. It’s unfortunate that he got a length knee injury this season. Hopefully he recovers to 100% and play a good full season next year.

    Dani de Wit is pretty good for second division when he play with the 2nd team. He is a Van De Beek type of player but his talent is probably not as good, He probably will get some chance next season if Van De Beek left.

    Daley Sinkgraven is a player I am still not willing to give up on. He was so good at Hereveen just like Ziyech. If Ziyech can make it at Ajax then he can too. He needs to be played in Midfield not LB. I hope he can take Ziyech’s spot if Ziyech leaves just like what happened back in Hereveen.

    Jurgen Ekkelenkamp hopefully will get some more playing time. He is probably not a super talent but he is solid, definitely has a higher ceiling than Schone.

    Noa Lang might get some more playing time too. He showed some glimpse of talent for his limited playing time on the first team.

    Naci Unuvar is probably the most creative talents from the academy after Nouri’s terrible accident. This kid’s body still need some development but the talent is definitely there, maybe in two or three years we can see him take the big stage in storm.

    Kenneth Taylor has the talent to become the next Freenkie De Jong for Ajax. Ajax clearly is developing some great midfield prospect for the next few years.

    In Attack, Brian Brobbery looks like the real deal, strong, composed and some solid skills. He has the body to play against the adults already. Hopefully he can get some chances next season.

    Sontje Hansen is a very talented wing player, with good speed and explosiveness. Hopefully we can see him in first team in two years.

    Ché Nunnely looked solid when he was with U17 and U19 but still did not get a chance at first team at the age of 20. Next season is probably his last chance. So far he looked average after shining in U17 and U19. Not sure what happened to his development.

    Scherpen could be the GK for the future. Good body for a GK but his goal kick needs some improvement with Ajax’s training team.

    If Ten Hag will stay, and not too many Ajax’s first team player leave the team. I can still see Ajax give it a run next year. I am not really worried about Freekie’s spot or Ziyech’s spot. I am more worried about De Ligt’s spot. Hopefully Peer Schuurs and Kik Pierie can fill the void.They just need more experiences.

    1. Oh and let’s sell Dolberg when we still can. His development is stalled. He did nothing against Spurs. Ten Hag should have started with Huntelaar. I am sure he would have done better.

      1. Im still thinking why did ajax buy the lisandro Martinez guy when they they already acquired pierie, had Tagliafico (signed new contract),Blind and mallagan. I really hope pierie doesnt end up wasting the season warming the bench.

        Sinkgaven is somebody I think ten hag needs to plan out a strategy to utilize him to his full potential. I think he needs a big break nd ten hag should start him in the midfield conservatively to bring up his confidence level.one or two games simply wont do it.

        Also Azor Matusiwa has had a good loan season at De Graafschap.he could well be another good replacement for frenkie or schone whom ajax should offload .

        1. Yeah, that Lisandro Martinez buy is weird. Maybe Ajax do not have enough confidence in Schuurs and Pierie? But Lisandro Martinez is not even 180cm. Mallagan is like Mike Van Der Hoorn, whenever he is subbed in, tragedy happens. Or maybe Daley Blind is leaving? Or Talegafico is still leaving?

        2. Azor Matusiwa is a pure DM style player. He is good at breaking offense, strong on tackle but his passing might be a liability to be honest. He is Nigel De Jong type of player, kind of too one dimensional in soccer world now.

  14. As for the national team, I hope we can take our revenge against England. We really need a win after our last minute loss against Germany and last second loss for Ajax against Spurs. The National team probably looks even better than the Ajax team right now. If Ajax can be so close to get to the Champions League final than we have a team that can win a trophy at Euro Cup or World Cup. Koeman is a great coach just like Ten Hag. He chose to select the same player as last several times which could be good and bad.Our starting 11 is probably going to look something like this.

    Cillissen>Onana

    Dumfries=Mazraui Van Dijk>Blind De Ligt Blind=Tagliafico

    Freekie De Jong

    Van De Beek Gini Wijnaldum>Schone

    Bergwijn=Neres Depay>Tadic Promes=Ziyech

    I think this team if have enough time to train and play together should be better than Ajax. Promes against Ziyech is probably the only place where there might be a question mark.

