Frenkie De Jong | Performances

[RooneyLegend]

He lives to be underated on here. Not only is he trash according to another poster but he's also inferior to De Beek. Crazy stuff really.

 

[FigmentOfYerImagination]

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Translation:

"Allegri in shock by Ajacied: "he was on to our plan far too quickly".

Massimiliano Allegri, Juventus' coach, had to sulk a bit. Frenkie de Jong had seen through the tactical plan of the Italian club far too quickly.

"Usualy de Jong moves to the left side, for us to the right. So Bernardesch was supposed to pick up on him there and press him. De Jong saw through that and quickly started moving in the opposite direction, so one of our attackers had to play him. At de Jong is where Ajax' offensives start", said Allegri to Sky Sports.

"Ajax plays the ball around very well in the cramped spaces and they pressed ahead with a lot of people. They put us under heavy pressure and created spaces and we haven't hurt them on the counter as we should have", poses Allegri.

 

[Kaglish10]

He lives to be underated on here. Not only is he trash according to another poster but he's also inferior to De Beek. Crazy stuff really.

No one is underrating Frenkie. I just don't see the playmaking in him like I don't see in Kovacic. It's not a daint to their talent. Just watch our own Fred's performance against Barca and compare to Frenkie's touches against Juventus, Madrid and Bayern. You would see a vast difference in the way they move, pick up their options and quick smart link up. Frenkie's inability of switching play to the wing whenever the middle is packed up also needs a lot of work done as well. I have seen Kovacic play and I was like, he's talented but not a playmaker. However, whenever he's played as a no 6, his passing, mobility and techniques could be put to use than say Declan Rice, Dier or Jones in the no 6 role. However, he's not a playmaker. That's what I see in Frenkie everytime he plays.

 

[RooneyLegend]

No one is underrating Frenkie. I just don't see the playmaking in him like I don't see in Kovacic. It's not a daint to their talent. Just watch our own Fred's performance against Barca and compare to Frenkie's touches against Juventus, Madrid and Bayern. You would see a vast difference in the way they move, pick up their options and quick smart link up. Frenkie's inability of switching play to the wing whenever the middle is packed up also needs a lot of work done as well. I have seen Kovacic play and I was like, he's talented but not a playmaker. However, whenever he's played as a no 6, his passing, mobility and techniques could be put to use than say Declan Rice, Dier or Jones in the no 6 role. However, he's not a playmaker. That's what I see in Frenkie everytime he plays.

He's a much better short passer than Kovacic. He's a great passer between the lines partly because he can open up blocked passing lanes by hanging on to the ball. The only real criticism of him is that he doesn't have a great passing range. This obsession with a player making multiple small passes quickly is getting to people.

What he does at the base of midfield is great. He can relieve his defense of pressure by receiving the ball under pressure and getting past the man those destroying the opposition pressing set up. His defending is also brilliant. The boy can ball, it's that simple.

 

[Kaglish10]

He's a much better short passer than Kovacic. He's a great passer between the lines partly because he can open up blocked passing lanes by hanging on to the ball. The only real criticism of him is that he doesn't have a great passing range. This obsession with a player making multiple small passes quickly is getting to people.

What he does at the base of midfield is great. He can relieve his defense of pressure by receiving the ball under pressure and getting past the man those destroying the opposition pressing set up. His defending is also brilliant. The boy can ball, it's that simple.

Kovacic is a good short passer as well. In fact, I feel Kovacic's coach should return him to the no 6 role which is his best role. It was the same role that got him his breakout at Inter where he was heralded as the next big thing since sliced bread before Inter's coach was eventually changed and the subsequent coach preferred to play Kovacic upfield than deploy him in the no 6 role. His lauded performance for Madrid against Barca was also in the no 6 role. His defensive works looks great as well. I feel the same about Pereira too but Perriera would have to improve in the defensive aspect of his game before he can make it work in the role.

The point is I don't see any playmaking attributes (whether as a no 6 or no 8) in these three players neither is their creativity as quality as that of Pogba which would have required them to operate further forward like the case of Pogba. Pogba is also not a playmaker but when given time and space on the ball, he can be deadly with his vision, long passes as well as goal threats. Besides, Pogba doesn't even have the defensive skillset to operate as a no 6 although he had no problem operating as one at the world cup, albeit alongside Kante in a 2-man midfield for France.

