Ajax managers comments from last night.

Jose Calypso

Jose Calypso

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After the game, Schreuder told Dutch TV: "If you look at Napoli and Liverpool, you see that they are clubs who are too much for us.

"We are not good enough as a team at the moment. We have a lot of good players, but we are not good enough as a team. I can point to the players sold, but that doesn't matter now.


"The only thing I said before the game is that we had to be very brave on the ball. We weren't. We were not good on the ball and then you get into trouble against Napoli when you do that.

"If we are realistic, it is very hard for us to qualify now from this group. We have to go to Napoli next week and win.

"We will have to take a completely different approach because this result is unworthy of Ajax. We cannot accept that. We have to analyse this and look at what is best for Ajax."

I’ve been very critical of Gio.

But after reading that it has me wondering are we expecting too much in the champions league?
 
Jose Calypso said:
After the game, Schreuder told Dutch TV: "If you look at Napoli and Liverpool, you see that they are clubs who are too much for us.

"We are not good enough as a team at the moment. We have a lot of good players, but we are not good enough as a team. I can point to the players sold, but that doesn't matter now.


"The only thing I said before the game is that we had to be very brave on the ball. We weren't. We were not good on the ball and then you get into trouble against Napoli when you do that.

"If we are realistic, it is very hard for us to qualify now from this group. We have to go to Napoli next week and win.

"We will have to take a completely different approach because this result is unworthy of Ajax. We cannot accept that. We have to analyse this and look at what is best for Ajax."

I’ve been very critical of Gio.

But after reading that it has me wondering are we expecting too much in the champions league?
Click to expand...
In the grand scheme of things yes but all we're asking for is the players to be able to do the absolute basics not to mention our coaching team. Gio seems to pick the wrong 11 a lot of the time, take an age to change and when he does it's not always what you'd expect.
 
They spent £85m in the summer, more than Napoli who also lost a lot of quality players. They lost to a 90th minute winner at Anfield.

See before a ball was kicked, the majority were talking about how poor a start Liverpool had had, the fact that Napoli and Ajax had lost a lot of players and new manager and hadn't started the season that well.

There was plenty optimism. The threads are on this forum. The GvB comments after the hiding in Amsterdam were a cop out.
 
Essentially we need to take more points than Ajax from our next 2 matches (both away to Napoli and home to Liverpool) in order to set up a Europa decider at Ibrox.

Very tall order but similar levels of intensity in the 2 Ibrox games as we saw for first 60 minutes against Napoli and you never know
 
Jose Calypso said:
After the game, Schreuder told Dutch TV: "If you look at Napoli and Liverpool, you see that they are clubs who are too much for us.

"We are not good enough as a team at the moment. We have a lot of good players, but we are not good enough as a team. I can point to the players sold, but that doesn't matter now.


"The only thing I said before the game is that we had to be very brave on the ball. We weren't. We were not good on the ball and then you get into trouble against Napoli when you do that.

"If we are realistic, it is very hard for us to qualify now from this group. We have to go to Napoli next week and win.

"We will have to take a completely different approach because this result is unworthy of Ajax. We cannot accept that. We have to analyse this and look at what is best for Ajax."

I’ve been very critical of Gio.

But after reading that it has me wondering are we expecting too much in the champions league?
Click to expand...
I have been too, but if he focuses on the league, ups the tempo of the play and demands more from the board in the transfer market in January he’ll be doing himself a big favour.

CL for me has been a pointless exercise.

It’s raised our expectations in terms of player recruitment which the board had no interest in providing and given us a platform to play in where are miles off the quality we need.

Add this to the amount we were charged at 3 days notice and it has me longing for the EL.

That said I think we would struggle even in that this year. All to play for domestically though if we can up our game consistently.
 
EL last season led to people overlooking domestic performance.
This season we've thus far been absolutely dismantled in Europe twice and last night could've been any score really if not for McGregor.
What this has done is shine a light on how poor our "style" is. Both in Europe but more so domestically.
It's highlighted that our manager keeps making the same mistakes over and again. I've now counted 3 games where Tillman has been played on or around the right hand side and offered nothing. USG away, Celtic and last night. If I can spot that, why can't our management team?

Van Bronckhorst is very bullish, very arrogantly Dutch you might say, in his philosophy.
I think most of us would be hard pushed to tell you what it actually is though.

