Wetin dey happen for Heracles versus Ajax match don turn to serious gist for social media. From di beginning of di game, viewers don dey complain say di two teams’ jerseys dey too similar for TV. Heracles dey wear black-and-white home kit, Ajax dey wear cream third jersey. Na confusion full ground.
For X, people dey vex well-well. One supporter wey dem call Maris write say “Dem for at least wear different shirts.” Another user ask, “Who come think of this one? White and white.” Stefanovic agree, talk say “Those shirts at #HerAja look far too similar.” Phyllis add, “Handig, wit tegen room 🙄 #heraja.”
Some people still dey find humor for inside di wahala. Mika024 write, “Great choice of kit,” and Tim talk say, “As far as we’re concerned, someone with colour blindness sees the same thing as us when it comes to the #heraja shirts.” Mouzzi just summarize am: “Great colour combination, you really have to look closely to tell who’s who.”
Ajax supporters club Ajax Life explain say KNVB talk say Ajax blue away shirt no contrast well with Heracles black-and-white kit. Dem add sarcastically: “Fortunately, the colour of the third shirt is easy to distinguish!”
Meanwhile, Ajax manager Óscar García don announce line-up wey carry surprise. Ko Itakura don return from injury since January 17, e go start for midfield. Maarten Paes still dey for goal despite criticism. Anton Gaaei and Lucas Rosa dey for full-back, Josip Sutalo and Youri Baas dey center defense.
Jorthy Mokio, wey just sign new contract for Thursday, dey aim to show himself for Almelo. Oscar Gloukh keep number 10 role, push Sean Steur to bench. Steven Berghuis dey right wing, Mika Godts dey left. Wout Weghorst, wey just score against FC Twente, dey lead attack against him former club.
Ajax dey try bounce back from last weekend 1-2 loss to FC Twente. Dem dey travel to bottom club Heracles Almelo for Saturday 21:00. Match go show live for ESPN 2. Davy Klaassen, Youri Regeer and Kian Fitz-Jim still dey injured. Takehiro Tomiyasu still dey build fitness. Joeri Heerkens dey out with ankle injury.
Heracles dey fight for survival, dem dey last for table with just 19 points from 29 matches. Dem dey eight points from safety with only five games remain. Manager Ernest Faber team don struggle all season, especially for defense. Dem don concede 74 goals, highest for league.
Last time Heracles win three points na February 1 against Fortuna Sittard. Since then, dem get two draws and six defeats for last eight league matches. Most recent na heavy 4-1 loss to Heerenveen.
But Heracles sometimes dey better for home ground. Dem get four of their five league victories this season for Asito Stadion. Artificial surface dey pose challenge for visitors. Heracles no lose for last two home matches, dem draw 0-0 with FC Utrecht and 1-1 against Excelsior Rotterdam.
Recent history for this fixture dey favor Ajax. Heracles no beat Ajax for home since 2020, dem lose three times and draw once for subsequent meetings for Almelo.
Ajax themselves no dey at their best recently. Dem no win either of their last two league matches, just one victory for previous six games. Three draws and two defeats for that run.
Still, Amsterdam side dey approach this match with confidence because of dominance for this fixture. De Godenzonen dey on six-match winning streak against Heracles, dem no lose for last nine meetings. Dem win eight of those encounters, including reverse fixture earlier this season wey end 2-0 win for Sons of the Gods at Johan Cruyff Arena.
Manager Oscar Garcia, wey take charge start of last month, suffer first defeat last time as Ajax fall 2-1 at home to Twente. That result end promising start to him tenure, wey include 4-0 win over Sparta Rotterdam and 1-1 draw with Feyenoord.
Ajax currently dey fifth for table, two points behind Twente for race for final Europa League qualification spot. Dem dey five points behind third-placed NEC Nijmegen. If dem no rediscover winning form, European ambitions go complicate more.
Several teams dey tightly packed for standings between fifth and eighth, where end-of-season playoffs go determine one place for UEFA Conference League second qualifying round.
Heracles dey expect to remain without Mike te Wierik, Fabian de Keijzer and Jeff Reine-Adelaide due to injury. Defender Mimeirhel Benita dey suspended after picking another yellow card for defeat to Heerenveen. Ajdin Hrustic miss that match through injury and remain doubtful for Saturday clash.
