After the disappointment on Sunday in the top match against PSV (1-2), Ajax can still close the short, first half of the Eredivisie this week as ‘winter champion’. Provided it beats Vitesse (Wednesday, home) and FC Emmen (Saturday, away). But that Ajax coach Alfred Schreuder has a lot of problems, it became clear once again in the performance against PSV. The main dilemmas of the 50-year-old trainer examined.
Support base
Many of Schreuder’s choices are now quickly food for discussion. Was the basic team, with a very attacking midfield, in balance against PSV? Why didn’t defense director Daley Blind play? Why did Schreuder not intervene earlier after PSV’s 0-2, early in the second half? Davy Klaassen – with a nose for goals – and the young Italian battering ram Lorenzo Lucca (who made the 1-2) were only brought in ten minutes before the end. The final offensive came too late to force an equalizer.
Players looked frustrated during the many disturbances on the field. And in the interviews afterwards it did not show that they believe in improvement in the short term. Ajax has lost seven of the nineteen matches this season, in all competitions. That is one loss more than all of last season. ‘Schreuder rot on’, Ajax fans sang in the second half.
Schreuder has the difficult task of making his successful predecessor Erik ten Hag – three national titles in 4.5 years (Schreuder was his assistant) – forget. But there is no progress this season, 4.5 months on the road. After a strong phase in September, including a 4-0 win over Rangers FC, Ajax has dropped significantly in level and results in a short time. The team has failed to keep a clean sheet for eleven games in a row.
Schreuder is searching, continues to shuffle players. And sometimes seems to have lost control of the situation, witnessing outburst in a press conference three weeks ago, including in response to criticism from analysts and journalists. He is accused of holding on too long to his captain Dusan Tadic, who plays almost everything, but brings less than in recent years. Many problems that have now arisen could have been prevented by Schreuder, said analyst and former Ajax player Marciano Vink at ESPN on Sunday. “He should have been above the parties earlier. By protecting players, especially Tadic, he has now maneuvered himself into a situation that makes it very difficult to manage.”
striker position
Against PSV it was the first time that Ajax played in a composition with attacking midfielder Mohammed Kudus behind striker Brian Brobbey. It was not a success. Brobbey was rarely in the game. And in the combination between the two things didn’t go smoothly either: of the 445 successful passes of Ajax, there was one mutual pass between Brobbey and Kudus, discovered a data journalist from Football International. It also turned out to be a pass back, from Brobbey to Kudus.
For example, the experiment with the Kudus-Brobbey tandem can be considered a failure for now. It is a risk that Schreuder took by trying this in a top match.
It also illustrates the coach’s problem filling in the striker position. Over the past few months, that was a change of pace – then again the physically strong Brobbey, then again the fast Kudus. Neither of them can convince as a striker over a longer period of time. In terms of returns, they differ little from each other: Kudus scored ten goals this season and provided two assists in 876 minutes of play, against eight goals and three assists for Brobbey in almost the same playing time.
As a replacement for top scorer Sébastien Haller, Ajax bought Brobbey from RB Leipzig this summer for more than 19 million euros (variables included), after the self-trained striker had left transfer-free a year earlier and first returned on a rental basis. The fact that he subsequently ended up on the bank as a major summer purchase, looked a lot like ‘destruction of capital’. Schreuder was critical of Brobbey: „Brian has to work even harder, he has to do even more. Then he will become a very good striker.”
Tadic and Bergwijn
Tadic has been the most valuable player in the Eredivisie from left winger time and again in recent years. Nevertheless, Ajax brought left striker Steven Bergwijn to Amsterdam last summer. As a multi-functional attacker. Steven Bergwijn could rotate in the front, just like Tadic. From the left, the record purchase of 31.25 million euros in the battle for the Johan Cruijff Scale was devastating against PSV after fifteen minutes. Bergwijn continued his advance on the left, scored nine more times in ten league matches and six Champions League matches, but had to give up his place at RKC on October 22 at RKC, who was dissatisfied as a jack of all trades.
Tadic regained some of his old form on the left, but Bergwijn had a hard time getting used to the right. He just doesn’t feel in his element there. Nothing new. When Louis van Gaal saw him as the most suitable right winger of Orange in him last year, Bergwijn thanked him for that role. At Ajax he had no choice. Although Schreuder had Tadic and Bergwijn switch sides in the second half during the last matches. Also against PSV. Tadic was pulled aside on Sunday in 81st minute amid — cynical – cheers from the audience. Bergwijn, who played much less if possible, was allowed to play the game on the left. Bergwijn, who played even worse if possible, was allowed to finish the game on the left. “It has brought us nothing at all,” was the painful conclusion of Bergwijn. Schreuder will have to make a painful choice on the left between his captain or his most important purchase.
Daley Blind
His position in the first team of Ajax was undisputed for a long time. Daley Blind played 37 league games in the starting line-up until he suddenly found himself next to PSV. And just like earlier in the week in the Champions League game at Rangers FC, Blind got no playing minutes at all. “It is annoying for Daley, but we simply have to make certain choices at Ajax,” Schreuder explained afterwards in the press room of the Johan Cruijff Arena.
After a troubled transfer summer at Ajax – in which six basic players left with André Onana, Antony, Lisandro Martinez, Nouzair Mazraoui, Ryan Gravenberch and Haller – Schreuder is building a new team. Initially, there was always room for the 32-year-old Blind, tactically strong and a creative defender who can change the game like no other. Still good enough for the Eredivisie. But with his lack of speed vulnerable against the European top. The away game at SSC Napoli made that painfully clear. Striker Victor Osimhen plucked the ball from his foot in the final phase and shot in the 4-2.
Schreuder granted Blind a place in the center in his 1-4-3-3 formation for a long time, so that acquisition Calvin Bassey (22), Ajax’s most expensive defender ever, was placed at left back. With the passing of Blind, Bassey got the preference left central and he has formed a duo with Jurriën Timber ever since. Not stable yet, but a couple with a future.
If Schreuder sticks to the house style of Ajax, there seems to be no place for Blind in the big matches. The only alternative to let him play is national coach Louis van Gaal. He plays with a line of five defenders and thus sacrifices a player to Blind in Orange. But that could be the last at the World Cup in Qatar.
#Coach #Alfred #Schreuder #continues #shift #players #Ajax