08-OCT-2022; FC Volendam - Ajax; Match Day 9

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08-OCT-2022; FC Volendam - Ajax; Match Day 9

Bericht door Orange14 » do okt 06, 2022 12:54 pm

Ajax are away to Volendam and Wim Jonk this Saturday. It should be an easy game but for a club in crisis one cannot be all that certain. Since Tadic is suspended for the return game against Napoli, I hope we seen someone else at RW.
Appie Nouri will forever be remembered for his grace and humanity on and off the pitch!

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Re: 08-OCT-2022; FC Volendam - Ajax; Match Day 9

Bericht door Orange14 » do okt 06, 2022 3:33 pm

Here's my thoughts following the Napoli game.



It was mentally refreshing to think about the sins of omission and commission and stay off the Internet for over a day!!! Now back to Ajax.:D

Here is my take FWIW. The club lost a bunch of key starters off of last year's team and their replacements are not as good. Couple this with a new manager and technical director, along with a compressed match schedule because of the corrupt WC, things were bound to be difficult.

Schreuder had a good run with Bruges last season leading them to the Belgian championship. The club is 3-0 in CL matches this season and looks to progress to the knock out round. I think he has tried to keep the EtH tactics in place but doesn't have the same type of players to do this. He had a soft league schedule to start the season and the CL game against Rangers was a simple win. the Liverpool match exposed all the flaws and he seemed not to have learned much from the game and ran into problems away to AZ. A weak draw to Go Ahead Eagles and the thrashing at the hands of Napoli provide ample evidence that changes are needed. I think he was stupid to have made the post game comments the other day. He has to play with the cards that he has been dealt and moaning about not having Antony or any of the others is crying over spilt milk. Grow up and face reality! You don't manage a top 10 team that can keep players for more than 2-3 years.

The most missed players are Martinez and Antony. Bassey is a great athlete but he lacks the coolness and match reading skills that Martinez has. Antony is a devastating RW and Ajax attack down the right side is non existent. Antony and Mazraoui had a great understanding of one another and were lethal in attack. Look how things sputtered when Antony was hurt in the latter part of last season.

I don't need to write much about Blind as everyone on this forum knows the problem. Even Martinez would be able to bail him out. Alvarez is a great defensive player and better on the ball but as a single deep lying MF, he is not good enough. It might be better for him to drop back as the center of a back three and use Timber as more of an outlet but the other MFs have to provide more options as well. The team is just too easy to press right now.

I don't know if Wijndal is 100% fit right now. The team paid good money for him and either he starts or it's just another waste of money. Blind is fine against Eredivisie minnows but that's it. The same can be said of Tadic. Yes, he's not comfortable on the right side but I don't think he would be any better on the left. He cannot beat anyone with a dribble these days. He certainly is no longer a 90 minute player and this was evident last season. There is some weird fixation with Ajax captains, that they have to play every game and 90 minutes. Just crazy.

The Kudus experiment is over. It was a surprise in the Rangers match but he is just not effective holding the ball up. He can't win balls in the air and was just lucky on the goal the other night. I suspect he may also have an attitude problem. I would sell him in January if there are any takers. Lucca's a little too raw but I think he has a lot of promise. In the mean time, Brobbey is the one to play up front.

Berghuis and Taylor are both good players and I have no issues with them but tactically, better use could be made of them.

I read the other day that Danny Blind may come in as Technical Director after the WC. I don't know what to make of this other than he has been a failure at almost every other management job. Overmars had no experience when he came in and did a passable job and maybe Hamsta and Huntelaar just need a little more time to settle in. Remember that Overmars brought in a number of players who were not very good (Klaiber, Marin, etc). The club lucked out with Martinez who nobody thought would be a great CB and Antony would be a top class RW.

The club is spending so much money bringing in players rather than promoting youth. Why is Unuvar in Turkey right now? He is just as good as Kudus as an attacking MF. Why wasn't Hansen given a shot to back up on the RW instead of Ocampos who does not look like anything special (though he might be better than Tadic right now)..