    And on the bench we have players like Ake, De Vrij at the back. Propper, De Roon，Vilhena in midfield, Babel, Weghorst in attack.

    The only thing is we lack some attacking spark in midfield and attack on the bench. Maybe Dirlosun, Danjuma can grow into this role.

    1. To be honest I will give it 60- 40 for england to win particular ly because they are all rounded in all department.as much as the team can rely on Van dijk and de ligt but pace of sterling, Sancho could be determintal just like what happened vs germany.sane and gnabry. The depth in the england side simply phenomenal compared to NT who have a decent bench.this is where again I will say again england has the full package.again I have said over a thousand times and will say it again as long blind is the team he always be a weakest point and NT will never win anything with him in the team. Excluding penalties here.

      1. Well, at this moment Blind is probably the best option. Maybe we should give Thomas Ouwejan a chance. He is shining at AZ this season but lack big game experience. Hopefully Juan Castillo, Tyler Malacia, Mitchell Bakker these three can be developed into great players.

        1. That has been the biggest mistake of the dutch hierarchy and the coaches.well off course he was untouchable when daddy was the coach but if van annholt and kongolo would have been rotated more often this wouldnt have been the case.I still believe if koeman gives buttner one shot in NT, he will prove them wrong and blow blind aside especially with his outings at vitesse this season. Yes he has had his ups ad downs but what he brings to the game is more component than blind at LB.

          I really agree with you on what you have said on top about the perfection part.

      2. Also, I think France, England, Brazil is our three biggest opponent to overcome if we want to win a major trophy in the near future. We are about to have a good generation of players but these three countries are enjoying the same and probably has better depth than we do. Depth has been an issue for our national team for a long time.

        1. Not only three but all the top soccer playig nations especially those with better competitive league.its not just about having good generational players but also seeing that their development also reaches to the max. There is where dutch has dealt the blow compared to other team whom have their young talent get groomed into household names which top clubs feed on them.

          The dutch need more players like de ligt and frenkie hiting on the big stage and attracting big clubs.

          1. I don’t see Spain, Germany, Argentina, Italy, Portugal, Belgium has a better generation than us in the next couple years.

          2. Seriously.looks like you aint following then. I would definitely include Portugal and italy in that list.portgual has always being nemesis for NT come tournments and qualification.some of their next generation players are competitively active in benfica , porto and sporting.big name clubs are already circling their next wonderkids joao felix (19) and ruben dias (21). City are on the verge of scooping sporting start bruno fernendes (23) The wolves contingent Ruben Neves (22),diego jota (22) are coming on the back of one of the best season in epl. Bernando silva (24), Joao Cancelo (21) juventus,diego dalot (20) man united are all reguar. Their u19 start joao filipe (19) benfica is one of the hottest prospect in europe right now dubbed as the mext ronaldo. Joao felix and him are the future of Portugese to continue the legacy of their greats like figo,Ronaldo. I havent mentioned here about other regulars who are playig in top leagues. The only draw back i see for them is the formation they play.

            Italy I have talked about them plenty time. Mancini is doing a great job after takng over. Kean is destined to hit big as he plays more. They only area of concern is their aging cbs. Ruguni nd ramagnoli probably need more experience at CL level.

    1. Portugal might be our nemesis but their next generation has a lot holes. Their backline is trash. Italy only has a few good talents and that’s all. Italy and Portugal’s youth team had really disappointing results in recent years. Looks like you are the one not following. A lot of Portugal players are in Premier League because those teams simply has Portugese coach lol. There performance has been subpar.

      1. Porto won the UFEA youth league.
        Porto has made continuous knock out stages of CL for the last 3-4 season.
        Portgual u19 won the euros.
        Benfica almost qualify for CL every season for the last how many season.they look set to win the title again with porto runner ups. Both could feature again in CL and this cycle will continue. What do expect to happen to their player development.
        You say their next generatin backline in trash when Ruben Dias and diego leite are attacking big teams lke de ligt last season. Dias is regular in the portguese team and by the pepe is done leite will be on hand to replace him.I follow players beause I see whats happening in the transfer market.

