Ajax must be like Arsenal - De Boer

De Boer

The Dutch coach says he would like to see his side emulate the Gunners' playing style and is confident of overcoming their 1-0 deficit against Dnipro on Thursday

Frank de Boer has said he wants to see Ajax adopt a similar playing style to Arsenal.

Arsene Wenger's preferred style is influenced by the 4-3-3 system Ajax helped pioneer over four decades ago, which carried them to incredible domestic and European glory.

De Boer has since reinstated that style at the Amsterdam club and has guided them to four successive league titles, but admits that he wants to bring them to the level of the Premier League side, who were eliminated from the Champions League last-16 on Tuesday by Monaco.

"The way they played against Monaco is the way we would like to play as well," De Boer told reporters. "High pressure, get the ball back very quickly. I really love the way Arsenal play. When I look at their goals, it sometimes looks like futsal. Passing, moving and always at a high tempo."

De Boer's side are facing a European elimination of their own, as they host Dnipro in the Amsterdam Arena on Thursday, looking to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg.

As PSV apparently already have the Eredivisie title tied up, as they hold an 11-point lead, Thursday's match has been hailed as the game of the year for Ajax, but the coach would rather not see it that way.

"I expect Dnipro to sit back and wait for us to attack. You could see that in the first match as well. We have to be patient, we can't afford to make mistakes.

"I hope this is not the 'game of the year' for us, because I want to go through and play in another 'game of the year'."

The coach also discussed the prospect of a shootout, and noted that Bayer Leverkusen's defeat against Atletico Madrid in such a manner on Tuesday evening seemed to come about due to a lack of confidence.

"We've practiced penalties. From the 19 we took, we only missed about three or four. Jasper Cillessen saved two and one or two went over the bar. You can always train the way you kick the ball, but it's hard to simulate the atmosphere. When you saw Bayer Leverkusen last night, it looked like they didn't know that they had to take a penalty."

The coach also touched on the situation with Ajax starlet Ricardo Kishna, who was dropped from Sunday's 4-1 win over Heerenveen for disciplinary reasons.

"He's back in the squad. I've spoken to him and he understood what he did wrong. It's no big deal, and we have to look past this now."

Source Goal.com