Tag: Onana

Strong Ajax kicked out of Champions League

The visitors were played off the pitch in the first half of the game but were silenced in the second half.

“Being better in possession” was Ten Hag’s mantra after the disappointing draw in Portugal. In order to not fall into the counter-knife of Benfica, Ten Hag made some subtle changes to his system. The left flank, where Ajax suffered most in Lisbon, was set up differently this time, with a leading role for Ryan Gravenberch.

Tactically, this is a different match altogether. In Portugal, supported by the crazy Benfica fans, they pressed high at times.This time around, the Benfica coach used a 4-2-3-1 with a strong defensive block. Ramos played more like a midfielder than an attacker. while Silva and Everton also played more like wingbacks than winger. Benfica’s most important mission: do not concede, hoping Ajax will somehow stumble in the second half.

In order to stop the opponent from being dangerous, Ten Hag has used some more certainties. Daley Blind was out of position a number of times in the away game, when Benfica countered. This time around, he played more like a third centre back.

In the build up, Blind constantly joins Timber and Martinez at the back, which usually means that Ajax has 3 defenders around striker Nunez. Ten Hag before the match: “We need to bring our style to the pitch. Which is cool and collected on the ball and recognising the moment to accelerate. When we do this, it usually means our rest defence is top. In this way, we can manage the game and pounce when there is space.”

Blind as third central defender does indeed offer more on two aspects of the Ajax game: there is more composure on the ball at the back and Ajax’ rest defence is already there when needed. To keep a threat on the left hand side, it’s Gravenberch who is playing wide on the left, with Tadic.

The Benfica defenders have difficulty with this. Their defence is zonal based. Ajax will lure the right winger Silva in the direction of Blind, which means right back Gilbero is faced with Tadic and Gravenberch, at times.

This image above demonstrates the confusion at Benfica. Taarabt and Weigl are both pointing and coaching team mates. Taarabt doesn’t want to pulled away from the centre of the pitch, by Gravenberch, while Weigl is dealing with two opponents: Berghuis and Mazraoui. Taarabt ends up the man to cover for Gilbero in some cases.

Ajax’ most threatening attacks do all come from their left flank.

In the 36th minute, Blind also joins into the attack. But the defensive organisation doesn’t change, as Mazraoui will drop back, and Ajax still has three at the back. Blind’s presence confuses Benfica and Gravenberch finds the space to dribble inside and release a good attempt on goal.

Three minutes later, Gravenberch starts a move that results in a big chance for Berghuis. This time, the attack starts on the right. Martinez with a good cross pass to Gravenberch, who is in a 2 v 1 situation with Tadic. Gravenberch waits till Gilbero bites and plays Tadic in. His pull back into the box offers Berghuis a golden opportunity, but the south paw wants the ball on his left foot and fumbles the chance.

This attack is exactly what Ten Hag wants. Be patient, push the opponent back, create a man more situation and pounce!

Benfica coach Verissimo is not happy with the first half and hooks Taarabt at half time. The playmaker is replaced by a defensive mid, as direct opponent for Gravenberch.

In situations where Gravenberch would have been free on the left, now Meité comes with him. Benfica is able to neutralise the Ajax threat. With 19 minutes to go, Benfica thinks they have enough control to bring more heading capabilities in Yaremchuk, he’ll take the central role and Nunez will move to the left.

With 13 minutes to go, the ref gives a soft free kick to Benfica. Nunez beats Timber in the air and Onana’s timing mistake results in Ajax conceding a goal in a game in which they hardly gave anything away.

Ten Hag responds by bring Brobbey and midfielder Klaassen. Blind first move to left central defender but shifts back to the wing, while Timber takes a more midfield role. Benfica’s speciality is to kill time and Ajax’ final thrust never really takes place.

Ajax played a double ticket against an opponent who rolled out the red carpet in the first leg. In Portugal, Ajax lost the tie, by opening themselves up needlessly. The draw in Portugal was what Benfica needed to completely disrupt Ajax’ game in Amsterdam. A better organisation did help Ajax to stop Benfica from countering but shooting blanks up top and making mistakes with a dead ball was all it needed for Ajax to disappoint in Europe yet again.

