25 JAN 2015 Ajax-Feynoord Match Day 19

[SPL]

77 mins gone and I would be greatful for a point

[Van basten]

It's shocking how terrible we were on counter attacks. We didn't deserve a point today.

[Tom_]

Like all of the last two seasons we look awful and get a lucky result. You could argue that FdB is doing a great job with a sub-par squad, but you have to admit it's extremely boring football.

[rjf1]

Summary of the game in a nutshell: Went into it hoping for a win -- ended it hoping we wouldn't lose. The most inept display of passing I think I have ever seen in an Ajax team. And someone needs to buy Schone a left foot. Lack of a left in the first half when he was playing on the right rendered him basically ineffective in the attack; then at the end when there was a goal scoring chance, having to put it onto his right foot was exactly where the defender was waiting for him, and his attempt went nowhere.

[SPL]

lucky to get a point. In 2 games v Fword we get 4 points and apart from V Rhijn's goal we never had another clear chance in 180 mins.Excelsior Groningen and now Fword thats 3 games in arow we have played poorly and deserved
nothing from those games.PSV will now have to give it away.

Only positive we are just about certain to finish amin 2nd as Fword wont catch us.Serero our best player,Cillessen good in goal the others no comment

[afcajax73]

I'd I disagree with the previous and FdB doing a good job, I don't understand his decisions today, as soon as siggy is on at half time, we're basically playing for a draw. He has no threat what so ever. He brings on another midfielder who has nothing going forward, and didn't out El ghazi on! No ambition what so ever.

Two players I wouldn't give another game are Anderson and boilesen.

Anderson was shocking, he's awful, holds the play up, loses it more often than not. Very poor player at the minute.

Boilesen, I lost count how many times he gave the ball away and was out of position. This guy is unreal for giving it away. Hope as he gets fitter and more game time (I wouldn't give him any) he will improve, but I'm not sure.


Serero played brilliant today, he was about our best player on the pitch.

Referee had a shocker, and was too lenient all games, became a bit of a kicking match at times, although he did well keep it flowing somewhat.

Feyenoord deserved the points

[Tom_]

Yep, Serero only outfielder worth his pay today. Still think he's our most important player.

Kishna had a couple of good moments on attack but the ball rarely made it to him in a position where he could do anything with it. Andersen managed not to give the ball away once or twice out of around twenty attempts which I guess is good going for him.

[Orange14]

Totally outplayed for the second time this season and an amazing clean sheet. Glacial speed by Ajax won't win many games against any competition. 43% possession, 5 shots and only one on goal. This team really is not very good and 2nd place will flatter the squad. There was maybe only one spell of play where Ajax completed more than three passes in a row. The lack of skill is truly amazing. I would put Nouri and van der Beek in the side, they certainly have better skills than this group of players. Perhaps the lack of Klaassen was the telling factor here. Six points behind PSV and it's probably too much to overcome as we have too many away matches ahead including one at Eindhoven.

Player Ratings:

Cillessen (6) - had a couple of good saves but did too much kicking and not all of it good
Boilesen (3) - absolutely terrible in all aspects of the game
Moisander (5) - wildly inconsistent
van der Hoorn (5.5) - two bad give aways but strong in the air on defense
van Rhijn (4.5) - one good cross and probably lucky not to have been sent off when he tugged Boetius down
Serero (7) - one of the few players who knew what he was doing on the pitch
Andersen (5.5) - a couple of good passes but again too light on the ball and easily dispossessed
Bazoer (5) - one good intervention at the goal mouth but silent otherwise
Schöne (4) - bad passing and poor possession all game long
Milik (4.5) - couldn't win a header at all and gets points for being in the right place to save a sure goal
Kishna (4) - one good attacking play but that was it
Sigthorrsson (5) - better than Milik but that's not saying much
Zimling (5) - didn't screw up and maybe got two touches
Viergever (5) - on late and had no impact on the match

Away to Vitesse who don't seem to be very good these days and then a mid-week home match against AZ.

