2/2

Jax also seems to know a lot about the layout of the digital circus

After he finds the bowling ball, he does a bit with rolling it down the 'zooble hole' where a bunch of bowling pins are. Could just be a joke, but the way it's shown and laid out seems more like he knew they were down there despite Kinger and Gangle having no knowledge of it, suggesting that it's not common knowledge for everyone to know it's exists.

There's also the fact Jax has access to locked areas.

The fact that Jax is even able to get into other rooms means he has to have some sort of abilities/IT admin rules within the digital world. But once again he turns the topic to centipedes to distracts Ragatha and avoid her asking further about it.

And once Jax goes to the Gloink nest you get this line:

He's been through this before, he's seen others be harmed and likely killed in this world and then go back to normal. So, that's heavy.

And once Kinger explains the concept of eating in the digital world, he immediately jumps to questioning on how he got that knwoledge:

It makes sense if Jax is the only real person who is aware of as much of the world compared to others though, since he likely is wanting to escape as well.

The fact that this is brought up is important, because it takes everyone watching the episode a while to realise that Jax is actually doing a ton of things to keep the place semi-calm. He's not some amazing figure, he is a douche to everyone, but considering the circumstances he needs a release. Or maybe that's just his personality.

No matter what, Jax knows a lot about the digital world and it's secrets and is pulling tricks like a purple Bugs Bunny to keep sane and prevent further problems. Whether it's to avoid irritating situations or whether he cares about everyone else is up to interpretation.

End of an Era: The Decline of Ajax Football Club

Explore the dramatic decline of Ajax, once revered as European football royalty, now struggling to maintain their former glory. From historic victories in the Champions League to a tumultuous season in the Eredivisie, delve into the unraveling of a footballing powerhouse. In this in-depth analysis, we dissect the series of events leading to Ajax's current predicament. From the departure of key figures like Director of Football Marc Overmars to a chaotic summer transfer window, discover the internal turmoil plaguing the club. As Ajax finds itself outside European contention, questions loom over the club's future. Can they reclaim their identity and rebuild from the ruins? With the rich history and traditions of Ajax as a backdrop, explore the possibilities and pitfalls that lie ahead for this storied institution. https://youtu.be/q37_Da_33-g?si=jquZPMvmEYgVC2pM Certainly, here's a more detailed expansion on the summary: Ajax's Glory Days and Recent Decline: Ajax Football Club has a storied history in European football, with numerous Eredivisie titles, Dutch cups, and European trophies to its name. However, in recent years, the club has experienced a significant downturn in form and performance. Memorable Champions League Run in 2019: Ajax captured the hearts of football fans worldwide with their impressive run in the 2018-2019 UEFA Champions League. They defeated top teams like Real Madrid and Juventus on their way to the semi-finals, playing an exciting brand of attacking football that harked back to their glory days. Departure of Marc Overmars: The troubles for Ajax began with the departure of Marc Overmars, the club's director of football, due to a scandal involving inappropriate behavior. Overmars played a crucial role in recruitment and player sales, and his absence created a void that the club struggled to fill adequately. Internal Conflicts and Recruitment Issues: With Overmars gone, Ajax faced internal conflicts and recruitment issues. Short-term fixes and uncertain promises led to dissatisfaction among players and agents, making it difficult for the club to maintain its previous success in identifying and nurturing talent. Player Departures and Inadequate Replacements: The departure of key players, including Dusan Tadic, further weakened the squad. While Ajax managed to profit from player sales, the replacements failed to match the quality and experience of those who left, exacerbating the team's decline. Managerial Changes and Instability: The departure of manager Erik ten Hag to Manchester United added to the club's instability. Maurice Steijn, brought in to revive Ajax's attacking identity, struggled to implement his tactics successfully, leading to poor performances on the pitch. Humiliating Defeats and Fan Unrest: Ajax's decline was underscored by humiliating defeats, such as the loss to Feyenoord, which led to unrest among the club's ultras. The dissatisfaction among fans grew as the team struggled to maintain its traditional style of play and identity. Straying from Traditional Philosophy: The club's acquisitions, including the signing of Jordan Henderson, were viewed as departures from Ajax's traditional philosophy of promoting youth talent and playing attractive football. This further alienated supporters who cherished the club's heritage and values. Hope for Redemption: Despite the current challenges, there remains hope that Ajax can rebuild its identity and return to its former glory. Transparency in football operations, strong leadership both on and off the field, and a renewed focus on the club's renowned academy and footballing principles could pave the way for a resurgence. Resolving Fan Unrest and Building for the Future: Resolving the growing unrest among fans will be crucial for Ajax's future success. The club must communicate openly with supporters, provide justified reasons for crucial decisions, and work towards reestablishing trust and confidence in its leadership and direction. Read the full article

NONNO CRUNCHES THE NUMBERS

Anyone who’s been around here a while knows that I’m big into numbers. I like fooling around with numbers. Bend ‘em. Twist ‘em. See if they actually mean anything or possibly mean nothing at all. I’ve always been a bit of a stat head since I was a kid. Rotisserie baseball and eventually other fantasy sports were the gateway drug. All that drafting and number crunching was fun. 

Soccer seemed immune to real statistical analysis until the last few years. For me it started with an obsession on shots off target. During the Banter era we were often near the top of the league on shots but near the bottom of % of shots on target. That meant large numbers of shots off target. As much as I love him, Bonaventura was the main culprit.  Those shots into the stratosphere meant lots of free kicks for the other team. Essentially they were giveaways. Like punting at the oppositions goal line in American football.  All those ‘give aways’ drove me crazy. Oh lord the flashbacks. 

Moving on.

This age thing is more recent. It first popped in my head a few years ago when Ajax made their run in the  2018-2019 Champions League. They relied on a youthful side to knock out both Real Madrid and Juventus before ultimately bowing out to Spurs in the semi-final. It was a great run and the world was blown away by how they had committed to youth and done so well. By the end of that year they were starting a team that featured mostly guys 25 and younger (De Ligt, De Jong, Onana, Ziyech, Van De Beek) with a few old heads sprinkled in (Tadic, Blind, Huntelaar) mixed in. By the end of that year they had 456 appearances by players 25 or younger. An impressive 7.8 per game. 

