Champions League; Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Ajax: 5 talking points and tactical analysis

#2 Van de Beek stars again

Van De Beek scores the winner

As mentioned earlier, Ajax usually line up in a 4-3-3 formation on paper. In theory, one expects Schone to play as the No 6 with De Jong and Donny Van de Beek as the two number 8’s. The truth is far from that as De Jong slots alongside Schone in a deeper role to control and dictate the tempo of the game. So they change seamlessly from a 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1 which is not a rare sight in football.

The interesting part is that the position that Van De Beek occupies. The midfielder plays almost as a number nine with Tadic roaming in the wide areas to form those passing triangles. Ziyech then drops into midfield and that gives them those additional numbers in the central areas and thus they move smoothly from back to front. They shift as a unit and there is a certain symmetry, organization, and balance to this team that catches the eye.

Van De Beek is so crucial to this system as his movement of the ball and positioning is just majestic. One such move that encapsulated his genius was when shortly after scoring the opener, he made a beeline towards the ball before dummying it to Tadic and spun away in the opposite direction and collected a neat one-touch pass from his teammate but couldn’t get the better of Lloris this time around.

He doesn't receive the plaudits that De Jong and De Ligt receive but he is nonetheless as important to this team as the other two starlets.