Ajax coach Erik ten Hag: ‘Then you run behind the facts’ | Football

sport">Ajax had two chances in the first 10 minutes via David Neres and Sébastien Haller. “They have to come in, at our level. Then such a match will be very different”, said Ten Hag. “The pace was too slow in the remainder of the first half. Then you run into damage.”

sport">Ten Hag also had compliments for his old employer. “FC Utrecht was very good, compact. But it’s up to us to create space. Our creatives just weren’t quite right. This is bitter, this is coming. You get these kind of taps throughout the season. We will have to show a different mentality.”

Timber: ‘It just wasn’t good’

sport">Jurriën Timber thought that Ajax had to blame for the defeat. “The pace was too slow, there was little movement,” the defender told ESPN. “We didn’t create a lot, it just wasn’t good.”

sport">“It was not a nice atmosphere afterwards, the trainer does say something.” Quinten Timber, Jurriën’s brother who came in for FC Utrecht, had more reason to laugh. “Fortunately, I’m going to the Dutch national team tomorrow, then I won’t hear him for a while,” said Jurriën.

sport">Midfielder Davy Klaassen shared his teammate’s opinion about Ajax’s game. “We were not great today. FC Utrecht tried to disrupt our game, but they also tried something themselves. They did well, but I think we should just beat Utrecht.”

sport">After returning from injury, Klaassen lost his place in midfield to Steven Berghuis. “I just want to play, I think that’s clear. I think Steven is a very good player and boy, but everyone wants to play.”

FC Utrecht coach Hake: ‘A lot of things were right for us’

sport">René Hake remained quite calm and sober after the surprising victory of FC Utrecht, from the outside that is. The coach said he was proud of his team’s performance. “I am very happy with the way the boys presented themselves. When you play against Ajax, you know that you have to fight hard to make it a real match. We succeeded,” he said in the Johan Cruijff ArenA.

sport">Ajax had two good chances in the first 10 minutes, but after that Utrecht didn’t give much away. “You know that they are looking for the 1-0 very quickly. We survived that phase,” Hake looked back. “A lot of things were right for us today. It starts with the organization the moment Ajax has the ball. This means that the mutual distances must be correct, both in length and width. The coaching must also be mutually beneficial. It’s generally easier if you’re closer together than if you’re too far apart. The moment you can maintain that, you will also grow in the competition. Then you also see that you can recognize and seize the moments to start playing football yourself.”

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