Paul Nuijten expressed dissatisfaction with his team’s performance against VVV-Venlo, as he shared in an interview with ESPN. Despite securing a 1-0 victory in De Koel, Nuijten was far from pleased with how his squad played.
When asked if he was seeing a positive “Nuijten effect” on the team, the coach responded, “No, I don’t think so. I believe my predecessors laid a very good foundation. What is clear is that this is a very combative team. We need to build on that and continue to develop it.”
Nuijten indicated he’s making subtle adjustments to the team’s approach. “We’re essentially following the same line,” he explained. “Every coach has their own style, so we’re placing a little more emphasis on certain elements – whether that’s in possession, defensively, or in the weekly training structure. But there haven’t been any major changes.”
Although Jong Ajax didn’t concede a goal, Nuijten felt his team struggled throughout the match. “We really struggled today. VVV created some good chances, as did we, particularly on the counter. Looking back at the game, we had moments of luck. I thought our first half was truly disastrous, and that’s putting it mildly. The second half was at least more spirited. But this is a match we need to critically review.”
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The Jong Ajax manager was particularly critical of his team’s first-half display. “Careless, weak, and naive. We barely saw any of the agreements we made position into practice. We made changes at halftime. I saw a lifeless team in the first half, and if there’s one thing One can’t be, it’s lifeless. I told the players that as well.”
Nuijten noted an improvement in the second half. “Fortunately, that was different in the second half. Rule number one is that we have to be combative. Rule number two is good football. We showed that fighting spirit today, but there’s still perform to be done to grow dominant in our play.”
The former assistant to Grim was determined to secure the win. “it’s about getting the result. These players need to learn that. They’ve experienced the consequences when that doesn’t happen in recent months. Now they’re learning how to close out a victory. But if you play for Ajax, you also need to show yourself in a certain way on the field, and we didn’t do enough of that today.”
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Assistant coach Urby Emanuelson requested several substitutions during the match, but Nuijten did not grant them. “We discussed that a lot. Some substitutions were planned in advance, also with an eye toward Friday, when we play again. You’re looking beyond just the moment. We weren’t playing well, but we were fighting, so I didn’t want to make changes too quickly. I knew it would be physically demanding towards the end. It was ultimately a good and interactive conversation.”
When asked if he would be on the bench in De Kuip on Sunday, Nuijten responded, “That’s settled. I’m no longer involved with that. I’m fully focused on Jong Ajax. We’ll train again tomorrow, and on Friday we play against Almere City.”
The Jong Ajax manager stressed that winning alone isn’t enough. “but it’s fantastic. Winning always helps. Though, at Ajax, winning alone isn’t enough. My role is also to develop players into Ajax-1 players, and today we saw that there’s still a lot of work to be done.”
