Ajax managers comments from last night.

I’ve not seen anyone expect us to do well in this group.

Everyone is in shock that in 2022 after spending a decent amount of money we are lining up with McGregor, Davis, Arfield.

The clubs being run poorly and that has nothing to do with the players here right now, they can’t fix that.
 
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?
Seriously, what was anyone expecting from us in the CL, in this group?
Amsterdam was unacceptable, not for the result but for the way we capitulated.
Napoli at Ibrox we did okay until the red card.
Last night we were taken way way outside our comfort zone but we never capitulated like we did v Ajax.

Was anyone expecting anything else?
 
Here is what the problem is, its symbolic of a disasterous summer transfer strategy and archiac submissive tactics.

We set up with two midfielders and one of them was a 37 year old Steve Davis. If I said we'd doing that in the champions league at the end of the season we'd all accept something was going seriously wrong.
 
The Champions League is merely a revenue generating exercise to us.

It's a few exhibition games against other clubs for massive TV money.

There's no point getting too worried about performances in it, unless we get utterly tanked 6 or 7 nil at home.
 
It’s not the results or expectations…it’s the manner of the defeats and our approaches to the matches, too many players not giving their all and a management team who are overly negative .
We can play a defensive formation and still try to hit on the break but GVB seems incapable of doing that, even when we look to be in a position where we can cross a ball in or push forward we either pass the back the way or their are no players commiting to get in the box.

It’s frustrating as hell watching it…god knows how some of those players are feeling actually playing in it. We built a team using our full backs to bomb forward, our entire ethos was built around it, now Gio has slammed their brakes on and we offer very little going forward but still utilise the same players.

It’s rotten to watch, i would see the sense in sticking with it if we had seen any sign of reward but we are quickly regressing and something needs to give.
 
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?

This is my criticism of Gio and it comes down to coaching, skills development and tactics.

We could - and should - be doing better with the players we have. Our technical skills are lacking.

For example, how many times does a pass go behind the player forcing him to stop his run or come back for the ball? Why are we always passing laterally rather than playing the ball into channels for our quicker players to run on to? Why are out build ups so slow? Where is the movement off the ball? Why don't we play balls in behind the defence for our quicker players to run on to? Who is our midfield playmaker? Do we have a midfielder who can make that killer pass?

I absolutely accept that we don't have players at the level of a Napoli, Ajax or Liverpool. But we should be aspiring to be a better team than we are today. Maybe it's just a question of time and Gio can get us there. If he can't then maybe we need to be looking for someone who can.
 
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...
The Ajax manager’s comments are anything but “inspiring”.
 
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 aporoach 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?
That there is the difference.
Gio won't,he'll do the exact same,protect the zero blah blah blah.pass around the back 4/5 getting nowhere,and eventually give the ball away.
He's turned us from a team that got stuck in and went toe to toe with decent sides from all over europe,to a team that's shit scared every time we step on the pitch.
 
A ten man Malmo never happened I guess.
What is your point caller?
Under Gerrard, we went from getting put out of Europe by a team from Luxembourg to regular football after Christmas on a budget that in European terms was fairly slim.
During that period I saw us play as boldly in Europe as I can remember.
We seemed fearless although not unbeatable.

Why are you so keen to disabuse the achievements under Gerrard?
 
A ten man Malmo never happened I guess.

Gerrard never faced this quality.
It shows how much the team reflect the manager.

Gerrard was all fight, relentless, energetic, driven. That was until he was supposedly unhappy at the lack of funds and clearly wanted to go down south.

That 1 or 2% drop off in his intensity was evident in the team, but they were still clear at the top of the league.

This team reflects this manager. No energy, no intensity, no fight, very conservative. That wasn't how Gio played, but it's how he comes across in the press, on the touchline, and in his tactics.
 
It is 12 years since we last played in the Champions League. Anyone who thought we would do anything in this group knows nothing about the game. Think back to the 90s when we had Laudrup and Gascogne but we were still getting tanked by Juve, Ajax and losing to teams like Grasshoppers, Strasbourg. The pace of games in the CL is far faster than it was then. The level of technical ability is also much higher. Domestically, we are used to having 60/70% of possession and playing in the opponent’s half of the pitch. In the CL it is the exact opposite. At EL level we are more comfortable. We can cope. The ideal situation for us is CL Group qualification for the guaranteed up front money available and 3rd place to carry into the EL with a good chance of further progress, more gate receipts and prize money. Napoli have done us a massive favour in that regard. I expect a better performance next week to give ourselves a chance to make that happen. If we do get 3rd place that would be a huge achievement.
 