        I will agree with you on coaches part where some coaches invest in players of the same nationality like the wolves simply beause they keep tracking the development and are aware of the talents whom they can get at reasonable price. Van gaal did this at barcelona after 98 and it only supplemented the dutch team.if its happening, its happening for them.The fact that dutch coaches haven’t being successful abroad just adds to their delimma.

        1. If you think of peter bosz at Leverkusen, there is literally no one in eredivisie who could reinforce his squad with frenkie, De ligt and lozano gone.

      2. Another topic: Peter Bosch is now
        Boss of Bayern Leverkusen . How come he hasn’t bring in any Dutch talent over , which most of the other national coaches will do ????

          1. No use. I dont think he is an upgrade to any midfielder in bayern leverkusen at the moment. Like other coaches he will bite the dust again.

  16. How is Propper selected for NT when he is on the bench for Brighton which is a very mediocre team in PL?
    Also, out attack lacks by a lot. Except for Depay nobody else is NT level but just mediocre club players. Strangely when compared to other good NTs from the past we have a very solid defense and a weak attack. Robben, Van Persie, Huntelaar etc. are miles ahead of the players we have now. I doubt we can go past England but who knows. Stranger things have happened.

  17. Ajax inches away from title. At least we can say we won the double after many years! I’ve been absent from the site for a while, but I couldn’t not follow what’s happening at this time :):)

  18. Regarding the match against Spurs, I don’t agree with all these accusations about pressure, etc. Football depends to a large extent on single moments or what we call luck. We try to find complex reasons for every loss but the reality is that this could have happened (and it did on many occasions) to Barca or Real or some other big club. The lads were just very unlucky to get that goal in the dying seconds. As for pressure, it’s the other way round! They gave a lesson to everyone about managing pressure when they played Real and Bayern and Juve. I think Ajax is the only club in the world that can present such a young team on the pitch at that level and still show discipline and excellent handing of pressure! Well done to the club and the coaches who prepare these young lads! Impressive. They were simply unlucky.

    1. @alistair
      I couldn’t agree more!!! After every loss, people tend to become very philosophical and start analyzing the loss but in some cases it is just pure bad luck!!!

      If u notice the third goal was scored at 95:05 so it was 5 seconds past the 5 added minutes and once the ball was gonna go out or the play stops the refree was gonna whistle the end and would’ve ended 2-2 and people would’ve been talking about how great those Ajax kids were at managing the result and qualifying to the final!!!
      The pure bad luck happened and de ligt couldn’t manage to shoot that ball away and it fell to Moura feet and he scored and suddenly now everyone wanted to talk about mistakes from ten hag, the kids and everything else!!!
      It was purely meant to be ….. that’s all:(

    1. Not a great season indeed. Happy that RVP retires. I think too much focus went towards “Is RVP fit??”

      Feyenoord has a dressing room issue and lacks a top sport mentality like PSV and Ajax and even AZ have…

  20. Bad news for rick van drongelen.hamburg have dropped down the ladder in bundasliga 2 and are out of contention for direct promotion or qualifications playoffs either.I wonder if he will think about coming back to eredivise.

  21. Talking about “ depth “, I don’t want to compare with other teams as it would get me write another thousand words

    To put to focus back in the Oranje team , are depth are all the likes of strootman , luuk de Jong , vilhena , berghuis etc

    These are all average / good players . But not enough to come on as a sub and make a difference ( Leroy sane ) is a killer from Germany who sometimes is on the bench

    Do we have a Leroy sane ? Yes we have

    Javairo dilrosun , armaut Danjuma , Nathan Ake

    But I do not see koeman making good use of
    Them

    We need more of these players to be selected . If somebody can pass this message to Koeman pls

    Being more youngsters in the team get rid of stootman and luuk de Jong

    Luuk scores a lot for PSv but somehow he doesn’t know how to for Oranje . I would rather see kluivert in

    1. Like somebody said at this moment the dutch dont have that luxury where by the players are of the same quality and can fight for the same positions.eg. if depay, the whole balance of the team will be disrupted.same goes with frenkie.most of the bench players just make numbers and may only be required if for un for seen circumstsnces.

