28 OCT 2018; Ajax - Feyenoord; Match Day 10

[Orange14]

Almost 1/3 the way through the league schedule and the classic is upon us. Fresh off a nice CL win at home against Benfica, Ajax take on arch rivals Feyenoord. It will be interesting to see if Ajax can sustain the momentum after a mid-week match against a rested squad from Rotterdam. If there is one complaint I have about ten Hag, it's that he isn't rotating the squad. I thought Tadic looked a little tired yesterday and Ziyech really needs to think about taking on 2-3 players every time he gets the ball. I would start Neres on Sunday in place of one of them.

[Amol]

Going to miss this game as well. I have a 5M run in Central Park which starts at 8:30am on Sunday. I need to get my life priorities sorted out. Hopefully I'll be back for the 2nd half.

However this season, Ajax hasn't lost a single game when I've been away. So, fingers crossed.

[Amol]

Almost 1/3 the way through the league schedule and the classic is upon us. Fresh off a nice CL win at home against Benfica, Ajax take on arch rivals Feyenoord. It will be interesting to see if Ajax can sustain the momentum after a mid-week match against a rested squad from Rotterdam. If there is one complaint I have about ten Hag, it's that he isn't rotating the squad. I thought Tadic looked a little tired yesterday and Ziyech really needs to think about taking on 2-3 players every time he gets the ball. I would start Neres on Sunday in place of one of them.

I agree - we need Neres in place of either Ziyech/Tadic. Tadic hasn't had a single game off this season, so my preference is for him to get some rest. Ziyech at least got some rest during the recent international break because of his hamstring scare.

[Cruijff]

Going to miss this game as well. I have a 5M run in Central Park which starts at 8:30am on Sunday. I need to get my life priorities sorted out. Hopefully I'll be back for the 2nd half.

I run a 5 km in 18.14 minutes, I even used to be about 45 seconds faster.
Perhaps a family member can stream the match for you and rewind it for 25 or 40 minutes so you can pretend you are seeing the whole match from the start.

It's not that extreme difficult to just ignore online information for about an hour so you can fool yourself in watching De Klassieker from the start.

[raymon]

Going to miss this game as well. I have a 5M run in Central Park which starts at 8:30am on Sunday. I need to get my life priorities sorted out. Hopefully I'll be back for the 2nd half.

However this season, Ajax hasn't lost a single game when I've been away. So, fingers crossed.

Is that a parkrun? I’m in NY (near Central Park) in January so keen to know. Running in CP has always been a bit of a dream.

[Cruijff]

Is that a parkrun? I’m in NY (near Central Park) in January so keen to know. Running in CP has always been a bit of a dream.

The weekly organised Parkruns are normally on Saturday mornings, but perhaps it's different in the US.
Well, back to Ajax-Feyenoord then.

I hear rumours Onana might not be able to play?

[Orange14]

Going to miss this game as well. I have a 5M run in Central Park which starts at 8:30am on Sunday. I need to get my life priorities sorted out. Hopefully I'll be back for the 2nd half.

However this season, Ajax hasn't lost a single game when I've been away. So, fingers crossed.

If you have ESPN+ you can stream the game when you get home from the beginning!!!

[saddlerian]

Just over an hour to go..let's hope that Neres gets a fair amount of playing time..and that Tadic gets a rest..but Ziyech really needs to realise that when you've beaten a man...go forwards..don't turn and challenge him to tackle you again!!

Come on Ajax....memories of the Arena on Feyenoord day!!!

Memories of..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XuCiQb ... e=youtu.be ...the youngsters at Ajax, kicking ass!!!

[rjf1]

Finally a match going on at a time when I can watch it -- instead of the early hours of the morning which has been the norm of late. Really been missing seeing our boys in action. I get what you all are saying about Tadic needing some rest, but IMO he's the main gear that's driving the whole engine -- take him out and who knows the result. Maybe an idea would be to start him and take him off early if we get a nice lead. Anyway, with PSV having won already, it's another 'must win' situation if we hope to even have a chance at the title.

[SPL]

Onana is fit ,good news.Neres still sub ,same starting lineup as v Benfica

[rjf1]

Well, that red card should put an end to the deliberate studs to the back of the leg tactic. Good call -- one that I would never expect Kuipers to give us.

