After every match that Ajax plays, there is enough to discuss. Beautiful goals, annoying moments, joy and sadness. Every week Ajax Showtime looks back with one of the editors on the match and weekly current affairs in De Nabeschouwing. Today: Ajax recovers from a poor first half and records its first win of the season in Sittard. This time with editor Thijs Zwagerman. Read his look at the match and the national championship here and join the conversation!
Statement: Tadic as a false striker does not work with a Berghuis type on 10.
‘Yes, completely agree. I also think it was the entire midfield. In Blind, Taylor, Berghuis and Tadic you all have players who function best with the ball at their feet. And then Taylor is the only one who sometimes makes a running action in the depth. Certainly Berghuis actually does that too little, especially when you play with a type like Tadic in the striker. If Tadic plays there you do need a runner and Taylor can fill that in, but Klaassen obviously has the most feeling for that and I also think that Kudus can bring that depth from midfield. More than the three who were now in midfield.’
Who in your eyes was the best Ajax player in this opening match?
‘Over the whole match I would say Bergwijn. I found him very industrious and although not everything worked out yet, he is someone who can create something on his own. You saw that in the first half, when things just didn’t go well as a team. Then he always came with an acceleration, a fast action or a short combination. I also found him to be fairly solid, even in the crowds. However, I think the man of the match is Brobbey. His input from and the way in which the Ajax game has changed with it have caused the turnaround.’
Alfred Schreuder chose Remko Pasveer on goal and showed that this is a definitive choice for the time being. A right decision?
“It’s a decision that can be easily explained. Schreuder also rightly indicated that Pasveer was also a basic player last year and then did surprisingly well. Still, I would have stuck with Gorter myself. You can now victimize him on the basis of one match, but it is nice for him to keep a series of matches and to grow with confidence to the level of Ajax 1. I think that is certainly possible with the five or six league games you are now playing until the first Champions League game.
‘If you give Gorter that confidence, I think you will see him grow in that role. Moreover, if you don’t give him the chance now, you should actually rent him out, because another year of Jong Ajax and banks at the first are of no use to him. The only thing you can imagine, based on Schreuder’s explanation, is that Gorter will get another chance during the season. For example in cup pots or sometimes a competition match. Schreuder himself also indicated in the preparation that it is not good for Gorter to sit on the bench for another year and that he also thinks Gorter is too good for that. Then you could speculate that he wants to keep Gorter out of the wind now, after what happened last week, and then gradually introduce it in a few months.’
Ajax again conceded a goal very easily. What did you see go wrong?
“It was an accumulation of unhappy moments. Blind seemed to blame Taylor for throwing the ball in, but I didn’t think that was very strange. Taylor could have waited a little longer, but in itself it also argues for him that he wants to make the right pace. Bergwijn then loses the ball and Blind does not intervene very decisively. There you could say that he is not aware that he has to commit a foul there, also because the road to the goal is still very long. I don’t want to blame everything on Schuurs, but his positioning and orientation are so wrong that Gladon can go straight for the goal with one ball in between.’
Ajax played a very mediocre first half at all. What was that about?
‘I started with that there was too much of the same in midfield. Tadic always pulled away from the striker, which in itself can work well and which can cause a lot of confusion, but then someone has to dive in that hole. In the first half, however, you saw that no one was filling that gap. Bergwijn occasionally still went in, but overall it happened far too little. So you had three midfielders who were eager to get the ball and who wanted it in their feet. In addition, there was far too little movement to break open Fortuna, which was just very compactly set up and sat short on every ball. Thus Ajax’s game looked very uninspired and syrupy.’
What made Ajax look so much better after the break than before?
‘Brobey. With him Ajax had a super strong point of contact, someone who always stands as deep as possible and who can be sent away in the depths. That made it difficult for Fortuna to leave a large hole behind and cover it. At the same time, the depth that Brobbey brought into his game created a big gap between him and the midfield, where players like Tadic and Klaassen can come in. From that position you can launch one dangerous attack after another and you eventually saw that happen.’
How did you rate the bills that Schreuder made?
“I think it’s very noteworthy and positive that he intervened right away at halftime, because I was afraid that he wanted to look at her for a while in the first half and then you just play against the clock and against yourself. It was also clear that the match with the players who were there in the first half in that formation would not be reversed. Then I’m sure you’re bringing Brobbey. I thought the Klaassen substitution was a bit redundant. That sounds strange, because of course he scores the equalizer within two minutes. However, I think the midfield with Taylor on six and Berghuis and Tadic would have worked a lot better before that with Brobbey as a striker. So I would have liked to see Berghuis, also because I didn’t think he was much to blame. In the end Klaassen does just fine, so the winning trainer is always right in that regard.
‘I also think that Schreuder should have brought Kudus earlier. For him, that is simply a reward for his development and performance in preparation. And certainly with the spaces that fell from the 65/70th minute, it would have been ideal to bring Kudus. Then Ajax could have come out more often and might have decided the match earlier.
“I think Rensch had a bit of trouble, so that could be the only reason I can think of for that substitution. Magallan may also be a bit better mandekker than Klaiber in the 1 on 1, which could explain why Schreuder chooses him. Furthermore, it does not seem to me that he has a future at Ajax. However, it remains a bizarre and surprising change.’
Do you already have an ideal setup for this Ajax in your head?
‘No, I find that too difficult to say right now. I think that will take shape more and more, although I don’t think we will see Ajax playing with the same eleven names very often this season. The selection is simply too wide for that. This also lends itself to relying more on the opponent and/or the form of the day in your choices. I think today made it clear that more time should have been put into Blind at six in preparation, if you see a future for him there. In the current season it will be very difficult to get that right and the only way Blind can function well in that place is if there is perfect coordination with the other midfielders. Otherwise, he will end up in much too large spaces and drown. That is an insight that you only discover now, while the competition is already underway. I thought Taylor filled in that six position well and that also makes it clear that that is perfectly possible in the Eredivisie and that someone like Alvarez is not necessarily necessary. Those are things that I think Scheuder will also take with him.
‘I also hope that Brobbey will be in the starting line-up as soon as possible. Today he made it clear again why. Then of course the question is how you are going to create a place for Tadic. As far as I’m concerned Brobbey is a basic player and I would always let Bergwijn play from the left wing. Then you should actually move with Tadic, as happened today with that left half place. But it will soon be busy again, with Kudus, Taylor and soon Alvarez again. It is therefore difficult to make an ideal starting eleven, but I think that with every match new insights will come. I think Schreuder would have preferred to have seen that in the preparation, but because the selection was strengthened fairly late, you only come to these kinds of insights now. I think it will also take a while before we see the ideal setup of this Ajax. Although the vanguard with Antony, Brobbey and Bergwijn is certain, as far as I’m concerned.’
Bademba Barrie (Twitter: @Bademba__Barrie | E-mail: [email protected])
More afterthoughts:
#japsv: ‘Pasveer now brings the peace that Gorter does not yet bring’
