The day after the defeat of Ajax in the Eredivisie against AZ (1-2) there is much talk about the performance of the team from Amsterdam. The team of trainer Erik ten Hag has already left many points at home this season and has had to transfer the lead to PSV, which now has one point more. Also with football talk Ajax’s defeat was the subject of discussion on Monday evening. Kenneth Perez thought it was all ‘not so dramatic’ what the Ten Hag team showed, while Leon ten Voorde calls Ajax ‘the biggest disappointment of the season’.
“I thought Ajax was very critical of itself after the match,” said Kenneth Perez. “That suits them, because if they lose it is always up to them and not to the opponent. I just didn’t think that was the case in this match. It was not that they just let the AZ players walk away.” Afterwards, Ten Hag gave for the cameras of ESPN indicated that he especially had trouble with the attitude of his players. “We didn’t start badly at all, just the one hundred percent conviction that is missing. And so you see that in the final phase, but you also see that in the switch. And also when winning the second balls, they were all for AZ. And I have a lot of trouble with that.”
The way in which Ten Hag addressed the press caused amazement at Ten Voorde. The reporter of TC Tubantia grew up in the same village as Ten Hag and has been good friends with the Ajax trainer for years. “I had never seen this from him before,” said Ten Voorde about Ten Hag’s reaction after the game. “He was really angry. I could tell from his face that he meant it. This wasn’t a game. I only saw the last twenty minutes of the match, but I think it’s a bigger story. A story of ” another defeat’ and ‘again loss of points’.”
“In the Champions League they have achieved eighteen points, but in the Eredivisie they lose points against FC Utrecht, Heracles, Go Ahead Eagles, FC Twente and now AZ over it. I think that was the last straw that he reacted like this,” he said. Ten Voorde to explain Ten Hag’s reaction. “Ajax is sometimes compared to Bayern Munich, but Bayern do not spill any points after a Champions League match. That is the real top. If you look at the competition, I think Ajax and PEC Zwolle are the biggest disappointment this season. PSV is also really convincing not, but they are at the top because of Ajax.”