Ajax get several injury concerns. Former Arsenal defender Oleksandr Zinchenko dey sidelined with knee injury. Goalkeeper Vitezslav Jaros (back) and midfielder Youri Regeer (hamstring) dey unavailable. Another former Arsenal player, Takehiro Tomiyasu, force off during clash with Feyenoord due to suspected hamstring problem. E miss match against Twente, remain doubtful for this encounter.
Midfielder Kian Fitz-Jim miss last game and dey expected to remain unavailable due to unspecified reasons.
Johan Derksen no fit understand why Ajax sign Maarten Paes last winter. For Vandaag Inside, e explain say “He’s a rubbish keeper. How on earth did they manage to sign him, René?”
René van der Gijp talk about Ajax goalkeeper. “Maarten Paes. Oh, lad… I saw him doing something again, and I thought: that’s why you wear gloves.” Clip from 86th minute of Ajax v FC Twente show Paes try clear ball off byline but fail because e first touch ball with standing foot.
Van der Gijp continue: “He’s wearing gloves for a reason, Wilfred. I swear to you.” Derksen talk say “If you need a goalkeeper at Ajax, you bring in an experienced one who’s on the bench at another club. This was a rubbish goalkeeper at Utrecht. That’s why they got rid of him.”
Ajax sign Paes from FC Dallas early February, after Remko Pasveer don leave for Heracles Almelo. Indonesian international don make six appearances between posts for Amsterdam side. E keep two clean sheets.
Ajax fit even finish seventh and miss European competition. Dem suffer defeat against FC Twente last weekend, see Tukkers take over fourth place. Amsterdam side, on 48 points, dey just two points behind FC Twente, but Ajax remaining fixtures no easy.
After two away matches against Heracles Almelo and NAC Breda, Ajax must play final three matches against national champions PSV, FC Utrecht and sc Heerenveen. Utrecht dey ninth place, one point behind Sparta Rotterdam wey dey occupy final play-off spot. Ron Jans side dey real bogey team for Ajax, dem win just once for last five meetings between clubs.
Utrecht side dey in good form, dem lose just two of their last ten league matches. These na narrow defeats against PSV and Feyenoord. Heerenveen dey on impressive run for VriendenLoterij Eredivisie. Frisian club no lose for five consecutive matches, dem dey seventh for league, just four points behind Ajax.
Earlier this season, Óscar García side no fit pass Heerenveen, match end 1-1 at Johan Cruijff ArenA. Heerenveen fit seal Ajax fate for final round of fixtures at Abe Lenstra Stadium and send club into play-offs.
If Ajax end up for play-offs, club go turn attention to cup final wey take place Sunday 19 April. NEC go face AZ, wey currently dey sixth place. Cup winner qualify directly for Europa League. This way, AZ fit avoid play-offs. Cup win for Alkmaar side fit, given recent results of North Holland derby, be beneficial for Ajax.
Iliass Bel Hassani play alongside Wout Weghorst at both Heracles Almelo and AZ. For ESPN’s De Voetbalkantine, retired midfielder share memories of Ajax striker. Weghorst get baptism of fire for Eredivisie at Heracles.
Bel Hassani talk say “Wout could certainly score. But we’re footballers and we love tricks, and Weghorst really couldn’t do that. You had to give him a long ball or a cross. He was very good at that.”
E recall say those qualities na wetin lead Weghorst to Manchester United. “Did I expect that based on his technique? No, definitely not.” At Heracles, Weghorst force transfer to AZ, where towering striker do everything to improve.
“I’d go home and see Wout in the gym. I’d say: ‘What on earth are you doing, mate? Go home.’ But he wouldn’t. Wout was constantly working on getting better.” Bel Hassani talk say “At one point, I genuinely thought he was ill. It was just not normal. But anyway, look where he’s ended up. That’s brilliant.”
Johan Voskamp, former striker for Sparta Rotterdam and RKC Waalwijk, dey great admirer of Weghorst. “He has a winner’s mentality and is confident in himself. I think that’s really quite special.” Voskamp emphasize say Weghorst no dey camera-shy.
“Sometimes it’s the Wout Weghorst show. It’s the same with Wouter Goes. Perhaps it’s in the name. It’s not just about you. So if you’ve lost a match, there’s no need to wave your arms about and lie on the ground crying. Then the cameras will be on you and you’ll be in the papers again the next day.”
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