Ajaxtalk

After the failed bid to reach the CL knock out round, Ajax need to regroup as they face a tough AZ team on Sunday. The match will be played at the AFAS stadium in Alkmaar, the first since the roof collapse back in September. Ajax have a couple of extra days to lick their wounds and Ajax travel to Manchester for the final EL group match against ManU. While AZ have qualified for the group stage, a win will put them top of the group and earn some needed coefficient points.

Right a must win game or at least a must not lose game. Blind Dest injured and Tagliafico a slight injury so sub. Veltman Schuurs,Martinez and Mazraoui our back 4 with Marin and Alvarez in MF and KJH starts.

Just seen Fword stuffed PSV so even if we lose today we are still 10 points ahead of lightbulbers.

After two losses in a row we will see if our boys have it in them to bounce back and return to our winning ways. All of a sudden getting the ball into the net has become a problem. Tonight's result will serve as a marker as to how this season will shape up for us.

Tight first half. I can easily see this ending up with only a goal being scored as both teams are pretty cautious. Substitutes are doing OK so far.

They keep banging their heads against the wall, trying to play everything through the middle. All that was generated was a long range shot by Ziyech which - in typical 99 times out of a hundred fashion - was wide of the post, and the one good setup for VDB - which if he took it with his left foot instead of his right would have been a sure goal. And all the while you're on the edge of your seat dreading that one of their counterattacks will succeed.

Nothing in its so far, good chance for Donny.Subs are doing ok though

Well no surprise but like the last 2 defeats we created next to nothing. Az like Willem and Valencia had hardly any chances but scored. Defending on their goal was rubbish ,Schuurs a good game and then failed to mark Boadu.

Sad but KJH should not start and is coming to the end. Ziyech and Tadic both poor and no other creative player. Donny for 55m to Real crazy.We have played 3 games without wingers and have created nothing. We need to go and buy one more proper wide winger in January and get a creative MF.

I was right about only one goal being scored and unfortunately it was for the home team in added time. Ajax have lost three straight for the first time since 1999 according to the match announcer and are scoreless in those matches as well. Clearly missing Neres and Promes really hurts the attack. Defensively the team did OK, Alvarez marked Stengs out of the match and even on the goal the defense wasn't awful. Not much more Schuurs could have done as he had weight on Boadu and was not going to be beaten in the air. Maybe if there had been a player at the near post it might have turned out different and I'm not sure that Onana made the best move on that corner as he was in no position to make any kind of play.

Cup match coming up against Telstar in mid-week and a home match against ADO to close out 2019. Precious time off coming up to get everyone healthy.

Player Ratings:

Onana (6) - not sure he made the best decision on the goal
Mazraoui (6.5) - decent enough but not the offensive threat that Tagliafico poses
Martinez (7) - solid
Schuurs (7) - good match with a stinging shot late in the second half that caused Bizot some problems
Veltman (6.5) - all in all an OK match; had a good chance in the early part of the match that hit the side netting
Alavarez (7) - played well but needs to look for the forward pass rather than passing back
Marin (6.5) - decent enough filling in
van de Beek (6.5) - industrious but couldn't provide any offense
Tadic (6.5) - no clear shots on goal
Huntelaar (6.5) - worked really hard and had one half chance when Bizot spilled the ball
Ziyech (6) - couldn't make anything happen
Tagliafico (NR) - on late and had a header that went wide of the post

Dutch guys a bit more critical. Schuurs was behind Boadu and not between him and the goal ,clearly Schuurs fault.

MF criticised also on Dutch site and I agree with poster who said we should have gone for youth . Marin I thought poor and Alvarez is a defender ,yes handled Stengs but he is a defender. Martinez impresses me can handle Cd and DMF .Alvarez not sure where he should play but certainly not MF . Marin is not good enough and no better than the Mf in our Jong Ajax team. ETH subs again questioned, On 80 mins he should have taken off Marin stuck on Gravenberch and KJH off for Traore.

No real complaints about the last 2 defeats but today was down to just one error costing us and should have been 0-0. We badly need to have a rest.Telstar game we must play Gravenberch ,Traore, even Hansen.Keep Schuurs at Cd for Telstar and ADO

At least we are better than Arsenal

To quote my 2 Arsenal loving sons they are dreadful.

My eldest son has been here for the weekend(lives 250 miles away in Cornwall).He has watched our CL games this last year and said he really loved watching our beautiful football.

We have let in 4 goals in 3 games but overall the 3 sides didn't create many other chances so not really much wrong with our defence.

One real concern tonight is Daley Blind who had a dizzy spell v Valencia and is having medical Tests.Hope its not serious.

Our injury ravaged side couldn't beat the Dutch #2. They held on for most of the game, but you knew that there was a mistake waiting to happen.

I was honestly shocked when I saw the lineup. Not one player in their usual position at kickoff apart from Onana, according to me. After the first 15 minutes I was sure we weren’t going to win.

Anyway... we’re still just on top after a disastrous injury spell. We were unlucky that we had a run of 3 crucial matches at the same time. So long as nothing catastrophic happens in the winter window we will be ok.

PS following on from SPL’s shopping list - areas of concern for me are CF (i.e. viable backup for Tadić, I’m a KJH fan too but he’s a pinch hitter these days), and backup left back and central defender.

I think if we add a winger, vd Beek and Ziyech bring plenty of creativity in MF. Assuming they’re still here in Feb...?

We need a winger as back up.Maybe they thought Bande would get fit quicker.KJH has been written off but he is getting zero service. Traore should get some game time,yesterday he came on just as 93 mins came up and got 1min of action.Thats bad from ETH.

Mazraoui was ok as LB yesterday but Castillo is getting a season at Jong but Salah-Eddine will break through next season.

Dont think we need any new defenders in January but Schuurs should now play regularly.Maybe his lack of playing time recently accounted for his mistake yesterday with the goal. Blind hopefully will be fit but if any doubts I expect Botman to be recalled as he is playing well for Heerenveen. Pierie is having bad time at Jong.

MF well Jong trio Gravenberch Eiting Ekkelenkamp could not do a worse job than yesterday's 3.Of course I rate Donny but like many Dutch fans dont rate Marin or Alvarez in MF.

SPL schreef:I expect Botman to be recalled as he is playing well for Heerenveen. Pierie is having bad time at Jong.

many Dutch fans dont rate Marin or Alvarez in MF.

Can Ajax recall Botman in January? I don't know what the loan policy is.

Alvarez had a very good defensive match yesterday. He also is very good in the box on free kicks and has a nose for goal. The problem as I see it right now is his handling speed with the ball is too slow. I don't know if this can improve or not. It would have been better if Ajax brought him in at the beginning of training in the summer. I think the jury is still out.