Enough for right now. Volendam coming up on the weekend and maybe Schreuder will learn something from Wim Jonk.
Appie Nouri will forever be remembered for his grace and humanity on and off the pitch!

Tom_
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Re: 08-OCT-2022; FC Volendam - Ajax; Match Day 9

Bericht door Tom_ » vr okt 07, 2022 12:23 pm

Would just add that Gravenberch is also missed in the midfield. He was good at holding onto possession under pressure and had a good dribble and a reasonable shot. Taylor is none of those things.

The problem is I can’t think of any obvious lineup changes with the current squad that would be guaranteed to help! *Maybe* Kudus back to midfield and Brobbey to CF. And *maybe* Wijndal for Blind. I understand the criticism on Tadic but who would be brought in instead?

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Re: 08-OCT-2022; FC Volendam - Ajax; Match Day 9

Bericht door SPL » vr okt 07, 2022 8:15 pm

Reading the above comments agree Martinez and Antony the big losses. Bassey has potential and has only had 2 years in the lowly Scottish league.Problem is Blind is now too slow and Rensch struggles and no where near as good as Mazraoui.

Tadic at RW is dreadful and Kudus should be at no 10 we need a striker who can hold the ball up and thus Brobbey needs to start

I see Marco van Basten saying we bought 10 players but only 2 started and this is a problem. We have spent nearly 100m out of the 200m plus we received from sales. Bassey and Bergwijn account for 50m but you are not going to get ready made replacements cheaply.

Of the other 8 Brobbey is getting some playing time but the other have had injuries and only odd sub appearances.Lucca,Kaplan Conceicao appear to be signed for the future.Sanchez,now training again should get playing time. Wijndal has been injured but if Blind is going to stay at LB we seem to have wasted 10m. Grillitsch I have not really seen and may have been signed as Alvarez could go in January.Ocampos was a dreadful signing and I read Sevilla want him back in January . We did not scout for a replacement for Antony and just picked this guy up at the last minute.Thankfully we did not pay 20m for him.

I too find it crazy we let Unuvar go on loan and dont think he will return.Hansen should have been given the chance at RW but a 3 match suspension means he goes over a month without playing.Think he will leave in January . No other Young player is ready.

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Re: 08-OCT-2022; FC Volendam - Ajax; Match Day 9

Bericht door FearNoArt » za okt 08, 2022 6:41 am

In my opinion Berghuis is the real problem. He is not good at pressing and marking his direct opponent in their build up and he rarely track back to defense . He play the advanced midfielder creative role but how many assist goals or even key passes does he produce in a match NOT many. He is so often rated a none factor!!
Put tadic in Berghuis role he has good vision good passer and work really hard when not having the ball.
Move Kudus on the right wing and bring Brobbey back at no 9
Blind is too slow as left back use him as a double pivot beside Alvarez when facing top teams

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Re: 08-OCT-2022; FC Volendam - Ajax; Match Day 9

Bericht door SPL » za okt 08, 2022 11:55 am

I am having to miss today , 3.30 on Saturday is not a good time for me today as we have planned to go out.

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Re: 08-OCT-2022; FC Volendam - Ajax; Match Day 9

Bericht door Orange14 » za okt 08, 2022 4:22 pm

So Schreuder sends out the same lineup but flips Bassey out to LB and Blind inside at CB. Looks like Bergwijn is dropping deeper and Tadic has moved over to the left side with Kudus sometimes on the right side. It still looks unbalanced. Berghuis has done well causing a hand ball and had a great pass to an open Bassey who had a nice headed goal. Given Tadic is suspended for the Napoli match, one needs to question 'WHY IS HE EVEN STARTING?' Maybe he gets subbed off in the 2nd half.
Appie Nouri will forever be remembered for his grace and humanity on and off the pitch!

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Re: 08-OCT-2022; FC Volendam - Ajax; Match Day 9

Bericht door SPL » za okt 08, 2022 7:20 pm

A great relief we won today although from 3-0 up to 4-2 we clearly were not convincing. I am one of the few people on the planet without a smart phone so had to wait until I came home ,from a lovely walk in our beautiful local countryside, before I could get the result .

