AZ increases Ajax and trainer John Heitinga’s concerns: Alkmaarders take victory in ArenA

And the team was fortunate that Wout Weghorst did not receive a red card just before the end after an elbow hit on the throat of his direct opponent Wouter Goes. An incomprehensible decision by referee Jeroen Manschot, who should have given a red card.

Because the Johan Cruijff ArenA reacted calmly to the defeat, Heitinga normally does not have to worry about not being on the bench against Chesea. Technical director Alex Kroes stated in an interview that although he supports his trainer, he would get wet if the entire ArenA Heitinga no longer had to.

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Unbalanced Heitinga team

After two losses in the Champions League, Ajax suffered its first defeat against AZ in the ninth match in the Eredivisie. Only the first, but that statistic means nothing to anyone who examines the other statistics of Ajax, with, for example, not a single victory outside Amsterdam. Ajax has already drawn four times and has also won four times at home, but that was generally difficult and was against clubs from the right row such as Telstar, Heracles Almelo, PEC Zwolle and NAC.

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AZ was the first opponent from the left row and things immediately went wrong for Heitinga’s unstable team, which dropped from three to four in the rankings while AZ took the opposite path. On Sunday, FC Groningen can still climb over it and Fortuna Sittard can level.

Ajax vulnerable in transition

Beforehand, the under-fire Heitinga saw the program with AZ, Chelsea and FC Twente in eight days as a challenging series. After the disaster in the North Holland match against AZ in the Johan Cruijff ArenA, it will be a survival trip. Not only for Heitinga personally, but also for his technical director Kroes as the architect of the current Ajax and the malaise at the club.

Troy Parrott proves his position as AZ’s first striker against Ajax

Heitinga wanted to see a stable team against AZ, but in practice little came of this. Ajax started well with a goal that was rightly disallowed for offside. The team looked for an attack, but it was limited to a few innocent long shots from Kenneth Taylor and Wout Weghorst as well as a free kick from Anton Gaaei. However, during the transition, Heitinga’s formation turned out to be vulnerable. As has been the case all season.

Vulnerability at corners

The same applies to the vulnerability at corners. In the 24th minute, AZ striker Weslley Patati saw five Ajax players in front of him. Because they all stood stock still, he was offered two shooting opportunities: 0-1.

With everything the Ajax players have already experienced this season, their self-confidence dropped even further after the goal. AZ looked like the boss in the Johan Cruijff ArenA and slowly grumbling could be heard in the stands. What was reinforced three minutes before half time when referee Jeroen Manschot did not hesitate to award a penalty because occasional left back Lucas Rosa ran into the returning striker Troy Parrott. The Irishman remained very cool: 0-2.

Heitinga hoisted the white flag

Against Sparta before the international break, Ajax fought back from a 3-1 deficit at Sparta, but AZ is a different story. Every now and then, Maarten Martens’ team turned it into a training match. Ajax was kept alive because AZ forgot to make it 0-3 quickly.

Heitinga tried to revive his team with Davy Klaassen. To the enthusiasm of the crowd, but apart from a yellow card within sixty seconds and a header wide, he could not make the difference either. With defensive midfielder James McConnell ahead of attacking midfielder Oscar Gloukh, Heitinga raised the white flag. Not incurring more damage was more important than chasing the equalizer.

The Ajax coach faced a sharp whistle from the fans, but otherwise they kept quiet. Undoubtedly to the relief of Kroes, who had indicated that he would not agree to a longer stay for Heitinga if the entire ArenA turned against the head coach.