I don’t think any Rangers fan realistically thought we would be fighting for one of the top two positions. The very minimum we should have expected though was the players and manager to at least have some fight and determination, three games in and we haven’t seen that.
 
I still think Ajax looked the best team we've played so far. Their shape caused us all sorts of grief.

We competed well against Napoli until the red card.

Liverpool, as much as they dominated us and had a few great efforts saved. It was a world class free kick and a penalty that separated us.
 
Going into these games against the likes of Ajax and Liverpool and not expecting many points, is understandable in my view. But knowing that and still play negative, cautious, boring football, is where my understanding and sympathy stops. At least get beat having a go, with the team playing with some adventure, that positive attitude action can carry into the domestic games. Getting beat by Liverpool in the CL, should not negatively impact in our domestic games imo, attitude matters at all levels of the game. Be bold not boring.
 
We were out of form against Ajax - it happens to all teams during periods

The other two games have probably went as expected given the gulf in financial terms

I think we would take points in other groups this year

Our history in the champions league is awful even when we had money
 
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?


Anyone expecting anything other than a solid humping in this group has their head in the clouds
 
I don’t think any Rangers fan realistically thought we would be fighting for one of the top two positions. The very minimum we should have expected though was the players and manager to at least have some fight and determination, three games in and we haven’t seen that.

How do you measure that though? "Fight and determination."

Did Ajax have fight and determination last night? Did Sporting fight at Marseille? Did Atletico show determination away to Brugge? Did Leverkusen go to Porto and just not bother trying?

This is the Champions League. All of the teams are good (except one) and in our case we got stuck in a very tough group with very good teams.

What seems to be happening here is that we have to rationalize the defeat. 2-0 at Anfield isn't a terrible result. It just is what it is and plenty of other teams have had worse. We can't have a defeat without something being criticized though and since we objectively don't have the talent to go against Liverpool we have to blame something subjective like "fight".
 
When the draw was made, we never stood a chance. That's the reality.

But it's the manner of performance that we have been putting in. Gutless in many parts.

That's the unacceptable face of this team and manager selections.
 
The performances and humiliation is my issue. The fact that we are getting beat by Europe’s elite comes as no surprise to me.
Nor to me.

But ever since we qualified, there has been a defeatist attitude, emanating from the mgmt team, and the board.
Which in all honesty in my opinion, has filtered down to the players.

Some of these players, including our Captain, look like they are over awed to be even playing at Anfield and Ajax, and simply can’t handle playing in this competition.

I also believe the board decided very early on, there is little point throwing any more money into this European venture, and so quickly decided we have to do a cash grab, and get as much as we can before we are turfed out of Europe all together this season.

Meanwhile the supporters suffer defeat after defeat, and watch all the good run’s in Europe over the last few seasons all get undone in one.

Still never mind.
Like I said before.

This will leave more time now to spend visiting the museum, and handing over even more money to the club.

I would say, job well done gents!
 
Meanwhile the supporters suffer defeat after defeat, and watch all the good run’s in Europe over the last few seasons all get undone in one.

This will leave more time now to spend visiting the museum, and handing over even more money to the club.

What is this mindless nonsense?

There was always the chance that when we got into the group stage we were going to have to eat six defeats out of six and the compensation for that was "The CL Money" that everyone spent last season screaming about.

The only other sane alternative was that we get beat by PSV and go and enjoy some competitive nights in the Europa with a near certain chance of playing in at least the Conference after xmas.

We were never, ever, going to intentionally lose to PSV so we have found ourselves where we are.

You are not seriously suggesting that the board should just blow all the CL and transfer money on some absolutely mental attempt to compete in the competition? That would be beyond reckless and stupid.

Absolutely nobody at Ibrox is thinking "let's get put out of Europe ASAP so we can funnel fans into the museum".