Quick aside: Tell me if you’ve heard this one before... old guy at CB (Kjaer/Blind) paired with a young buck (De Ligt/Tomori)? Vets up top to score the goals (Ibra/Giroud/Tadic/Huntelaar)? Young keeper that is quick off his line and good with distribution (Maignan/Onana)? That sound familiar folks? 

That got me thinking. How did Milan compare? At the time the Milan team we had was pretty young too. We had Donnarumma, Calabria, Kessie, Romagnoli and Hakan amongst others that were all young and playing some serious minutes. Low and behold I did the math and we had 424 appearances by players 25 and younger that same season as Ajax’s run.  Also? We played less games than Ajax, only 48 compared to their 58.  Do the math and it averaged out to 8.8 appearances per game by players 25 and younger for Milan. Whoa. Mind blower. Did this mean we were as good as Ajax? No. Lol. No, no no. However it did appear to indicate we were moving in the right direction. Progress! For the first time in AGES we weren’t one of the oldest teams in the league. The youth movement was real.

Fast forward to the present. 

Last weeks ‘Youth Movement’ column focused on appearances by players aged 25 or younger for Serie A teams. I went all the way through the league adding up the appearances. The idea was to see which teams were truly giving youth a chance and which were just loading up on older players to either chase a Scudetto or survive the relegation battle. It’s not so much how many young players are rostered on a given team but more importantly how many are actually playing. There’s no youth movement if you have several 20 year olds riding the bench watching a bunch of 30 year olds get all the playing time. 

Towards the end of last weeks column it occurred to me to compare those appearances versus the ‘average age’ of a squad. Some teams were as expected. Inter is older. Spezia is young. Both Milan and Verona were both sort of outliers. Milan had all these youth appearances but were still dead center of the pack in average age at 26.7 years old. On the other hand Verona had the 5th youngest roster in the league at 25.5 years old even though I knew they relied on players that were older than Milan’s core. How could this be? 

This from last weeks column:

“Many times you’ll see folks flaunt the average age of a squad. That’s great and all but it can also be very deceiving. Milan is the perfect example of this. If you look at a list of average ages in the league you will find that Milan’s average age is 26.7. That puts us in 9th, right in the middle of the pack. Remember though that our backup keepers are 38 and 36 years old. Also Zlatan is 40. If you take those 3 out, 2 of which don’t play, all of a sudden we become the second youngest team in the entire league at 25.1 years old”

This told me that we needed something better than just the average age of a roster or total appearances. There had to be a better number. Something that involved both age AND playing time. So how do we solve that and come up with a real indicator of the age of a team? Simple. Do some math and the result is what we will call the ‘True Age’ of a team. My examples? Of course it had to be Milan and Verona!

So what I did here was take the age of each player on each team and multiply that by the minutes they played. Minutes played made more sense than appearances since a 90 minute game means a lot more than a 10 minute appearance off the bench. For example, Mike Maignan is 26 years old and has played 2700 minutes in the league this season. 26 * 2700 = 70200. Take that formula and apply it to each player on the team and then add them up. That gives you one giant total. In Milan’s case that number is 919295. What does that mean? Nothing without some more math. Next we have to figure out how many total minutes have been played by Milan this year. That’s simple: 11 players * 36 games * 90 minutes per game = 35640. So you take 919295/35640 and come up with what I would call the ‘True Age’ of Milan’s team: 25.79 years old. That’s a full year younger than the average age of the roster, which of course makes sense. 

Next I applied the same formula to Verona’s roster. They seemed to be the opposite of Milan so they seemed a worthy target. After a lot more math I came up with a True Age of 26.97 years old for Verona. This of course also made sense since I knew that even though Verona’s average roster age may have computed to 25.6 years old the guys that actually play most of their minutes are almost all older than that. 

So hypothesis hypothesized and now hypothesis has been tested. Scientific method for the win! The results seem favorable. In the future we will go further. We can then rank the True Age of each team and see what kind of rankings we have then. We could also apply it to different areas of each team. How old is your defense? Your midfield? Your attack? Your starting XI? We can then take that true age and apply the idea to all different sections of different teams. 

For next time I’ll apply this to the rest of the league and do a side by side comparison with average age of rosters.

Cheers 

Lisi

PS: I couldn’t resist the temptation so I’ll have you know the TrueAge of Milan’s backline comes out to 25.9 years old. 

Midfield? 24.06 

Attack? 26.5 

Starting XI? 24.3

Dead ​Barcelona have failed in an attempt to land Valencia star Rodrigo Moreno and Ajax captain Dusan Tadic in the January transfer window, as the reigning Spanish champions appear to have run out of time and options in the search to bolster their attacking options for the remainder of the season. La Blaugrana were dealt a significant blow when Luis Suarez underwent knee surgery, which will keep him out of action for around four months, leaving the Catalan giants short of 'number nine' style... Via All the latest breaking football news, transfer rumours, analysis, and match reports - 90min http://www.90min.com/

#football #soccer #worldcup #fifa #fifa18 #worldcup2018 #russia #shorts #analysis #matchday #wk2018 #costarica #serbia #milinkovicsavic #matic #tadic #ivanovic #kolarov #ljajic #costa #ruiz #navas #diaz

2018 World Cup Preview and Team Analysis: Group E

Yesterday, we analysed the teams in groups C and D. Today in our 2018 World Cup Preview, we will be focusing on teams in group E

  GROUP E BRAZIL

The Selecao are the most successful team in the World Cup history, having won it on 5 occasion. They are also the only team to appear in every edition since its inception in 1930.

They were the first country to qualify for Russia. Their talisman Neymar, who has been out for three months though back injury in training will definitely be influential when they kick off their campaign. The question is, will he be fully fit? Remember Germany spanked them by Seven goals to One in the semi finals of the last World Cup when he was injured in the quarter finals.

Dani Alves will be missed after he was injured in a league match for PSG. They still have a good back up in Danilo. The surprise omission in the squad has to be David Luiz. This is not unconnected to the fact that he didn’t get enough playing minutes during the EPL season.

