Topic: Eredivisie 23/24 - discussion thread - page 45. (Read 16304 times)

i am not completely sure how the draw works eventually when it comes to the Champions League qualification round, but last year they started in the third round and eliminated AS Monaco, which isn't that bad. In the final round they were up against the Glasgow Rangers, but even then there aren't really many weak teams anyway. You can get a team like Benfica against you if you have to go through the Champions League qualification phase. Those teams who make it through that path actually can't be that weak anyway. It comes down to whether you are lucky in the draw or not.

As a non-champion and weak club coefficient, it will be very difficult for PSV to get into the Champion League.


Should Ajax be eliminated after yesterday (you have to miss so many penalties, even if PSV also missed two), Ajax will have failed to finish the season on a positive note and will have to see that they don't lose their Europa League place against AZ at the weekend.

agree, PSV had good season after all, one trophy and still on CL qualifying position, but they will need to pass CL qualifications, not sure that 2nd place guarantee group spot in CL

and those qualifications could also end-up being hard, depending on opponent, and there are tough ones there certainly

on the other side, Ajax would have eaiser tasks in Europa league, and could eye fighting for later stages, or even winning the competition, after this season that is really miserable for them

it was a disastrous season for ajax they didn't win anything, in the last 3 to 4 years ajax have always managed to end the season while winning something, it's unbelievable that this season not only they didn't win anything but they even run the risk of not go to the champions league, and the biggest obstacle for ajax has been PSV, ajax lost against PSV, in the league, lost in the cup and is losing in the table. PSV has become a nightmare for ajax, the question now is which team will ajax put together next season that will bring good results, will they keep this current coach? or are they going to hire another coach, I haven't heard any rumors of any player going to ajax

PSV this season did very well, they already have at least the cup, they are in second place in the league and they can finish this second position and with that they will play in the champions league, the question is how far will they be able to reach in the champions league, if they are unlucky enough to fall into a group of strong teams then they won't make it far, they will be knocked out early, but at least they made it to the champions league, so the most important thing for them now is to focus on finishing second in the next 3 of their games are the easiest games, so they should be able to get 9 points, but in the 4th game it won't be easy at all, they will play against an opponent who is also fighting to go in the European competition

It's probably not very surprising that final come to extra times and penalties. In general, I think that PSV were a bit better, they had more dangerous moments, but overall, I'm happy that game had such dramatic outcome.
I think we can say that this final concludes this terrible season for Ajax. They haven't won Eredivisie, their season in Europe was terrible and now they failed to win cup. It wouldn't be right to blame Heitinga for these results, he came late, but I doubt that Ajax will keep him for the next season.

The final is currently underway between PSV and Ajax. Bookmakers estimate both teams to be roughly equal. I think that's about right, both teams are very volatile, but PSV has turned out to be a bit more stable lately and Ajax has completely collapsed, especially after the winter break. Heintinga is not a top trainer, but came in at a time when it really couldn't get any worse. Cambuur and Groningen were by far the weakest in this competition this season, which I didn't expect from Groningen in particular. Vitesse is also doing very badly with a 13th place, but at least for the time being, the worries of relegation are out of the question. However, that can completely change in a few games, so they don't have that much certainty. The only team that has made a big impression is Feyenoord, and to a certain extent AZ as well. But they are mainly concerned with the Conference League at the moment.

The final of the Cup in the Netherlands will start in less than fifteen minutes. PSV and AJAX both have a bad season, but it will be a dramatic season for 1 of the two teams as only 1 of the 2 can finish in 2nd place. Winning the cup today may be a good achievement from a sporting point of view, but if you don't qualify for the CL you are missing out on a huge amount of income. Next season they will receive 2 guaranteed CL places in the Netherlands, and then the number 3 may also play the preliminary round. A few things will have to happen at Ajax for the upcoming season. Keeping Heitinga on as trainer means the sporting but also financial downfall for Ajax, which has to look for an experienced trainer such as Peter Bosz. Surprisingly, it has never been seen in recent times. Cause? Unknown.

Luuk de Jong really became the man of the match in that match (the effectiveness of his attacks was very good), apart from that I also applaud PSV's defense, even though they lost in ball possession but PSV managed to frustrate several penetrations of ajax attacks. only 4 matches left and on matchday 31 PSV will face sparta while ajax will face AZ, it looks like a tough match will be faced by ajax.

I know it is the cup game but at this stage, probably a lot more important than the rest of the season. Smart money is on PSV, I think. Ajax has been blunt at the front and you can't really fix that in the short term... I expect them to score one so PSV win and BTTS is my pick... At a nice 4/1?

