After seven rounds of Eredivisie matches, PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord are tied for the top two with 19 points.

Utrecht followed with four points, followed by AZ Alkmaar with 12 and Vitesse with 11.

Then there are six teams with 10 points, Waalwijk, Nijmegen, Roda JC, Heerenveen, Willem II and Breda.

Ajax managed just nine points, just right in 12th place.

With two consecutive defeats in the Champions League group stage and only nine points from seven rounds in the Eredivisie, such a report card can indeed be said to be very bleak.

Not only was the media in the Netherlands furious, but even the fans of Ajax were furious, believing that Ronald Koeman had lost his aggressiveness in the new season, otherwise the team would not have played like this.

But Van Gaal clearly doesn't see it that way.

"Part of the reason for the team's sluggish performance is, of course, its own problems, five core players in a row, it is difficult for the newly introduced players to play competitively immediately, and it is natural that the team's competitiveness has weakened."

Speaking of this, Van Gaal changed his words, "But at the same time, it should also be seen that in terms of schedule, it is indeed not good for Ajax." ”

"Needless to say in the Eredivisie, Heerenveen has always been a bitter opponent for Ajax, and it is not unacceptable to lose 2-3 away to Feyenoord, as for playing us Alkmaar away......"

Van Gaal didn't say it, but everyone knows that AZ Alkmaar are not underdogs.

Under the tutelage of Co Adrianse, AZ Alkmaar is a strong team in the Eredivisie with good quality, and after Van Gaal took over, he made a certain amount of adjustments to the team, which naturally caused some turmoil, so he lost 0-5 to PSV Eindhoven.

Of course, there is also a very important reason that PSV Eindhoven is really too strong.

'In those games, the really undeserved points were conceded in the second half against The Hague, but it was somewhat affected by the national team at that time, and although it was disappointing, there was nothing unacceptable.

Van Gaal analyzes this point, and the situation is already relatively clear.

Ajax will certainly have problems with the new season, but the problem is definitely not as big as it is seen in the standings.

"The two consecutive defeats in the Champions League can only be said to be a matter of draw, although Ajax is the defending champion, but they are placed in the third pot, drawn Juventus and Bayern Munich, where is the way? And in the first two games, it was normal to lose 0-1 to Juventus at home, and it was somewhat collapsed to lose 0-4 away to Bayern Munich. ”

Listening to Van Gaal's eloquent words, Ronald Coman couldn't stop nodding, "The main thing is that the players are under too much pressure, Mackay has scored goals one after another, and we are in a hurry to attack, which makes the already weak backline even more vulnerable. ”

"I also watched that game, and Mackay's form was indeed very good, with a hat-trick and an assist, but the most important thing was that the problem of defending the high striker was vividly exposed."

Standing at 1.88 meters tall, Roy Mackay is a typical Dutch high school striker with excellent goalscoring ability.

Ajax have always relied heavily on the ball's strong centre-backs, with Heitinga and Vermaelen both of them this season, while Vlaar was a little immature and he couldn't keep Markay at bay that game.

"That's the price of youth." Van Gaal sighed softly.

Ronald Koeman also felt very helpless, the team played like this, no matter what, he as a manager has an unshirkable responsibility, and the accusations of the media and fans against him are also taken for granted.

"I now regret that I shouldn't have let Yang Yang go back to play in the Asian Youth Championships." Ronald Coman sighed, "That kind of event has no training value for him, as long as I insist at that time and let the club communicate with the Chinese Football Association, I will definitely be able to keep him." ”

After a pause, Ronald Coman shook his head and sighed regretfully: "But at that time, I thought that the team had a good start and should be able to deal with it, but I didn't expect it to be ......."

There are some players when he is there, you don't feel the importance of him, only when he is not there, you will find that you really can't live without him.

Van Gaal nodded slightly, "In a team, the importance of some players is clearly visible, and some players are more low-key, diligent, and seem to be replaceable, but when you really lose him, you will find that he is the most irreplaceable one." ”

Yang Yang's data in the first three rounds was not bad, but the team stumbled at that time, which made his role not fully recognized, but now, without Yang Yang, everyone suddenly found that the gap was so big.

With Yang Yang, Ajax scored seven points in the first three rounds, on par with PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord.

But without Yang Yang, Ajax only got two points in the next four rounds, while PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord won four in a row, including a strong match for Feyenoord to beat Ajax at home.

Van Gaal sighed softly, "Take your time, the most important thing now is to decompress, the two weeks of national team games can be said to be a lifesaver for you, you can breathe a sigh of relief for a while and regroup." ”

Two weeks later, Yang Yang should also return to the team.