Managed by Tite, the Brazillian national team have really shown in a short period the reason why they are being considered favorites to win the world cup

The star studded team includes the likes of Casemiro, Gabriel Jesus, Marcelo, Paulinho etc.

They should easily top their group an even make it as far as the finals

  COSTA RICA

The Los Ticos finished second to Mexico in the Concafa region to qualify for Russia. Last time in Brazil, they surprised all odds to finish top in the group of death that had Italy, England and Uruguay and made it as far to the quarter finals.

Not much is known about the team, but they have Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas to rely on, Bryan Luiz who is on the verge of having the most caps for the National team and Joel Campbell of Arsenal who was shipped on loan to Real Betis to get the goals for them.

We don’t fancy their chances to progress pass the group stage

 SWITZERLAND

The Swiss set a record in Germany 2006 where they didn’t concede a goal till they were eliminated by Ukraine via penalty shoot out in the round of 16.

Their best appearance in the World Cup is reaching the quarter finals and it was last achieved in 1954.

They missed out on automatic qualification to Portugal via goal difference, they defeated Northern Ireland by a lone goal in the two legged play offs through a controversial penalty converted by Ricardo Rodriguez.

Their squad include Murphy Akanji who is a defender alongside Johan Djourou, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Granit Xhaka distributing in the middle though he had an injury scare few days ago.There is also Vahlon Behrami shielding the back four and the diminutive Shaqiri causing havoc down the wings. They will be relying heavily on Josep Drmic and Breel Embolo for goals.

They are not expected to make it pass the round of 16

  SERBIA

The Eagles were formerly known as Yugoslavia, later changed to Serbia and Montenegro till the 2006 independent referendum that split them to two countries.

Their last appearance in the Mundial was in 2010 and couldn’t make it past the group stage.

They qualified for Russia after topping their group that had the likes of Austria, Wales and Ireland.

They have an in form Aleksander Mitrovic, Nemanja Matic, Branislav Ivanovic, Aleksander Kolarov, Dusan Tadic, Luka Milivojevic that hardly misses a penalty kick and other fine players.

The 2nd position in this group should be between them and Switzerland.

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Meet The JR Smith Of European Soccer

The captain of Ajax is a Golden Boy. Its goalkeeper, right back, left winger and two-thirds of its starting midfield aren’t old enough to rent a car without a surcharge in the United States. Ajax has won four European Cups in its history, but as teams in England, Germany, Italy and Spain have all risen into a new economic bracket, the Amsterdam club has been forced to focus on youth — coaching them up and then selling their rights for profit. Last summer, it was 19-year-old Justin Kluivert to Roma for $19.67 million. This summer, it will be 21-year-old midfielder Frenkie de Jong to Barcelona for a club-record $85.5 million.

The current iteration of the club has been called a “talent factory” — and it is — but you need more than just youthful exuberance to play in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, as Ajax does Wednesday. Ajax’s most important player isn’t a kid; he’s 26 years old. He was born in the Netherlands but represents Morocco on the international stage. He’s a ball hog who didn’t join the club until he was 23. Ajax’s hopes of overcoming Juventus in the Champions League rest on the shoulders Hakim Ziyech, European soccer’s version of JR Smith.

In soccer, it’s really hard to be the kind of unrepentant gunner, chucker or volume shooter (or whatever other euphemism for inefficiency you may prefer) we see in a sport like basketball. In basketball, the best-case scenario for an off-balance, midrange jumper is only 2 points, and those 2 points don’t have much value. (NBA teams are averaging more than 111 points per game this season.) But the upside of taking a shot in soccer is quite different, since every shot has a chance of becoming a goal, and goals are very valuable. According to a study done by the authors of the book “The Numbers Game,” a goal is worth about 1 point, or one-third of a win.

Soccer’s structural limitations seem to have emboldened Ziyech. The only way the attacking midfielder can be mentioned in the same breath as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo is by firing off shots. Among players in Europe’s top five leagues1 plus the Dutch Eredivisie, only Ronaldo has taken more shots per 90 minutes than Ziyech, while Messi sits third. But unlike those two legends, Ziyech isn’t taking good shots. According to expected-goals data provided by Opta Sports, Ronaldo’s average attempt has a 10 percent chance of finding the back of the net, while Messi produces 12 percenters on average (though he typically converts his chances at a much higher rate than the models suggest). Meanwhile, Ziyech’s chances average out at just 7 percent. In fact, among all players who average at least 3.5 shots per 90, almost no one takes worse shots than Ziyech. In other words, he is the most inefficient volume shooter in the highest levels of the soccer world.

Ziyech makes up for this inefficiency by doing everything, and doing it all the time. Despite a lanky 5-foot-11 frame, he eats up space with the choppier steps of a much smaller player. In Ajax’s 4-1 victory on the road in the Champions League Round of 16 against Real Madrid, no player took more shots, played more crosses or attempted more combined tackles and interceptions.

Ajax’s leaders in three major offensive statistics, 2018-19 season

Statistic Ziyech Runner-up Shots 130 61 Dribbles 139 74 Chances created 87 75

Through April 6, 2019

Source: WhoScored.com

In the Eredivisie this season, Ziyech leads Ajax in three major attacking statistics — by a wide margin. Here, again, you can see Ziyech’s inefficiency. Despite attempting more than twice as many shots as any of his teammates, Ziyech is second on the team in goals (15, to Dusan Tadic’s 20). But his passing is what makes all of the bad shots worth it. Just look at this thing:

There's doing a Big Switch, then there's the perfect camera angle to watch Ziyech do a Big Switch.pic.twitter.com/NVh1JPF5Fx

— MUNDIAL (@MundialMag) February 27, 2019

While calculating a player’s expected goals does a pretty good job of determining just how good of a goal scorer he is, it’s harder to measure the effectiveness of most passing stats. Things like pass-completion percentage, chances created and assists lack the necessary context to show how much they contribute to winning.