      Dilrosun, Kluivert are still far away from becoming regulars at their club. Rotation, injury etc.groeneveld is back at club brugge after being out of action for a while and fitness could be the reason for his ommission.

      For strootman, i think koeman is accomdating him to actually see the extent of the recovery with every selection. ACL recovery is not easy and perhaps if strootman does fully recover, it would be seen in the trainig sessions.I think koeman is very particular with the experience factor.

      Luuk is backup striker and on a day his ariel presence could make a difference. If it was not for him it would have been dost.but unfortunately he doesnt wanna play at NT level.

  22. The dutch simply need more players like de ligt and frenkie hitting big stage and attracking big clubs where they can competitively develop further.the good news is that ajax heroics manage to secure a direct route to CL and this platform should be well used to expose more players to experience what they cant in eredivisie. Interesting lets hope another big season for ajax in CL next season.

  23. since Nathan Ake is back as DM..i think we Dont have to look back..
    We should go with
    Gronveld—————Babel
    ———–Depay————
    —Frenkie——–Van de beek—
    ————Ake—————
    kongolo–Virgil–Deligt—Dumfries
    ———-Cillessen—————
    =====================================
    on Bench
    —-Boadu———–Stengs——–
    ———–Berjwin————-
    —Vilhena———-Wijnaldum–
    ————Blind/Juste——–
    Annholt—Devrij—Bruma/Mensah–karsdorp
    ———–Bijlow—————–

    1. There is no doubt ake is an attaking oriented player but he needs to play more games and get adjusted to the tactics being deployed.you can not to be attacking and simply forgetting what your role is.the timimg when to go forward, when to maintain the line is absolutely crucial. If you look at the crystal palace game he was caught out on the counters but I think him and frenkie partnership could work effectively. When frenkie goes up front,Ake can maintain the defensive line and vice versa.Im hoping koeman will give him somes minutes in the midfield vs england.

  24. Still in shock after Ajax’s defeat. I can’t stop thinking about what Jan said about Tadic that in the 93´minute he goes for glory trying to score rather than wasting time! that’s the experience Ajax didn’t have. They didn’t know how to hold a 3-0 advantage.

    Ajax is a better team than Tottenham but they were more focused and Ajax wasn’t.

    1. Miguel, I can’t believe it either but Tadic is a very experienced player. If he goes for glory when the stakes are so high then he either is an idiot or totally irresponsible and roast belong there. He has been valuable for Ajax that’s for sure butnlapses like this one overshadow everything else. There were quite a few moments when our players wanted to give speacyacle instead of being practicals. What’s done is done. It is all sour grapes now. Congrats to them on winning eredivise.

      2. Tadic is not experienced in winning trophies. He’s a gifted player with experience. But he is not the guy who will teach what winning means.

    2. Yes and this Ajax defeat is gonna bite me for another 10 years , Similar to
      The one 2010 we lost to Spain

      Ajax should be in the final
      , how great would
      That be.
      And these guys fucxed it up , simply as that . Any I don’t think we will get a
      Same strong and fearless Ajax very soon .

      And I must say luck or not , we may not get
      The same “ smoooth” to get another final Again easily

      1. Yan, a phenomena like this Ajax won’t be back anytime soon. Little things such a 5 second time wasting or a fake injury would have taken them to the final. It is called time management which unfortunately wasn’t put to use. That’s why it hurts so much.

  26. @ AZ

    Any anaysis of the PSV game.

    This is one thing I will say and I predicted it. The next season will be a break out season for Malen and he showed in this game why he better than bergwijn.

    Rosario I dont know how he has been selected in NT.

    1. Wilson,

      I think AZ played very solid game and never gave up any space that PSV could have used. Both Stengs and Albert Guðmundsson defended well which helped a lot left and right backs. Last but not least, AZ midfield overpowered PSV’s counterpart.