Sunday, arch enemy Feyenoord awaits.

Courageous brilliant Ajax crumbles under pressure

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…

“Ajax’s biggest game ever”

We love hyperboles… We actually witnessed one in action yesterday. With Stevie G watching on from the stands in Anfield, the man who led his team to the CL win in Istanbul, after being 3-0 down at half time… That vibe was present in Liverpool yesterday and must have inspired the Reds like nothing else. And only a few people realised that we are watching a huge shift in hierarchy in world football. After many many CL finals, we will see a finals without either Messi or Ronaldo. Their reign ended. The new super stars are called Van Dijk. De Ligt. De Jong. And they will reign supreme in the next decade.

Tactics won yesterday. Tactics, Klopp’s to be precise, in combination with the typical English gung ho mentality and energy. And how is Wijnaldum a typical example of Liverpool’s heavy metal football. Gini runs, tackles, pushes, scores, jumps and passes… What a game, what a team! From their goalie to their right back to their Egyptian pharao Mo Salah. Respect!

And yes, Tottenham Hotspur will be inspired by the Liverpool feat. Sure. But it will also have done something with Ajax. Don’t worry.

Ten Hag calls it the biggest game in Johan Cruyff Arena ever. That is probably not true. But for him and his team, it will be true. And for all the fans tomorrow as well. It will be the first time in 23 years that Ajax might get into the CL finals. Two years ago, they reached the Europa League finals under Bosz, which was quite a feat already, but the prestige of the CL finals is unprecedented. In this century, no other Dutch club reached this far. In 1996 Ajax lost the finals vs Juve on penalties and that was it.

Should Ajax win the CL, they will add a cool 22.5M euros to their bank account. They’ll play the World Cup for clubs too which will bring them around 3.5M euros. All in all, this season Ajax could write 42.5M euros for reaching the group stages of the CL. And don’t forget, Ajax started all this early in the season as qualifiers… Ajax will earn around 100M in total as a result of their European adventure.

Dutch football in general will benefit greatly as Ajax will earn heaps of coefficiency points, which will result in an easier entry in European tournaments in the future.

What can we expect tomorrow?

It seems Ajax’ squad is top fit, with the exception of David Neres who has some slight issues (but will play).

Mazraoui is back in full fitness and his tremendous turn as a sub – in combi with Veltman’s not so great game – will probably mean he starts as right back again.

“When you have the ball you can avoid getting into duels. In the first phase of the first half, we demonstrated how this works” – Erik Ten Hag at the presser

This quote above tells us how Ten Hag will want to play. The same as he did in the first 30 mins at White Hart Lane. With Ziyech and Neres coming in tight. With Tadic dropping to midfield at times. With Frenkie de Jong dropping next to Blind and Veltman moving inside to offer more options. And zipping the ball from foot to foot.

“We didn’t anticipate their changes well enough and as a result it became fight football,” – Erik ten Hag on Ajax TV

Ajax failed to have enough players around target man Llorente to grab the second ball and entered the arena for fight where avoiding and using the space to play out of trouble was a wiser option.

“After the break we managed to set the team up to deal with Spurs. Defensively, we were well positioned and never really got into trouble” – Erik ten Hag for Veronica TV

In the second half, Neres and Ziyech don’t press together. Ziyech presses the central defenders while Neres drops back to support his midfield. Matthijs de Ligt follows Llorente to challenge the long balls while De Jong drops back to fill the space in the centre of defence. He also does this when Blind follows the wandering Moura.

When Spurs has longer spells of possession, Ziyech and Neres drop back as wide wingbacks. It’s telling that Hakim Ziyech had the most successful tackles of all Ajax players (6).

“We failed to execute our game in possession. We should have had the peace to keep the ball longer. There was so much space on the other end of the pitch and we should have used this for the change pass and to let Spurs run ragged. In those situations, you can pounce.” – Erik ten Hag for Veronica TV

Ajax sees most space available for the full backs and Ajax prefers to use Veltman, as Tagliaficio would use the space Frenkie de Jong likes to dribble into. The plan was for Ajax to use the ball on one flank and then use the cross pass to utilise the space on the other end. Ajax fails to do this. Until Mazraoui comes for Schone. The right back (and former playmaker) constantly finds space behind Eriksen, like with the spell which resulted in Neres shot on the post.