But some analysts are trying to change that. The newest issue of the Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports includes a paper from a group of Dutch researchers who used machine learning to create a model that determines how much value is gained or lost by every pass a player does and does not complete. Using more than 9,000 matches in seven leagues2 from 2014-15 through 2017-18, they measured the quality of a player’s passes by looking at the pass’s location, type, timing and success or failure. According to their analysis of the 2017-18 season, Ziyech was the eighth-most-effective passer last year. (Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil was first, Manchester City’s David Silva second and Messi third.) In volume and variance, Ziyech’s passing is a lot like his shooting — it’s just much more effective.

“Hakim Ziyech was the most influential passer in the 2017/2018 Eredivisie season,” Lotte Branse and Jan Van Haaren, two of the paper’s authors, told me via email. “We found that Ziyech creates a lot of value by completing successful passes. However, at the same time, he also tends to take risks and thus loses quite some value by performing unsuccessful passes.”

There are plenty of promising passing prospects in this current Ajax team, too. De Jong and Brazilian attacker David Neres rank third and fifth, respectively, in the study among all players under the age 23.

Ajax’s young stars are the headliners. After all, the team captain, defender Matthijs de Ligt, is just 19 years old. But the prospects are buttressed by the contributions of veterans like Ziyech, plus 30-year-old Tadic and 29-year-old Daley Blind, who both joined from Premier League clubs over the summer. Each of them cost more than $12 million to acquire.

Behind that mix of young and old, Ajax heads into the quarters with a 44 percent chance of advancing to the semis, according to FiveThirtyEight’s projections. Whether it does will partly depend on how many of Ziyech’s shots, passes and dribbles end up working out.

Check out our latest soccer predictions.

from News About Sports https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/meet-the-jr-smith-of-european-soccer/

Eredivisie 2018/19 Tactical Analysis: Ajax vs NAC Breda

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Eredivisie 2018/19 Tactical Analysis: Ajax vs NAC Breda

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Ajax hosted NAC Breda in the Johan Cruyff Arena on their return to Eredivisie action. After their unfortunate Champions League loss to Real Madrid midweek Ten Hag’s men looked to recover with a win over the relegation candidates. Having received a boost on Saturday after Heerenveen held on to draw 2-2 with PSV, Ajax had the opportunity to regain some much-needed points on their rivals.

The Amsterdam club showed no signs of a team in poor form. Dominating from the very beginning, Breda were disposed of in a five-goal thrashing. While 15 years ago Zlatan Ibrahimovic dismantled the Breda defence with a moment of individual brilliance, it was the collective excellence of the Ajax squad that prove to be the deciding factor in this meeting between the two sides.

Lineups

Interestingly Ajax remained unchanged to their match midweek. David Neres retained his place in the starting XI as Tadic was moved to a more traditional forward position. Kasper Dolberg and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, therefore, were relegated to the bench.

Relegation strugglers NAC Breda set up in a largely defensive back five. Defender Palmer-Brown returned to the starting XI after their defeat to AZ Alkmaar. Top scorer Te Vrede was still suffering from tendon problems so Gervane Kastaneer started up top.

NAC Breda defensive structure

Throughout the match, Breda set up to concede the majority of possession and attempt to break on quick counters. When Ajax had control of the ball, they organised themselves in a 5-4-1 mid-block. The general idea for their defensive structure in the first half at least seemed to be to have a numerical advantage and force Ajax into wide areas. They focused this by having the four midfielders stay narrow and tight, allowing Frenkie de Jong and Daley Blind to dictate play in these areas.

NAC Breda’s narrow defensive structure was intended to force Ajax into wide areas.

The away team’s forwards placed very little pressure on the ball in the first phase. This can be a genuine tactic in a low lying, compact set up as you do not want players coming out of their structured position in these situations. Pressing the first phase of build up naturally means that players must stray from their intended positions. In order to gain an advantage from this, the team needs to sit deep and limit the amount of space offered to the opposition to a minimum. Breda did not do this.

Instead of deploying a low block, Breda were positioned higher up the pitch. Therefore they allowed for space in behind their final line of defence. With no pressure on the Ajax buildup, De Jong, Blind and Schone were able to pick apart the Breda defence with ease.

Despite their narrow structure, Ajax easily found gaps between the lines due to a lack of pressure on the ball and passive centre-backs.

Ajax rotations

A familiar feature to Ajax’s possession play was on show within this game. Positional rotations are a huge tool in Ajax’s locker and they often utilise them to devastating effect. It was intriguing to see how the second-placed team reacted to being at such a natural numerical disadvantage in the final third.

Ajax like to match their opponent’s defence in numbers so as to make a series of one-on-one matchups. Due to NAC Breda’s five at the back system, Ajax often positioned Frenkie high up in the left half-space. A slight difference to his regular positioning deep in the left half-space, this allowed Daley Blind to take more responsibility in the buildup.

Ajax created scenarios in which their attackers matched the Breda defence one-on-one, leaving Tagliafico and Mazraoui free on either wing.

It also allowed for some intriguing rotations on the left. With De Jong occupying the right-sided centre-back, Neres could drop to receive in the half-space. After forcing the right wing-back Van Anholt to press Tagliafico on the ball, De Jong dropped in order to create space. With Neres making the run in behind, Blind had the option of clipping the ball over for the Brazilian to run on to.

NAC Breda looks to Feyenoord for inspiration

Despite their limited time on the ball, the away team clearly had a set plan for when they gained control. Looking to Feyenoord’s six-goal demolition as an example of how to attack the title contenders, Breda set up to stretch the Ajax defence as much as possible.

Setting up in a 3-4-3 system in possession, they used the full width of the pitch to try to exploit Ajax’s narrow defence. A typical pattern was for the team to build up on the left-hand side before playing a pass into the feet of Kastaneer. The Dutchman would then play a wall pass toward one of the two central midfielders so he could switch the play. This would ideally leave the Ajax full-back isolated against a Breda wide forward and wing-back.

Although not often, Breda’s wide structure in possession did create some gaps in the Ajax defence.

Unfortunately for Breda, although these moves brought some opportunities their play in the final third was lacking. Often they would be one pass away from creating a good shooting opportunity, only for the pass to be misplaced.

