The Man in The Shed
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GETTY
23rd October –
If you are developing a young team and wanted to measure
progress then the perfect test would be to pit them against Ajax – a team renowned
across Europe for being a production line for young talent for generations. So
this was our big test against last year’s semi-finalists.
Lampard stuck with the youngsters again. We were still
missing Rudiger and the now injury-prone Kanté so the back four and central
midfield pretty much picked itself.
Inevitably the first 15 minutes were tough with the home
crowd whipping up the atmosphere. A Tomori mistake in midfield was not punished
but overall we weathered the storm.
As we grew into the game there were good chances for Mount
and then Hudson-Odoi but Ajax were first to get the ball in the net. Luckily
for us, and by the narrowest of margins, the goal was overruled for offside by
VAR.
By half time I was genuinely impressed by our performance.
Ajax continued to press in the second half and hit the post
from a corner. The game was finely balanced.
Lampard introduced Batshuayi and Pulisic in the last quarter
of the game. Much had been written about the American of late. Why had he been
involved initially then faded out ? Was he a poor trainer ? There were even
suggestions that he would push for a loan move in January – really ?
His energy was evident setting up Batshuayi who somehow
managed to shoot over the bar and then creating a chance for himself which was
just wide. Then his key contribution by crossing for Alonso to dummy and
Batshuayi to score via the bar.
Wow ! This was no lucky result. We had earned that. Ajax
were unbeaten this season until today. The players’ celebrations at the end
showed just how much it meant to them.
From bottom of the group we were now joint top.
Next up – Burnley.
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