18 AUG 2018; VVV - Ajax; Match Day 2

[Orange14]

Following a wonderful CL win over Standard Liege, Ajax take on VVV and hope to take all three points. I suspect ten Hag will rotate some players this Saturday. Schöne played a full 90 last night and deserves some rest. I don't know whether Dolberg will be match fit as he has only been back in full training recently.

[Amol]

I'm supportive of resting a few players in this game against VVV.

1. I would bring in Wober at LCB and slide over Blind to LB. This gets some rest for Nico.
2. Eiting for Schone
3. Van De Beek for Ziyech
4. Not sure about this, but Sierhuis for Huntelaar - Huntelaar needs some rest

At some point we have to give Tadic and Neres some rest as well. We are very thin up front right now. Labyad has been a complete waste of 6m so far.

I'm really waiting for Dolberg and Cerny to get back to match fitness.

[Cruijff]

Probably no Dolberg and Cerny yet. I agree that both of them bring something extra.

Must win match. If you drop some points again today, you'll be running behind the facts (Dutch expression) all season.

[SPL]

An easy start on paper as Heracles VVV and Emmen should be 9 points.Dont like to say it but PSV would get 9 points from them.

Sierhuis played 76 mins last night so KJH will start. We have only about 18 real first teamers to pick from due to injuries and the likes of Kristensen,Wober, Labyad,are not special.Schuurs is starting at Jong Ajax and sadly no idea whether Siem is fit or not.Our squad is not strong we have only 1 fit winger.Jong Ajax have 5 wingers but none are ready!

If Ziyech and Frenkie were to go this month it would leave our squad seriously weak.

[Cruijff]

Interview with Dušan Tadić (in English) the day before the match:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRLXRlBvr_g

This Saturday you play at VVV Venlo.

It's on an artificial pitch, they will be sharp and you see what happens if you're not 100%. We lost points against Heracles, this can not happen anymore. We can not think about Dynamo already, we need to think about this. We need to be sharp, we need to be 100% in every duel."

"I think it's very bad for Dutch football that we play on artificial pitches. They need to put normal grass, because no football player likes artificial pitches."

[Amol]

Sierhuis played 76 mins last night so KJH will start.

I saw that later as well. So Klaas Jan starts again.

[Cruijff]

Klaas Jan wants to start.
He was furious that the trainer benched him against Heracles Almelo.

[Amol]

Klaas Jan wants to start.
He was furious that the trainer benched him against Heracles Almelo.

If I let my employees get all that they wanted - it won't always come back with great results.

He's 35 and playing 3 games in 7 days. Needs to rest, otherwise we have Sierhuis as the only striker available.

[Orange14]

Great video on ESPN+!!! VVV stadium is really unusual given where the changing room is located.

[Amol]

Great video on ESPN+!!!

Right? Great use of my $4.99/month. Neres out hurt.

[Orange14]

Thank goodness for VAR!!!

[Amol]

Thank goodness for VAR!!!

Exactly my thoughts. Same slow play as last Saturday. Artificial grass pitch looks horrible.

[Orange14]

So Neres misses a great chance and then tweaks a hamstring. Let's hope it's not serious. This club needs to start burying chances!

[SPL]

spent 15 mins getting a good stream although wife was talking then! .Good stream from then on but poor football from us, a bit lucky not to be 1 down.

Neres injured hamstring could be out for Kiev.Sounds like the artificial grass was to blame.

Not sure if Schone is on the pitch and Ziyech doing nothing much . Another draw looms,we could be 4 points behind PSV after 2 easy games!!1

[Amol]

4 points behind and players without rest for Kiev and a few frustrated players on the bench - Donny, Carel and Wober

[rjf1]

VAR 2 -- VVV 0 A fortuitous win.

[SPL]

Lucky Ajax ,although it was a penalty VAR gave us 2 decisions ie 1st half their player touched the ball with his arm but only VAR showed it ,just!

On players on the bench we have a lot of football to play and Wober Eiting Donny will get plenty of games. We had just 17 fit 1st teamers today and only Dolberg and Veltman of the injured are missed.

Need to buy another winger .Tadic is not a winger and neither is Labyad and Neres is ineffective on the left. As I posted earlier none of the 5 Jong wingers are ready.

Plenty of possession today but VVV defended well and we did not look like scoring.

[Orange14]

On a beautiful evening in Venlo it ended up VVV 0 - VAR 1. Oh yes, Ajax will go down as the winner of this match but were quite lucky in the end dodging some final attempts on goal by VVV. Why is it that opposing keepers always look like Gigi Buffon? Second week in a row that an opponent keeper will probably make the Eredivisie team of the week. Onana, on the other hand, probably could have slept during large stretches of this match. I think we also found out by Ziyech will be with the club this season; he just is not good enough to play at a higher level. Too many poor passes and can be dispossesed easily at times. A couple of good shots on goal did not make up for a below average match.

Questions must also be asked of ten Hag. Does he even have a clue about what is going on during the match? Perhaps he is a good practice trainer but on a night when there needed to be some player rotation there was none. In the end a win is a win even if the MOTM is VAR. It also confirmed yet again that Kevin Blom is a terrible match official. Why no Yellow was issued when de Jong's ankle got stomped on is beyond me.

Player Ratings:

Onana (5.5) - unconvincing at times but really had almost nothing to do
Tagliafico (7) - a couple of very good defensive plays and a wicked cross to Huntelaar on the play where VAR called for a PK
Blind (5.5) - saved from embarrassment by VAR
de Ligt (6.5) - had a couple of defensive lapses that would have been punished against better competition
Mazraoui (6.5) - decent enough match
Schöne (6) - no major complaints but really should have been rested given the fixtures coming up
de Jong (7.5) - next to VAR, best player on the pitch
Ziyech (4.5) - if he can't or doesn't want to play better he needs to sit out a match
Tadic (7) - got the game winner
Neres (4) - missed scoring early on and then an upper thigh injury that we hope is not serious
Huntelaar (6) - played at his usual level of 110% but couldn't find the back of the net
Labyad (5) - average marks for a very average player
Eiting (5) - had no impact on the match
van de Beek (NR) - had a couple of touches in the short time he was on; surely he would have been a better choice than Ziyech all things considered

Home on Wednesday in the CL qualifier against Kiev. Which Ajax club will show up? What players will ten Hag have to choose from given injuries. Can some of the older players keep up this pace? Too many questions and too little time to answer them!!

[Orange14]

Lucky Ajax ,although it was a penalty VAR gave us 2 decisions ie 1st half their player touched the ball with his arm but only VAR showed it ,just!

I think the call in the first half was on the VVV strker pulling Tagliafico down by the sleeve before the shot was taken.

[SPL]

Thanks ,I said I could not tell why no goal.

[Orange14]

just to close the case about the stomp on de Jong's ankle, the KNVB said today it should have been a Red Card and a sending off for a violent play.

[Tom_]

I’m not a fan of VAR even though it helped us here. I don’t like the interruption to the game and the fact that play gets “wound back”. e.g. what would have happened if there had been a goal between the foul on Huntelaar and VAR awarding the penalty?

I’m also wondering why VAR didn’t award the red for the foul on de Jong, since it was obvious, and one of the things it is supposed to review?

[Orange14]

I’m also wondering why VAR didn’t award the red for the foul on de Jong, since it was obvious, and one of the things it is supposed to review?

See my post just above. The Dutch FA said today that it should have been called by the VAR if the match official missed it.