Kwakman saw 'distressing' Ajax wilt and criticizes 'king of wrong choices'

Kwakman criticized Ajax's defensive performance and Oscar Gloukh's decision-making after their win at Sparta, saying the team 'wilted' and were fortunate to escape with three points.

ESPN analyst Kees Kwakman was highly critical of Ajax's display in their victory at Sparta Rotterdam on Sunday. While Ajax won the match, Kwakman felt they were poor throughout and relied heavily on goalkeeper Ter Stegen to keep them in the game.

Kwakman was particularly scathing about Israeli midfielder Oscar Gloukh, describing him as 'the king of making wrong choices' and saying his performance in the second half was 'very mediocre'. He also criticized Lucas Rosa's defending, noting that Sparta's Van Bergen was allowed to deliver crosses far too easily.

Defensively, Kwakman found Ajax's second-half display 'distressing', with Sparta creating dangerous opportunities through simple play. He suggested Ajax lacked the attacking threat to punish opponents on the counter-attack and noted that while the team 'wilted', the poor performance would likely be forgotten by the next day.