Frank de Boer and Van der Vaart tackle the same player during Ajax break

Tuesday, 7 December 2021 at 21:58• Dominic Mostert • Last update: 22:04

Perr Schuurs experienced a rather unhappy first half on Tuesday evening in the match between Ajax and Sporting Portugal. The defender, who was in the starting lineup because competitor Jurriën Timber has minor complaints and is on edge, let Nuno Santos run out of his back after a spinning ball from Bruno Tabata, prior to Sporting’s 1-1. Due to a hit by Antony in the final phase, Ajax still went to the dressing room with a 2-1 lead. Rafael van der Vaart and Frank de Boer are critical.

“Schuurs must be sharper there,” the analyst of Ziggo Sports. “At top level you have to have this ball. It actually turns at the wrong time. He thinks: it’s not going to happen to me. But it happens anyway. It was well finished with the left.” Bee RTL7 De Boer says that Schuurs could have done more. “This is a fantastic ball too, but shouldn’t he take a step forward? Sometimes you can also applaud that it’s a fantastic ball. Can he do something better? Yes, step forward, or clear the space a little better to protect.”

“That’s a split second and at top level that is punished,” concludes the former Ajax coach. His role in the goal was not the only unfortunate moment for Schuurs. Two minutes before the break, Schuurs was late in midfield in a tackle on Nuno Santos, forcing him to The main foul of the first half was made by Daniel Braganca, who stood on Sébastien Haller’s ankle in the opening phase, causing a penalty, which the striker converted himself.

“Of course he will just stand on his foot,” notes Van der Vaart. “It’s really a ‘VAR’ penalty, because I didn’t see it happening either. It seemed unfortunate to me in the beginning, but the penalty was justified. After that it was very badly managed. You almost never see that happen.” Keeper João Virgínia seemed to misstep and eventually didn’t get far into the corner. Van der Vaart hopes for a more attractive second half. “We’ve seen a few nice attacks, but that’s about it. It’s a bit of a sluggish game.”