A closer match than the final score suggests as it was only in the last 15 minutes that the possession game kicked in and the team was able to shut down Twente. Nice clean sheet though there were some dicey moments and Twente should have at least scored one off of the wicked crosses that zoomed across the goal mouth. The league title now looks comfortably in reach with only an away match to Vitesse the only tough fixture left. I'm surprised Cillessen's leg didn't fall off with all the kicking he had to do today. Player Ratings: Cillessen (7) - a couple of good saves, one really bad give away that deserved to be punished but overall decent Boilesen (5) - showed the signs of a long time off; defended quite poorly but 'if' he stays healthy he is the left back Denswil (7) - solid match and didn't try to get too cute with the ball Veltman (7) - another good match and made some nice plays inside the box van Rhijn (7) - very good offensively and had a couple of nice defensive plays as most of the Twente attack came from the other flank Blind (6) - not as good today with some poor passes that were easily interceptd Serero (7.5) - absolutely first rate today, looked to go forward rather than passing back and used his quickness well Klaassen (7) - did a lot of defensive duty today and was quite good at disrupting the Twente midfield Kishna (5.5) - really silent and needs to learn he cannot beat two defenders Bojan (7.5) - best match in an Ajax shirt this season; rocket shot that found the back of the net was excellent Schöne (7.5) - looking more and more like the player of the year for Ajax Sigthorsson (6) - didn't have much of an opportunity in the offensive end but was good on the ball Paulsen (6.5) - very good coming on late for defensive purposes Duarte (6) - decent enough in the short time he was on the field Well done Ajax!!!
http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organ...3003/index.html?intcmp=fifacom_hp_module_news Barcelona banned from the next two transfer windows for violations related to the international transfer of players under the age of 18. Can anyone clarify what exactly it is that Barcelona has been doing in violation that the English clubs aren't doing? Also, is it possible that Ajax could be in violation as well? Are we not signing international U-18s? I'm a little confused about the regulations, and the exceptions to those regulations.
This might help clarify. "FIFA only permits international youth transfers when one of the three following situations apply: The player's parents have moved country for their own non-related reasons; The move takes place within the European Union if a player is aged between 16 and 18; The player's home is less than 50 kilometres from the national border being crossed." I'm guessing they signed and played some youngsters who didn't match any of these qualifications.
Pretty sure most of the Ajax U-18s fall into the first exception listed above. Don't know if any of the three Belgians we had playing defense lived within 50km of the Dutch border but it's possible.
Didnt all your danish homegrown players join Ajax at 15 though? - Nevermind, thought i kept reading about them being 15 at the time but they werent, Fischer was the closest one with signing 2 weeks orso after turning 16
a rather boring 2nd half and the score remains at 0-2 for a deserved victory. Decent play from everyone on the field. Cillessen had to make some routine saves but lots of shots were blocked before they even got to him. Duarte went the full 90 minutes and it was good to see him show some skilful play. Moving forward now to the final match day and a victory of Vitesse this weekend will go a long way to solidifying hold on first place. Player Ratings: Cillessen (7) - nothing more than routine to keep the clean sheet Blind (7) - whole 90 at fullback and did a good job of things Denswil (7) - solid all match long, didn't see a single give away Veltman (7) - nice header for the first goal and solid defense van Rhijn (7) - good match and had little to do on defense since most of the play was down the other side Poulsen (7.5) - best field player IMO; not a single bad pass and a rock in the middle of the defense dropping back to let Denswil and Veltman go further upfield Duarte (7) - very good game, pressing all the time and getting some good turnovers Klaassen (7) - got a nice goal but was pretty silent otherwise de Sa (7) - good wing play Sigthorrsson (7) - good on the ball and great through pass to Klaassen Schöne (7) - shifted a lot over to the left side tonight which we haven't seen much of before, solid game Kishna (6.5) - on for de Sa but didn't do much Serero (6) - on late for Klaassen
As terrible as the club was in the first half they were quite fine in the 2nd and almost stole a goal to take all the points. Defense settled down and Cillessen did not have do nearly as much work. Mentally the club was much tougher and that's the way they need to approach the full 90 minutes. Good to see Denswil get his head in the match. The club still needs much better handling speed in the midfield and there were chances to stretch the Vitesse defense in the last 20 minutes but they couldn't take advantage of it. Player Ratings: Cillessen (8) - outstanding example of goal keeping in the first half though he did have to do a lot of kicking again as there was no outlet available Boilsen (6.5) - got beat a couple of times but played well until he came off late in the second half; had some nice runs on offense Denswil (4.5) - good second half almost got him an average mark for the match Veltman (7) - some Koeman-like runs with the ball only to be let down on the final touch, pretty good defending as well van Rhijn (5.5) - really had a chance to deliver a couple of good balls into the middle and didn't Blind (6) - above average today Duarte (7) - showed why he should be a starter today, good ball control and had some nice defensive plays as well Klaassen (5.5) - more of a Siem de Jong match unfortunately Bojan (6) - decent enough Sigthorrson (6) - very nice goal and that was it; another poor match with the ball at his feet and did he even win one ball in the air? Schöne (6) - OK match but no really outstanding plays Poulsen (6) - on to add some defensive steel and did just that de Sa (6) - added some pace on the left side down the stretch Kishna (NR) - on too late to make any judgement Feyenoord wins 2-0 so they are still mathematically alive.
We have a 6 point lead. 3 games to go. And a goal difference of +10 compared to Feyenoord. So officially Feyenoord would still have a chance. We've got Ado (h) - Heracles (a) - Nec (h) Feyenoord still has PSV (a) - Cambuur (h) - AZ (a) Ajax will never lose all games. Feyenoord will never win all their games, and they will never be able correct a 10 goal differential. So realisitically, we're already champions.
With all the talk of Frank de Boer moving to the premier league, who do you guys think might be his successor?
Full credit to ADO who made it an interesting match down to the end. Two losses of concentration by the Ajax defense were suitably punished though the club played quite well otherwise preventing any ADO build up. Offensively the midfield was much better and the interchange between the front three helped to create lots of space. PSV didn't get the job done so we need to wait another two weeks before celebrations can begin. Player Ratings: Cillessen (6) - didn't have too much to do and it was a rather weak shot that might have been saved on the 2nd goal Boilesen (6.5) - generally had a good match but after he beat his man the crosses were generally of poor quality Denswil (6.5) - own goals happen to the best of players but the lack of concentration on this one was disturbing Veltman (7) - solid match Ligeon (7) - good match subbing for van Rhijn and his speed really helped out Poulsen (7) - kept things solid defensively and his offensive play was excellent today Serero (7) - well taken goal and it was good to see him look to pass forward rather than backward Klaassen (7) - good match and his defensive marking is really improving works hard to get every free ball near by Bojan (7) - very active on the wing and it was strange to see him come off for de Sa Sigthorrson (5.5) - slightly above average is all that can be said Schøne (7.5) - best player on the pitch, constantly creating dangerous situation for the ADO defense de Sa (6) - decent enough coming on in the 2nd half Duarte (NR) - not on long enough Riederwald (NR) - not on long enough Cup final next weekend.