Conclusion

In a must-win match for Ajax, the title challengers were clinical in their dispatching of the relegation fodder. Unfortunately for Breda, Ajax were too versatile in their attack for them to stand any chance. After PSV’s dropped points earlier in the gameweek, this was an important week for the Amsterdam club. After a rough restart from the winter break, Ajax seem to have found their form just in time.

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Champions League: Ajax insiders: "Storm is highly rated

Check out http://sportworld.news/champions-league/champions-league-ajax-insiders-storm-is-highly-rated/

Champions League: Ajax insiders: "Storm is highly rated

With Ajax Amsterdam and FC Basel, only two balls were in the bowl in the end. Moments later, Sturm had certainty: The Graz team would face the traditional Dutch club in the 2nd qualifying round of the Champions League, Heiko Vogel’s wish opponent and former Basel club were denied a storm. The first leg will take place on 25 July at the Johan Cruijff ArenA in Amsterdam, the second leg on 1 August in Graz. Both stadiums are already sold out.

“You are the favourite, there are no two opinions,” says managing director Günter Kreissl. “But we want to win and move forward.” After all, the people of Graz know what to expect. Which is hard to say at Ajax – because Sturm replaced half the starting eleven in the summer. If you ask around in the Ajax environment, the respect for the people of Graz is certainly great. The scars are still too fresh after the gossip against Red Bull Salzburg (2014) and Rapid (2015). Both times the Eredivisie Club lost out.

The journalist Mike Verweij has accompanied Ajax for many years and writes down his impressions in De Telegraaf. For him, the distribution of roles before the first leg is not completely clear. “Coach Erik ten Hag will not underestimate Sturm. Holland may have a big name in football, but Austria is ahead of us in the UEFA ranking. Ajax must show humility”, says Verweij in an interview with SPOX and also points to an unsuccessful preparatory game: “The performance against Anderlecht was very, very weak”. Ajax had to admit defeat 1:3 with a strong team.

Storm’s tense personnel situation – numerous top performers such as Thorsten Röcher, Deni Alar and James Jeggo bid farewell – raises a few question marks in the Dutch capital. The total conversion makes a structured analysis of the opponent difficult. “Storm is still highly rated. Hosiner became top scorer and can replace Alar, and with Heiko Vogel they have a clever coach who, like Ten Hag, coached Bavaria’s second team. In addition, the many changes of players make storm difficult to calculate,” says Verweij, who even estimates the chances at 50:50.

“Again, Ajax was really weak against Anderlecht. Moreover, the preparation was exceptionally mixed,” says Verweij. “World Championship participants Schöne, Dolberg, Tagliafico and Ziyech started the practice late, the Dutchmen De Ligt and van de Beek had longer holidays. Frenkie and Siem de Jong were injured for a long time. According to Ten Hag, it was one of his most difficult preparations ever.”

Follow Mike Verweij on Twitter

Nevertheless, the quality of the Ajax squad is outstanding. And was prominently reinforced in the summer. With Dusan Tadic (Southampton, 12 million euros) and Daley Blind (Manchester United, 18 million euros), two experienced players were exceptionally signed. “Ajax has made a lot of money selling some of the big names like Kluivert, Davison Sanchez or Davy Klassen in recent years. In the past, these players used to be staffed with talents,” says Verweij. “Now, however, no title has been won in four years. Therefore, the transfer policy was reconsidered and experienced players were hired.”

Until the duel with Sturm, Ajax will no longer be a top performer. Only Hakim Ziyech has a minimal chance. The Moroccan was already in agreement with AS Rome, but after an offer was rejected, the Italians no longer contacted, as Verweij reveals. Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong are also in great demand from Barcelona to Munich. “But sports director Marc Overmars refuses to negotiate at all. Verweij is sure that no player will be sold before the duel with Sturm.

Daley Blind’s commitment is not good news for legionary Max Wöber. For Verweij it is clear that the record transfer from Amsterdam will come as a central defender and will take place on the left side of De Ligt. Perhaps not yet against Sturm, but at least afterwards: “Daley didn’t play a lot last season, a run against Sturm is a race against time. The first game? Heavy.”

However, they are by no means dissatisfied with the Austrian. Wöber made 22 league appearances in his debut season. “Wöber has played a rather unfortunate second round, but in any case has potential – defensively and in the player opening. He is a good boy, but the general impression is that he is still too good. He needs to develop more self-confidence – after all, he is now an ajax player.”

In the first leg, the ex-Rapidler still has a place in the starting line. Verweij sees the biggest problems for the North Dutch, if storm should settle in the own penalty area. “Ajax has the biggest problems when his opponent doesn’t take part in the game and waits for a counterattack,” Verweij analyses. “If the opponent plays, Ajax usually wins. I think standard situations could play a big role like at the World Cup – also for Ajax. “Tadic and Ziyech are two fantastic shooters.”

This is also similar in Styria. In an interview with SPOX, newcomer Philipp Hosiner gave his first thoughts about the duel with Ajax Preis. “It has just been seen at the World Cup that the team with the better individual players did not always win. There is a lot about team performance or the standard situation. We will also get our chances against Ajax, just as every team had chances against the big teams at the World Championships,” says the 29-year-old and takes Croatia as an example: “They saw how the Croatians fought their way through to the final with a passionate performance. “I’m convinced we can do the same thing against Ajax.”

Southampton's Tadic Honors Boufal's 'Great Target' Vs West Brom.

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Romelu Lukaku scores again Manchester United hold on late at Southampton

FC’s Craig Burley breaks down Romelu Lukaku’s immediate impact for Man United this season with his fantastic scoring ratio. Craig Burley recaps Saturday’s Premier League results, headlined by another commanding Manchester City win. Romelu Lukaku has six goals in six Premier League matches as Manchester United win again. Romelu Lukaku has six goals in six premier league matches as Manchester United win again. Jose Mourinho was sent to the stands by referee Craig Pawson in the waning moments of Man United’s 1-0 win at Southampton. Jose Mourinho blends Man United’s win with a laundry list of the things they could have done better to see out Southampton. Mauricio Pellegrino says his side controlled ‘90%’ of the game against Man United, but simply couldn’t convert chances.