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Re: 08-OCT-2022; FC Volendam - Ajax; Match Day 9

Bericht door Orange14 » za okt 08, 2022 8:18 pm

Schreuder sent out the same starting 11 as in previous matches but flipped some of the positions. Blind slotted in as a center back with Bassey moving out to FB on the left. Bergqijn dropped back to attacking MF with Berghuis moving to right wing and Tadic on the left. Until the last 10 minutes Ajax looked in control of the game with a 3-0 lead that was quickly cut down by two goals. Even a three goal lead is cold comfort these days. Veerman almost tied the game but was a step offside nullifying the goal. I guess any victory at this stage ought to be celebrated. I'm still puzzled why Tadic as even playing since he is suspended for the Napoli game. I also think the Kudus as striker experiment should be over but I'm not the manager.

Pasveer (5.5) - weak on the first Volendam goal as he should have saved it and he thought so as well
Rensch (6) - above average for a change and had a couple of good runs into he box
Timber (7) - had some very nice moves in the offensive half and played outside in the final 20 minutes when Rensch came off
Blind (6.5) - had some dicey defensive moments because of lack of quickness and maybe this is the only position he can play right now; anyone who thinks he can move up the MF is crazy
Bassey (7) - had one really nice goal and almost scored a second and defended pretty well at a new position
Alvarez (7) - won three critical headers in the closing 10 minutes of the match to help Ajax keep the lead
Taylor (6) - had some good runs but needs to play better defense
Bergwijn (6) - worked really hard at the new position but is still better as a LW which I guess is now out of the question as long as Tadic is captain
Berghuis (7.5) - MOTM for me with some very good play on offense; directly responsible for the first two goals
Kudus (5.5) - sell him in January
Tadic (6) - played 60 minutes and did little; he was more effective as a cheerleader from the bench
Klaassen (6) - scored on a delightful pass from Concelcao in the final minute of play
Brobbey (6.5) - got the match winner on a good shot from a very tight angle
Concelcao (6) - great quickness and field awareness and warrants much more playing time
Grillitch (5) - didn't see that he had a major impact
Baax (NR) - on late

Naples up next and I just hope Ajax plays a decent match. It will be interesting to see the lineup Schreuder puts out. A draw would be the best result given the current form of the team.
Appie Nouri will forever be remembered for his grace and humanity on and off the pitch!

Tom_
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Re: 08-OCT-2022; FC Volendam - Ajax; Match Day 9

Bericht door Tom_ » zo okt 09, 2022 12:19 am

Another poor game. Countless unforced errors in possession and a lot of scoring chances conceded to the bottom club in the eredivisie. I think we have to expect another tough night against Napoli.

Tom_
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Re: 08-OCT-2022; FC Volendam - Ajax; Match Day 9

Bericht door Tom_ » zo okt 09, 2022 12:24 am

@SPL I reckon a walk in the countryside, even if it’s 2 degrees and raining, is a much better use of time than watching this team at the moment!

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Re: 08-OCT-2022; FC Volendam - Ajax; Match Day 9

Bericht door SPL » zo okt 09, 2022 12:01 pm

Hi Tom, after a rainy week it was a beautiful sunny day yesterday here in West Sussex on the south coast , we have wonderful countryside and my wife and I needed to just get out and walk . Could not really justify staying in all day to watch footy.

I would still have loved to have actually been in Volendam and watched the game. The morning in magical Edam a,beer or 2 along the harbour in Volendam and watch us play .

On the game it does seem Tadic and Blind are coming to the end but the coach has to play them. Tadic is not playing in Naples so he should not have started yesterday. Bergwijn at 10 when he is a left winger is crazy. Kudus should get time at 10 and Brobbey should be no 9 starting.

As for Blind he is too slow at left back and Bassey was a left back. Again I see Baas comes on but not Wijndal.Why have we bought Wijndal???

Another defeat looms in Naples.

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