1-An advantage and a disadvantage arise when all
players play in a narrow field. It is advantageous if you can quickly regain
the ball when you lose it in the opponent's half. You will both make less
effort and put intense pressure on your opponent (1). However, this is a
disadvantage if, when you lose the ball, a sprinter with no defender around gets
the ball and the defenders immediately start to go back. When Madueke took the
ball, he used well the space in front of him and scored (2). Ajax should have
tried to steal the ball from Madueke instead of going backwards.
2-An important mistake is made when defending a tall
striker. Thinking that the ball would come to Haller when Ajax crosses to box,
PSV centre-backs focused only on him (1). Even left-back Max saw Berghuis
following behind a few seconds later. In such positions, the gaps in the
penalty area should not be neglected when defending tall strikers like Haller
(2).
3-Klaassen and Gravenberch wanted to go quickly to the
penalty area by moving away from the ball instead of going to the ball in the
opposing half-court. For this, they looked for space in the opposing
half-court, and when they found space, the player who had the ball send them a
quick pass from the ground (1). Within seconds of receiving the ball they were
around or inside the penalty area (2).
4-Ajax's goal was not counted due to offside, but we
watched a great position. The player who took the ball gave it to the player who
closer to the goalpost without waiting (1), he immediately approached the
penalty area, and the player who took the ball again did this with another
player this time (2). PSV could not defend the players as the player in
possession of the ball was constantly changing.
5-When Timber went forward, Martinez moved from the
left centre-back to the right centre-back's area. Blind, on the other hand,
came back to the left centre-back's area. Thus, we did not see any problems in
the first half of Timber's dribbling to the midfield (1). If a defender goes
forward, there is an extra player in the midfield, but if the defenders are not
distributed well, the defence line is completely broken (2).
6-The second goal was similar to the first goal. This
time, however, Madueke was further behind, with rival players ahead of him. The
gap between Ajax defence and midfield was empty. He gave the ball and got it
back, during this time he went to the free space, scored the goal (1). When
Madeuke controls the ball for the first time, you should look at the positions
of the defenders and fullbacks. Timber and Tagliafico are way ahead. There are
only 2 players on defence (2). When Madueke saw that Blind and Tagliafico were
not on the left of the defence, he went there with the ball and scored.
7-Ajax wanted to find a gap in the offense in the
second half to draw PSV defenders into a certain area. For example, when
Berghuis saw 2 centre-backs approaching to the right, he ran to a place that
Max could see, and when he got the ball, he sent the ball immediately to his
teammate who is in front of him (1). Since he went to that area with Haller,
there was a gap on the left wing. Ajax player who headed for this gap tried to
be effective (2).
8-We saw incompatibility of two centre-backs in the
last goal. Timber is a centre-back who likes to go forward. Martinez, on the
other hand, prefers to stay on defence. When Timber came forward in the first
half, Blind came to the defence to fill Timber's gap. However, that changed
when Blind moved to the left-back position. In a position where Timber again
came forward, Gotze took the ball behind him, advanced and scored.
