Ajax boss Erik ten Hag believes his side’s Champions League exit was undeserved.
- Follow Football-Oranje on Twitter
Ajax just needed to avoid defeat against Valencia on Tuesday to reach the knockout rounds. However, Valencia came away from Amsterdam with a 1-0 victory.
After the game, Ten Hag told Veronica, “We did not score, but we did have the chances. It was completely unnecessary, because we hardly gave anything away, except for two moments before the break. That is incredibly bitter.
“The disappointment is very big. We played a good group stage ten points. We were on the verge of qualifying. We deserved it, but it is not. You have to look at yourself if you do not enforce it,”
Ajax now drop into the Europa League but Ten Hag isn’t willing to think about that yet, “I want to let this sink in. We wanted to hibernate in Europe, but the disappointment prevails. Sunday (against AZ) Is now more important than the Europa League.”
Yes, hard to take.
Van De Beek and Lang in the team together doesn’t do the side justice.
They are Davy Klassen type players. They are ok but at the highest level of world football they just don’t cut it.
They rely on other players, in this case Tadic and Ziyech.
They are pass-pass-pass players.
If Neres or Promes had been there it would have been a different story.
Ajax needs to build a deeper squad.
And Dutch football needs to stop rewarding these type players at the expense of the players who are able to dribble and shoot under pressure.
Bad summer signings, couldn’t replace De Jong and Shone in the midfield, Alvarez has no qualities at all , he can’t pass the ball or receive it right , no creativity also , very disappointing really