In the first half, vdVaart with a 13th minute goal, 1-0 to Ajax. Starting 11: Stekelenburg - Trabelsi, Bergdølmo, Chivu, O'Brien - Galásek, van der Vaart, Maxwell - van der Meyde, Mido, Sikora
I'm happy to see that transfer. I never could see De Cler doing well in an Ajax uniform. I always perceived him as one of the weakest players on the pitch.
Zlatan came on for Mido in the 32nd minute. Wamberto for Sikora in the 68th minute. Trabelsi got a yellow card early in the match.
Ajax won despite a Groningen ban on Ajax supporters attending the match. http://www.ajax-usa.com/ajax/news/02-03/0830-d.html
I'm happy as anyone to see Tim off, since it means that JOB owns the LB spot for now (tho I wish JOB was in the midfield, but a small complaint...) but under Co De Cler played a lot of games and scored a key goal or two last season. He seemed to really drop of the radar when Koeman took over. I wonder if it was more attitude than ability, or a result of the injur(ies?). Anyway, Ajax has been playing very well since Co left (and JOB went to steady LB). Now if FSW would just put the dang games back on.
Just wondering if Groningen are as big a bunch of thugs as they were last year.It was the only match I watched last year where I feared for players' safety...
The answer is in the match report on Ajax USA's website. http://www.ajax-usa.com/ajax/matches/02-03/0901.html Koeman is serving notice. He's got a lot depth up top and he wants hungry strikers. Bergdolmo is continuing his weak play in the back. JOB could not stop the Gronigen goal after a Bergdolmo lapse.
In other news,Sun rises in East today,CEOs are crooks,US hates Iraq, and Generalissimo Franco is still dead...
Overseas, ESPN International seems to treat its Dutch League games as the Ajax Network. Saw this game, and except for the Nigerian forward loaned from Ajax, I don't think most of Gronigen's players would look out of place in the A League. They really suck. As for JOB, he had a very quiet match. His problems came from Chivu and, as noted above, Bergomo getting caught upfield. Tommy Smyth disagreed as he thought that JOB has been struggling all season. I will agree with Smyth that although Van der Vaart is great and Ajax's quick strike ability gives them a chance, I wouldn't expect too much out of Ajax in the Champions League. Especially is Mido keeps dogging it, as Ibramovich was not impressive.
ESPN Review I also watched the game on ESPN International. For the second game in the season, Tommy Smythe has really been down on JOB, although this time he also singled out Chivu for some grief. There was at least one point where TS rapped JOB for releasing his outside assignment for a clear cross. Of course, had he not switched, the attacker was clear on goal, but that didn't seem to matter. This said, JOB was beaten badly on a couple of plays by an attacker moving inside on him with pace. He just didn't seem to be able to keep position, as there was no support. It will be a bit interesting to watch as the level of competition picks up. The own goal was a bit unfortunate, as a stuck-out boot just redirected it straight in. It might have been wide otherwise, but hard to say. Nobody was pressuring the ball, so it was a quality chance, but JOB did seem to be a bit in no-man's-land.