FC Twente 0-1 Ajax: John Heitinga is happy with the fighting spirit that Ajax has shown during the hard-fought cup victory over FC Twente (0-1). However, the trainer of the team from Amsterdam thinks that the game in possession of the ball can still be improved a lot.
Ajax had a hard time in Enschede for a long time. “This one was definitely hard-fought,” Heitinga told ESPN afterwards. “I think the game was pretty even. The first half wasn’t much going on in the beginning, just a few sloppy moments from ourselves. After Jurriën’s wide pass, the audience went behind it, in that phase we had it a bit heavier. We need to get that edge change much more often and faster.”
After the break, Heitinga saw that things were going better at times. “In the second half there were moments when we played good football and came through it well, we also scored a good goal. I think we played decent at times. It was a hard-fought victory, it’s good for self-confidence. Twente has a good team, it is not easy to play here and to win here. The most important thing is that we go one round further,” he mentioned.
Improvements to be made
Heitinga does think that Ajax should make even better choices when in possession of the ball. “A number of moments have to be removed from our game to go to a higher level. In the first phase of construction, we were often too careless, while the spaces were there. We can do that better. That was really good at times against Cambuur. Now it was a bit volatile. Everything starts with position selection. Those are things we are working on, we try to create stability,” he adds.
Heitinga knows that it is difficult to hone in on that in a short period of time. “At least we showed today that we can compete, you saw that at the end. When you come here, you know that you are meeting a team that fights, that plays football quite directly and that is well put together. Then everything should be right. Then you have to be able to roll up your sleeves now and then and show that we can not only play good football, but also keep a clean sheet,” he continued.
Ajax kept a clean sheet in Enschede for the second time in a row and in passing made sure that Twente failed to score at home for the first time in 41 cup matches. It is an important starting point for Heitinga. “Something has to happen. You all know that you sometimes end up in a lesser phase. You have to get there through hard work. If we keep doing that, I’m sure we’ll make a difference playing football,” he concludes.
