Ajax Napoli with frayed nerves: Once upon a time there was perfect football

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A whole world is collapsing on him: “Yeah, we’re feeling a little stressed right now.” say it Stephen Burgess, 31, midfielder for the Lancer team but also from the Netherlands. And in a nanosecond here, everything you believe in in the world of Ajax, with his wit, the comforting charm of Cruyff’s genius, the tactical revolution of Rinus Michaels, and the Provos who demonstrated on the streets of Amsterdam in the 1960s and ’70s point to a change, here everything goes wrong. But how, you, too, here in the land of flower children, from free soft drugs (but in a no-smoking playground), from the dream of freedom, your man trembling for a tie at home, and criticism of the wrong formation, the controversy of the masses? “We just have to beat Napoli.” Here, in the land of all-out football, we are missing a whisper: “Winning is the only thing that matters.” And then really the transformation is complete. The Venice Canals of the North are found elsewhere. At the Cruijff Arena, 54,000 fans (but at least 6,000 Neapolitans) are gearing up to support a team that after 1-1 at home with the GA Eagles appears to have plunged into a paranoid scenario. To the extent that Davy Classenwho criticized the coach on Saturday night for his coaching choices, will hardly start with Napoli (who fell in love with this midfielder a few summers ago).

Burgess insists: “I don’t want to say anything to our fans, I know they’re sorry. You just have to work. And win with Napoli. It will be important for the environment, because tonight’s opponents are very strong. We have a chance to redeem ourselves after recent disappointments and show what we deserve.” Technical is Alfred Schroeder: This summer he took over from Eric Ten Hag, who went to Manchester United. He embraced the Ajax cause and the excellent farewell to quite a few champions allowing for a market surplus of close to 120 million. It’s been like this for some time at Ajax. It’s no coincidence that De Laurentiis and Giuntoli caught Melek here. The Dutch coach is not very calm: “We received a lot of criticism after the Saturday game, we had to win and the result was important. Obviously I am not satisfied. We weren’t able to play as we would have liked. I’ve spoken to the boys, there are many things that need to be done better. It will be easy to see the reasons when you are facing such a strong team. We’ve seen them work, and at certain times it’s hard to stop them. Napoli is one of the strongest teams in the first division.” Schroeder talks about Ajax now: “We have a lot of young players in the team that we are trying to get. This is the path we must take.” He says something that is clear to everyone now: “In Italy, no one shuts off the bolt like before, it’s not the same anymore. Napoli haven’t done that in years. Football has changed ». Who knows if that’s really a compliment, given that with these The version In Qatar, there are two versions of the World Championship where we can’t qualify. Capland and Jorge Sanchez will not be available. He further explains: “Kevaratskhelia, the man I feared the most? We will try to stop it with the entire defensive phase of the team. He’s very strong with the ball and with Zelensky on the left they are a pivot that causes us a lot of anxiety. It’s a very difficult match, because Napoli are very close to Liverpool as a force. He has the same attacking mentality as the Reds.” The team is young but Psphere is on its way, turning 39 in November who also made his debut for the Dutch national team.