TWO weeks on from victory in Eindhoven, Rangers are back in the Netherlands. This time they face the current top dog in Dutch football Ajax.
Leading the Eredivisie with maximum points after five matches, scoring 16 goals and conceding three, new manager Alfred Schreuder has started successfully. Previously assistant manager to Erik Ten Hag and coming off the back of a title-winning season with Club Brugge in Belgium, Schreuder was always going to adapt quickly to life at the Johan Cruyff ArenA.
Everyone knows that Ajax will play offensive, assertive football. After all, if any club has a footballing ideology that runs consistently regardless of managerial change it’s likely to be Cruyff's.
But what type of football do they play? How do they look to attack and defend and will Rangers be able to take any result back to Glasgow?
Broadly speaking, Ajax line up in a 4-3-3 that takes a different form with and without the ball. In possession, it is often more resemblant of a 3-1-6 and out of possession a 4-2-3-1.
“I like to build up with three players from the back. And I need them to be higher up, so we can create more effective triangles,” says Schreuder.
Early on in Saturday’s 4-0 win over Cambuur we can see Daley Blind drop inside to form a back three from left-back while Devyne Rensch pushes into the right midfield half-space from right-back. Blind supplies excellent distribution from the left while Jurrien Timber is similarly comfortable on the right. Need this writer remind you of Calvin Bassey’s recovery pace in the middle of a defence?
The pass network from the game, which charts the average position a player makes his passes from, is shown below and outlines the mentioned positions.
However, they’re not limited to using their full-backs in inverted roles.
“We’re also trying to get some variance in the build-up. At times, I want to pivot the full-backs. Keeping the right back deep and move Timber into midfield,” adds Schreuder, referencing the flexible use of his left and right-back.
“When we play against a 5-4-1 [building against a back three] won’t really work, there will not be enough space, but I need to make sure we can use our players’ strengths,”
At times, dependent on the opposition set-up, it’s more common to see Owen Winjdal start on the left and push high from left-back while Rensch overlaps on the opposite flank.
Their pass network from a win over Groningen shows this deviation.
What about ahead of the defence?
Edson Álvarez, a midfielder also capable of operating in defence, acts as the team’s only holding midfielder. Steven Bergwijn and Dusan Tadic normally hug the touchline until their side reaches the final third in a bid to stretch play and attack one-v-one, while two No.8s are handed attacking freedom to support No.9 Brian Brobbey.
On the right-hand side, Ajax regularly use the underlaps of Rensch to open passing lanes into Tadic and expose space on the inside. In this example, they overload play on the left before switching to the right, a classic Ten Hag tactic, to find the now departed Antony.
Given the winger has stretched the pitch, there is room for Rensch to underlap from full-back and provide a cutback.
Below, Rensch’s run opens up a passing lane for Timber to pass the ball into an unmarked Tadic.
On the left, the positioning is slightly more fluid. Take this example from the weekend’s game. This time Blind has pushed up from left-back and rotated inside to provide a free pass into Bergwijn, who then moves infield as Blind provides the width.
This fluid understanding to constantly stretch the opposition and occupy central pockets is evident when watching Ajax.
Particularly in domestic games positioning is flexible so long as one player occupies each required zone. Here, Blind moves high, Kenneth Taylor drops into the pivot position and Alvarez the back three, allowing Bergwijn to occupy a central pocket.
Their opening goal at the weekend perfectly encapsulated the attacking fluidity and importance of occupying necessary zones on the pitch, rather than sticking rigidly to positions.
Tadic moves infield, Rensch holds the width and Steven Berghuis makes a third-man run from his midfield No.8 role. Cutting the ball into Bergwijn who finishes.
It’s a perfect example of the 'effective triangles' referenced by Schreuder earlier in the piece, created by the shape his side takes up in possession.
This strike against Groningen captures another element of their attack. Ajax stretch the pitch sufficiently in their recognised shape to open a pass into Brobbery, who can act as a target and lay the ball into Taylor, making a third-man midfield run beyond to score.
Here’s one final example. Again, Ajax are in a back three shape, stretching the pitch, and find Bergwijn in a central pocket. He turns to drive at the defence and picks out Rensch’s untracked underlap from right-back. After a one-two with Brobbery, the right-back scores from the left-wing.
What about when they press? Ajax’s PPDA, Passes Per Defensive Action, has risen ever so slightly to 7.85 from last season’s average of 6.71. But by all accounts, Schreuder’s pressing plan remains a work in progress and five games is a small sample size. In some ways, the set-up they’ve utilised off the ball isn’t that far away from Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s preferences. With man-to-man marking in plenty of areas of the pitch.
In the lead-up to a goal against Sparta Rotterdam, they’re man-marking in midfield and Blind manages to steal possession. Bergwijn has remained high up the pitch and can burst forward to score.
If they lose the ball high up the pitch, Ajax generally try to counterpress and commit men around the ball to win it back.
This has its own weaknesses Rangers could look to exploit, just as they did against Borussia Dortmund so successfully away from home. A goal conceded against Groningen below sees Ajax fail to apply pressure on the ball, allowing a long pass behind the defence and enabling the visitors to score.
Although they can now rely on the recovery pace of Bassey who normally remains the last man, not featured in the above example, the offensive midfield balance selected can leave Ajax exposed at times and offer not only opportunities to get up the pitch, but attack the defence.
As in Eindhoven, Rangers will require a near-perfect performance across the board to take anything from today’s match.
Bergwijn is a genuine, top-level player with the strength to match pace and poise. He is capable of cutting inside and finding the far corner, spinning inside the pitch to receive and attacking crosses.
The constant threat of one-v-ones on either flank will either stretch the defence or leave space for a quick switch. In both scenarios, the threat of underlaps must be considered to protect the space down the side of either centre-back. Given this is a favoured method of attack for tonight's hosts.
And in midfield, the freedom of either No.8 can create overloads deep in the pitch or dangerous third-man runs beyond a central striker.
Perhaps the familiarity of elements Schreuder’s system will suit van Bronckhorst's tactical tinkering as he seeks to deliver again in Europe.
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