26 JAN 2016 Ajax - Heracles Match Day 20

[Orange14]

The Snow here in Bethesda has finally stopped and it looks like we have received well over 70 cm here at our house. We're hoping some enterprising young lad will stop by to help shovel our walk and driveway clear. It's really quite an amazing sight and I hope not repeated in my lifetime.

Back to business, Ajax host surprising fourth in table Heracles this Tuesday. Klaassen looks to still be injured and we have not heard about the state of Tete's ankle (funny that FdB judged the tackle on him to be fair but I'm not so sure about that). Will the squad continue to play their boring catenaccio style or will they open up? Can Milik ever find his form as a proper striker? Will the midfield ever string together more than two consecutive passes? Can Cillessen continue to keep clean sheets? All perplexing questions for a team in search of some identity.

[SPL]

Just hope for 3 points as PSV play Twente today and Excelsior midweek so likely to get 6 points.

Our defence played well last night although Vitesse created as few chances as us. I see they had 60% of possession which must be some record for another Dutch side in the Arena.

[Orange14]

Klaassen still out with a knee injury. Tete out with an ankle injury sustained yesterday (no word yet how long he will be out). van Rhijn is in the squad for Tete. I wonder if van Rhijn will start or if FdB goes with Veltman at RB and van der Hoorn in CD?

[Orange14]

Kenny Tete is out for the remainder of the season. He will have surgery later this week to fix his ankle that was damaged in the Vitesse match. I guess the report that he is being linked to Leverkusen in Germany needs to be updated! Bad news for the lad who has really broken through into the starting 11.

[SPL]

Just come and seen the bad news ,it says 10 to 12 weeks so maybe available late April for 3 games if lucky.No way would we have sold him this week to Leverkursen .

V Rhijn wont now be sold and will get a few games which ,if he does well will get him a nice club in the summer.

Veltman may stay at RB but Tete is a superb defender and the best defender in the team ,hugh loss.

[Tom_]

Well I don't want to be too dramatic, but this could be a blow to our title chances since clean sheets are what is bringing in the points right now, and Tete is arguably our best defender.

[Orange14]

I agree, Tete has neutralized every single left winger he has played against this season. Other players are going to have to step up. However, if for some reason the team starts scoring lots of goals it might not matter as much.

[Dave the mac]

A quick Tuesday match after the weekend. Have not seen a line up but assume vd Hoorn will play CB and Veltman at RB. Heracles are in 4th place now and with PSV right behind Ajax a win is much needed, and some goals too! PSV now leads in goals scored, though Ajax still has a much better goal difference. Win this with many goals, for Tete!!

[Dave the mac]

Well how quickly things can change. Young Owusu may be on the Ajax bench tonight. Veltman picked up an injury against Vitesse as well and may not be ready to play. If so van Rhijn will get the start and Owusu as back up. Or maybe Frank has other ideas. We'll see.

[SPL]

Owusu is a reasonable RB at Jong level ,I like Sanniez but Owusu clearly rated higher by the coaches.

I would love to see de Jong Nouri and Cerny at this level ,their quality with the 2 goals last night was pure Ajax . de Jong setting up Cerny and then Nouri for de Jong ,the best football I've seen this season ,having endured every 1st team game.

[SPL]

Veltman RB ,v d Hoorn Cd. Sinkgraven starts instead of v d Beek.

Having had Vitesse on sky tv Saturday night ,groan from the wife when I said we are on sky again tonight! And of course I watched most of Jong last night.

[Tom_]

Boring enough for everyone? It's like there's no kind of plan about how to create chances; just 11 guys standing in their spots waiting for each other to do something. They could be waiting a while. I guess if Heracles keeps fouling we'll score off a free kick eventually?

[Dave the mac]

Good to hear Veltman is okay and in the line-up. Also like to see the more offensive Sinkgraven starting.
I'll watch later tonight on NGSN.com after my squash league match. The match is underway so I'll log off. Come on Ajax!

[SPL]

Utterly boring football from Ajax.No creativity and nil attack.

[Orange14]

I'm seriously of the belief that FdB is playing catenaccio. That has to be the only explanation as to why they only seem to come alive when there is a turnover and quick counter attack going forward. Otherwise there can be no possible tactical explanation for what this team is doing. Gudelj sits right at the middle of the halfway line hardly moving at all and two Heracles defenders are taking away any pass to him. Sinkgraven occasionally comes back into space but not Bazoer. We again are fully conceding the midfield when on offense seeking only to go either down the side line or diagonally. Veltman had some poor offensive play when he tried to go forward. Dijks was better. If el Ghazi could ever go to his left he would be lethal but he only tries to beat his man to the right. He's on the ball too long and the double team comes over pretty quickly and of course there is no Ajax player close by for an outlet.

THIS IS JUST DISGUSTING FOOTBALL FROM SOMEONE WHO CANNOT MANAGE THE TALENT HE HAS ON THE TEAM!!! THERE IS NO OTHER POSSIBLE EXPLANATION.

[Manneken Pis]

It's dreadful......

[Manneken Pis]

It's dreadful......

[Manneken Pis]

It's dreadful......

[Manneken Pis]

It's dreadful......

[Tom_]

You can say that again... And again... And again ;)

[Amol]

I agree. This is safety first football. Very very boring. I don't know what we all are wasting our time on?

[Manneken Pis]

Still dreadful...

[SPL]

Utterly dreadful ,this team cannot win the title playing such utter crap. The back 4 were ok but they had nothing to do.

Bazoer was ok ,25m ,you are having a laugh.Gudelj and Sinkgraven should be sent back to where they come from ,useless . Milik did he play !! ElGhazi a one trick pony.

FDB should quit. Cerny and Nouri should be in the squad and the fact we have only one striker ,who is hopeless ,its a shambles.

PSV will now go on to be champs and we should finish 2nd , we do not look like or deserve to be champs.

[SPL]

At least I saw some real Ajax football last night thanks to the superb creative talent of Cerny Nouri and deJong .Our current midfield has zero creativity.

[Tom_]

We're not going to beat PSV or Feyenoord, so our only chance was if we could avoid slip ups against the weaker teams, e.g. Heracles. I think the virtual gap is now 1 point so PSV will certainly be ahead by the time we've played them in Eindhoven. That was a big 2 points to lose.