18 FEB 2024; Ajax - NEC; Match Day 22

[Orange14]

Can Ajax possibly escape fifth place; can they sink even lower? Tough questions to answer.

[Tom_]

HT at Utrecht- Twente and they said on TV Banel is starting at LW.

[SPL]

Twente lost at home so if we win today we will be 6 behind them and 3rd place still in sight. Hlynsson and Banel wingers today ,Tahirovic MF, and same back 4 with Rensch starting but not sure where.

Will hope to get a working stream .

[saddlerian]

Hmm...good move making Henderson skipper, or not?
Let's see if he IS a good player!!

Live on Paddypower

[Orange14]

Another poor half of football. Tahirovic is just not good enought even when paired with Henderson. This team makes every opponent look good in threatening situations. Ajax really need to bring someone on staff that can sort out the defense as they are just terrible at positioning. Opposing wingers get so much space to run. Ramaj was very alert all half as he needs to be five the situation. Ajax need about two more goals plus a clean sheet to put this one to bed. Unfortunately, clean sheets are really hard to come by.

Curious that Henderson rather than Hato gets the armband.

[saddlerian]

Couldn't Jaap Stam be tempted in from Feyenoord??

[Tom_]

NEC have had the better of the match and they could be leading but their attackers are poor.

Weirdly, there were a couple of moments in the first half where Ajax pressed well. I’ve barely seen that this season. Didn’t lead to chances though.

[saddlerian]

1-1..…what do you expect from a team going forwards??
Ajax...chuckle brothers football...to me, to you,to me to you!!
Need some slick passing football...too slow, not being able either see a pass or predict what team mates are going to do!!
Do they not have skills practice?? When I did my UEFA B award in 2015, under Dutch guidance, half a training session was skills practice, getting to know the team!!

WAKE UP!!!

[saddlerian]

Definitely offside!! Terrible VAR,!!!

[saddlerian]

Didn't deserve to win...but should have done!!

The VAR lines are drawn on BOTH NEC players!!!

[Tom_]

Ha. I think was the ball and the NEC attacker so that would be a correct call.

Ramaj didn’t look great on either goal, particularly the first one, you can’t have your keeper diving out like that and not making contact with the ball.

[Tom_]

Is it just me or has Ajax conceded a lot of goals to players who were subbed on in the second half?

[Orange14]

I'm not sure that I can watch this team play any more this season. Just another flat performance with poor play from a number of individuals. IMO, Rensch was at fault on both NEC goals though others surely contributed as well. When you have a 2-1 lead with minutes to play, the game just has to be killed off. But as we suffering supporters well know this season, that is just not possible. Despite everyone on the coaching staff knowing what the key problem is, they cannot do anything about it as self-destruction is just a moment away. Why are the FBs always facing 2 on 1 situations??? Brobbey again with a great match and took a lot of punishment along the way. Hato was unfortunate to get the own goal. Ramaj was great but had two key bad plays. The less said about Tahirovic, the better. Hlynsson has to stay in the MF where he is dangerous. Despite having a chance to move up in the table, this club doesn't deserve to be any better the fifth place. They are just NOT good.

Player Ratings:

Ramaj (7) - made some great saves but had his kicking was poor
Goojier (6) - twice he had to face two attackers which should never happen
Rensch (4.5) - he had a couple of good plays but did poorly on the first goal and his man was right in front of him on the second that tied the game
Sutalo (6.5) - thought he was decent
Hato (6.5) - Cal Ripkent streak continues and the own goal was just unfortunate
Tahirovic (4) - he needs to move to what ever club Frank de Boer is managing these days
Henderson (6.5) - gives 100% but his best days are just a dream right now
Taylor (5.5) - wasn't all that bad but also did not stand out at all, Hlynsson is a more dangerous attacker
Hlynsson (6) - his pass to Brobbe on the second goal was good and he needs to stay in the MF
Brobbey (7.5) - got credit for the first goal and was tireless in all aspects of the game; the rest of the team is letting him down
Banel (6) - reaction to the Brobbey lay off was superb and that was it in terms of highlights; he is not ready for this level
van den Boomen (6.5) - he is the only player on this team that has any field awareness, too bad he is a step too slow
Forbs (6) - nice goal but almost lost it with a poor 2nd touch
Martha (5.5) - worked hard on this cameo and added quickness on the right side
Rijkoff (NR) - on late for a tired Brobbey and drew a foul at the end but Ajax did not have a play to score

Bodo/Glimt in Norway and for once in a long time I am out of optimism for this team and with Thursday night football they will not be favored in Alkmaar next Sunday. A loss there will put an end to this dismal season.

[Orange14]

Ha. I think was the ball and the NEC attacker so that would be a correct call.

Yeah, I think VAR got it right. It was close but I think the position of the ball was key. They showed the drawn line on my ESPN feed which showed it was not offside. Rensch was on the wrong side of the attacker in any event.

[SPL]

No streams working got virus threats and when I did find a stream it did not connect so wont bother with anymore of our league games this season .Our final European game on Thursday is on my TV package.

Fed up with not being able to watch and giving yet more points away in the final minutes I decided to cheer myself up with a cycle to the little village nearby nestling in the South Downs.It worked as I came home stress free.

I now accept Ajax will finish 5th at best.If Feyenoord win the cup then 5th place will be Europa qualifiers next summer.If Feyenoord lose the cup then 5th to 8th play off for Conference but we cannot play in the Arena due to pop concerts so all our games will be away .We face no European football next season when 6 Dutch teams qualify.

This summer will also be a big sale with only V D Boomen, Ramaj and possibly Mannsverk staying from last summers 12 disaster signings. Problem is Bergwijn and Berghuis will go ,Brobbey wont stay and and Taylor and Rensch are not Ajax 1st team standard.

Ajax have some promising youths but Banel and Martha are not 1st team quality,Gooijer struggling a bit and Vos not ready to be a sub yet.

I have watched and followed Ajax properly through the internet since late 1990's and this is the worst team in that period.Those who have run the club these past 2 years have destroyed the club . It is in a complete shambolic mess and worst than back in 2011 when the great JC came back in to change things.

[Orange14]

If the results hold, we'll see which players jump ship this coming summer. There may be some who decide to stay and show everyone that they want to prove themselves and cherish the Ajax shirt. I go back to 2006 when Juventus were relegated to Serie B as a result of the bribery scandal. It was the first time in history that Juve were relegated. Yes some big names jumped ship as they did not want to undergo the humiliation of playing in the second division and not have European football glory (Zlatan was one of them!!!). However, key players di suck it up and stayed strong: del Piero, Buffon, Chiellini, Nedved, Trezeguet, Camoranesi and a couple of others.

We'll see what happens.

[Tom_]

16 shots total, 9 on target for NEC and 4 for Ajax. In a home game. I don’t know what you can say about that.

[Orange14]

16 shots total, 9 on target for NEC and 4 for Ajax. In a home game. I don’t know what you can say about that.

The team is just mentally poor in terms of playing defense. They are not quick enough for high pressure and too poorly organized otherwise.