21 DEC 2023; USB Hercules - Ajax; Beker 2nd Round

[Orange14]

Cup tie on Thursday. This should be a winnable match but with this group you never know.

[SPL]

Hato needs a rest but the other defenders are worthless so who knows we could lose.Winning the cup is our only likely route into Europe next season. We are only going to finish 5th at best but to get through 2 Conference qualifiers we will have to play 2 away games as the Arena is unavailable.

Win the cup or probably no European football next season.We wont beat PSV Feyenoord or AZ in the cup and probably will struggle against anyone else so yes an even more depressing season ahead

[SPL]

I wont try and find an illegal stream to watch this game.We should win easily but I imagine Avila,Medic Gaaei Mikautadze may get playing time. MF will be interesting as Tahirovic,Taylor and Hlynsson are the only fit ones. Would like to see Misehouy get 45 mins and maybe Muzambo too.

[Orange14]

Everyone should start watching the Ajax ladies play if you want to see real Ajax football!!!!

[SPL]

Just home from shopping, already tired and fed up so I see we are 1-0 down ,nearly HT.I wont bother to find a stream this is really woeful.Avila again has to play at CD so Hato plays LB ,his weakest position.No defensive MF so Hlynsson ,who looked tired on Sunday has to play and Mikautadze out of position.

V A Dongen barely back from injury starts but Misehouy not even a sub.Muzambo also should be a sub.

[Orange14]

Another pitiful display of football in the first half. Match is being played in the FC Utrecht arena where the pitch is waterlogged because of rainfall. Avila gets the start at CB and makes a rookie mistake trying to bundle a player out of bounds on the sideline. The move fails and the player beats Avila easily to the goal. Ball ends up cut back for an easy shot on an empty goal as Ramaj had to cover the left post. Akpom is invisible as Hercules are playing everyone behind the ball and packed tight. Ajax cannot move the ball quickly enough because of the poor playing conditions. It looks like the left side of the pitch where Ajax will be attacking in the 2nd half is in better shape but I still don't know if they can score.

First half line up: Ramaj; Goojier, Sutalo, Avila, Hato; Taylor, Mikautadze, Hlynsson; Forbs, Akpom, van Axel Dongen

[SPL]

2nd half Martha for Avila,Tahirovic in MF with Taylor and Hlynsson with 3 strikers up front Brobbey,Akpom Mikautadze. If they lose this then they should not be paid wages this week.

[SPL]

Since pro football started in 1955 in Holland this is going to be Ajax's worst performance . Apart from Hato the rest should just be sold off.

[SPL]

Brobbey and Akpom bought us back to 2-2 but Martha evidently gave away the winner .Losing 3-2 to team 10th in div 3 is too bad for words.

Play offs for Conference next season is all we have to play for. The rest of the Board still need to be fired they are responsible for the shambolic mess the club is in.

Summer 2022 we buy a load of dross ,summer 2023 we buy a load of players even worse.

[Orange14]

My despair knows no bounds with this team. After Brobbey and Akpom each score in the final 10 minutes to tie up the match, Ajax again self-destruct. Martha who defended poorly coming in for Avila gives up a free kick outside the box. the kick in is defended but not cleared and Hercules get the match winner in the 94th minute. I truthfully cannot single out a single Ajax performer who had a good game. Yes, the field in the first half played an important role as Ajax got bogged down in the mud but they had a decent field in the 2nd half. All credit to Hercules who had I think four goal line clearances and now move on. there is really nothing van't Schip can do with this team given the players he has. Maybe he can figure out something in the next four weeks that can help right this teetering ship but I don't think so. The awfulness runs so deep that it's going to take 3-4 years to get back to where the club should be and none of these players who came in can be sold for anywhere near their value. Akpom might have some value because of the English FA rules but that's about it.