[SPL]

1-0 but think the goalie carried it over the line

[SPL]

2-0 and a glorious goal by Ziyech

[SPL]

Very comfortable against 10 men .the first goal was indeed an OG by the goalie. A 3rd goal will kill the game so lets hope we score soon after the restart

[Orange14]

VAR got the Red Card right but Ajax are just not ruthless enough to take advantage. Passing is just too slow to really trouble the Feyenoord keeper.

[rjf1]

I was just thinking that we're back to the old Ziyech -- shooting and shooting and coming nowhere near the target -- when he took that terrific shot from the top of the box. Still, I would like to see more of a killer instinct from our attack -- which, in spite of dominating the play was really lukewarm when it came to creating dangerous chances.

[rjf1]

This team could take lessons from Feyenoord on how to counterattack. Frustrating to see them waste so many opportunities.

[rjf1]

wonderful composure by Neres as he hesitated and hesitated before setting up Tadic for a killer header. It went a long way to making up for a number of questionable passes prior to that.

[saddlerian]

Well, a comfortable 3-0 win...but I feel that those people who left on 64 minutes read the match well...one of the most boring "classicos" that I can remember!!!

Roll on tea time..maybe I'll see more action from the melting butter on my toast!!!

[SPL]

Boring 2nd half we should really have taken this very poor side apart .

[Orange14]

In the end it was a comfortable 3-0 win over Feyenoord but the play was certainly not scintillating from Ajax. Deserved Red Card on St. Juste pretty much decided this match but I have to acknowledge the good job Feyenoord did keeping shape and denying opportunities for Ajax. Ajax contributed with too many sloppy passes and not enough ruthlessness to attack when there were clear openings to do so. No real standouts for me in this match.

Player Ratings:

Onana (5.5) - had one hard shot to save from Berghuis and that was it
Tagliafico (6) - had a couple of good hard crosses into the box but nothing came of it
Blind (6) - had a couple to mop up duties to take care of when Feyenoord got past midfield
de Ligt (6.5) - snuffed out a couple of half chances
Mazraoui (5.5) - silly Yellow Card and beaten badly by Larsson late in the 2nd half
Schöne (5.5) - slightly above average game in 1/2 of football
de Jong (6) - some surprisingly weak passes marred his performance
van de Beek (6) - got the ball in deep a couple of times but could not get the shot off
Tadic (6) - nice header for the third goal but just above average otherwise
Dolberg (6) - a couple of good possessions and one shot that was not troubling to the keeper
Ziyech (6) - nice goal for #2 but lots of off target shots otherwise
Neres (5.5) - surprisingly sloppy play from a player who is usually under control but a delightful pass to Tadic
Huntelaar (5.5) - worked hard in the box but couldn't put the shot with his off foot on frame
de Wit (NR) - just a touch or two coming on late

Cup match coming up against Go Ahead Eagles mid-week. Expect to see lots of substitutes play

[Amol]

Going to miss this game as well. I have a 5M run in Central Park which starts at 8:30am on Sunday. I need to get my life priorities sorted out. Hopefully I'll be back for the 2nd half.

However this season, Ajax hasn't lost a single game when I've been away. So, fingers crossed.

Is that a parkrun? I’m in NY (near Central Park) in January so keen to know. Running in CP has always been a bit of a dream.

NYRR (New York Road Runners - https://www.nyrr.org/) is a running organization which organizes runs in NYC. A lot of them are in Central Park and if you're in the city for New Year's eve, they have a midnight run in CP!

[Amol]

Going to miss this game as well. I have a 5M run in Central Park which starts at 8:30am on Sunday. I need to get my life priorities sorted out. Hopefully I'll be back for the 2nd half.

However this season, Ajax hasn't lost a single game when I've been away. So, fingers crossed.

If you have ESPN+ you can stream the game when you get home from the beginning!!!

I do have ESPN+, and was able to see the last 30 minutes or so. Was fairly boring. Waiting for the the replay to be available online.

[Amol]

Going to miss this game as well. I have a 5M run in Central Park which starts at 8:30am on Sunday. I need to get my life priorities sorted out. Hopefully I'll be back for the 2nd half.

I run a 5 km in 18.14 minutes, I even used to be about 45 seconds faster.
Perhaps a family member can stream the match for you and rewind it for 25 or 40 minutes so you can pretend you are seeing the whole match from the start.

That is really quick. My times when I was younger used to be around 7.5 minutes/mile for a 5 mile run.