Sometimes I worry that people on this forum are just trying to see who can come up with the most unhinged crap in the aftermath of any defeat.
 
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?
Yes ...and even if we don't want to hear it or admit It GVB has been alluding to it since the start of the group stage , his hands are tied with our recruitment policy . Bet you the Ajax manager doesn't / won't get the same abuse .
 
All I expect is desire hard work aggression what we have got is a scared side with zero intention of even getting in these teams faces sand off great teams you’ll get walked over
 
After the 3 games in Europe, I am convincedwe are playing in a different league. All these teams are so much richer than us and it shows in the quality of the players and their management groups. We have spent our European money and player sales on infrastructure and cleaning up our balance sheet which was, I must admit long overdue. However, we can't spend the same money on two different things and the Board decided that the team was good enough to compete in the league and the European cup.

We are now seeing the results and we don't like them but, I can see the Board's point. The infrastructure will last for years and this year's Euro scores won't. I feel that the board made a pragmatic point and spent the absolute minimum on player costs.. We can't go out and spend 20 million on a right winger or 50 million on a center forward and to be honest, we never will be in that position unless we join the EPL We are stuck between a rock and a hard place, no TV money, Biased and bigoted officials and a league of teams who actively hate and despise us.

We can only hope and pray for a softening of the English attitude towards a Scottish team joining their pyramid and with the SNP in power that will be a long time coming. Until then, we will have to grin and bear it. Beating the papes is all we have left to lift our spirits so let's keep giving them a doingat every opportunity. If we finish the second bottom I am all right as long as these bas***s are one position below us.
 
If you’re team ain’t not good enough, we’ll take Bassey back then. ;)
Bassey was all over the place last night. And not in a good way.

But back to the original point - even Klopp said that we had a good run last year but it’s a big jump up this year for us and these things take time, it all doesn’t happen in the space of a year.
 
What is this mindless nonsense?

There was always the chance that when we got into the group stage we were going to have to eat six defeats out of six and the compensation for that was "The CL Money" that everyone spent last season screaming about.

The only other sane alternative was that we get beat by PSV and go and enjoy some competitive nights in the Europa with a near certain chance of playing in at least the Conference after xmas.

We were never, ever, going to intentionally lose to PSV so we have found ourselves where we are.

You are not seriously suggesting that the board should just blow all the CL and transfer money on some absolutely mental attempt to compete in the competition? That would be beyond reckless and stupid.

Absolutely nobody at Ibrox is thinking "let's get put out of Europe ASAP so we can funnel fans into the museum".

Sometimes I worry that people on this forum are just trying to see who can come up with the most unhinged crap in the aftermath of any defeat.
Mindless nonsense?

It’s an opinion.
Calm your jets.

I am suggesting Gio got a free hit, with this competition.
Which seems unfair to him, seeing as he got us to the Europa Final, and qualified us for the group stages of this competition.

No.
I am not suggesting we go out and blow everything on this competition.
Far from it.

But it would have been nice for maybe the board to show a bit more faith in the manager and his team, seeing as they didn’t with Gerrard either, by bringing better quality players.
So we would have a better chance at having a ‘decent’ go at it!

You disagree?
 
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?
Get him sacked.
Negative pish.
Probably Dutch, stubborn boring tactics!!!!
 
How do you measure that though? "Fight and determination."

Did Ajax have fight and determination last night? Did Sporting fight at Marseille? Did Atletico show determination away to Brugge? Did Leverkusen go to Porto and just not bother trying?

This is the Champions League. All of the teams are good (except one) and in our case we got stuck in a very tough group with very good teams.

What seems to be happening here is that we have to rationalize the defeat. 2-0 at Anfield isn't a terrible result. It just is what it is and plenty of other teams have had worse. We can't have a defeat without something being criticized though and since we objectively don't have the talent to go against Liverpool we have to blame something subjective like "fight".
Well I’ll put it this way, do you think the team have shown the desire to compete like they have in previous European campaigns?
If we don’t have players to compete technically with the top teams ( which I accept we don’t) then surely it’s not much to ask to at least go down giving your all? So far we are going down with a wimper.
 