      Marco Bizot has been outstanding entire season and I think he is now number 2 goalkeeper in NT after Jasper.

      Stengs played decent game. He still lacks that sparking way of playing but knee injury always imprints strong psychological trauma and he will need another injury-free season in order to come back to his full strength. He will be in AZ next season.

      Adam Maher has been brilliant last 10 games. His average score has been 7.4/10 per game and I think he is fully back to the top of his form. Although he played entire season as a defending midfielder, which happened due to Koopmieners engagement with central defense, Maher would have been even more efficient if he played in his beloved playmaker position.
      However, this will not happen until Guus Til is in the team. Athough Til scores and in general he plays well, I think his protective status in AZ (similar to Blind’s status in NT) holds back the team. His lack of good technique does not allow him to be more efficient at his current position. He somehow compensates it with his speed and super high work-rate but in my view it is still not what I would like to see.

      All in all it was a decent season. I would like to particularly stress John van den Brom. Although Dutch media have always criticized him, in my view he did very good job in AZ and particularly leading the team through crisis situation. After Wout and ALireza left the team, AZ was in very bad shape, but John was able to bring back the team. His major weakness is the lack of adaptability. He is stubborn (like many Dutch) and will always support attacking way of playing which badly affected AZ at the beginning of the season. I expect a lot from the AZ new coach Arne Slot who thinks differently and is a supporter of the organized football.

      I think AZ have a great potential and I am looking forward to next season and hope that the team from Alkmaar again will shine domestically and in Europe.

      If you have any particular question about any specific player, please, let me know.

      1. I was watching the match..AZ did pretty well..Boadu,Stengs,Maher needs to be considered for NT…Coz those 3 adds some value to dutch NT ..

  27. Ajax loss was heartbreaking..How can we loss like that..Could nt eat food fpropery for 2 days..We must beat England in wembly that would heal little wound.
    Ajax should have scored 2 at SPurs away game…there stupid idea to attack cost them dearly..or may be they thought lets kill the game by 3-0…it has broken the heart of all dutch fans..

      1. IT HAPPEND IN 1998 VS bRAZIL
        vS ITALY 2000
        vS PORTUGAL 2006 .
        VS spAIN —2010
        vS aRJENTINA -2014
        nOW AGAIN
        WITH AJAX…
        iDONT DIGEST my team losses on edge…hard to take..

  30. I have a feeling that Overmars is going to make some good signings for next season..Bergwijn, Pröpper etc. Expecting an exciting Ajax team again next season.

    1. I believe so. Ajax are becoming richer. They sorted out the problem that saw them losing top players at cheap prices. They changed approach with youth contracts and are tying them up with nice transfer fees. I mean, 75m for De Jong. That’s enough to get two high class youngsters and invest the rest in enriching the contracts of some youngsters already with the club.

      1. After FDJ performance for Ajax this CL campaign 75M doesn’t seem like a great deal anymore. They could probably fetch 1.5 times that in about 1 year. In general, player prices are crazy high. They would have been smart to sell Dolberg 2 yrs ago when he had value, now they’re stuck with him. Still Overmars/Van Der Sar are doing a great job. Who knows what they have up their sleeve. Most importantly I hope they tie up Ten Hag for a long time.

        1. Ten Hag is reportedly a candidate for both the Barcelona and Bayern Munich managerial positions.

          If true, Ajax would obviously suffer with his departure, but would having a Dutch manager at either of those clubs help us from a national team / developmental standpoint?

          Ten Hag himself may be a great national team coach candidate some day as well.

          It will be very interesting to see how all this plays out…

          1. If Ten Hag shows another performance like the one he had with Ajax , the national coach radar will definitely be on him in future

  31. The way things are going by 2020 the dutch could be solid team.excluding van dijk, De Ligt, Frenkie and Depay, this season surely will see more breakout stars especially from the PSV camp.lammers will be returning from heerenveen, Malen, Ihattaren, Gakpo.if not this season, the 2020 season should see them burning all the clyinders plus the winner of eredivisie next season will qualify directly for CL. This is will when world cup will be on the horizon and you would expect some good competitiin coming from dutch teanms by then.I really liked what I saw of malen vs AZ.im not sure about feyenood but Ajax and PSV should be at it again.not to mention AZ who could be the dark horse with all the players returning from injury.boadu, stengs etc. With perhaps one or two signing they could compete with the top 3 this season.

