Frank De Boer’s smokescreen ‘gras-rel’

Frank De Boer’s smokescreen ‘gras-rel’

Frank De Boer’s smokescreen ‘gras-rel’

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By Mohamed Moallim

After trawling out for a closer inspection, what he saw left a concerned expression on his face, after taking it all in he slowly walked back inside fearing the worst. Constantly preying on his mind, they had to somehow leave with all three points, they didn’t. The subsequent result only prompted him to make it a bigger issue. It was an odd outburst, only coming out as a feeble excuse, even if there was a point.

The individual in question: Frank de Boer, his concern: state of the Kyocera Stadion pitch, result: ‘gras-rel’ (or grass riot).

“I don’t know where the man who cuts the grass is, he’s certainly not here,” the Ajax manager bemoaned. The length according to him was detrimental to his side, “Everyone knows short grass is advantageous to our style of play.” Before kick-off he graphically exaggerated how it came up and “tickled” his armpits. Maurice Steijn, manager of Den Haag, agreed “The grass was too long”.

However there was no sympathy from Kees Kortekaas, the groundsman, “It’s almost the same length at the Amsterdam ArenA,” he pointed out, “De Boer lost two points and probably should have something to complain about. I find it much ado about nothing.”

The Dutch Federation, KNVB, waded in after De Boer called on the governing body to take action. “There is a maxim: the ball must roll. If its suspected clubs are deliberately cutting the grass too low or letting it grow high, we will act,” said Renske Bruinsma, KNVB spokesman. “That judgment lies with the match official.” It was the first such complaint they’ve received.

Another issue raised was the circle design on the pitch, “This is our game of the year. He [Kortekaas] wanted something beautiful with all those rings on the field,” Steijn enthused. The TV show Eredivisie Live afterwards joked it was something out of the X-Files. Kortekaas conceded it might have been difficult for the linesmen who “prefers straight lines,” though there weren’t that many contentious offside decisions.

According to the KNVB there are no guidelines to what can be displayed in the centre of the pitch, “hearts, logos and circles, anything goes” as Algemeen Dagblad put it.

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Ajax had enough chances to win even if De Boer felt their passing game was disjointed because of the pitch. He rightly lamented their first half showing, offering nothing, in part due to Den Haag harassing the Amsterdammers into making uncharacteristic mistakes, “Only after an hour we showed the same aggressiveness as Den Haag.” It was two points dropped, that’s how De Boer saw it, even though a draw was the right result.

No excuses, suggestion this was another European hangover was dismissed, the trip to Den Haag came days after Ajax left Dortmund, in the Champions League, with nearly a hard-earned draw. Despite the defeat Johan Cruyff was “quite satisfied” describing Ajax as a “speedboat” that has yet to get going. “This competition is also an eye-opener for the technical staff, a good lesson. The training should be intensified,” he added, “Other clubs have indeed much more money, but it remains eleven against eleven.”

It was an opportunity to showcase Ajax’s mental toughness – which was “left at home” against Den Haag and in Dortmund, but again a lack of sharpness at either end was their downfall. “If you can blame us for something, it’s that we were not cold-blooded enough to take the chances we got,” was De Boer’s verdict. Same as Cruyff, who took some positives, “I said before the match that we had to play according to our style and that is what we did.”

His grievance with the Den Haag pitch could very well have been a smokescreen, not the first time he’s deflected attention away from his side’s more lacklustre performances which they’ve shown plenty this season already and it’s that inconsistency that should concern De Boer.

However, the players thought differently. Christian Eriksen was honest enough after the Den Haag game to criticise his own performance, “I can’t be happy, when you see how many mistakes I’ve made.” Niklas Moisander took full responsibility, “Den Haag scored because of my mistake.” Siem de Jong echoed De Boer’s criticism of their showing in the first 45 minutes,“It was dramatic.” And Toby Alderweired was forthright in his assessment, “We lost the ball too easily, especially in midfield; therefore we had to keep playing back.”

This is still a very good Ajax side and they could easily be level on points with FC Twente who have yet to drop a single point, six wins from six. Instead individual errors has seen them draw three games, in all coming from behind to salvage a draw – against AZ and Heerenveen they were initially leading, whereas collective unison has seen them comfortably win the other three.

One common factor in all six games, following on from re-implementing their old system last season, is they’ve maintained their mantra of (heavy) possession-based football: averaging 649 passes per game with a 81% completion rate and 61% possession, at times bordering tiki-takiaccio. De Boer is that obsessed with controlling games, depriving the opposition the ball equals not losing, which so far is working as they’re currently on a run of 20 games unbeaten in the league, registering 17 wins and 3 draws. Despite an often changing team, De Boer has already used 26 players, though four since left.

Rotation will be a common feature this season, a desire he’s had since taking the job, a strong squad with every player capable of playing for the first eleven when called upon. Of course certain players will feature heavily, the back-four plus goalkeeper, now a settled unit for example.

Given their programme, games every few days, it’s a sensible policy. Last season was a slow start, at one stage trailing the leader by 13 points, no (eventual) Eredivisie champion chased down such a deficit. Twente, who hold a six point advantage, will pose their first serious test, fortunately for De Boer the Amsterdam ArenA, which recently winning the award for best kept pitch in the Netherlands, will be the venue. The question is which Ajax will show up.

This article is by Mohamed Moallim, our Dutch football expert who you can follow on twitter @jouracule. Comments below please.