11APR 2026; Heracles - Ajax; Match Day 30

[Orange14]

Garcia Era Continues.

[Tom_]

Can we get any worse? You’d think this was a nailed on three points but this team can drop points against anyone.

[Orange14]

Can we get any worse? You’d think this was a nailed on three points but this team can drop points against anyone.

Certainly that is correct for away matches. Twente beat Volendam yesterday. NEC play Feyenoord tomorrow and best result for Ajax would be a draw. Problem is that Ajax have to win the remainder of their matches even to have a chance at 3rd place.

[SPL]

Itakura for Steur and Gloukh for Edvardsen so thats 6 defenders with Mokio. Gloukh is mainly a winger so a hugh gap where Steur would be. Weghorst starts also terrible.
Garcia will be slaughtered if we dont win . He is no better than Grim or Heitinga.

[SPL]

We won and 3 nice goals but overall I thought an average 1st half and another poor 2nd half. A decent side would have put 6 past them. Subs used were poor ,why Tomiyasu at 6 ,who was utterly dreadful . Steur should have come on for Itakura after Ht

Just hope NEC can win the cup finish in the top 3 and we finish 5th and then Europa qualifiers.

4 more games left to watch and then half this lot can be sold

[Tom_]

That was acceptable against a poor team.

I *think* we want NEC to beat Feyenoord and finish 2nd. But there are a lot of permutations.

[Orange14]

Before I get too carried away, I need to remember this is Heracles that Ajax defeated. The home team left huge spaces all over the pitch, something that Ajax seldom see but they sure capitalized on it. By all rights they should have scored a couple of more times. Berghuis with a wonderful match with two goals and a great free kick that Pasveer had to scramble to save. In a rare start, Oscar looked lively and he is great in space something he does not get against better opposition. It would not be an Ajax match without drama in the 2nd half and Takiyoshi got sent off on a DOGSO Red Card (deserved IMO). A valuable three points, but Ajax are still dependent on other teams dropping points.

Player Ratings:

Paes (6.5) - had hardly anything to do but made a smart save at the end
Gaaei (6) - decent enough for a player who has trouble defending
Sutalo (6) - OK match
Baas (6.5) - great clearance off the line to save a sure goal
Rosa (7) - fine match defending and going forward
Itakura (7) - thought he did well at #6, cool under pressure and his passing was very good
Mokio (7) - should have scored the opener but shot wide, made up for it with his pass to Godts
Oscar (6.5) - thought he did well after sitting on the bench for a lot of matches
Berghuis (7.5) - fine match with two nice goals and a great free kick
Weghorst (6.5) - good assist to Berghuis and worked hard to get open
Godts (7) - dangerous all night and his chip of Pasveer for the first goal was just wonderful
Tomiyasu (4) - his return from injury was shot lived when he pulled back the Heracles striker getting a VAR Red Card
Edvardssen (NR) - on late
Steur (NR) - on late
Bouwman (NR) - on very late

No match next week as the Beker final between AZ and NEC takes place. A trip to NAC the week after.