Jurriën Timber did not look good with Ajax’s goals against against Vitesse had to deal with, says Freek Jansen – follower of the club on behalf of Football International. The Ajax player is currently not reaching his level, but the reporter sees that he is far from the only one at the club from Amsterdam.
‘Timber can really take credit for the two goals against’, Jansen begins his story. ‘He’s unrecognizable. He is praised for his tight warm-up passes, but he still has a certain doubt in his game. Pasveer was also not good and Bassey is sometimes too slow in the build-up. Wijndal gets the chance and it wasn’t easy for me either. Blind came in very deservingly.’
Ajax lost points against Vitesse on Wednesday and that fact in itself is disappointing, but Jansen puts the whole thing into perspective. “It’s very easy to say it’s all bad, but it’s definitely not. There was a certain attacking game from which opportunities were created. The problem was now really in the residual defense. The moment Ajax lost the ball, it was so open. Vitesse players could bridge forty, fifty or sixty meters with the ball at their feet. That is really a failure of Ajax.’
The further victory got out of sight, the more the grumbling began to arise in the Johan Cruijff ArenA. At a certain point it was no longer an option for the Amsterdammers. ‘Ajax was playing football against itself at one point. Then you notice the negative sentiment. It’s brewing, it’s bubbling and grumpy reigns at Ajax. Then it can help if you win 4-0 or 4-1, but if you play 2-2 against Vitesse, that negative sentiment will only get a boost.’
Work in progress at Ajax
Incidentally, Jansen does not have the idea that the players of Ajax are throwing the cap at it. It’s just not going the right way. ‘They really tried with all good intentions to make something out of it, but it’s just not at Ajax. The winter break comes at the right time. In fact, I think they had hoped that the winter break would have come a week or a few weeks earlier. A lot of pasting work has to be done within Ajax. That is in terms of team, ideal basic eleven, couples, automatisms, but also within the organization. Who decides what and who makes the decisions?’