AZ trainer Arne Slot acknowledges that his team can squeeze hands with the 1-1 draw against LASK Linz in the Afas Stadium. The Alkmaarders were very sloppy and that was especially true for playmaker Calvin Stengs.
Although LASK is known for its dangerous standard situations, the Austrians took the lead after a throw-in. “I think it is a fault of Ramon Leeuwin in particular,” Slot says FOX Sports. “You may not have that much distance to your direct opponent. He is still trying to block him, but then he invades. That is the great strength of that team.”
Initially, there was not much going on for AZ, but the home team did not really get any opportunities either. “But the goal was a very annoying moment, because I felt that we were increasingly looking for opportunities.” His team sometimes took too much risk in this, Slot admits. “I think it is great that we have a lot of players who want to go for a chance very quickly, but we also recognize that sometimes it is a bit less at 180 kilometers per hour.”
Stengs, among others, took a lot of risk and was therefore sloppy. “Calvin is a player who is able to give fantastic passes. He has put away Myron several times. Today there are a number of balls that you think: just a little quieter, just a little simpler. Calvin is a player with whom I am there talk a lot about it: Don’t force it too much. But it is also a power of him. He never hides and keeps asking that ball again and again. “
Slot thinks the wind had an effect on the sloppy game of AZ. “After Ajax we should not complain about the wind, I think. Many people thought that we won that match by the wind, but that is not very favorable for creative players.”
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