Erik ten Hag is not totally unsatisfied with Ajax’s 2-2 draw with PAOK in the first leg of their Champions League third round qualifier.
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Ajax took the lead through an own goal but PAOK fought back and led 2-1 at the break. In the second half, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar equalised to earn Ajax a score draw in Greece to take back to Amsterdam next week.
After the game, Ten Hag told Ziggo Sport why it went wrong in the first-half, “We started well, but then we had a lesser phase. We had a hard time fifteen minutes before the break and we conceded two goals. We kept making the same mistakes and were unable to correct them. Our positioning was not good, we could not find the free man in the build-up and it did not go well in our pressing. If one or two players do something different than we have agreed, you lose control.”
Ten Hag was happy with the second half, “We lost control before the break, but the second half was completely for us. We have been in charge for seventy minutes, that makes me happy, but it is not enough. We have to be in charge for ninety minutes, that will be next week needed to make another round. ”
A draw away to the Greek champions isn’t a bad result according to Ten Hag, “That we do not win the competition is a damper. But the result is fine, because this is the champion of Greece. But we are not there yet, we will have to improve to finish it in Amsterdam. A number of things may not happen to us, like that phase in the first half. There must be a self-regulating capacity in the team. ”