The Dutch newspapers are united after the elimination of Ajax in the Europa League. The team from Amsterdam had to make up for a 1-2 defeat last week against AS Roma, but on Thursday evening the team of trainer Erik ten Hag did not get further than a 1-1 draw. The newspapers come to the same conclusion: the shutdown is a deadly sin and above all unnecessary.
Erik ten Hag’s choice for Sean Klaiber as right back in the Stadio Olimpico took place The Telegraph very daring. “With his choice of Klaiber as right back to replace the suspended Devyne Rensch, Ten Hag played Russian roulette,” writes Valentijn Driessen. “Coming from FC Utrecht at the start of the season, the 26-year-old quickly turned out to be a regular bench seat behind Noussair Mazraoui and the breakthrough Jurriën Timber and Rensch. But apparently the Tukker wanted to change as little as possible, because the field game during the first meeting gave him confidence. ” Ajax took the lead via substitute Brian Brobbey, but then got the 1-1 from Edin Dzeko. “The equalizer marked the end of the European adventure, against one of the weakest teams in the entire series.”
Despite the fact that Ajax was still active in a European context in mid-April, Driessen writes about a European campaign that did not deliver what was expected of it. He points to the elimination in the group stage of the Champions League. “With a ticket in their pocket for the Europa League, the Ten Hag team started impressively by eliminating the French and Swiss leaders in succession. After Lille OSC and Young Boys, it turned out that the pipe in the double with AS Roma was slowly running out, judging by the lack of freshness. ” According to Driessen, the fact that Ajax did not succeed in winning with two goals has also to do with quality. “Quality, which was not available to Ten Hag at the time. It started with the missing check mark behind the name of mega-purchase Sébastien Haller, followed by the long suspension of André Onana, the injuries to designer Daley Blind and Mazraoui and finally the short absence of Onana’s replacement Stekelenburg. ”
Due to the elimination in the quarter finals of the Europa League, Ajax misses out on a bonus of 2.4 million euros. “That amount is far from outweighing the sporting value of the semi-final ticket,” it writes Algemeen Dagblad. “That had to make the very nice season that Ajax is currently experiencing a very special one, by further and really giving shape to the much-desired European advance. A diptych with Manchester United would have given the club even more appeal and provided players with extra experience. ” The reporter was not impressed by Ajax’s opponent. “Roma may be big in name, but it is not a miracle team. Not once did the Romans beat a top club in Serie A this season. Winning the Europa League was therefore also the only traffic island to the billion dollar ball. ”
Willem Vissers registers de Volkskrant that the shutdown was not necessary. “Ajax adds unnecessary eliminations in Europe to the house style of normally pleasant football. Two years after the drama against Tottenham in the Champions League, there was the pocket format of the unnecessary withdrawal from Rome ”, said the reporter, who thought Ajax was the better team over two duels with Roma. “All in all, Ajax played a strange European season. Six matches in the Champions League. Eliminated unnecessarily, just like last season. Then six Europa League matches. In between, Onana was caught doping and Haller was not registered. It is all just not for the team that so eagerly wants to belong to the European top. ”
In Het Parool two conclusions are drawn after the draw in Rome: “Ajax can hardly do without Daley Blind in certain matches and it is a pity that Brian Brobbey is leaving the club after this season.” Blind recently got seriously injured to his ankle and will not play for Ajax this season. Brobbey in turn leaves after this season transfer-free to RB Leipzig. As a substitute, he scored his last European goal for the team from Amsterdam. After the equalizer of Edin Dzeko, Ajax could no longer become dangerous. “Let’s quote a Cruijffian statement once again: ‘Italians don’t know how to win, but you know how to lose.’”
“How would it have gone last night if trainer Erik ten Hag had dared to include Brian Brobbey in the base right away?” Faithful. “The nineteen-year-old center forward proved to AS Roma again why Ajax would have wanted to keep him so badly and why RB Leipzig wanted him so badly.” The newspaper writes about a downer for Ajax. “The necessary renovation of the team after the departure of Van de Beek and Ziyech was not yet fully completed.” The newspaper saw that the absence of Daley Blind has broken Ajax up. “Ajax’s biggest problem was in the front on the sides. The Brazilians Neres and Antony have not been in great shape for weeks. The opportunism to which Ajax was condemned in the second half, did not bring the liberating goal that had resulted in an extension. ”