Daley Blind sees the red card for Nicolás Tagliafico as decisive in the battle for the Johan Cruijff Scale. Ajax quickly fell 0-2 behind PSV on Saturday and then Tagliafico also received a red card for a charge on André Ramalho. Erik ten Hag’s team suffered a shocking 0-4 defeat. “Losing 0-4 is never fun, but what matters is that we lost the final. Whether it’s 0-1 or 0-4, it doesn’t really matter to me,” emphasized Blind.
Blind described the red card for Tagliafico as ‘decisive’. “With this team we have shown many times that we can come back. I think we played pretty good football in the first half and were dominant on the ball. We wanted to make the game and also came up with nice attacks, but we didn’t score a goal. Unfortunately it was offside”, the Ajax defender referred to the rejected 1-1.
“And those two good goals from Madueke, that should not happen to us. He shows individual class. That must not happen to us. We weren’t in trouble at all in the first half. After that red card you know that it will be difficult if you have to continue fifty minutes with ten men and 0-2 behind.” The Eredivisie will start in a week, but Blind is not worried. “We are sharp. In the first half we played a good game with eleven men. The trainer also said it, we are not fully fit yet. But we are on our way. Those two goals shouldn’t have happened to us.”
“The field game was good with eleven men, I think we were better. That’s why it’s sour that you can’t score a goal in the first half. This is not so much a wake up call.” The large defeat does not affect the proportions in the title fight, Blind emphasized. “We look at ourselves. If we are good and deliver the quality we can deliver . . . Then we are the team that has to win the most and has the most quality. I don’t think we should look at other clubs. Of course PSV has made good purchases. I think the trainer already said that. They are better organized this season.”
“It certainly won’t get any easier, we are aware of that. We are the team to beat. We will have to fight to get all the points in Amsterdam and take it to Amsterdam. Ultimately, we just want to stand with the scale. We must also dare to say that, we are Ajax. We’re not running away from that. “We have to keep faith and always rely on our own strength. We do that too.” Tagliafico made no apologies in the locker room. “That is not necessary. We could have won with the ten of us. After the break we had some opportunities to make it difficult for the opponent. In the end it doesn’t fall and you keep running behind the facts,” emphasized Blind.
“He is an experienced player and I don’t think he needs to apologize. It’s also the type of game he plays.” Blind took the suggestion that Tagliafico often plays on or over the edge for granted. “I think he also wins a lot of duels for us and with that he takes the team in tow. If such a player has that poison, then he should keep it nice.”