After losing points away from home for the fourth time this Eredivisie season, Ajax manager John Heitinga said that the international break will serve as a good moment to evaluate the situation.
Ajax are unbeaten in the Eredivisie after eight games, but are yet to win an away game in the Dutch league. With a Feyenoord win over FC Utrecht tomorrow, the gap to the league leaders will expand to six as the season's second international break starts.
Ajax drew 3-3 with Sparta on Saturday after substitute Oscar Gloukh scored yet another late equaliser, this time in the 97th minute.
"It wasn't the good first half," Heitinga told ESPN after the game. "I think you create a few chances and score a good first goal. Then you get an unfortunate handball against you. Then you're in the corner where the blows fall."
Youri Baas created Ajax's 1-0, but was to blame for Tobias Lauritsen's equaliser after unfortunately committing a handball with his supporting arm during a slide tackle.
Ajax fell to a 3-1 deficit in the first fifteen minutes following the break after Mitchell van Bergen and Joshua Kitolano were left all alone in or on the edge of Ajax's box.
"We didn't start well in the second half. However, I must say that I saw an Ajax team that is willing to go through fire to get the job done," said Heitinga, who saw his team fight the heavy rain and wind as the second half started.
"I think we struggled with the conditions. We didn't play well, and we gave away two unnecessary goals. Then it becomes fragile; you can see that. Of course, that also affects your confidence.
Then you get a few chances, and you keep up your pace and get into a rhythm. Then, luckily, you score two more goals."
Injuries and evaluations
Heitinga was forced to change his side in at least one place after centre-half Ko Itakura was unable to make the trip to Rotterdam with an injury. The manager, who continuously mentions that his team are rebuilding and in the middle of a process,
"These are not excuses, but I believe you have had to deal with many injuries in recent weeks. At half-time, you were also forced to make a substitution with Lucas Rosa, who was unable to continue."
Read our match report of Sparta Rotterdam-Ajax here!
Heitinga also chose to keep Gloukh on the bench again, while the midfielder scored two goals in his last three games for Ajax. Fitness was no issue, so could he have just started one of his few in-form players instead of 32-year-old Davy Klaassen, for example?
"That could have been the case, but we have more midfielders," Heitinga said. "I think Oscar contributes to the end, and you can see that he also fights and battles for the team. It's important that no one throws in the towel and that you keep fighting until the end. That's what the lads did. I think that's clear to see."
With the international break around the corner, Heitinga thinks it's a good time to evaluate his performance. "I think it's also a good time to evaluate, both with the staff and the players. I'm going to evaluate it for myself as well," he said, whilst refusing to share what earlier evaluations have led to.