Holden Willemsen

Tough one. Good spell in the beginning from Ajax but they really shot themselves in the foot with poor decision making in both attack and defense, lack of quality at the 6 position, and (in my opinion) illogical substitutions. Leonardo looked slightly better than before but still not good at all. Several players looked invisible out there for Ajax. Trenskow was absolutely fantastic and took advantage of Caio Henrique’s poor 1-on-1 defending multiple times. Did not help that Regeer didn’t tuck in to stop the cut-back even after it burned Ajax the first time. Dolberg looked horrific and I really do not want to see him start another game. Lacked fundamentals at times (would wait for the ball to come to him instead of moving to it) while lacking the finer details at others (completely unable to finish). It’s a shame what happened to someone who was once a superb player. Nice goal from Ouazane but I want to see some more maturity in decision-making as the season goes on. Definitely felt like they missed a Godts-type in this game who is lethal but intelligent. Hopefully that can be found in the next few weeks, otherwise it’ll be a rough season. Frustrating to not capitalize on a two goal lead with the most expensive squad in the league when PSV AND Feyenoord both dropped points in the last two weeks. Might end up AZ’s year if the big three keep performing this way. Lots of questions to be asked in and around the locker room.

Total scandal of a game. Paes is Paes, Bouwman needs to be loaned out, Blind needs to retire, Wijndal has needed to go for ages, Mokio needs a loan/Ajax need a new 6, Baas is Baas, can’t say much for Janse, Caio Henrique looked ok in attack but was absolutely exposed defensively, Gaaei looked alright. The only ones who should be allowed to stay are Janse, Gaaei, Caio Henrique, and MAYBE Baas. Edvardsen has to go, Leonardo has already proven himself to be a total flop and waste of €20 million, Regeer is Regeer, Carrizo is still too raw of a talent, Brandt looked ok but can’t do everything alone, Ouazane is still too raw, and Tolu was good but time wasting there was shameful. Let’s hope they use this to wake themselves up a bit considering they arguably should’ve lost this tie. One goal from a questionable set piece and a (luckily) disallowed goal for Shelbourne means this could’ve and arguably should’ve been 4-4 and in extra time.

Tolu, Brandt, Ter Stegen, and Godts are total game-changers. Mokio with a really solid performance. It’s a shame that Godts will likely be gone next week but that’s showbiz unfortunately. A few moments were questionable during the game from the rest of the squad, but a clean sheet and an opening game win is solid. Michel’s dapp're strijders woorden landskampioen