    Ajax contingent, schuurs,pierie and gravenberch, eiting again this should be their break out season and hopefully sinkgraven as well who has yet to fulfill his true potential.

    Elsewhere bobby adekanye is confirmed to be playing at Lazio next season.watch out for this lad. Im giving him as long as till december when he should start knocking on koeman door. Im really excited for this guy.

    Groeneveld is also back from injury and should be ready after pre season, dilrosun as well. Kluivert has had a decsent outings at Roma but he has proved that with more game time he can become a key player for them.just needs to keep workng harder especially when given minutes

    For the likes of bakker,Chong, Castillo-familia,bacuna, reis , Van drongelen will depend on where they are playing.

    With this bunch of players and good outings at club level NT can expect a good shot at the WC.

    The euros should futher lay the platform for this and those that will be selected can continue to the road to WC

    1. Adekanye is physical player with lesser intelligence..it will will hard for him ..He might be better than Elghazi…i feel lesser hope for such players with lesser IQ.
      IQ of Frenkie Dejong,De beek,De ligt,Blind,would be too much i feel..

      1. I dont know what to say here. If im not wrong you said the same old sh*t about dembele at Barcelona/France sometime back.

        Im jus curious here. When you say he does not have any intellengence.which players in your views are intelligent. I just wanna see which players are you comparing him to.

          1. Dont be utter stupid…i know u are…i Compare Intelligence in game…To suceed at Top clubs u need game intelligence..Which is absent with Elgahzi,Boby adkane etc…

          2. You will again bit the dust like you did with depay rant and when he found his form at lyon you then started cutting corners.

      2. Adekanye ….. will see what Happens with and if koeman will give him a call

        He needs to score goals . A lot of goals , and none of our current Strikers can do that at the moment , with the exception of depay

        Sam Lammers , I am looking forward to see if he will keep on improving . If he does and keeps scoring with PSV, then I’m sure we will see him wearing Oranje shirt soon.

        My eyes are also on ihattaren. He is still young but I hope he can make a firm decision and choose Oranje ASAP

        I would hate to see another Ziyech . Man what if he choose Oranje . We are badly needing a top talented right winger , Quincy promes does not fit the role sorry

  32. It looks like Ferdy Druijf of AZ Alkmaar moves to Heerenveen. Not sure whether it is going to be a permanent move or loan. Honestly, I like Ferdy much more than Bjorn Janssen and even Myron Boadu. He scored 29 times in Ereste Division. I understand it is just an Ereste division and he was unable to help NEC to delegate to Eredivisie but still he would be a great asset for the team of Alkmaar. Let’s hope, it is just a loan.

    1. I read that one.heereveen are under financial crisis and most probably it will be a loan like Mitchell van bergen from vitesse this season.

  33. More and more rumors about Ten Hag going to either Bayern or Barca. I really hope he stays for at least another season. I don’t want him to end up like Peter Bosz. The teams that are targeting him want instant success which is very hard considering their ambitions. But it may be hard to resist the $$$.

  35. England squad for nations cup.

    Goalkeepers : Butland, Heaton, Pickford

    Defenders : Alexander-Arnold, Chilwell, Gomez, Keane, Maguire, Rose, Stones, Trippier,
    Midfielders : Alli, Barkley, Delph, Dier, Henderson, Lingard, Redmond, Rice, Ward-Prowse, Winks

    Forwards : Kane, Rashford, Sancho, Sterling, Wilson

  36. Our dutch u17-18 generation looks very strong, 1 of the best in Europe i can say, very potential & promising to become world class player & most important that its distribute balancing for all of positions on the field not only just backline as currently.