All I have said doesn't diminish their obvious talents. They are all talented and could offer a lot when utilised in the right way in any team but the point I'm saying is, I don't see the playmaking attributes in them.

 

[Member 93275]

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This is such a crazy stat especially if you consider it was against fecking Juve where Allegri said he was the main danger and he set up players to try and nullify him, but failed.

I'm not a big fan of such graphs as they are often out of context of the story of the game or the strategy, but this one is fascinating because of the even distribution to the point where he plays to the attackers. How on earth are you going to defend against that? Allegri really didn't do his homework properly, his answer was much too basic. But maybe there is no proper way to win. The Germans managed best, but at such expense they left way too much space elsewhere.

I'm heartbroken Frenkie leaves so soon, but the hurt is softened by the prospect of seeing him link up with Messi, and the other Barca stars. Now, at Ajax, he is the main point of attention for the opposition manager. I think at Barca he will even shine more, with the quality he will link up with. Messi will love him, he'll only need to blink to get the ball.

 

[Classical Mechanic]

What are the thoughts on his performance last night?

He looked very tidy and was winning tackles in the first half but seemed to barely touch the ball in the second. I read on here or somewhere else (can't remember) that he can get overrun by strong midfielders a bit too easily.

 

[Batigoal]

I think he was class, his positioning was great, good workrates, his anticipation is amazing. His forward passing was great and accurate, can't blame the guy.

Van de Beek was completely burned out in the second half, which exposed the midfield too much.

He will be of great use for Barcelona, he has a lot of pace which the Barcelona midfield desperately needs so much in the attacks and to close gaps in defense.

 

[Spiersey]

First half Spurs tried to play through Ajax and he was excellent. Second half they just went long and bypassed Ajax midfield and De Jong. He probably could have dropped a bit deeper and tried to get in front on Llorente to stop him getting it down so easily (why no-one did this I’ve no idea) but overall he wasn’t bad.

 

[Kaglish10]

What are the thoughts on his performance last night?

He looked very tidy and was winning tackles in the first half but seemed to barely touch the ball in the second. I read on here or somewhere else (can't remember) that he can get overrun by strong midfielders a bit too easily.

He's a recycler like Busquet, not a playmaker. Schone and Van De Beek are more of playmakers than him.

It's a shame that Van De Beek got deployed in the no 10 to accommodate Frenkie and Schone in the midfield. I saw Van De Beek came on for Schone against us in the Europa final and he turned things around the moment he was on the pitch for the final 20 mins thereabouts. Ajax turned from their clueless non incisive team to a much more incisive side with Van De Beek at the heart of it all. He wasn't only able to switch the play to the wing with his long passes whenever he saw that the midfield was packed but also, his movement, positioning, quick decision making and passing crumbled our bus parking. That was what drew him to me then.

However Erik Ten Hag came in and thought he should be moved to the no 10 role to accommodate Frenkie and Schone. A shame.

 

[golden_blunder]

I’d love united to pickup Van De Beek

 

[Bwuk]

I’d love united to pickup Van De Beek

Same. I think he’s brilliant from what I’ve seen.

 

[Hoof the ball]

This run from y'day

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[KirkDuyt]

Never a pen though.

 

[Batigoal]

He’a Gonna deliver that speed that the Barcelona midfield is craving for

 

[Dolf]

He deserves a better OP for next season.

 

[Zehner]

This run from y'day

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That's indeed reminiscent of Cruyff

 

[Member 93275]

The penalty which Cruyff got against Germany in the 1974 final!

 

[Spiersey]

This run from y'day

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Just me that doesn't find that impressive? Defending is awful there by them all.

 

[Member 93275]

Just won the two big individual Dutch prizes, Eredivisie Player of the Year and the Johan Cruyff prize for biggest talent.

 

[edcunited1878]

Just me that doesn't find that impressive? Defending is awful there by them all.