SOUTHAMPTON, England — Three thoughts on Manchester United’s 1-0 win over Southampton at St Mary’s in the Premier League.

1. United march on with narrow win

Manchester United remain level with Manchester City at the top of the Premier League, although this was not a win to occupy too much space in end-of-season video compilations. It was, however, the kind of victory title-chasing teams tend to eke out and, although Southampton responded well after Romelu Lukaku scored what proved to be the winner, United are picking up results in a manner that has eluded them of late. The dismissal of Jose Mourinho, who gave Craig Pawson no alternative but to remove him from the dugout when he encroached onto the pitch in added time, made no odds, and United now have a fine chance to continue their momentum at home against Crystal Palace next week.

Lukaku’s 20th-minute opener came after a bright, brisk start from both sides that brought little in the way of opportunities. When one arrived, he made it count, although his finish came at the second attempt after Fraser Forster brilliantly saved his initial header from Ashley Young’s cross. Dusan Tadic should have prevented Young from checking onto his right foot to make the chance; Wesley Hoedt might have been stronger in his defence against Lukaku, too.

The goal played into the hands of a United side equipped to counter at speed, and Marcus Rashford, lively from the beginning, came close to doubling the lead with a free kick that flew narrowly wide. Opportunities remained scarce, though, with a poor challenge from Shane Long — appearing to tread on Marouane Fellaini’s Achilles — the opening period’s only other on-pitch flashpoint. Off it, more may yet be heard about the brief return of Manchester United fans’ controversial chant about Lukaku — one that the striker had urged them to “move on” from — in the moments after his goal.

Southampton emerged sharply from the half-time break and missed a presentable chance to equalise when Oriol Romeu, presented with the opening after United had not dealt with a corner, could only screw wide from six yards. David De Gea was then required to smother an angled effort from Nathan Redmond, and Cedric Soares crossed only slightly ahead of Long. United were firmly content to operate on the break now, and in the 66th minute, they could have made the game safe when Forster foiled Lukaku with his legs. 

Yet the home side continued to threaten, and Romeu came close again when, getting on the end of an intricate move that he had started, he shot narrowly past the far post from an angle. Substitute Ander Herrera missed a chance to make the game safe shortly afterward; it did not matter in the final analysis, and United can consider this a tricky hurdle cleared.

Manchester United kept pace at the top with rivals Man City, eking out a 1-0 victory at Southampton.

2. Lukaku’s match-winning impact is what United craved 

Lukaku’s scruffy winner will not win any awards, but the more contributions like this add up, the more his summer arrival from Everton starts to look like a possible title decider. He has now scored six in as many Premier League games, and eight in eight if you count all competitions. This was, in fact, his first directly match-winning strike, but this was exactly the kind of game he was purchased to settle.

Make no mistake, United would probably have drawn this game last season. In fact, these sides’ previous meeting — in May — was turgid and goalless. This was a livelier affair, but United rarely sparkled, and as the second half progressed, they retreated deeper and deeper. It ended up being a classic case of getting the job done away from home. To make that work on a regular basis, you need a reliable goal scorer.

Mourinho will not be happy with aspects of his side’s overall performance. While looking for the counterpunch away from home is hardly a bad tactic, there were shades of recent seasons here, United dropping too deep, too soon. Fellaini and Nemanja Matic showed little presence on the ball in midfield, inviting unnecessary pressure against fairly moderate opposition. The absence of Paul Pogba clearly hurts in fixtures like this; the Frenchman gets you up the pitch, relieving pressure and perhaps adding something in attack too.

In the end, Mourinho felt obliged to opt for the safety-first option, introducing Chris Smalling midway through the second half and reverting to the three (or five) at the back system for which he has shown disdain in the past. They held out, even if he was not around to see the final whistle — but Lukaku was the man United had to thank.

Romelu Lukaku made it eight in eight for Manchester United, as his first-half goal held up as the game winner.

3. Southampton need firepower to stave off sense of drift

This was a feisty performance by Southampton, particularly in a much-improved second half. They were competent in most areas, and there is no shame in ultimately being defeated by a more-accomplished side.

Yet for all their enthusiasm out wide and smart approach play in the middle of the pitch, there was little punch to go with it and never any clear sense that they believed they could bloody United’s noses. Mauricio Pellegrino’s reign is still young, and Southampton look nailed-on to be a comfortable midtable team, but they lack the kind of identity needed for a shot at anything better.

An obvious problem lies up front, where they have been short of presence since the departure of Graziano Pelle and looked short here. Long is an indefatigable runner but has never scored regularly enough; Manolo Gabbiadini and Charlie Austin are better finishers, but Pellegrini clearly has doubts about their ability to contribute more widely. Redmond and Tadic provide a mixture of industry and decent service from the flanks, but there was little sign here of anyone capitalising.

In other areas, there are strong blocks to build from. Mario Lemina oozed quality in midfield, just as he did at Crystal Palace the previous weekend, and the former Juventus player will only get better. Romeu, alongside him, is now 25 and fast becoming the player Chelsea once held such high hopes for. If Virgil van Dijk, again kept on the bench here, can be reintegrated for the next few months, at least after a summer of transfer speculation, the Saints should be able to play with greater defensive authority than they showed in the build-up to Lukaku’s goal.

Change is, at least, in the air. Before kick-off, the club’s new majority shareholder, Gao Jisheng, had been introduced to the home supporters. The strains of “My Way” briefly followed on the public address system. Southampton need to discover what, exactly, their way is.

Nick Ames is a football journalist who writes for ESPN FC on a range of topics. Twitter: @NickAmes82.

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Liverpool Vs Southampton: Result

Southampton reached the EFL Cup final at Wembley with a fully deserved victory over two legs against Liverpool - crowned by Shane Long's late winner at Anfield.

Claude Puel's side, defending a 1-0 lead from the first leg, should have put the tie out of Liverpool's reach inside the first 45 minutes but Dusan Tadic's close-range shot was blocked by keeper Loris Karius and captain Steve Davis blazed another great chance wildly over.

