22 OCT; Chelsea - Ajax; Champions League

[Orange14]

A trip to famed Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea. A draw would be a great result. I still remember the Champions League game where poor refereeing cost us a match; two players sent off on the same play in 2019.

[Khraa]

The other match versus Chelsea was also influenced by the referee. A goal from a pass from Ziyech was determined to be offside by the VAR, but there has never been a clear picture of that offside.

[SPL]

Dolberg out for a few more weeks,Wijndal and Berghuis both will be missing but not sure anyone cares about these 2. A 4 or 5-0 defeat is what I expect.I will still watch ,I love Ajax and always want us to win .

This season is going down hill fast.

[SPL]

23 named ,Wijndal is in the squad so Dolberg and Berghuis the only injured.Alders,Konadu and Bounida the only Jong players

[SPL]

Watched the last 20 mins of PSV and they were impressive ,we dont have forwards like them. How did we get a draw against them when we played poorly in the rest of our games.

I expect a 3 or 4-0 win for Chelsea but will still watch as you follow your team in bad times and good times.

[SPL]

Pasveer starts ,Mc Connell for Mokio which I am not happy with . Moro starts, Baas LB so Itakura starts. Expect 4-0 defeat .

[Orange14]

I do feel sorry for Heitinga right now. He sees Taylor sent off after 17 minutes and witnesses two dodgy penalty calls against his team as well as a deflected goal. Match is over likely but he needs to sub off Weghorst who is in danger of getting sent off.

[SPL]

Agree a deflected goal and 2 stupid penalties that were not necessary and Taylor a dreadful foul.Nothing Heitinga can be blamed for. Gloukh doesn't defend much so he came off but surely Godts should have been taken off .Weghorst will get a red if he stays on. Could be 6 or 7 at the end.

[Amol]

Watching the game and we have actually not played terribly today. Still down 4-1 at HT due to the red card for Taylor, a deflected goal and 2 penalties.

[Amol]

And I now see Klaassen coming on at HT!?!

[Orange14]

And I now see Klaassen coming on at HT!?!

We need a proper Captain on the pitch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Amol]

Klaassen promptly forgets to track the opposition midfielder and allows him to shoot on goal. He has arrived in style. Mr. 1-0.

This might get into double digits at this rate.

[Amol]

We need a proper Captain on the pitch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was the first time this season that the team setup was working irrespective of the score. Bringing on Klaassen does nothing except to ruin whatever we had.

[SPL]

Not much to say ,thought the 2nd half was simply boring and I did not enjoy watching.Chelsea not looking like scoring and we just trying to keep the score down .In the end 2 stupid penalties and 2 goals dissected. Chelsea rested a few and had a few teenagers playing.

[Orange14]

It rained all night long and the Ajax parade was indeed a sad one. Taylor with a rash challenge is sent off following a VAR call to the referee at minute 17. After that there was not much Ajax could do as Chelsea scored off the ensuing free kick and then it was a question of how bad the loss would be. Full credit to all those who played for Ajax as they did not roll over against a team that has a salary budget 3-4 times as Ajax (maybe even more). Ajax drew a penalty and Weghorst made it 2-1 but Chelsea scored three more including two penalties. I get the Weghorst call as he did slide in from behind but did get the ball but the call on Baas was just weird with a lot of play acting by the Chelsea player. Two goals from open play came off unfortunate Sutalo deflections and it looked from the replay that Pasveer was positioned to make saves on both shots. When all your luck is bad, this is what happens. I feel bad for Heitinga who really did not need this as well as the players who were looking for a bit of redemption that was not to come. A more fair score line would have been 2-1 or 3-1.

Player Ratings:

Pasveer (6.5) - even at his age he is still more than decent
Rosa (4.5) - really overmatched on defense even when Ajax had 11, he would not defend the winger on his side
Itakura (6) - had to work really hard and did so
Sutalo (6) - sad that his decent performance was marred by the two deflections that ended up as Chelsea goals
Baas (6.5) - held his own
McConnell (5.5) - worked hard but is of questionable value to Ajax
Taylor (4) - it was a stupid challenge that could have broken a leg
Oscar (5) - on and then off right after the RC
Moro (5.5) - had a couple of runs with the ball and helped out on defense
Weghorst (5.5) - scored the lone goal but conceded a penalty with a tackle from behind
Godts (5.5) - played the lone striker after the half
Mokio (6) - on after the RC and did well defending
Klaassen (5.5) - why??? Because we needed a proper Captain, did OK as all he had to do was defend in small spaces
Regeer (NR) - on late
Fitz-Jim (NR) - on late
Gaaei (NR) - on late

FC Twente up on Sunday and Ajax in desperate need of a win.

[SPL]

The press in England ridiculing Ajax and we may be really terrible but Chelsea had 4 lucky goals. 2 penalties that were unnecessary and 2 goals that shots were straight at the goalkeeper but deflected into the net. Also one of their players kicked Weghorst in the face whilst on the ground and that should have been his 2nd yellow.

Even without this luck Chelsea would have won but when you are down like Ajax our luck was out .The press praising their youngsters but dont mention this big slice of luck.

PS not making any excuses as we were poor football non existant and under Kroes and Heitinga Ajax is like the Titanic heading for an iceberg