Let's make it 14 wins in a row in honor of Cruyff, AFC Ajax [R]

70% possession and we only get a garbage goal in stoppage time to go ahead 1-0. We seem to be moving the ball well enough but the crosses for the most part have been a little off. Eriksen had the one good breakaway but was stopped twice by good plays from the Groningen keeper and the player that cleared the ball off the line. Groningen will now have to move away from their 10 behind the ball approach and take some more chances if they want to get on the scoreboard. I'm still not liking Janssen today because he's just standing around not creating any space. I think Anita only made one bad pass all half.

 

Poor clinical finishing in a match where there was good passing and possession. Anita is my MOTM regardless of what Sidekick says. Off to Yoga now; player ratings later today.

 

Yoga was really great today, all of the anxiety about the match is now gone! I thought that it was a decent performance against a team that was playing defensively from the beginning. We were unfortunate not to be able to clinically finish chances (we should have had 2-3 more goals for sure) but then that's been the problem of the team all year long. Defensively there were one or two hiccups but nothing more though it's always better to have a 2 goal lead down the stretch of a match.

Player Ratings:

Vermeer (7) - tested only once and made the save didn't have to do much kicking which is always a plus
Blind (7) - not a bad match today though he's always better going forward than defending; it looks like he's the starter the rest of the season
Vertonghen (8) - best central defender in the league and one of the better ones in all of Europe based on current play
Alderweireld (7) - one really bad lapse which he recovered from
Van der Wiel (7) - he is making progress, playing better this week than last; let's hope we can move him this summer
Eriksen (7) - a player at his level should be able to better on a break away
Anita (9) - yes a nine, I counted only two missed passes and those two passes sending a player in on the keeper were just sublime; his best match of the season
Janssen (6) - so FdB doesn't sub him off; what's going on, poor free kicks, one very good pass and a lot of standing around
Boerrigter (8) - beat his man and caused all kinds of defensive problems for Groningen
de Jong (7) - I guess he gets two assists today but really he should be able to shoot better than he did
Aissati (7) - a couple of good passes, some really poor ones, but in general pretty good play from someone who last September wasn't even in the selection
Sigthorrson (7) - decent enough in the short time he was out there
Enoh (NR) - not on long enough
Ozbiliz (NR) - not on long enough

On to Enschede next week and a win gives us the title irrespective of what anyone else does based on goal differential. It would be nice if the team can win out and bring the streak up to 14.

 

I think I'm safe in saying that if Guardiola leaves Barca, FdB will NOT be their next manager!