I didn't expect much from the CL. We got the cash, that's about all we wanted as a club by the looks of it. But I didn't expect us to roll over and have our bellies tickled and to pay the best part of £200 to watch us do it either
Yes its a massive step up from EL to CL, but the same characteristics of our EL run last season haven't been evident in the CL this season. There's been virtually no attacking threat, no pressing, no real cohesion in passing, defensively we've been a bomb scare (last night I thought we were actually a lot better at that side though)

We can use money as an excuse, yes these sides outspend us, have better players etc
but its still 11 vs 11 on the field. Fight, show a bit of something.
We went to Dortmund, we went into games against RBL etc with respect for the opponent but a defiance. We've went into these games with fear.
 
Jose Calypso said:
After the game, Schreuder told Dutch TV: "If you look at Napoli and Liverpool, you see that they are clubs who are too much for us.

"We are not good enough as a team at the moment. We have a lot of good players, but we are not good enough as a team. I can point to the players sold, but that doesn't matter now.


"The only thing I said before the game is that we had to be very brave on the ball. We weren't. We were not good on the ball and then you get into trouble against Napoli when you do that.

"If we are realistic, it is very hard for us to qualify now from this group. We have to go to Napoli next week and win.

"We will have to take a completely different approach because this result is unworthy of Ajax. We cannot accept that. We have to analyse this and look at what is best for Ajax."

I’ve been very critical of Gio.

But after reading that it has me wondering are we expecting too much in the champions league?
Click to expand...

I actually really like those comments. Very honest and devoid of the usual platitudes that defeated managers often revert to. So much of it could also be applied to us and truth be told, I'd be quite happy if gio came out with something like this rather than the uninspiring stuff he tends to deliver...
 
I don't see why the fans are getting the blame for expectations. Look at the support after the 3-0 defeat at home to Napoli. Essentially everyone agreed they are a level above and that we put a shift it, gave it a bit of a go and there was disappointment but no real moans.

Compare that to the humiliation in Amsterdam and Liverpool last night - there has been fan criticism because we looked like wee lassies for the whole of the two games.

For what it is worth, I didn't expect a point when the group was drawn - we have 3 excellent teams with us.
 
Clubs such as Liverpool spend cash on players that we or any Scottish based club can only dream about BUT, I do expect everyone of our players to play with pride and the same passion they showed on the Europa league and I just have not seen that. Yes, this is the CL and thats a step up but,we should still be able to put up a fight and do the basics correct and at the very least score at least 1 goal!
 
bilkobear said:
What I took from that was the phrase 'brave on the ball'.
That was what Gerrard taught our players to be in Europe.
Click to expand...

Gerrard did really well for us from a Europa league point of view.

However, you simply can’t compare the CL and the Europa league - the step up is ridiculous.

Brave on the ball, yes absolutely but the reality, it’s f’n difficult
 
Jose Calypso said:
After the game, Schreuder told Dutch TV: "If you look at Napoli and Liverpool, you see that they are clubs who are too much for us.

"We are not good enough as a team at the moment. We have a lot of good players, but we are not good enough as a team. I can point to the players sold, but that doesn't matter now.


"The only thing I said before the game is that we had to be very brave on the ball. We weren't. We were not good on the ball and then you get into trouble against Napoli when you do that.

"If we are realistic, it is very hard for us to qualify now from this group. We have to go to Napoli next week and win.

"We will have to take a completely different approach because this result is unworthy of Ajax. We cannot accept that. We have to analyse this and look at what is best for Ajax."

I’ve been very critical of Gio.

But after reading that it has me wondering are we expecting too much in the champions league?
Click to expand...
Seriously? Ajax attack we don’t .
Gio is out of his depth, good player for us and I was hoping he was going to be a great manager.
Unfortunately keeping the ball and hoping not to concede isn’t good enough.
I’m not talking about champions league either!
Ajax are miles ahead of us
 
Jose Calypso said:
After the game, Schreuder told Dutch TV: "If you look at Napoli and Liverpool, you see that they are clubs who are too much for us.

"We are not good enough as a team at the moment. We have a lot of good players, but we are not good enough as a team. I can point to the players sold, but that doesn't matter now.