It's also interesting to say that the four dark horse teams that reached the last four of the Champions League last season have not performed well this season.

The best is Monaco, who are third in Ligue 1, just two points behind Lille and Lyon at the top of the table.

This has a lot to do with the fact that Deschamps' squad remains relatively intact.

Porto in the Portuguese Super League are also third in the league, but four points behind Benfica, which is quite unsatisfactory for Porto, who have always regarded the Portuguese Super League title as a bag, and the Portuguese Super League is less competitive than the Eredivisie.

La Liga's Deportivo La Coruna are not much better than Ajax, after six rounds of matches, Super Laco is only in 11th place, with only eight points, which is comparable to Ajax's situation in the Eredivisie.

Moreover, unlike Ajax, who lost five key players, Super Laco did not lose core players this summer, but brought in a number of players, and Iruetta's coaching has begun to be questioned to a certain extent.

In last season's Champions League, Ajax was the most popular, with the most serious player losses, and so far this season, the results are also the worst, which is a bit of a shot.

"The most important thing now is to stabilize the squad and framework of the team as soon as possible and re-establish the backbone." Van Gaal proposed.

What does Ronald Corman not know?

The core of the team is not who the manager says is who he is, on the one hand, it depends on the strength of the player and his performance on the field, and on the other hand, it also depends on his popularity and status in the dressing room.

It's like being the captain of a team, if no one listens to you, the captain's armband is given to you, that is, the shell commander.

Now Ajax is indeed in an awkward phase of replacing the old and the new, with Ibrahimovic and Van der Vaart leaving, and the new core of the team has not been established.

Heitinga is the backbone of the team's defense, but he is too frizzy and reckless and not consistent enough; Needless to say, De Jong is very brave, but it is not the material to kick the core; Sneijder is a good fit, with excellent football skills, no personal ability, and Ajax's youth academy, such a player is born to be the embryo of the team leader.

However, Sneijder's personality is too low-key and dull, and he is not the type who is very diligent, full of hunger and aggressiveness, such a player will not make a fuss about leaving, but it is also difficult to lead the whole team.

Pienal's style of play is soft, Wesley Sonk's performance has been good and bad, Maxwell can be considered, but he is a good man, he has never seen him offend anyone, and he is similar to Sneijder, not brave enough.

Ronald Koeman also thought a lot, and finally handed over the captain's armband to Galasek, who was unable to play for many times.

After all, the team is old and young, and Galasek is the most suitable candidate, but this veteran is gradually at a disadvantage in the competition with De Jong, and his appearances in the future will only become less and less.

The coaching staff has not considered Yang Yang, after all, he has performed well in the first three rounds and the European Super Cup, and although he is usually low-key, he is diligent and diligent, and belongs to the kind of player who does not talk much, but infects people with practical actions.

But Yang Yang is not an Ajax youth training descendant, secondly, he has only been in the team for a year, and he has only been in the first team for half a year, and his performance is really not to be said, but the problem is that he will only turn eighteen years old at the end of October.

How could Van Gaal not know Ronald Koeman's difficulties at this moment?

But as Ajax's manager, he has to take on the problem and solve it.

Any team without soul and leader is very difficult to turn over in a difficult situation.

It's true for one game, it's true for a season.

…………

…………

When the news of Ajax's 0-0 draw at AZ Alkmaar returned to China, national team manager Alihan also returned to Beijing and arrived at the FA headquarters.

Downstairs, in front of the media reporters who were already waiting here, Alihan made no secret of the conflict between himself and the Chinese coaching staff.

"I know a lot of people feel that I should respect the Chinese coaching staff, but the question is, if we have a disagreement with each other, who should we listen to?"

"I'm the head coach of the national team, if I listened to them, then why didn't the Football Association invite them to be the coach at that time?"

Alihan also said that these are just differences in business and philosophy, and not as bad and conspiracy theories as rumored by the outside world, and the coaching staff still communicate with each other, and he criticized some media for exaggerating the facts.

"Before the crucial match of the Asian Cup, your so-called authoritative media single-handedly concocted the fake news that seven international players went out to play in violation of the law, causing collective diarrhea, and inciting the emotions of the fans, which seriously affected the unity and preparation of the team, I really can't believe everything you have reported anymore, you say he said it, but I don't believe it, unless I hear it with my own ears."

Regarding the upcoming match in Kuwait, Alihan said that the team is determined to win.

'At least a draw away from home is going to guarantee us an early qualification, so I'm here today.'

When Alihan said this, he was extremely solemn, and said word by word: "We need Yang Yang!" ”