The performances and humiliation is my issue. The fact that we are getting beat by Europe’s elite comes as no surprise to me.
Pot 4 teams are cannon fodder generally in the CL. Take a look at Plzen last night in Munich, 4-0 down at HT.

We ended up in one of 2 groups of death, we were always going to be up against it. Our team cost lest than £20m to put together up against 3 teams who can outspend us.

Ajax, was a humiliation. Napoli and last night weren't.

I expect us to be a bit more open at Ibrox against Liverpool next Wednesday, but not by much.

We have really punched above our weight in Europe in the last few seasons but this season the jump in class is just a bit too much for us.
 
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?
Some people certainly are and to be honest are detached from reality. The gulf between the haves and the have nots in football nowadays, is a chasm. Norwich banked £100m for finishing bottom of the league last season. Teams at the top end are getting up to £150m every year, plus tens of millions more from Champions League, sponsorship or ticket receipts. In CL terms, we aren't so much a small fish in a big pond. Financially we are plankton in an ocean. The draw could have been kinder to us and I'd certainly like to have seen more of the Napoli (for 65 mins) performance v the other two teams, but in terms of actually being competitive at this level, with the group we've got, it's not really realistic. And spunking an extra £10m - £15m in the summer would most likely have made much, if any, difference.
 
It's the performances that are disappointing. Against Ajax and Liverpool we had no belief. We were in the game against Napoli until the sending off . We have played teams who are better than us last year and won. Just wish we would stand up and go head to head with them.
 
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.
Your last paragraph is something that a lot of our fans really need to get their heads round.

When the CL started, we were arguably the biggest club in Britain. As the TV money has grown not only in the EPL, but throughout Europe, particularly in the big 5 leagues, we have been left trailling behind.

So much so that the SPFL are happy to tie us to Sky Sports for the next 8 years to allow the diddy clubs to play in half empty stadia, just as long as they can get their hands on whatever scraps Sky are throwing the SPFL's way. They have absolutly no desire to get better or try to better Scottish Football.
 
Well I’ll put it this way, do you think the team have shown the desire to compete like they have in previous European campaigns?
If we don’t have players to compete technically with the top teams ( which I accept we don’t) then surely it’s not much to ask to at least go down giving your all? So far we are going down with a wimper.

I think we haven't played teams of this quality in the previous European campaigns.
I think the only player I would accuse of not giving his all last night was Tillman.

Possibly Morelos and Kent but Liverpool were so dominant it actually becomes a difficult question to answer.

Lundstram and Davis were not great but again they were up against real quality and under real pressure.

Europa League you might have a Feyenoord or Porto or Braga coming to Ibrox and finding themselves unable to cope with the atmosphere and unable to get full control of the game, Napoli just had that extra bit of composure and competence on the ball. Away from home you have teams that simply are not able to dominate the game the way Ajax and Liverpool did and so we will get more space and time and opportunity in places like Liege or even Dortmund last season.

"Giving it your all" is such a nebulous and subjective concept here. Obvious in a performance like Tillman's for sure but not so obvious elsewhere on the pitch.
 
Some people certainly are and to be honest are detached from reality. The gulf between the haves and the have nots in football nowadays, is a chasm. Norwich banked £100m for finishing bottom of the league last season. Teams at the top end are getting up to £150m every year, plus tens of millions more from Champions League, sponsorship or ticket receipts. In CL terms, we aren't so much a small fish in a big pond. Financially we are plankton in an ocean. The draw could have been kinder to us and I'd certainly like to have seen more of the Napoli (for 65 mins) performance v the other two teams, but in terms of actually being competitive at this level, with the group we've got, it's not really realistic. And spunking an extra £10m - £15m in the summer would most likely have made much, if any, difference.
Absolutly bang on.
 
I think we haven't played teams of this quality in the previous European campaigns.
I think the only player I would accuse of not giving his all last night was Tillman.

Possibly Morelos and Kent but Liverpool were so dominant it actually becomes a difficult question to answer.

Lundstram and Davis were not great but again they were up against real quality and under real pressure.

Europa League you might have a Feyenoord or Porto or Braga coming to Ibrox and finding themselves unable to cope with the atmosphere and unable to get full control of the game, Napoli just had that extra bit of composure and competence on the ball. Away from home you have teams that simply are not able to dominate the game the way Ajax and Liverpool did and so we will get more space and time and opportunity in places like Liege or even Dortmund last season.