"The only thing I said before the game is that we had to be very brave on the ball. We weren't. We were not good on the ball and then you get into trouble against Napoli when you do that.

"If we are realistic, it is very hard for us to qualify now from this group. We have to go to Napoli next week and win.

"We will have to take a completely different approach because this result is unworthy of Ajax. We cannot accept that. We have to analyse this and look at what is best for Ajax."

I’ve been very critical of Gio.

But after reading that it has me wondering are we expecting too much in the champions league?
Click to expand...

Please stop trying to under play our level of performances and make it out that these teams are just too good.

For 70 mins against Napoli we showed we could live with them and compete against them. At times they played some wonderful football but we played some excellent stuff ourselves creating some good chances because tactically we set up to contain but to get something from the game.

Last night we tried to get 0-0, that is what our managers goal was last night with that setup and it didn't work because we looked rudderless, players looked lost and Kent has given up in my opinion. As per every team that has taken points of Liverpool this season, they didn't sit back and watch them play, they forced errors, the played higher up and they tried to get at them.

Yes undoubtedly this is a step up in opposition in terms of Napoli and Liverpool but I still believe if we apply ourselves right and are tactically spot on then we can make life difficult for these teams and get results. Gio is way too negative and it shows when he finally changes to a positive formation we start to look more comfortable and create chances.

The fact he is so defensive tells the players he doesn't trust them.
 
They’ll probably finish third, they could still take something from Liverpool at home and they’ve got us again. Napoli are the form team and will win the group.
 
Tbh, coming away from there and not conceding 4+ goals in a positive for me and probably highlights some progress from the past 2 CL games.

They are operating on a whole different stratosphere than us. They are shopping in Cruise and buying Balenciagas and we are asking the lassie on the tills at TK Maxx if she has a pair of reeboks that don't have sick on them.
 
I'm sure we all realistically expected to lose yesterday, but as been said to lose in the manner we did is/was hard to take,ive been at cup games at anfield where lower league teams have set up better ,kept the ball better and made liverpool work for their win,we did none of these things,i was at the game with liverpudlian friends and they could not believe just how passive and poor we were, the poverty in our play was a talking point later on in the pub talking to other liverpool fans, something stinks at Ibrox at the moment and i am certainly one concerned bear about just where our club is heading
 
As above it’s the lack of desire and drive that is frustrating, I think we all expected a better showing from the team, especially after last seasons European run.
I will say that actually we are the best team Napoli have played so far! They have horsed the others with 11 players on the park. We were looking decent at 11 v 11, then the red changed the game.
We have 2 home games yet to play, ideally we take 6 points and have learnt from the previous meetings, but I would take 4 points at the end of the groups and the Europa league knock outs. (I’m half hoping Napoli are so far ahead in the group for the away game, that they aren’t arsed.)
This team have it in them, they just need to show the aggressive side to themselves and they can, but this season they have yet to turn up.
 
Burgh-Ger said:
Gerrard did really well for us from a Europa league point of view.

However, you simply can’t compare the CL and the Europa league - the step up is ridiculous.

Brave on the ball, yes absolutely but the reality, it’s f’n difficult
Click to expand...
I agree.
However, you can overegg the gulf in class.
Our attitude against Napoli made up to some extent for the difference in class, eventually succumbing through a penalty and the loss of a man.
Liverpool are a good side, but going through a sticky patch, had we perhaps shown more ambition we could have put some doubts in their mind.
Their defence is shaky at the moment, but until the last ten minutes, we never put it under any pressure.

Gerrard's first season saw us brave against Villareal in Spain, don't tell me there wasn't a gulf in class that day as well.
 
Jose Calypso said:
After the game, Schreuder told Dutch TV: "If you look at Napoli and Liverpool, you see that they are clubs who are too much for us.

"We are not good enough as a team at the moment. We have a lot of good players, but we are not good enough as a team. I can point to the players sold, but that doesn't matter now.


"The only thing I said before the game is that we had to be very brave on the ball. We weren't. We were not good on the ball and then you get into trouble against Napoli when you do that.

"If we are realistic, it is very hard for us to qualify now from this group. We have to go to Napoli next week and win.

"We will have to take a completely different approach because this result is unworthy of Ajax. We cannot accept that. We have to analyse this and look at what is best for Ajax."