This will be the key lesson for Ten Hag: when Spurs uses the diamond in midfield, the interplay between Ajax’ holding midfielder and full backs allows them a route out of trouble. This will probably prove to be a convincing response to this Tottenham Hotspur version.

Ajax’ Delight with Ajax’ De Ligt

I have to admit, I truely don’t know where to start… This blog is a Dutch National Team blog, and your humble blogger is a Feyenoord fan, but I am drooling with glee when watching this Ajax play. And I am not alone in it. The whole world watches and the whole world seems delighted to see what they can do!

Johan will be resting in his final resting place with a grand smile on his face…

You probably know all the stats better than me… It’s been 22 years since Ajax last was in a CL semis finals. It has been a long time since Ajax beat Juve, etc etc.

And back in the day, teams were only allowed to have 3 foreign players!! So any team was forced to have domestic talent in their team, and could only shop for 3 starting spots.

Today, Man City, Real Madrid, Juve, Bayern, they could technically buy all the best players from anywhere and present them as the “local team”. And still, Ajax manages to do what they do on a meagre budget (compared to the big boys) and with 6 home grown players in their line up (De Ligt, Frenkie, Donny, Mazraoui, Veltman, Blind)…

It is just mindblowing!

And I didn’t write a post on the home match vs Juve (I did plan to do so, but life is getting in the way at the moment…moving house, flu attacks, internet dramas, work, etc)…

I was quite positive about Ajax’ chances coming into the game, like I was vs Real Madrid. But my positivity quickly evaporated when I saw how Ajax started!!

They were completely off their game. They were overwhelmed with the tremendous tenacity Juve demonstrated, and some of them clearly were suffering from tension in the body, with balls bouncing off feet, passes not arriving and even Mr Cool (Frenkie) dribbling senselessly into cul-de-sacs…

Onana got it wrong early (Can pressing onto him) and with Mazraoui having to be subbed and then C Ronaldo’s goal after 20 minutes and the disarray in Ajax’ defence (De Ligt bumping Veltman out of the way), I truly thought our national pride was imploding like never before.

(From L) Ajax’s Dutch defender Daley Blind, Ajax’s Brazilian forward David Neres, Ajax’s Danish midfielder Lasse Schone, Ajax’s Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt (Rear), Ajax’s Dutch defender Joel Veltman and Ajax’s Dutch midfielder Donny van de Beek celebrate with fans defeating Juventus in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg football match Juventus vs Ajax Amsterdam on April 16, 2019 at the Juventus stadium in Turin. (Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP) (Photo credit should read MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images)

Mazraoui is not a defender. He was developed as playmaker in the Ajax youth and as a result is quite comfortable on the left and right of the pitch. Just like Daley Sinkgraven is a midfielder, originally, and Daley hadn’t played a proper match for months on end. Oops.

But… something happened.

I think Ten Hag / Schreuder made some positional changes in the midfield (telling Frenkie and Lasse to guard the back four with a double 6 system (two controlling mids) and pushing Veltman and Mazraoui/Sinkgraven high up on the pitch, to allow Onana/De Ligt/Blind an outlet…

I also believe Juve felt they could take their foot of the gas a bit, leading 1-0.

And I believe Ajax started to play with mentality of “well…we’re out of the competition now, so lets just play for it”…

And magic happened!

A mishit by Ziyech ended up at Van de Beek’s feet and he didn’t lash out like he sometimes does, he simply passed the ball in the goal.

That will have rattled Juve and when Ajax reached the half time break, 1-1, I was getting the feeling that they’d be best positioned to progress. Because conceding another goal wouldn’t change much for Ajax and their game plan.

Alternatively, if Ajax would score the 1-2, Juve would have to score two goals! Those sortathings will get in the players’ heads…

And Ten Hag managed to settle the players’ nerves in the half time break and the second half was all Ajax!

The telling thing for Ajax being their composure on the ball when playing out from defence, finding the right pass, the right run…never hitting it upstream blindly, always with an idea, a though.