Player Ratings:

Ramaj (6) - made a couple of very nice saves in the 2nd half and I'll really need to see the replay to figure out if he was partially at fault on the first goal
Goojier (5) - OK game but had to deal with the mud in the first half and was later subbed off for Gaaei which as it turned out was a huge mistake
Sutalo (5.5)- had his usual one sloppy play but other wise above average
Avila (3) - Just horrible defending on the first goal, not making the simple play and then getting easily beat
Hato (5.5) - Cal Ripken streak continues in what was an ordinary night
Taylor (4.5)- forced to play deep in the first half and ineffective when moving up in the 2nd
Mikautadze (5) - would have preferred to see him at striker rather than Akpom
Hlynsson (5) - worked hard but couldn't create much against the packed in defense
Forbes (4) - had to deal with the mud and only played the first half
Akpom (4.5) - really poor other than scoring late
van Axel Dongen (6) - constantly beat his man in the only half he played
Brobbey (5.5) - scored a really nice goal and lost his temper at the match official and then got into a shoving match after the final whistle; clean up this nonsense, you are going to be a target
Tahirovic (4.5) - really nice through pass to Brobbey on the 1st Ajax goal but otherwise poor
Martha (3.5) - stupid foul late led to the match winner and really poor on the evening
Gaaei (4) - can't defend and only gets this high a mark because of the cross that Akpom slotted home, I'm through giving him the benefit of the doubt

Go Ahead Eagles on Jan 14 followed by RKC Waalwijk. Ajax might stand a chance of picking up a point or three.

[Tom_]

Good grief

[SPL]

Just watched highlights but clearly watching their goals we have a woeful defence. I dont rate any of the 5 new signings and Martha is not a defender. Rensch is far from prefect just Hato is good enough .Gooijer is the only Jong player who looks like coming through. Problem is all the new defenders played for their other club this season so have played for 2 teams and cannot be sold next month.

Can we buy a LB and get a quality RCD to replace Croatia's Bassey ie Sutalo next month!!.Probably no money available!! Maybe Medic and Gaaei can go back on loan to their previous clubs and be sold in the summer. Sutalo and Sosa as Croatain Ints should get offers in the summer but Avila is a poor Magallan.

The only new signing i would keep at present is Ramaj.Akpom until the summer as he is useful as a sub and scores.

[Orange14]

Not much more to add beyond my comments. The problem has always been with the MF which has been dysfunctional from the start of the season. You cannot play without three decent players there and Ajax continue to try out combinations that just don't work. Taylor, who was decent last season, is adrift being moved to different positions every other game. Tahirovic cannot pass or defend and at least Hlynsson looks like he has a future as a #10.

Defending set plays is abysmal. Ajax were also quite poor defending free kicks last season as well. If they don't get the first clearance a goal is usually conceded. There is very little height on this team. There are some players who are also not mentally in the game and get caught in the wrong field position too much of the time. This is why Ajax are so poor on counter attacks. The don't have the ability to win balls the way they did three years ago as the press is just not as good.

It's going to be a bleak rest of the season as it is unclear whether they will have any money to spend in January. Most of those who came in this past summer had already played for their clubs and cannot leave on a transfer other than a loan back to the parent club. Other than Ramaj who is better than any of the other keepers on the roster, the rest of the transfers really have no future with Ajax. I'm surprised at how Sutalo has not improved at all given he has been a starter with the Croatian NT. He is still making at least one critical error in every match and was lucky that Ramaj made the save on what should have been the third goal yesterday.

When Overmars was forced to resign (which was the right decision IMO), Ajax should have quickly moved to getting a new Technical Director. Hamstra and Huntelaar were failures. Huntelaar took leave because of burn out and I wonder if he will even return.

It looks like youth prospect Muzumbo is giving up on Ajax and will not sign a new contract. I wonder if others, and in particular Hato, will follow.

[SPL]

Agree your comments Orange. On the subject of youths ,someone on Showtime knows Muzambo's family and says they are motivated by money so Spurs seem his likely destination.
Misehouy needs to get signed up but I still think Hato will sign once he is 18.Posts on Showtime say we are ignoring extending talents but Misehouy and Muzambo are the only 2 main ones running out in 2024,Hato 2025.
We need to keep our youth as it is them that will get us out of this mess. I am not saying they will take us back to the top but I would rather see youth than the rubbish signings of these last 2 summers.Of course the youths need to be good enough but Martha and Banel are certainly not good enough.

We have at least got to 5th place ,just need to sign 2or 3 experienced good players next month.Easier said than done.