Ajax analysis with Mike Verweij, De Telegraaf

He's spoken to us about Vincent Janssen, Davinson Sanchez and PSV over the last couple of years and now Mike Verweij gives us an insight into the team he watches week in, week out in Holland - Ajax. A hugely-respected sports writer on the largest Dutch national newspaper, De Telegraaf, Mike is in London to cover our Champions League semi-final, first leg and so we put together our latest 'Preview from the Press Box' at Monday's media day at Hotspur Way.

Ajax's form

Mike: “They are back in the form they showed just before the winter break. That was the best part of the season for Ajax and they are coming to that level again. They had a fairly bad period after the winter break but the form is now really good. That included a key game away to Groningen in the league. It was straight after the Juventus game (second leg). It was difficult, Groningen made it a physical game but they won via a late goal from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and that was a really important win in the title race.”

Tactics/approach

Mike: “Ajax always play their own game. They want to have possession and stay out of the physical contact with Spurs. They press very high and I believe they will do that even higher than normal. That’s one of the qualities of Ajax. Earlier in the season, they couldn’t always do it for 90 minutes, but now they can do it for a long period and for Real Madrid and Juventus, it was too much.”

Key player

Mike: “The key player is Frenkie de Jong. He is going to Barcelona on an 86 million Euro move and that makes him the most expensive player in Holland, even more experience than Virgil van Dijk, the best player in the Premier League (just voted PFA Player of the Year). He’s the key player, but they have a few more like Hakim Ziyech, Dusan Tadic, David Neres, all skilful players and of course, one of te biggest talents besides Frenkie de Jong is the captain, Matthijs de Ligt, only 19, he’s doing a great job this year.”