I’ve been very critical of Gio.

But after reading that it has me wondering are we expecting too much in the champions league?
Click to expand...
Ajax haven't won in their last four games two defeats in the Champions League and one defeat and one draw domestically.

Their fans want Schreuder sacked they have also started to turn on the players . Bassey has been getting it tight in the last few games along with Tadic,Blind and Pasveer the goalkeeper.

The fans also have been critical of his tactics in fact reading their forum is very similar to reading ours at the moment. Everyone and Everything is getting slaughtered . When I read these comments it just reminded me of being on here.

Is there anyone who has the faith that Van der Sar dares to fire this man?

Van der Sar is a wimp and does not dare to make unpopular decisions, so we are probably stuck with awful Schreuder for a long time to come. We just have to get guys up in the squad now who say: %^*& off with this guy.

I see all those interviews with those players what softies. The trainer is not good enough and neither are the players except for a few. What a dredging year. Get it right out. Appoint Van Gaal over the winter and make some good purchases. What a mess it is.


Hasn't he been fired yet? How long does this take, tell me. I also agree that H2 should also go. Weighed on a very expensive scale and found to be too light.

I do wonder who should succeed Schreuder. In a few posts yesterday I said Traveler until the winter break and then possibly Van Gaal to finish the season. Anyway, the club is on fire.

Defensively, it has not been in a number of matches. It's like the Russian army at the moment. Open house, no communication, no agreements or keeping to it. Where was our left back last night? And Shirley Bassey, wtf.
- Communication between goalkeeper and defense, non-existent.
 
bilkobear said:
I agree.
However, you can overegg the gulf in class.
Our attitude against Napoli made up to some extent for the difference in class, eventually succumbing through a penalty and the loss of a man.
Liverpool are a good side, but going through a sticky patch, had we perhaps shown more ambition we could have put some doubts in their mind.
Their defence is shaky at the moment, but until the last ten minutes, we never put it under any pressure.

Gerrard's first season saw us brave against Villareal in Spain, don't tell me there wasn't a gulf in class that day as well.
Click to expand...

You forgot the gift of a goal after 45 seconds of returning to Europe's big stage in that game.

We were up against it that night and we matched Villareal. One of my favourite draws (if that's a thing).
 
Hurleyreyes said:
Not sure what everyone else expected.
But I was expecting a goal at least.

Maybe a couple of points.

But definitely some fight and character.
Click to expand...
This for me. Just want our team, who are not utter shite, to look or play utter shite.

Do the name justice, give us something to be proud of and to shout about.
 
Zwingli'sSausages said:
I doubt there’s a Rangers fan that is realistically disappointed that we’ve been beaten by the clubs we have. Getting 3rd and into the Europa is, and will be, our best outcome in the CL.

Our group made that task very difficult. However, it’s the performances that have been the disappointing part. And it’s not just in the CL.
Click to expand...

Exactly that, did I think we had a hope in hell? No!

But I thought we'd put a fight up
 
Jose Calypso said:
After the game, Schreuder told Dutch TV: "If you look at Napoli and Liverpool, you see that they are clubs who are too much for us.

"We are not good enough as a team at the moment. We have a lot of good players, but we are not good enough as a team. I can point to the players sold, but that doesn't matter now.


"The only thing I said before the game is that we had to be very brave on the ball. We weren't. We were not good on the ball and then you get into trouble against Napoli when you do that.

"If we are realistic, it is very hard for us to qualify now from this group. We have to go to Napoli next week and win.

"We will have to take a completely different approach because this result is unworthy of Ajax. We cannot accept that. We have to analyse this and look at what is best for Ajax."

I’ve been very critical of Gio.

But after reading that it has me wondering are we expecting too much in the champions league?
Click to expand...
No shit Sherlock
 
servicepoint said:
You mean not like Borna Barasic?
Click to expand...
I feel for Boran, he has a winger in front of him who compresses his option by nearly always coming back towards the ball.
Compare that to the movement of Liverpool's forward players last night who sought pockets of space in the last third making it easier for a pass from further back.
 
Sounds like a Dutchman running up the white flag. And when push comes to shove, nine times out of ten that sounds about right.

How we capitulated against them was inexcusable.
 
mark hateley said:
Gio hasn't got that ruthlessness SG has.

