Ajax impressed in the first half of Thursday evening's Conference League match against Atalanta Bergamo, but went into the break at 0-0. Míchel Sánchez's side created plenty of chances and were clearly the better team at times. Oscar Gloukh, though, drew a surprising amount of criticism on social media.
After just six minutes, a deflected shot from Lucas Rosa struck the post. Jorthy Mokio then thought he had scored with a magnificent shot, but the officials ruled it out because Davy Klaassen was offside.
Fans liked what they saw from Ajax but grew frustrated with Gloukh's decisions in the final third. The left-sided attacker showed his quality with a good run down the left flank in the 11th minute, then shot well over in the 22nd. Four minutes later, he chose to shoot again despite having little space. His effort was blocked and boos rang out from the stands.
On social media, supporters also criticised the Israeli. "Gloukh is mainly focused on Gloukh again," one wrote on X. Another added: "Substitute Gloukh. He has blinkers on and only plays for his own company." His lack of awareness, inaccurate passing and tendency to hold on to the ball for too long were particular sources of frustration.
Several supporters on Ajax Showtime felt the attacker produced too little end product. "Too many wrong decisions from Gloukh, but that's nothing new," one wrote. Another said: "Oscar, what an ego, always playing for himself." One supporter argued that Gloukh regularly slowed promising counter-attacks by dribbling instead of passing to an unmarked team-mate.
Calls for a substitution grew louder, with Abdellah Ouazane's name cropping up particularly often on social media. "With so much space, better to bring on Ouazane for Gloukh," someone wrote on X. Supporters on Ajax Showtime also wanted to see the young midfielder: "Let Ouazane and Tolu start warming up already," came the call.
Not everyone shared the criticism, however. Gloukh forced Carnesecchi into a save with a shot in the 32nd minute. "Gloukh is often the scapegoat here, but I think he's an important part of the team. Very intelligent in his link-up play, a strong dribbler and good at holding on to the ball in midfield," one person said in the attacker's defence.