Liverpool raised the tempo in front of the Kop in the second half but Daniel Sturridge wasted their two best chances, Fraser Forster acrobatically hooked an Emre Can shot off the line and the hosts also had a late penalty appeal turned down when substitute Divock Origi tumbled under Jack Stephens' challenge.

But Southampton broke clear in the closing moments and Long finished convincingly from Josh Sims' pass to send them into the their first final in this competition since 1979, where they will meet either Manchester United or Hull City - a feat achieved without conceding a goal.

Saints Superior Over Two Legs

Southampton's date at Wembley on 26 February is a rich tribute to this brilliantly run club and their understated French manager Claude Puel.

Saints were vastly superior over two legs against Liverpool and, despite the home side's complaints about that late penalty claim, no-one could seriously begrudge them their victory.

And it was all done without their talisman and key defender Virgil van Dijk, out through injury. Southampton were dangerous on the break in the first half and then, when they needed to be, were superbly organised, disciplined and determined defensively before breaking for Republic of Ireland international Long to strike the killer blow.

Southampton have once more demonstrated their ability, as a club, to take the blows of key departures and still achieve.

They lost manager Ronald Koeman to Everton in the summer - as well as important components such as Victor Wanyama and Sadio Mane to Spurs and Liverpool respectively - and have carried on undisturbed with a Wembley appearance as their reward.

Liverpool Lose Their Way - One Win In Seven Matches

Liverpool failed to make 73% of possession tell at Anfield and had only three shots on target

Liverpool's laboured performance was in stark contrast to the all-action attacking displays that briefly took them to the top of the Premier League earlier this season.

Jurgen Klopp's side looked jaded and have lost their way, with only one win in seven games this year, a third-round FA Cup replay victory at League Two Plymouth Argyle.

Liverpool look shorn of threat without £34m summer signing Mane, away at the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal, and lacking an alternative plan when teams as disciplined as Swansea and Southampton have been in inflicting two successive home defeats.

Sturridge felt the frustration of Liverpool's supporters for a poor performance and two missed chances, while substitute Origi looks short of confidence.

Klopp's decision to play Can and Jordan Henderson together in midfield backfired badly and his decision to leave out Georginio Wijnaldum was questionable.

Saints Profit From Fine Margins

Divock Origi went down under the challenge of Jack Stephens late on but referee Ben Atkinson gave no penalty

Southampton's players enjoyed every second of their celebrations with their fans in the Anfield Road end as they looked forward to the chance to win their second major trophy, following an FA Cup triumph over Manchester United at Wembley in 1976.

Saints had several anxious moments in the second half, especially when goalkeeper Forster dropped Can's shot behind him then recovered miraculously to claw it off the line as Sturridge closed in.

They also survived two penalty appeals - for handball against Long and that fall from Origi - but this was a glory night for Southampton and one they fully deserved.

Man Of The Match - Southampton's Oriel Romeu

Oriel Romeu was solid in the heart of Southampton's midfield and consistently broke up Liverpool's play

Analysis - 'Southampton Totally Outplayed Liverpool'

Daniel Sturridge watched on as Fraser Forster atoned for spilling Emre Can's shot by hooking the ball off the line

BBC Radio 5 live pundit Mark Lawrenson: "Absolutely, totally and utterly deserved. They always, always carried that goal threat. They played with so much pace, so much directness. Over the two legs they have totally outplayed Liverpool. They thoroughly deserve the Wembley appearance."

A First For Klopp - The Stats You Need...

◾ This is the first time Jurgen Klopp has lost a semi-final as a manager, progressing from the previous six. ◾ Southampton have reached the final without conceding a single goal. ◾ iverpool have failed to score in all three games v Southampton this season in all competitions. ◾ Claude Puel is unbeaten in six games against Liverpool as a manager (W3 D3). ◾ This is just the second time Liverpool have been eliminated in six League Cup semi-finals (the other v Chelsea in 2014-15). ◾ The last time Liverpool failed to score in either leg of a semi-final was in the 1970-71 Fairs Cup v Leeds.

'Seven Good Chances' - What The Managers Said

Claude Puel has not lost in six matches in which he has faced Liverpool

Southampton manager Claude Puel: "It is fantastic for all the squad and a good reward for their hard work. It was difficult to find this opportunity to play a final at Wembley. In the two legs we deserved the win. We were fantastic in the first leg at home and tonight we had chances in the first half.

"In the second half it was difficult but now we go to Wembley, not just to participate but to win this cup. I have been there once, just to watch France beat England."

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp: "They won both games, they deserved it. We did really well. We cannot create more chances than we did in the second half - we were dominant. It is difficult because you have to take risks but too many risks plays to their strengths.

"We had seven good chances. You have to score, and we didn't do, so we lost. I'm fine with the performance but not the result."

What's Next?

Liverpool host Championship side Wolves in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday at 12:30 GMT, while Southampton travel to Arsenal in the same competition at 17:30.

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Spot Tottenham Hotspur are through to the 2019 Champions League final and will face Liverpool thanks to Lucas Moura's hat trick after an extraordinary second half fightback in Amsterdam on Wednesday evening. The hosts took an early lead when captain Matthijs De Ligt rose highest from a Lasse Schone corner to powerfully head home, putting the Dutch side in a commanding position after just five minutes. Ajax doubled their advantage in the 36th minute when Dusan Tadic laid off Hakim Ziyech who... Via All the latest breaking football news, transfer rumours, analysis, and match reports - 90min http://www.90min.com/

ersy Real Madrid will take an aggregate advantage back to the Santiago Bernabeu, after downing Ajax 2-1 in a match where they struggled for large parts and were thankful a controversial intervention from VAR. ​It was the home side who made the brighter start, pressing Madrid into regular mistakes at the back with an extremely effective high press.  They were comfortable on the ball too, and had a great a chance to open the scoring after 25 minutes, when Dusan Tadic was played through on goal,... Via All the latest breaking football news, transfer rumours, analysis, and match reports - 90min http://www.90min.com/

UEFA Champions League 2018/19 Tactical Analysis: Ajax vs Real

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UEFA Champions League 2018/19 Tactical Analysis: Ajax vs Real

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Make no mistake about it, Real Madrid are football royalty. They have been crowned European Champions for the last three seasons and even now, as they undergo a season of transition, they are exceptionally dangerous. If Real Madrid are kings, however, then Ajax are princes of the game. Long held up as an example of how to develop youth players we are seeing Ajax start to play on the field as well as they are regarded off of it.