Yes it was one of those games where afterwards you check the numbers again and you know that it might have gone otherwise on some days. But still if you have a closer look at the numbers Ajax was mostly controlling the ball, but in all important statistics they were behind. They had less attempts and also less attempts on target. They were even in the number of corners. It doesn't help much if you control the ball the entire game but you don't really find any solutions to crack the defense and make use of an opportunity or even create an opportunity in the first place. That is probably a problem that Ajax was carrying around the whole season. Usually they have always had a top scorer in front, but this season their top scorer after 30 games is Berwijn, Brobbey and Kudus with 11 goals each in 28 matches. That is unusual for Ajax and in my opinion the problem they couldn't solve this season. I know they still score a lot but they have scored even more in the past and benefitted from a stronger defense. Wasn't the case this season.

Exactly, the Netherlands are very close to France and there is still a chance to overtake France this season, even if the chance is very small, because AZ would probably have to win the Conference League. All French teams have already been eliminated. If Feyenoord had progressed, it would have been more realistic.



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As I wrote before, the Netherlands would have to take the chance this year as all the French teams have been eliminated, but I would have to do the maths, but it probably won't even work if AZ win the Conference League, or are there a lot of bonus points for winning?

And next year France will lose a better year than the Netherlands, so with a good season like this year it's possible next year too.

The score line doesn't do justice to that match. Ajax didn't play badly, except for the fact that they were horrible in front of goal. They fumbled too many goal scoring opportunities in that match.
It was a very interesting match from start to finish. I expected Ajax to win but they couldn't even score a goal, but that is football,
PSV deserved the win. They played better. They were very direct and made use of their chances. Let me use this opportunity to praise Xavi Simon. He's such a sensation. He was a handful for Ajax, they couldn't cope with him. I can even say PSV would not have been able to win that match without him. 

I mean considering one is second and one is third, it's not really unusual, or not unexpected. Obviously it looks like we are going to see them not do as well as people expected them to do but it did happen and we are talking about a situation where it will help and benefit people if they think that one team is better when they are betting and Ajax has been historically the better team.

But that doesn't change the fact that we are talking about close enough teams that this could happen. Now that we have seen Ajax lose, I think it is easier to say that being third will be what they need to be happy about because getting to second would be hard, depends on if PSV loses some other game, but it's better to be third than fourth so Ajax should do better.

At this point, yeah, the cup won't save them from the ire of their fans. Losing it would probably just tip over into all out rebellion right now.

Everyone hates Ajax in NL I think, except, for some reason, the people I know in the big cities haha. But yes, no one needs fans who risk the club getting fined etc.

Hate to say it, but that club needed a deep reboot anyway.

I predicted an Ajax win before the match but PSV outclassed them showing more interest in playing UEFA Champions League football next season. Though PSV are 3 points better than Ajax and also stands a better chance of finishing the league in the second position, I think Ajax still has a good chance to fight for champions league football next season.
Feyenoord has been outstanding this season for the first time since 2017 they look set to become Dutch Champions once again

Ajax losing to PSV was really a tough one, that caused a lot of trouble for them. Being this close to AZ is not really that easy to handle for them. I hope that they would end up doing a lot better soon and get that lost points back and win more games. If they can win more games and play better, PSV will eventually lose points and they can get back to being second and finishing there would be better for them.

However, if they end up not finishing there then I think it would be a lot worse because they may end up losing games too and if they lose even just once whereas AZ wins, then that would mean not only they will not be second, but they will fail to be third as well. It Is really harder to recover from there so they need to do something.

The defeat and also in this amount is more than just surprising for me, also the chances for Ajax to become vice champion and to get into the important Champions League are vanishingly small. PSV will have to slip up in the last 3 rounds. As you say, Ajax could also lose 3rd place, next Saturday AZ and Ajax play each other directly. If you win the Cup in the Netherlands, do you get into the Europa League group stage, i think this is the last good chance for Ajax this season?

I think this is a situation that Ajax find themselves into right now that they actually didn't expect earlier this season. The first bummer is of course to lose the CL qualification rank, but now they don't even make it into the Europa League if they lose to AZ. It's tough if you get passed through from a Champions League participant to either nothing. Even the Conference League is a small consolation at best.

They have had trouble keeping their players even when they participated in the Champions League, but now when that is not the case anymore, the model that Ajax is all about is even at threat. Develop young players, keep them as long as possible and be successful with them and then sell them for a lot of money. That works well for as long as your young players also have the chance to show their talent on international stages. There is a lot at risk for them in the upcoming games.

PSV took out Ajax, pretty unexpected outcome, and they are now on road to secure Champions league next season
Ajax will have to fight for third spot, or they will join Conference league, if AZ overcome them on position 3

Feyenoord is in winning strike in Ere, no matter blow against Roma, they secured another win over Utrecht, and now need five points from next three matches to secure title

It was a really big hit to Ajax by PSV on this week. It is even doubtful whether Ajax can make it to the Champions League next season. Because PSV seem much better and stronger than Ajax right now.

It is difficult to understand how Ajax have got to this point. I know that some important players left the team but they were replaced with some other really good players as well. Ajax need to show their best performance in the remaining four weeks of the season. And Feyenoord are so close to declaring their league title on one hand. Winning two more games the most will be enough for them to making it official before the end of the season. Maybe they are out of the Europa League but they will win their domestic league title.