Good ball control with pace and acceleration, but I agree...that's a free path to the box and the defenders had poor angles and were flat footed. He knocked/dribbled the ball with his right foot the entire time because no defender was properly goal side.

 

[kouroux]

Just me that doesn't find that impressive? Defending is awful there by them all.

Not you alone, it's more of a testament to the bad defending than anything special from him. If he was riding challenges or skipping past players with feints or something, I'd get it

 

[harms]

This run is what he’s about. It’s not his technique that stands out in the first place, but his understanding of the game and spatial awareness — he breaks through, sees that defenders struggle to understand which one of them should be marking him and uses it to his advantage.

 

[Hoof the ball]

This run is what he’s about. It’s not his technique that stands out in the first place, but his understanding of the game and spatial awareness — he breaks through, sees that defenders struggle to understand which one of them should be marking him and uses it to his advantage.

Exactly. A great dribble isn't one that runs towards challenges or invites them. A great dribble keeps a safe distance from any tackle being possible.

 

[Member 93275]

When Griezmann said he was the best player he ever played against, he was made fun of, because that would be Messi of course. But he answered it much more literary and individual. Not the best in the team he played against, but the best he played individually against. He doesn't meet Messi much on the field, he could have mentioned a great defender. But he said Frenkie because of the games the French played against the Dutch in the Nations League. Deschamps is a manager who sets up his team to neutralize the opponents strengths, in this case Frenkie, and Griezmann was one of the players instructed to pressure him when he got the ball. He had a Kafkaesque nightmare where he tried to keep running at Frenkie, and yet somehow never get close.

 

[Heista]

Fun fact: In the last game of the season, hen the cup was already won. The match was already won. He asked the ref to please play the injury time, because he wanted to play as long as possible.

 

[harms]

Fun fact: In the last game of the season, hen the cup was already won. The match was already won. He asked the ref to please play the injury time, because he wanted to play as long as possible.

Reminds me of the George Best quote, but I can't find it, so it may have been someone else who said it. That a good footballer is never happy with the final whistle — either you're playing badly and you need time to turn the things around or you're playing well and, obviously, don't want the game to stop while you're on fire.

 

[Sjaakmeoff]

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[Sjaakmeoff]

 

[Member 93275]

Well this was an interesting tactic from Southgate to try to neutralize Frenkie which I have not seen before, and failed miserably in the end. The Germans were semi-successful, they managed to neutralize him half the time by putting two man extreme pressure on him, at the expense of creating space elsewhere on the pitch. Spurs somehow managed, by overrunning and skipping the midfield PL style like. But Southgate's strategy was apparently to give him all the space in the world and instead cover his passing lines, his options. This worked some parts of the game, where he kept it simple and passed sideways, or created space by drawing his followers. He stepped it up after the first English goal. In the end you just can't give him this space. He'll take a little step to the right, feigns it and move the the left, finds the angle for that forward pass and moves for the triangle. Too easy.

 

[Classical Mechanic]

I do think he was the difference tonight. Plays so simply but controls the game. Links everything up.

 

[Henrik Larsson]

His defensive awereness is just unreal for the type of player he is and considering he still has relatively little experience at the highest level.

 

[izec]

The game is natural to him. Only injuries can stop him going all the way to be the midfielder of his generation

 

[Adnan]

Best player on the pitch and was the difference between the two teams.

 

[AJ10]

Born to be a Barca payer in quality and whining like a little bitch.

 

[Ekeke]

Played well but almost got pressed into a goalscoring chance like Stones was. Got away with it because England dont press as well

 

[VP89]

Thought he was the best player on the park tonight.

 

[Sjaakmeoff]

Played well but almost got pressed into a goalscoring chance like Stones was. Got away with it because England dont press as well

This happens every game. First few times i almost had a heart attack. After i while i got used to it.

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[Ekeke]

This happens every game. First few times i almost had a heart attack. After i while i got used to it.

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Yup the 2nd one is what I was referring too. To be fair he did still maintain control with his body position. But it still wasnt as good with the pressing as the better pressing teams

 

[Kag]

This lad’s a player. Yet we’ve got people on here clamouring for the likes of Longstaff and Ndidi. Christ.