SG would have had us in their faces last night fighting for everything.

We just seem passive just now. How much time can we give GVB.
Click to expand...
Did you watch Gerrard's side away in Europe? Name one game where we were in their faces fighting for everything. Even the games we got excellent results were based on us defending fairly deep and counter-attacking well.

The biggest difference last night was we didn't play well on the break. That's partly players being a bit off-form, out of position or lacking confidence plus the fact that Liverpool pressed to win the ball back from us in a way that Braga, Benfica, Porto etc. didn't.

Defensively we were fine, and plenty competitive. If we'd been more in their faces would you really have wanted to concede more free kicks around our box?
 
The Lone Sniper said:
Gerrard's team never faced Europe's elite.

He'd have settled for 2-0 at Anfield.
Click to expand...
He definitely wouldn't have settled for the lack of fight, that's for sure.

As I've said in another thread if you stand back and let any team play even Scumdee Utd, nevermind Liverpool you will be in trouble.
 
Is it too much to expect the Europa League finalists to at least score a goal, get a couple of points here and there, and aim for a third place finish?

There were opportunities last night.

Perhaps if we'd recruited better, or didn't choose to spend on off field projects, that gap gets slightly smaller, at least to the point we're not getting embarrassed.

Board didn't continue to progress the club, failure.
 
Jose Calypso said:
After the game, Schreuder told Dutch TV: "If you look at Napoli and Liverpool, you see that they are clubs who are too much for us.

"We are not good enough as a team at the moment. We have a lot of good players, but we are not good enough as a team. I can point to the players sold, but that doesn't matter now.


"The only thing I said before the game is that we had to be very brave on the ball. We weren't. We were not good on the ball and then you get into trouble against Napoli when you do that.

"If we are realistic, it is very hard for us to qualify now from this group. We have to go to Napoli next week and win.

"We will have to take a completely different approach because this result is unworthy of Ajax. We cannot accept that. We have to analyse this and look at what is best for Ajax."

I’ve been very critical of Gio.

But after reading that it has me wondering are we expecting too much in the champions league?
Click to expand...
Of course we are!! Our support needs to be realistic we are way out of our depth. We can’t compete financially and that puts us at a huge disadvantage but the experts on FF can’t see or understand that.
 
bilkobear said:
What I took from that was the phrase 'brave on the ball'.
That was what Gerrard taught our players to be in Europe.
Click to expand...
Yes I think this is a critical point, there is a difference between your players not executing what you ask of them and not asking anything of them other than Be tight and keep the score respectable.

I also think as a support we are realistic, I came away from the Napoli game thinking Gio just fucked up the Ajax game, he’ll not make that mistake again after seeing what pressing in the right area can do for you while being solid (ish) at the back.

We are not angry with the results as much as the weak display and submission before a ball is kicked.

If he parked the bus and limited teams to 3-4 chances per game and even if we lost by 1 or 2 you could say he is selecting a game plan to try and get a result taking into account the gulf in class / finances.

But for poor finishing and good goalkeeping that was a 6 or 7 -0 game last night so what’s the point.

Lastly, performances like last night and Ajax will actually devalue your squad.
 
Jose Calypso said:
After the game, Schreuder told Dutch TV: "If you look at Napoli and Liverpool, you see that they are clubs who are too much for us.

"We are not good enough as a team at the moment. We have a lot of good players, but we are not good enough as a team. I can point to the players sold, but that doesn't matter now.


"The only thing I said before the game is that we had to be very brave on the ball. We weren't. We were not good on the ball and then you get into trouble against Napoli when you do that.

"If we are realistic, it is very hard for us to qualify now from this group. We have to go to Napoli next week and win.

"We will have to take a completely different approach because this result is unworthy of Ajax. We cannot accept that. We have to analyse this and look at what is best for Ajax."

I’ve been very critical of Gio.

But after reading that it has me wondering are we expecting too much in the champions league?
Click to expand...

Like me mate probably not, after the last 4 years I must admit I was, naively, expecting to finish 2nd in this group as we had done so well in the Europa.

I laughed at Celtic losing 7-0 to Barca and 7-1 to PSG.

The truth is in the years we were making our way through the leagues' the Champions League has been raised to a level way beyond what some of us had realised.
 
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