Ajax manager Míchel Sánchez has explained his touchline reaction towards Tolu Arokodare during Ajax’s 3-1 defeat by PSV Eindhoven, Footynaija reports.
The Nigerian striker scored Ajax’s equaliser in the first half, but appeared to frustrate Sánchez during the opening minutes of the match.
PSV took an early lead through Ricardo Pepi, but Arokodare levelled after 23 minutes. The forward used his strength to hold off his marker before turning and firing the ball into the net.
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Shortly before the goal, Sánchez was seen shouting towards Arokodare. Kasper Dolberg and Marcos Leonardo were also warming up, which suggested the coach was unhappy with his striker.
However, Sánchez insisted his reaction was driven by passion rather than anger.
“We knew that Tolu could play a dominant role up front in the opening phase and tried to play as much as possible in the opponent’s half. In the first fifteen minutes, he didn’t show the best version of himself,” the coach explains as per AjaxLife.
“That’s when you saw me on the sidelines. It wasn’t so much irritation, more passion. Although I understand that some people might interpret that slightly differently. I demand a lot from my players.”
Sánchez eventually replaced Arokodare after about an hour and introduced Dolberg and Leonardo as part of a plan to use two strikers.
“We had a battle plan with two types of threats. First, Tolu acted as a target man and Julian Brandt could provide a threat from the wing. The second formation was the combination of Dolberg and Leonardo, with Kasper as the center forward, and Marcos around them.”
The change did not help Ajax avoid defeat, with PSV scoring twice more in the second half.
“In hindsight, it turned out that we lacked energy in the game in the second half,” Sánchez continues. “It didn’t flow well enough and it wasn’t fast enough. That was also due to PSV, who put a lot of man-pressure. We lacked depth, but I don’t think it would have made a difference if I had left Tolu on for ninety minutes.”
Despite the defeat, Arokodare’s goal continued an impressive start to his Ajax career. He now has five goals in all competitions, including two in the Eredivisie and three in the UEFA Conference League.
The PSV goal also extended his scoring run to four consecutive matches for Ajax.
