DBasia.news – Ajax Amsterdam, beyond predictions, successfully penetrated the top four aka the 2018-19 Champions League semifinals. According to the coach, Erik ten Hag, success is inseparable from the role of young players who are given playing experience.
Ajax Amsterdam will travel to Tottenham Hotspur’s headquarters in the 2018-2019 Champions League semi-final first leg, at Tottenham Stadium, Tuesday (30/4) local time. Indeed, not many think that Ajax can go this far.
Ajax faces difficult opponents like Real Madrid and Juventus in the knockout stages. Amazingly, with a capital of two young players the strong teams can be eliminated.
“The young players have really matured. Of course, it is inseparable from the number of matches played in the past few years both at domestic and European levels,” said Ten Hag as reported by Soccerway.
“It will really strengthen them in development. The team has truly been united,” continued the coach.
“We prepare the team as a whole based on our own strength. We have to respect our opponents and do it every match. That’s how we do the work.”
“We want to be confident in the field, but also cannot be too innocent. We have gone through many matches,” he said.
In addition, Ajax’s strategy of bringing in senior players such as Daley Blind and Dusan Tadic was considered to have a big influence. Ten Hag believes the two players had experiences that could be shared with other players.
“From last season’s analysis, we were lacking in terms of experience. We deliberately saw Premier League players, Blid and Tadic. They had to lead the team and that was what was done,” said Ten Hag.