Was Priske Tactically Outplayed by His Counterpart Francesco Farioli?
“I found it took quite a while before Feyenoord made any adjustments,” El Ahmadi stated in his analysis for Voetbal International. “Hugo Bueno was positioned high up for a long time, making it very easy for Rensch to mark him. If he had positioned himself lower, he would have often been the free man. Now, he was almost playing as a left winger for the entire first half. This made it very easy for Rensch. If Bueno had positioned himself lower, Paixão would have had one-on-one opportunities. Feyenoord was far too predictable. The first half was heavily focused on the right side.”
Krabbendam also believes that Priske did not demonstrate the tactical ability to get Feyenoord back into the game. “The key question is why Feyenoord had no response. Ajax did well, handling Paixão cleverly. They dared to play one-on-one and apply pressure. To everyone’s surprise, Feyenoord had no answer, which means their positional play was not up to par. No initiative from the full-backs, no central defender stepping up.”
Krabbendam continues: “Ajax played compact, one-on-one, and applied pressure to one side. You need to switch play in such situations, but there was no support. It was a tactical victory for Ajax in every aspect. Priske watched and essentially changed nothing. Only very late did Paixão start playing on the wing, but by then it was already 0-2. Feyenoord never really got into the game. The statistics may favor them because Ajax also allowed them possession, especially after halftime, but they did far too little with it. Far too few chances, resulting in a very frustrating and hopeless match.”.