And boy, what a chances Ajax got to truly humiliate the Old Lady and score not 1, 2 or 3 but 4 or 5 goals!

1-4 would not have been an outrageous end score. Neres missed a sitter (use your right foot!!), some decision making didn’t end up going well, Schone was unlucky with a dipping free kick and a half volley later on in the game, etc etc…

Ajax even managed a really flowing one touch attack over the right wing, with some composed passing by De Jong, Ziyech, Tadic, sadly not resulting in a super dooper world class goal!

Captain De Ligt was at fault with CR7’s goal, one could say. So the skipper stepped up and paid Juve back after more than an hour’s play.

The corner was kicked by Schone, De Ligt timed well, jumped high and slammed the ball into the corner, in between two Italian defenders. That is a feat for any player, but for a 19 year old kid, it is just incredible.

Ziyech, outstanding in Ajax’ campaign but a tad off his game now even managed a superb goal, curling the ball into the far corner… this would have settled matters but the Moroccan playmaker was 1 toe offside, apparently and the goal was disallowed…

There were some shaky last minutes with Juve pushing for a miracle and when Daley Blind – another Man of The Match performance – seemingly handled the ball in the final minutes, a gasp was audible from the Ajax camp.

But one specific camera angle showed the VAR that the ball didn’t actually hit his arm, but bounced of his chest/core and therefore: no penalty and Ajax was confident it had done the job!

The joy and celebrative eruption was completely warranted, after the game, with a somewhat overweight Marc Overmars performing a class – albeit static – belly slide in front of the fans…

All Ajax players and staff members after the game were in agreement that “yes, Ajax should have scored more goals and taken the opportunities and all that” but the euphoria won vs the criticism of Ajax’ lack of effectiveness…

“Now, we need to get our head in the game again, because next Saturday, it’s FC Groningen!”

Some conclusions:

  • Ajax will be robbed blind this summer, even Ten Hag will be hunted (Schreuder is on his way to become head coach at Wolfsburg)
  • Van de Beek deserves a starting spot in Oranje
  • De Ligt will be the most expensive defender this coming summer (100+ million)
  • Ajax will win this CL
  • Overmars should not do belly flops and ruin the pitch of the opponent

 

Cinematic highlights both games…

Future Stars: Golden Boy Matthijs de Ligt

In a week in which Ajax needed penalties to overcome Fortuna in the National Cup, Feyenoord beat FC Utrecht 1-0 and needing 20+ goal chances to do so, John van ‘t Schip got sacked at PEC Zwolle and Real Madrid is shivering the best news of course was Matthijs’ winning the Golden Boy award.

If there is one player of which it is certain he will be a Dutch football star for many years to come, it is the 19 year old Ajax skipper. I mean… let that sink in: 19 year old Ajax skipper!

His election was not a surprise to anyone. When you are a defender and you only made 1 foul on your own half in half a season, well… That is quite the statistic.

So, in a line of players like Lionel Messi, Paul Pogba, Mbappe and Rafa van der Vaart, Matthijs is European football royalty.

It is noteable to mention to that Justin Kluivert got to third place, behind Liverpool’s Trent Alexander Arnold.

But, I believe he is the first defender in the whole series and that makes it extra special. Just like Virgil van Dijk was Player of the Month in England recently, the first defender to get that honour in many years (following Dutchies like Van Persie, Bergkamp, Van Nistelrooy, Van der Vaart and Krul).

The spotlights were on De Ligt (and other Ajax players) already in the transfer jungle and it seems Barcelona is happy to wait for the right moment (coming summer?) to sign the youngster. While picking up his award in Turin, Juve threw in the big guns (Pavel Nedved) to convince De Ligt to cancel his Spain flight and head to Italy instead…

Ajax coach Erik ten Hag is incredibly proud of this player. “This is a highly prestigious award. A tremendous honour. He is so young still but already has so much under his belt. And it shows also where he could end up. Usually, it’s forwards that get the plaudits and now a defender. And he did it all himself. How he work, what he invests… It’s a tremendous stimulus. I can see him improve even more. He is so down to Earth and you can see him eat it all up, and enjoy it all. He is so motivated to learn. This award will be like doping for him.”

