29 APR 2018; Ajax - AZ; Match Day 33

[Orange14]

Penultimate match day of the season!! Ajax host AZ and a simple draw locks in second place and move our dear club into the CL qualifying round. I want a convincing win and nothing else.

[Ayman]

Penultimate match day of the season!! Ajax host AZ and a simple draw locks in second place and move our dear club into the CL qualifying round. I want a convincing win and nothing else.

But will ten Hag improve next season? Wouldn't losing this game and drawing the next be a blessing in disguise?
If ten Hag goes, so does Van der Sar maybe even Overmars!

[Orange14]

Penultimate match day of the season!! Ajax host AZ and a simple draw locks in second place and move our dear club into the CL qualifying round. I want a convincing win and nothing else.

But will ten Hag improve next season? Wouldn't losing this game and drawing the next be a blessing in disguise?
If ten Hag goes, so does Van der Sar maybe even Overmars!

Unfortunately, nobody will be going. The current Board of Directors is too happy with the financial state of things. As long as they keep bringing in big €s when players leave nothing much will change. Qualification for CL football will be difficult and I only can see Europa League as a possibility.

[Ayman]

Penultimate match day of the season!! Ajax host AZ and a simple draw locks in second place and move our dear club into the CL qualifying round. I want a convincing win and nothing else.

But will ten Hag improve next season? Wouldn't losing this game and drawing the next be a blessing in disguise?
If ten Hag goes, so does Van der Sar maybe even Overmars!

Unfortunately, nobody will be going. The current Board of Directors is too happy with the financial state of things. As long as they keep bringing in big €s when players leave nothing much will change. Qualification for CL football will be difficult and I only can see Europa League as a possibility.

If Ajax lose to AZ at home, that will be HUGE, and if they only draw against Excelsior, then I can't see ten Hag staying.

[Ayman]

According to VI.nl AZ Alkmaar striker, Weghorst, will miss the crucial game against Ajax

[Ayman]

Ajax line up: Onana, de Ligt, Wober, Tagliafico, van de Beek, Schone, Ziyech, Mazraoui, Neres, Huntelaar, Kluivert.
Bench: Lamprou, Dolberg, de Wit, Matusiwa, Kristensen, Bakker, Sierhuis, Ekkelenkamp.

LOL no right back? No faith in Kristensen!

[SPL]

We may start 3-4-3 but Mazraoui can play right back.He is a utility player, can play wide right but is really a midfielder. He will get these last 2 games and if he does well he can share RB with Kristensen next season.Orejuela will be sold as by all accounts he is rubbish.

Maybe Ajax should spend real money and get better classes of players. Orejuela and Kristensen both appear poor buys and no better than Zeefuik .

Pleased to see Sky still showing this game. Apart from Heracles the other week they have shown every game although they probably wont bother with next week

[Orange14]

I think it's always difficult to evaluate players who only come in at the middle of the season. Perhaps you all are correct about Kristensen but I'm holding out some hope (always the optimist) that he ends up a decent player. He is better attacking than Veltman but not as good a defender.

[Ayman]

Honestly, if Ajax lose badly, that would be a good thing, it would mean ten Hag out, Van der Sar resigns, and so too Overmars (I hope). Some players may reconsider staying as well!

[Orange14]

Anyone have a stream link. Everything I've tried from Cricfree is not working.

EDIT: nevermind just found one

[rjf1]

There should be an award for the player who is capable of shooting at the goal and consistently missing to the outside by less that 5 mm -- Ziyech would walk away with it -- no contest.

[Ayman]

1-0 van de Beek with the header, de Ligt with the assist. Nice gesture at 34 minutes for Nouri

[SPL]

A wonderful moving tribute to Appie in 34th min and then 3 mins later his best mate Donny with a goal.

[rjf1]

Nice work by de Ligt to work his way into enough space at the right edge of the little box to lay up a beautifully weighted cross to the the head of vdBeek who powered it into the net.

[Ayman]

Alireza Jahanbakhsh hasn't even received a yellow card for the number of reckless fouls on Tagliafico.

[Orange14]

Great assist by de Ligt!!! Nice that they paid tribute to Nouri at the 34th minute. I still get tears in my eyes thinking about the sadness of that summer day in the Alps. Anyway, decent enough half but Ajax need one more goal to comfortably see this one out.

[SPL]

I was fighting back the tears,lovely comments on Appie by the sky commentator.Really clued up on Ajax as he is well aware Donny and Appie were close friends

Not a great game but another goal hopefully will see us through to 2nd place

[Ayman]

You people do realise, that if ten Hag stays, then next season will be similar to this season, if not worse. If AZ win, then maybe just maybe, ten Hag is out, and hope prevails!

[Ayman]

Kluivert, 2-0

[Orange14]

Finally a goal from Justinio!!! Nicely taken.

[rjf1]

Nice cross field pass by Ziyech (yes, him) nodded down by Hunts for Kluivert to run onto and shoot in stride for a lovely second goal.

[Orange14]

Onana with a nice save and then got really lucky as the shot from distance was not on frame. No way would he have saved it.

[rjf1]

Ziyech threads a through pass in to Neres who turns and puts a rising curler into the top left corner for the third of the day.

[Orange14]

It looked like Nouri's brother got onto the pitch at the end of the match and ran up to give van de Beek a big hug!!! A nice enough win and a clean sheet to boot. It will be sad to reflect on those whose last match in the Arena was today. CL qualifying round is now secure and Overmars needs to plan on how to spend all the money that will be coming in from transfers. We'll see who ends up going and who stays. We also have Frenkie de Jong and Daley Sinkgraven coming back from their injuries.

Player Ratings:

Onana (7) - stopped everything on frame but would have looked very foolish had the one long lob shot been on target as all he did was watch it
Tagliafico (6.5) - took a lot of punishment with some hard challenges but another good performance
Wöber (6.5) - did well enough other than one soft pass right to an AZ player deep in the defensive zone
de Ligt (7.5) - the captain did everything asked of him and I really think he's going somewhere else next season
Mazraoui (5.5) - defended OK but offensively tried to do way more than he is capable of
Schöne (6) - OK performance today but it's really time for him to become a spot player
van de Beek (7) - really solid today
Ziyech (8) - yes, and '8' as his sense of where the opportunities to score were was superb and I can overlook a couple of wild shots
Kluivert (7.5) - the one time he should have been selfish and taken a shot he gave it up but otherwise was dangerous all game
Huntelaar (5.5) - not a factor at all
Neres (7.5) - just excellent on the day
Dolberg (5.5) - as with Huntelaar, not a factor
Ekkelenkamp (NR) - on very late for Mazraoui
Kristensen (NR) - saw out the final minute of play

A meaningless match next week away to Excelsior and some of the fringe players.

[SPL]

A workman like win with 3 fine goals.some players making their final game in the Arena.Next season will see more of the same with Ten Hag,he couldn't even decide when to stick Ekkelenkamp on.

I wont see next weeks game ,as sky probably wont show it and my cricket will be on ,if its not raining.

Not enjoyed the season the management have made a complete cock up and hopefully v d Sar and Overmars leaves asap.

The events of July 8th in Austria have cast a deep shadow over the season and this season will always be the lost season when the greatest loss is for our Appie.