[Orange14]

I rated Andersen higher than some of the others who have commented. He had a good first half with some very nice passes. That being said, he really doesn't have the quality to play first team football as he's not particularly fast and easily dispossessed as others have stated. Nouri needs to come into this team as soon as he is physically ready. As much as I dislike to say it, Feyenoord played more like Ajax is supposed to play. Their passing was really quick and to the right players. Our's was slow and always to the wrong player.

[King Litti]

True rjf1, a player should be able to take a shot with both feet from that distance. Dreadful.

Just repeating myself, but this "total football" of FdB really doesn't seem to get us anywhere against teams that can defend at least mediocrely. Agree with you guys. We were lucky to get a point. The quality is just not there. Guess we have to wait for a savior from the production line cause I can't see us spending any real money ever. The psv game is going to be huge. Hard to picture us winning that after what we just saw, but you never know.

[SPL]

Boilesen was abject.After 2 months injury surely he should have played in the Jong to get match fit.

Without Klaassen our midfield was non existant,Andersen again too lightweight.Zimling ,although not to blame,should be sent back to Mainz in the morning ,what is the point of him here!! An 18 year old kid gets picked ahead of him and had Riedewald been fit he and not Bazoer would have been playing.

Lucky for us F Word's weakest link is Kazim Richards who has apoor record of scoring throughout his career.

Serero was very good and has really improved as the DM

[Philippe]

Have no clue why :
1- we did not play El Ghazi ?
2- our wingers did not play like wingers ?
3- Milik was replaced by Sigthorsson ?
Was it really Ajax playing yesterday at the Arena ?

[Tom_]

The Milik/Kolbeinn switch was a really odd one. As if swapping strikers is going to make a difference when you can't get the ball through the midfield... It's like cutting your finger and putting a bandage on your toe! Maybe de Boer wanted to play long balls in the second half and thought Siggy would win some headers. Interesting to see he blamed the players in the post-match interview.

[Orange14]

The Milik/Kolbeinn switch was a really odd one. As if swapping strikers is going to make a difference when you can't get the ball through the midfield... It's like cutting your finger and putting a bandage on your toe! Maybe de Boer wanted to play long balls in the second half and thought Siggy would win some headers. Interesting to see he blamed the players in the post-match interview.

Exactly right and FdB is getting a bit delusional. At some point he really needs to step up and accept some blame. Did he really think that Feyenoord were going to change their tactics from the first match when they really should have won? The effectively pressured Ajax all over the field and with about 2-3 exceptions Vermeer's goal was never in any danger. Our team is not good on balls in the air and relying on Cillessen to kick the ball up field is a recipe for failure. I don't know if it's all the matches but Schöne is really a step too slow these days. In addition, he cannot effectively go to his left and you saw how Feyenoord overplayed him all day long such that he was out of the match other than an occasional free kick. I don't think his contract should be renewed as he won't contribute much in light of the young wingers coming up through the system.

FdB should have shown some cojones by starting both el Ghazi and Kishna with Schöne in Klaassen's position. Bazoer did nothing other than the one goal mouth intervention in the first half which probably saved a goal. It's increasingly apparent that Andersen despite his good field vision is too light and not quick enough to play at this level. Don't know if Heerenveen's Sinkgraven is the answer here or not.

Major props to Fred Rutten for getting his team ready to play a great tactical game and another major disappointment from FdB not doing the same. He really needed a counter striker such as Zivkovic yesterday but he was playing in a wasted Jong match at Sparta.

[Flipster81]

I was very disappointed with our play in this game, no midfield, Serero was the exception but we need more presence and composure in there alongside the little man. The Siggy substitution in my eyes was a decent idea as the ball was not sticking up top and Feyenoord were just coming back at us over and over. El Ghazi should have started the game. All in all it was a poor game and hopefully the last of them until the end of the season.