At the Tuttosport Gala in Turin, the presenter of the night couldn’t control himself and asked De Ligt about Juve. “Juventus? A wonderful club. A huge club. It’s great when your name is linked to a club like Juve, but currently my focus is Ajax.” The presenter: “But…playing with C Ronaldo?”. Matthijs: “He truly is an inspiration for me. His dedication to the game, he is always looking for challenges.”

Nedved with De Ligt

The award show was further augmented with a series of photos of De Ligt, one where he was an Ajax ball boy, posing with Suarez. “Hahaha, yes Ajax will give young players chances… I was a ball boy then, I’m the skipper now.”

Asked about the players that went before him: “Oh that list, yes… I looked them up and I think I know that list by heart, hahaha. Messi for me is the top of the top. I was six years old when he won this award. I am so proud.

In the Eredivisie, De Ligt is hardly challenged. Striker like Luuk de Jong are not a real challenge for him. Matthijs is strong, quick, tall and reads the game astonishingly well. It’s more the Idrissi (AZ) and Van Persie like strikers / forwards in Holland that might be able to surprise him. Only one foul on his own half, in 14+ matches… Did I mention that?

But internationally, De Ligt still have some big chores ahead of him. The Bayern CL game at home for Ajax, showed how hard it can be to defend against world class strikers, from the category Benzema, Cavani, C Ronaldo or Diego Costa.

Take the Lewandowski goal against Ajax. A De Ligt mistake for sure. In the Eredivisie, that would probably never be fatal. Lewandowski lives for these types of situations. Wober is ball watching. Lewandowski sees it and immediately makes a run into that space. De Ligt sees it but gets startled and instead of playing him off side by stepping up, he drops back and allows the Bayern striker to be on side: 0-1.

A mistake a more experienced defender might not make. And a mistake that will allow De Ligt to become that more experienced defender. As the saying goes: I owe my good decision making to my experience. I owe my experience to the bad decisions I made.

De Ligt’s real asset is not his defending per se. There are many good and solid defenders in Europe. But there are not a lot of defenders who can play ball like De Ligt. He has a good pass in his legs, he can dribble too. That is what you get with a central defender who was developed as a midfielder.

Against Bayern’s 4-4-2, any wrong pass would immediately to a counter, as we saw. But De Ligt is the player with the highest passing accuracy. The passes don’t go forward too often though, which is changed when in the second half Blind and De Jong change roles and De Ligt moves more to the right, where he can successfully feed Ziyech.

In the second half, there is one situation that shows how good De Ligt really is. First he takes the pointy end out of the Bayern counter by moving into Coman and when Rafinha enters the box with potentially two tea mates to pick out, De Ligt doesn’t bite but defends the space and keeps really in control.

Any other player might feel forced to choose. De Ligt simply stays on the front foot and keeps an eagle eye on the movement of the two forwards and the decision making of Rafinha. Rafinha gets confused, De Ligt can intercept his pass and with his kick upfield launches Dolberg who will claim the penalty as a result and puts Ajax in front (Tadic).

De Ligt did have some errors in the game, slight ones, but they did result in two goals. Typical, when you play against a top team. In the run up to the penalty, he is too late in letting Lewandowski go and move up to Thiago, which results in Tagliafico making the wrong decision. And with the 2-3, he realises too late that Mazraoui is out of position and he can’t block the shot anymore.

Matthijs’ team mates are to blame for these last two goals, but De Ligt couldn’t rescue the situation.

The Polish gunslinger does score twice but has hardly a win in the personal duels with De Ligt. He loses most aerial battles and is on par with De Ligt in the 50-50 challenges.

De Ligt’s biggest point to improve is his agility (or lack thereof). Matthijs reads situations amazingly well but if he makes an error, he lacks the explosivity and agility to correct it. Of course, a lot of amazing defenders lack this (Boateng, Kompany, Terry) so it doesn’t mean all that much, but improvement in this area will surely make De Ligt a sensational defender.

Typical for the down to Earth dude he is, after the Bayern match the Ajax captain said the infamous words: “Ok, this was a real challenge.”