17 DEC; AZ - Ajax; Match Day 17

[Orange14]

Such a messy game. Zeefuik having a nightmare out there.

Every time I see him I am amazed at how little field sense he has. He seems always out of position.

[ajaxusa]

Zeefuik out at halftime. I've not heard of his replacement. Young Ajax player?

[SPL]

Orejuela on for Zeefuik. He looked out of his depth and not ready for this level.

[Ayman]

Penalty and Schone makes it 1-2

[ajaxusa]

Soft penalty, perfectly converted by Schone. And the keeper should have been booked for time wasting.

[Orange14]

That was clearly not a penalty but I guess it was a make up call for the missed pull down in the first half

[SPL]

The oldens come good.KJH got the pen and Schone scores.Bizot should have had a yellow.

PS Orejuela a Columbian signed in the summer

[SPL]

KJH should have finished the game then

[rjf1]

I thought for sure that Hunts was going to score the 3rd -- so many missed chances in this game.

[Ayman]

Poor substitution, Siem de Jong on for Neres wtf!!!

[rjf1]

Might be a good idea -- at this point in the game you need someone who can duke it out in the trenches.

[rjf1]

Kluivert with yet another golden opportunity stopped by the keeper.

[Ayman]

Jonas Svensson second yellow card, its red, after he fouled Kluivert again

[SPL]

Finally their no 2 gets a red ,taken Kluivert down 3 other times and got away with it

[Ayman]

Omg! That was so close! They almost equalized from that corner! Their goal keeper had a good chance with a header but wide!

[ajaxusa]

Poor Freddy Friday won't soon live that one down.

[SPL]

Wonderful performance a really great win .He should have scored 3 but KJH made the difference ,got a goal and a penalty.His experience told today.

Kluivert was very good ,all 3 MF worked hard and de Ligt held the so called defence together. Dont rate Dijks but Zeefuik was poor.Orejuela looks like he could develop.

[rjf1]

What a nail biter of a game -- so many chances to win it and so many chances to lose. In the end, our bad fortune at not scoring so many golden opportunities, was offset by their bad fortune at coming so close to equalizing twice at the very end. Not exactly what you would call classic football, but it was edge of the seat stuff from beginning to end.

[Tom_]

Entertaining game. Probably not the highest quality match, both teams struggled with the slippery pitch and some bad passing. Overall I think it’s a deserved win, although we almost have it away twice at the end there with Friday and Bizot getting massive chances.

[SPL]

Why did Siem come on Eiting again is a defensive MF

[Tom_]

Do you folks think that could be the last we see of Zeefuik? Feel sorry for the kid but that was horrendous

[Ayman]

Do you folks think that could be the last we see of Zeefuik? Feel sorry for the kid but that was horrendous

Definitely. He has had his chances but failed. He will probably go out on loan in January.

[Orange14]

Some days a team needs a bit of luck to win and Ajax had a combination of both good and bad luck today. AZ had a couple of clear chances on goal yet couldn't find the back of the net. Ajax had some golden opportunities to score but shots were cleared off the line by a defender or our former youth keeper Bizot came up big. My stream dropped out for the last 10 minutes of the first half so I missed both goals (saw them during the half time replays). Hard to pick a MOTM today but maybe de Ligt for trying his best to keep a fragile backline in shape. The Ajax pressing clearly caused AZ a lot of problems and it was good to see a lot of interventions leading to turnovers.

I still don't understand Keizer's substitutions. Late in the game he brings off both wingers for more static players; why?????????? The team also got sloppy when AZ went down to 10 men turning the ball over when possession was necessary.

This was also the fourth match in a row with very poor officiating. How do these guys earn FIFA badges?

Player Ratings:

Onana (7) - decent job of keeping but lady luck also played a role
Dijks (6.5) - played defense the best he could which means slightly above average
de Ligt (7.5) - well positioned all game and won almost every ball in the air that came his way
Zeefuik (3.5) - all over the field in the wrong way and is not ready for prime time
F de Jong (6.5) - sloppy late in the second half when possession was demanded
Schöne (7) - good match and made sure of the game winning PK
Ziyech (7) - good match but I still want to see him score
van de Beek (7) - strong defending and pressing and unfortunate not to have scored in the first half
Kluivert (7) - much too fast for the AZ defenders
Huntelaar (6.5) - nice job on the goal and not so nice when he came in open and could not beat the keeper
Neres (7) - perfect compliment for Kluivert as he continues to read the game better and better
Orjuela (6) - certainly better than Zeefuik on the day but is he the real deal?
S de Jong (5) - not involved much and IMO a bizarre substitution
Dolberg (NR) - on for only a couple of minutes

Wednesday Beker tie with Twente in Enschede (I still think Ajax need to win this one with a top lineup) followed by Willem II next Sunday going into the winter break.

[Ayman]

Do you folks think that could be the last we see of Zeefuik? Feel sorry for the kid but that was horrendous

Definitely. He has had his chances but failed. Expecting a loan move for him.

[SPL]

I would imagine Zeefuik wont play again this season for the 1st. Ajax decided he was not a good enough standby and bought Orejuela for that role.Zeefuik will go out on loan next season. He was out of his depth today.