Ajax were nowhere near convincing away to Shelbourne FC on Thursday night: 2-2. Tim Krul, analyst for Ziggo Sport, was critical afterwards, particularly of Marcos Leonardo.
The 2-2 draw did not have major consequences for Ajax. The Amsterdam club had already won the first leg of the third qualifying round of the Conference League 3-1 last week, so they still go through to the play-offs as expected.
Thursday night's performance was poor, Krul felt. "It is not yet a well-oiled machine at the moment. And that is only logical, but you still expect a bit more quality in the second half. Seeing the game out professionally. But that did not happen. I think disappointment is the overriding feeling tonight."
At Ajax, Krul thinks he knows what might be behind it. "Maybe it is a bit of self-confidence. Last year they had three different managers. Just a bit of calm at the club. A few good signings, who still need to get fit as well."
Among those signings is striker Leonardo, who also failed to make much of an impression against Shelbourne. "Enough has already been said about Leonardo," said Krul. "Tonight again he did not show enough. Against three of those butchers at the back it was not an ideal game for him either, but in that respect too you can see Ajax are still searching."
"You can simply see that the lad still has no self-confidence at the moment. That will come, but he is a striker who lives for goals. And right now he is still not showing enough."
As for Thursday night, Krul barely saw him. "In the previous matches he was still getting into the box, and then he simply was not finishing them properly. But he was very unsettled. And when he was substituted, you could also see that there is nothing in it. There is no spark in it. That is a shame for a lad like that. When you join a new club, you want to show what you can do as quickly as possible," concluded the former goalkeeper.