21 FEB 2026; Ajax - NEC; Match Day 24

[Orange14]

A win is needed to keep Ajax above NEC in the standings.

[Orange14]

Sparta - NEC match was abandoned because of snow accumulation. Don't know when it will be rescheduled.

[elliquido]

tuesday

[Orange14]

Zinchenko is out for the remainder of the season and will undergo knee surgery.

[Ayman]

This is going to be a tough game, I hope to see Lucas Rosa at LB instead of Wijndal. And for the love of God, stop playing Klaassen!

[Orange14]

Sparta and NEC draw 1-1 in Rotterdam. Ajax now even on points but behind on goal difference.

[SPL]

Jaros out with a knee injury, Itakura a back injury . Klaassen doubtful. Tomiyasu and Berghuis still not fit enough to play 90 mins . So Paes will play even though he has not played for a few months. I hope they are all fit soon but apart from Jaros we wont miss the others. Zinchenko will be missed as we will have the useless Wijndal although maybe Rosa will be LB and Gaaei RB.

[SPL]

Jaros's season is ended the poor lad has a cruciate ligament injury. With him and Zinchenko both getting bad knee injuries in a week is rotten luck for the players and for Ajax

[Ayman]

Jaros's season is ended the poor lad has a cruciate ligament injury. With him and Zinchenko both getting bad knee injuries in a week is rotten luck for the players and for Ajax

True, but since Ajax are only playing for 2nd or 3rd place of the Eredivisie, I think we have just enough quality to get over the line.

[SPL]

Paes and Wijndal, start, Reeger back for Mokio but F-Jim for Klaassen who is injured.Carrizo is a sub also Ouazane. Hope for a win but its going to be a tough match for us .

[Tom_]

No control over the game but somehow 1–0 ahead. NEC are forcing a high tempo but Ajax are not good enough to play at that speed. We have to hope they run out of energy in the second half otherwise we will get rolled.

[Tom_]

Lucky to get a draw playing like that. If Feyenoord win, 2nd might be out of reach but we still have a good shout for 3rd.

[SPL]

A fair result and NEC were more threatening especially with corners and free kicks we had no height in defence. Not sure how that guy scored when he was on the floor .

Paes had a decent debut and Rosa is clearly a better RB that Gaeei, he can defend. Not sure any of the subs added anything .

We are not losing games but too many draws.

[Orange14]

A draw was a fair result for Ajax who were mildly outplayed by NEC. A failed clearance off a set piece gifted a goal; the story of the Ajax season. Godts was in on goal late but shot wide. I don't know if he could have lifted the ball to Weghorst who was the free runner but of course we know that shooters shoot the ball. Other than Rosa and Baas, the remainder of the Ajax starting defenders were quite poor. Sutalo looked lost at times and maybe he can only play in a Farioli system. I think he leaves after this season. Fitz-Jim was certainly and upgrade over Klaassen and had a stinger early on that was saved. Dolberg was OK until he took the knock on his heel and had to come off Paes was OK in goal with some pretty good saves and I think he kicks the ball much better than Jaros. Anyway, it's even on points still and a week off for International play next weekend.

Player Ratings:

Paes (6.5) - coming on with zero game time since November, he did an adequate job which is all that one could ask for
Rosa (7) - thought he was one of the better players out there with some very good interventions that prevented chances for NEC
Sutalo (5) - average and nothing more, Ajax certainly will not get the transfer money back when he leaves
Baas (6) - OK match
Wijndal (5) - can't defend but he did try to push forward at times, whether Tomiyasu is health enough to start is a question Grim needs to find out the answer to
Regeer (5) - not very good but not very bad, unfortunately he needed to step up his game and did not
Steur (6.5) - thought he did well and his passing is just so smooth
Fitz-Jim (6) - decent game from him with a couple of good chances on goal, at least he can see the field and pass well unlike Grim's favorite
Bounida (5) - just a big let down from last week's match, tried to do too much and could not
Dolberg (6) - good enough but had to come off
Godts (7) - I give him the benefit of the doubt because of his goal but really should only be a 6.5
Mokio (5) - not very productive and did not see to know what position he should be playing
Weghorst (5.5) - controlled the ball well when he had it
Tomiyasu (5.5) - on for Wijndal and at least knew who to position himself on defense
Oscar (NR) - he was so impactful that I didn't even realize he had been subbed on (sarcasm)
Berghuis (NR) - on for 10 minutes with no impact, it's scary to think he is under contract for another year

[Ayman]

A fair result and NEC were more threatening especially with corners and free kicks we had no height in defence. Not sure how that guy scored when he was on the floor .

Paes had a decent debut and Rosa is clearly a better RB that Gaeei, he can defend. Not sure any of the subs added anything .

We are not losing games but too many draws.

Please dont jinx it! Ajax play Feyenoord and PSV remember?

[SPL]

Hi Orange ,its not Int next week , we play PEC next Sunday we may well just about beat them

NEC were the better side and in the end I am happy with the draw. Still talk of 2nd place but with Grim and this fairly weak squad I actually think we will finish 4th. We have some tough games left.GAE and Excelsior should have been easy wins and AZ has only played 3 good games all season v Ajax. They are poor and cannot even beat an amateur side from some obscure country .

We have a team of minnows and every free kick and corner I feared we would let in a goal . Biggest problem is Grim who is not good enough. Next week Klaassen will be back and Berghuis will now start getting playing time. Zinchenko's injury is dreadful as we have Wijndal but he is no worse than Gaaei ,who has now made100 appearances for us.How on earth can he have played so many .

Rosa was our best player and Godts is still our best attacker and although frustrating at times, he should have passed to Weghorst on that break late on but he is quality and his goal superb. He does come back and defend.No one else stood out. Paes was decent ,Steur I do like but with the invisible Reeger and lightweight F-Jim ( better than Klaassen ) he did not stand out. Mokio came on as an attacking MF then had to play 6 role hence he did not play well.

Our only hope of getting 3rd let alone 2nd place is to put Garcia in charge and let Grim stick with Jong . Only for the rest of the season . Garcia already is making improvements to Jong after 2weeks and will have a similar impact on the 1st.

If Feyenoord win today they will be 5 clear of us and as poor as they are I am not confident we will overtake them.Signing Sterling may make the big difference.

[Orange14]

Hi Orange ,its not Int next week , we play PEC next Sunday we may well just about beat them

Don't know what I was thinking!!!