Feyenoord’s season is now on the brink of collapse following a 2-0 defeat to Ajax and Robin van Persie thinks tactics are to blame.
The Klassieker defeat means Feyenoord have lost seven of their last 10 games, meaning they’re not only nine points behind Eredivisie leaders PSV, but they’re also almost out of the Europa League too.
Ajax scored inside 19 minutes through Davy Klaassen and then ended the contest in the fourth minute of stoppage time when Jorthy Mokio finished a counter-attack.
‘RVP’ wasn’t too impressed with his opponents, though.
“Certainly in the second half it was clear that only one team wanted to play football, and that was us,” he said post-match.
“Nieuwkoop, Ueda, Smal, and Timber. We were attacking, and Ajax was waiting for a mistake from us.
“That’s how we gave away two counterattacks. But that’s just the way we want to play.”
“Losing six times in eight matches doesn’t suit Feyenoord. But I’m not going to pretend otherwise. I’m not choosing a different approach now.
“We’re also not going to play football differently like other teams. We’re doing really well. I truly believe we’ll turn things around.
“I don’t really care what other people think about this. I also put pressure on myself. I say we want to be champions.
“If you’re nine points behind PSV, you know they’ll come back at you. But I’m not running away from that. I never did as a player either.”
Van Persie made similar comments about sticking to his style when he lose 9-1 to AZ as Heerenveen head coach and on that occasion he turned it around.
“Football is emotion,” he continued. “We live in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. But external pressure doesn’t influence my actions or thoughts.
“I’m a novice manager, but not a novice footballer. I’ve been walking around with a ball my whole life. I still want to improve every game. I don’t want to sugarcoat it now. Because losing 2-0 to Ajax is still incredibly frustrating.”
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