"Giving it your all" is such a nebulous and subjective concept here. Obvious in a performance like Tillman's for sure but not so obvious elsewhere on the pitch.
In recent seasons we have played and Benfica Dortmund and Leipzig and more than held our own Because despite these teams being financially stronger than us and with a better calibre of players we at least competed, so far after three games we have saw nothing close to that.
 
In recent seasons we have played and Benfica Dortmund and Leipzig and more than held our own Because despite these teams being financially stronger than us and with a better calibre of players we at least competed, so far after three games we have saw nothing close to that.

How do you conclude that it's down to effort though?
Can you quantify that or is it just a sense that we weren't giving our all?

Leipzig (and Braga) away wasn't too far away from last night. They made a good few chances, 10 actually, and had 4 on target and we sat back and tried to hold them out as long as we could. Dortmund were giving us a hard time at the start but we got the goals and changed the game. Benfica went down to 10 men after 19 minutes and still managed to clawback our 3-1 lead in the last 15 minutes.

At home there were long spells where Leipzig had possession and chances. Dortmund gave us a very difficult 1st half before we really killed them off in the 2nd half. We lost a 2 goal lead to Benfica again at Ibrox.

We got the results and we competed well. Was all that just down to effort? Was there maybe just a wee bit of luck involved too?

I'm seeing people with a feeling that the players didn't try hard enough but not a good enough explanation of exactly how or what that even looks like.

Like I said, I think you could only hold Tillman up as an example of a player not giving their all last night. Morelos and Kent, I am not sure about because of how Liverpool dominated the game. The rest I felt were giving what they had to give.
 
S
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?
Schreuder saying this isn’t a glowing endorsement of Gio. He’s under a fair deal of pressure at Ajax.

Btw, anyone expecting progression from this group was deluded, but the surrender at Ajax was utterly embarrassing. Liverpool a huge step up in quality, granted, but there was a lack of belief in the players last night that isn’t quality related. It’s mental.

We’re rocking up to the UCL with Arfield, Davis, McGregor all seeing meaningful minutes. McGregor’s performance last night doesn’t justify his new deal, btw.
 
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.


Re SG maybe we need a sticky on the board pointing out he left us for Villa and as far as I know has zero interest in returning .
 
I hope Gio can still get a tune out of the players, but last night stunk and much of it was due to his selections.
His passive approach seems to be sucking the fight out the squad. SG had instilled a backbone into them that is completely missing. I think the Manager is a decent guy but this approach is all wrong for our club and will ultimately cost him his job.
 
S

Schreuder saying this isn’t a glowing endorsement of Gio. He’s under a fair deal of pressure at Ajax.

Btw, anyone expecting progression from this group was deluded, but the surrender at Ajax was utterly embarrassing. Liverpool a huge step up in quality, granted, but there was a lack of belief in the players last night that isn’t quality related. It’s mental.

We’re rocking up to the UCL with Arfield, Davis, McGregor all seeing meaningful minutes. McGregor’s performance last night doesn’t justify his new deal, btw.
I’m not saying it’s an endorsement of Gio.

But if a team he can pay is £20 odd million for our best player are struggling maybe we need a wee bit of perspective
 
What I took from that was the phrase 'brave on the ball'.
That was what Gerrard taught our players to be in Europe.
I watched the game on replay last night and if anything, Ajax were too "brave on the ball". Too many risky passes in their own half and when attacking, not keeping enough players back to guard against the quick break. They tried to pass the ball quickly around Napoli, but the moves kept breaking down and Napoli then carved their defense open. I know that's the Ajax style of play, but it wasn't working, and they made no adjustment for this. Hence the 6 goals conceded. The Napoli players showed incredible energy and aggression. They must be on the extra-strength caffeine tablets. And Spalletti is a w@nk.
 
Your last paragraph is something that a lot of our fans really need to get their heads round.

I get more annoyed than anyone during a game but the next day, once the dust has settled a tad, you do start to understand and realise why we are finding it so difficult in these first 3 games back in the UCL.
 
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