At Real Madrid, we have seen significant unrest this season. When club legend Zinedine Zidane chose to step down at the end of last season he did so after winning the Champions League over Liverpool. The club originally turned to the Spanish national team coach Julen Lopetegui. It was, however, quickly apparent that the Spaniard was out of his depth and the club and he has since been replaced by the former Ream Madrid player Santiago Solari.

Ajax, on the other hand, are relatively stable this season. Dutch coach Erik ten Hag was appointed last season and is now in his first full season in charge at the club. Over the summer they retained the majority of their key players, with the exception of Justin Kluivert, and they recruited intelligently.

When the draw for this match was made there was an argument that Ajax may actually have been favourites. They had impressed in the group stage despite a difficult group and were playing well domestically. Real Madrid, on the other hand, were struggling for consistency both in Europe and in domestic competition. Since the draw was made we have seen Ajax stumble domestically, including a 6-2 loss to fierce rivals Feyenoord. Real Madrid have at the same time rediscovered their consistency and are starting to find their swagger.

Team News

There was a slight surprise with the Ajax team news in that the Brazilian winger David Neres came into the team to play in the wide areas. This saw the Serbian attacker Dusan Tadic moved centrally although in truth Ajax played the match without a fixed striker. The Barcelona-bound Frenkie de Jong was the headline act in midfield and Matthijs de Ligt is the key man in defence.

The pass network above shows that Neres and Hakim Ziyech on the other side played relatively close to Tadic and on the same line as the Serbian. This narrow positioning saw the three of them interchange positions from time to time.

The Real Madrid team news headline was that the left back Sergio Reguilon continued at left-back with the Brazilian international Marcelo continuing to be marginalised. In attack, Karim Benzema played centrally whilst Gareth Bale and Vinicius Junior played in the wide areas.

Ajax press

One of the key factors in the match, or in the first half at least, was the method that Ajax used to press the ball and disrupt Madrid as they tried to progress the ball forward. As the Spanish side tried to settle into the match they were hounded continuously by Ajax as they pressed and forced the ball back towards the Madrid goal.

In the initial line of pressure, the Ajax forwards that were closest to the ball at any given moment would press the ball whilst keeping Madrid players in their cover shadow. This essentially means that they would press at an angle that would prevent the ball from being passed to a player behind them.

In the second line of pressure, the Ajax players marked their opponents tightly man to man. This prevented Madrid from being able to play easily into the central areas of the pitch. The way that Ajax pressed ferociously saw Madrid struggle to play with any consistency in attack.

In this image, you can see again the pressing in the first line from Ajax. As they look to progress the ball through the central defender. There are three Ajax players in the first line of pressure and each of these is moving at an angle that keeps three Madrid players in their cover shadows.

Ajax ball progression

When in possession of the ball Ajax moved forward in waves of attacking pressure that stretched the Madrid defensive structure to breaking point. With technical players of the quality of Hakim Ziyech and Dusan Tadic in the final third Ajax were always dangerous. The key came in the first third of the pitch as Ajax looked to progress the ball forwards into the more technically capable players.

The club captain for Ajax, Matthijs De Ligt, was instrumental for Ajax both in the defensive and attacking phase. Not only is he the best young defender in European football he is also a player with the capability to play and contribute in the attacking phase.

As we can see above Daley Blind is initially in possession of the ball. Instead of looking to play a vertical pass into an area of the field that was congested he plays the simple lateral pass into the central area. When De Ligt takes possession of the ball his first instinct is to drive forward with the ball. As soon as he moves into advanced areas he forces two opposition players to move to engage the ball. As the two Madrid player engage the ball Ajax attackers can move in and exploit the space.

The other method that Ajax used to progress the ball initially saw Frenkie De Jong drop back to the side of the defensive line. He drops deep to pick up possession of the ball before driving forward. As he did so he forced the Madrid players to move to engage him to press the ball. As they do De Jong is able to release the ball at the right time to move through the press into advanced areas.

Final third movement

If the methods that Ajax used to progress the ball forward in this match were impressive their interchanging of positions in the final third was even more so. With no fixed striker holding the highest line we saw Ajax move in and out of it. This movement saw Madrid struggle in the initial phase of the match to find a working defensive structure.

With the ball initially with Daley Blind the pass can either be played to Nicolas Tagliafico, the left-back out wide, or David Neres, who had moved into the half-space. As this pass is played it triggers the far-side defender for Madrid to move over to cover closer to the ball. As he does so he leaves a 2v1 advantage for Ajax on the far side of the penalty area.

We also saw Dusan Tadic move from the highest line in order to create space in and around the defensive line that could be exploited by the other attacking players. As he moves deep towards the ball he offers a passing option but it was the movement beyond that which caused Madrid issues.

As Tadic moved deep David Neres and Donny van de Beek would move to the highest line. This constant movement made it difficult for Madrid to effectively defend.

Conclusion

In the end it was something that tactical analysis cannot account for that made the difference in the match. The disallowed goal for Ajax, chalked off by VAR, meant that Ajax went in at the break 0-0 as opposed to having a lead. The winning goal in this 2-1 win for Madrid came late on and left Ajax feeling robbed. On the balance of play they deserved far better.

The second leg in Madrid will be a difficult match for Ajax but they should approach it with confidence having already shown that they are a match for the European Champions.

If you love tactical analysis, then you’ll love the digital magazines from totalfootballanalysis.com – a guaranteed 100+ pages of pure tactical analysis covering topics from the Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga and many, many more. Pre-order your copy of the February issue for just ₤4.99 here, or even better sign up for a ₤50 annual membership (12 monthly issues plus the annual review) right here.