On February 15th, the Ajax team faced Roda JC at home to the top of the table, and the Ajax fans also crammed the Olympic Stadium to the brim, which was the second consecutive highlight, which raised the appetite of Ajax fans, and the double-digit victory against rival Feyenoord in the last game made them even more emotional. ⊕ 8⊕8⊕ read ⊕ books, .◇.o≮

In this game, of course, fans hope that Ajax can still get a big victory, but Van Gaal knows that this game is not easy to play, although Roda JC does not have any outstanding stars, but their overall style of play, coupled with their high morale and resilience after consecutive good results, make them the most difficult team in the Eredivisie this season, they have never scored more than three goals in a game this season, so it is not easy to beat them, and it is even more difficult to win big.

Of course, Van Gaal will still be hoping to get a win and widen the gap on Roda JC to 10 points, because the Champions League knockout rounds are just around the corner, and if they don't get enough of the advantage in the league, it will be too difficult for them to fight on the third front.

Therefore, Van Gaal continued to put Ding Hongxing in the midfield position in this game, and the main task he assigned to Ding Hongxing was to attack, taking into account midfield sweeping and interception on the basis of completing the offensive task.

At the beginning of the game, Ding Hongxing felt that this team was different from the teams he had encountered before, their overall defensive formation has been maintained very well, almost every distance between two players is fixed, and the line between these players divides the entire stadium into an area of almost the same size, making it difficult for Ding Hongxing to see the weak links in the defense, and he can't find a good passing line, even if there is a passing line, but as soon as the ball passes, there will be at least two defensive players around the receiver. Make it difficult for him to proceed to the next step.

This kind of defensive integrity really amazes Ding Hongxing, which makes Roda JC look more like an Italian team.

Ajax conceded fewer goals, more by relying on the pressing style of play brought by absolute strength, while Roda JC conceded fewer goals, which really relied on defensive integrity and resilience.

As long as the Ajax player gets the ball, even the striker of Roda JC is automatically a defensive player, and he starts to counter-attack in the frontcourt, even if he can't grab the ball, it can slow down Ajax's offensive speed, which makes it difficult for Ajax to find his own offensive rhythm and feel uncomfortable, like trekking in a big mud pond, with difficult steps.

Ding Hongxing relied on his personal ability to pass the opponent's defenders in the midfield a few times, but as soon as he passed one person, another person immediately followed, and he always kept at least one person by his side, these defenders are still constantly seeking to fight with Ding Hongxing's body, even if the physical confrontation is not Ding Hongxing's opponent, it is necessary to slow down his speed, which makes him feel very uncomfortable with the ball.

Even if Ding Hongxing's breakthrough ability is strong, there is always room for sprinting, if there is no space, it is difficult to take the ball out of the crowd, the team Ding Hongxing has played against before, Ding Hongxing can always find loopholes in their defense and see space, but Roda JC's tactical discipline is really good, after playing for more than ten minutes, Ding Hongxing didn't see any loopholes.

This should be caused by the tacit understanding formed by their long-term play together, as well as the coach's ability to adjust, there is no shortage of such examples in the history of football, a team that does not have any outstanding stars, relying on the ability of the head coach and unparalleled integrity, without being favored by anyone, has become a dark horse like the Danish fairy tale and Greek mythology in the later European Championship, the myth of Kaiserslautern in the Bundesliga, and the myth of Leicester in the Premier League, are all good examples.

In fact, if Ajax is not too strong this season, Roda JC's points should be in the championship ranks in normal times, but unfortunately Ajax is too strong, and the winning rate in the face of other teams is too high, even if Roda JC draws Ajax twice, it is not able to compete with Ajax for the championship, but the league runner-up results are enough to make them proud.

The players of Roda JC not only have good tactical discipline and good defensive ability, they are not dirty, and some small actions are inevitable in defense, pulling the corners of their clothes and pulling their arms, but there will never be much defensive action, especially the kind of deliberate hurtful action with bright soles is not visible, and they will give an apologetic smile to the fouled person and the referee when they foul, which makes Ding Hongxing have a good impression of them.

The game lasted more than 20 minutes, and the score on the field was still 0-0, of course, Ajax's strength advantage was still revealed, they pressed Roda JC's formation very flat, and almost all their players were pressed back to their own half, but this made Ajax's attacking space more narrow, and it was more difficult to create good chances.

The three sharp weapons to break the dense defense, personal breakthrough, long-range shooting and set-pieces, the personal breakthrough space is too small, and now basically don't think about it, Ding Hongxing only has a lot of attempts to shoot from a distance, but the legs in the penalty area are too dense, it is difficult to pass through, and it is easy to pass through the crowd twice, once hit a little right, and was saved by the opponent's goalkeeper, once was not pressed, and the ball flew out of the bottom line by grazing the crossbar.

In terms of set-pieces, there were four or five Ajax corners in the first half, two of which were taken by Ding Hongxing, although he sent a good spot, but several defenders of Roda JC are very tall, and they do not fall behind in the head-on confrontation and high-altitude balls, plus the crowd in the penalty area is too dense, these two corners did not pose any threat.

A few times later, Ding Hongxing simply asked Seedorf to penalize, he went to the penalty area to grab a point, adding a high point in the penalty area, but Roda JC defended his central defender body is also very strong, he stuck to Ding Hongxing tightly, and his hand was still hidden pulling the corner of Ding Hongxing's clothes, so that Ding Hongxing was not good to jump, although Ding Hongxing grabbed a point, but due to insufficient jumping, he pushed the ball out of the bottom line.

Roda JC's players are also very smart, light yì do not give free kick opportunities within 30 meters, to foul is also to foul at a place 30 meters away, free kicks in this kind of place, Ding Hongxing's hit rate is not too high, Ajax got several free kick opportunities, also failed to pose much threat.

In this way, time passed quickly, and at the end of the first half, the score of the two sides was still not rewritten, and the game was very dull, Ajax did not even have two threatening shots, and Roda JC only had two shots on goal in total.