    Redan, Boadu,Ihattaren, Gravenberg, Kokcu, Piere, Maatsen, Baar, Taabouni, Reis, Hoever, Mbuyamba, Brobbey, Zirkzee, etc

  37. Feyenoord has partied ways with jordy clasie after his bust with gio.he is set to return to southampton. PSV should sieze this opportunity and bring him back on loan. PSV needs reinforcement in the midfield and he could be a good fit plus I dont think he will have much playing time at Southampton either way.rosario form has dropped significantly, hendrix is in freeze mode and others like guti have yet to find the full rhythm.

    Bruma is another player they should look at bringing back on loan. He has again flopped at schalke ad his future at wolfburg also looks blick.this could well be his chance to salvage his career.with Schwaab also conforming his depature PSV will have to look for stability in the backline.

  38. I knew this was coming. Bayern leverkusen have started talks with ajax to sign daley sinkgraven. Peter bosz during his stance at ajax was very determined with his abilities before decideding to switch him to LB. Leverkusen is on brink of qualifying for CL and daley will definitely increase their depth on that left flank. Good one.

    1. Tks Wilson but I wouldn’t really care much

      Again , we have enough good defensive players for the next upcoming two world cups

      We only lack mid and attacking players right now

      By the way , does anyone what philippe sandler is doing In Man City ? He’s getting 23 next year and still got zero min time play for Man City

      It hurts me keep seeing these Dutch talent wasting their career same as tahith chong and zirkzee , redan etc at these so called big clubs

  39. Wout Weghorst finished the season with 17th goals in Budensliga, including two hat-tricks. If somebody told me that three years ago, I would have never believed it. Great achievement!

      2. NO YAN LUUK WAS NEVER AS useless as strootman and Basdost..Best thing happend to NT was the withdrawal of Basdost..Wout is not better than luuk…Luuk is an intelligent player who conncets well with team..very unselfish player..unselfishness of forwards makes their team has better chance to score more goals.Exactly like Germans did in 2014..I would not mind Depay,Babel,Boadu,Stengs,Redan taking spot from Luuk..but wout is not much better..

        1. No way and utter nonsense. Weghorst is not a typical striker like dost and luuk who require servicing and without are useless. Weghorst workrate gives him the edge over both and you can find him all over the field. He more like van persie when compared to huntelaar.

          Being said this weghorst in NT might shift the balance given how much of a impact Depay has made since shifting to striker.
          I dont think weghorst will be upgrade to depay eitherway.

      1. Im afraid bosz will end up doing the same as what Mauricio pochettino has done for the england side. The current leverkusen has all the young players who could go on become future stars for the germans. Brandt, Havertz, Bender brothers, Tah etc.

  41. Bournemouth has signed Bristol city defender lloyd kelly for 13 million pounds. He is left footed CB, which means either Ake could be on the move or howe might shift him to Midfield. And plus tyrone mings also left footed has made a big impact for villa.

  43. U17 dominated Italy in the final’s first half .3:0 already at half time. It could have been more. I would have liked to see Dutch against France. These two are the two real contenders for this tournament. Unfortunately, we put up a 2nd team in group stage and lost to them and France did not even pass Italy.

    KNVB also needs to figure out their development after U17. We always have a great team at U17 but gradually at U19 and U21 our team is less and less.There is still some development issues from 17 to 21 but it is getting better but still could be more.

    1. I’m watching live now
      Yea they’re good but I wonder how many of
      Them will eventually make it to the Oranje first team

      The thing is , played like Ian Maatsen and KJ Hoever are keep dreaming for a first team place in their respective big clubs . But we know for a fact it’s less than 5% chance they will get a dream
      Come true . Sad

    1. Depay would definitely fit in liverpoool and most important it Klopp make no wrong decision

      If klopp buys him it means he can fit in well

      Too bad for Man Utd they are talking every day about which player in and out but I have not heard a single word from them interested of getting depay back. Utterly stupid !

  47. Just watched the U17 final. What a confident, creative and cohesive team. Hansen, Brobbey, Taylor, Maatsen, Hoever, Bogarde, Uncivar, Bannis, Tab, Rentsch…all worth keeping an eye on. Hats off to the coach—really nice job.

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