Ajax coach Erik ten Hag called the way his team played against FC Twente (1-1) on Sunday afternoon a ‘moderate display’. Along the line in the Grolsch Veste, he was disturbed by the slow pace at which his team played. Davy Klaassen and Edson Álvarez escaped a red card in the first half. “Twente plays very irritatingly and then you have to remain unperturbed,” said Ten Hag.
“The pace was much too low. You have to invest in it from the first minute if you want to break up a team like Twente,” said Ten Hag afterwards in conversation with ESPN. “We created very few chances before half-time. That was mainly due to the game at the ball. That pace should have been much higher. Go from side to side much more often, look for the middle more often and make runs. That starts with in We came up with a good formation and we didn’t, that’s why we didn’t create anything. Twente didn’t, neither did we.”
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Ten Hag is of the opinion that various Ajax players were not alert from the start of the match. He didn’t name names. “The start of the competition is always difficult, but they have to recognize the urgency. You have to be on from 12.15 pm and a number of players were not on,” said the trainer, who entered the battle for PSV after the 0-4 defeat. the Johan Cruijff Scale indicated that his team was not yet fit, partly because several internationals joined later: “We have no excuses. You just have to be there and you just have to deliver. We didn’t do that.”
The Ajax coach believes that his players should not be tempted, such as Álvarez and Klaassen. The latter was booked for a punch to the face of Giovanni Troupée, while a tap by Álvarez to the back of the head of Michal Sadílek went unpunished. “You have to focus on what matters and that is scoring goals,” responded Ten Hag, who believes that the two Ajax players got away well. “There could have been action, but they don’t. You should be busy with football, not with these peripheral matters. Of course they play annoyingly, you have to deal with that.”
With just under half an hour left and a 0-1 lead, Ten Hag pulled Ryan Gravenberch to the side. The the Dutch international clearly did not agree with his substitution. ESPN-analyst Ronald de Boer noted that Gravenberch was ‘devilish’ after his substitution. Ten Hag about this: “I think that if he looks back at the match, he will understand,” said the trainer, who did not yet address the midfielder about his reaction. “Of course not. As a team we played below par, but also a number of individuals.”