Jong Ajax managed to snatch a win against former Eredivisie side Heracles Almelo. Heitinga’s side had an attractive playing style and had a direct approach, getting the ball from goal to goal quickly and creating many chances through the young Francisco Conceição and Lorenzo Lucca. This win saw Jong Ajax jump up a few places in the standings in the Keuken Kampioen Divisie. They now have seven points from five matches.
Ratings:
- A1 – Very good, could play higher
- A2 – Strong potential to play higher
- B1 – Good, strong player at level
- B2 – Potential to be a strong player at level
- C – Average for the level, rewatch
- D – Below average in this match
Lorenzo Lucca
- Nationality: Italian
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 10/09/2000
- Club: AFC Ajax (on loan from AC Pisa)
- Career: Torino (Y), Chieri G. (Y), Atletico Torino, Vicenza (Y), Torino (Y), Brescia (L), Palermo, Pisa, Ajax (L)
- Position: Striker
- Preferred foot: Right
Lorenzo Lucca played as a striker for Jong Ajax in the Keuken Kampioen Divisie match against Heracles Almelo. Standing at 2.01 meters with a normal build, you would expect that Lorenzo Lucca is a sluggish striker who is slow. That is not true. Lucca is very mobile for someone of his frame. He is fairly quick over short and long distances, but his running style does look a bit strange at times. The AC Pisa loanee has good physical ability; he holds up play well in duels far from the goal, but can also hold up the play near the opposition’s box, leaning into his opponent with his back towards the goal and maintaining his balance while picking out a pass. His decision-making and passing is not great when holding up play close to the goal. Under less pressure, Lucca composes himself well and picks out the right pass.
A bit further away from the goal, when receiving in a bit of space, Lucca has quick decision-making on the ball and he likes to spread the ball out wide before bursting into the opposition’s box. When Ajax were in settled possession on the opposition’s half, Lucca created passing angles for his teammates at the right times and was often found. Lucca liked to play first-time passes and he often was on the receiving end of a one-two down the middle. His movement in the box was pretty good, he often got himself into space but was let down by his teammates – especially Francisco Conceição who often tried to go for the shot himself. The Italian striker is composed in front of goal and reacted quickly to get to the ball first for the 1-0. He was close to scoring from another corner early in the second half, just missed the target from close range for another chance but converted his fourth chance to score the 2-0.
Lorenzo Lucca was not the most active pressure out of possession and did not always close down his opponent. His positioning out of possession could do with some improvement too. However, as he just arrived in Amsterdam, he will be looking to improve that pretty quickly. Lucca was subbed off after 60 minutes in order to prepare for the Champions League match against Rangers on Wednesday.
Rating – A1
Lorenzo Lucca is too good for the Keuken Kampioen Divisie and I am impressed with his mobility and on-the-ball abilities. He did really well and should be looking to get more minutes in the first team later on in this season.
Target Scouting 