Eredivisie 2021/22: How ten Hag solved Ajax’s positional issues to beat Feyenoord – tactical analysis

There were some very eye-catching matches on Sunday, such as the huge victories by Barcelona and Monaco on the league leaders in Spain and France. However, these results almost mean nothing to the title race, because Real Madrid and PSG still had a great gap over the rest. By contrast, the situation in Eredivisie 2021/22 was much closer as Roger Schmidt’s PSV were still chasing Ajax and they were merely separated by a two-point margin.

This game between Ajax and Feyenoord could potentially change the situation of the title race. Arne Slot’s side almost did it as they led on twice occasions, but the hosts eventually overcame to secure a difficult victory after being knocked out by Benfica in the UEFA Champions League.

This was an uneasy game, Ajax were clearly not at their best. Positionally, they also had problems that made Feyenoord easy to press, this tactical analysis would explain how ten Hag was able to solve Ajax’s issues in the positional structure.

Lineups

After the disappointment in midweek, ten Hag did not change any player of the eleven in the league game. The backline was formed by Noussair Mazraoui, Jurrien Timber, Lisandro Martínez, and Daley Blind. It was more than a 4-1-2-3 than a 4-2-3-1 as shown on the Wyscout team sheet, Edson Álvarez was the 6 and Ryan Gravenberch was an 8 initially, another 8 was Steven Berghuis. The front three were Dušan Tadić, Antony and Sébastian Haller.

Feyenoord marched to the UEFA Europa League quarter-final after beating Partizan in both legs. Th Netherland-born Turkish player, Orkun Kökçü was not in the squad, so Fredrik Aursnes moved to the 6 to partner with Jens Toornstra. Hence, the centre-backs were Marcos Senesi and Gernot Trauner. Another change was Tyrell Malacia, who did not play in the midweek, returned to the left-back position.