Just saw the highlights on FSW--other than Mido's and vdV's 2nd goal (goaline scrambles), all superb tallies. Good times, good times...
i saw that too buff. a good season is ahead for ajax...i just have a feeling. it was nice to see the highlights on FSW, and who is the blonde chick on sky sports tonight? i thought i liked kirsty gallagher but this lady is climbing...
Good move by Koeman No JOB? What a relief! No need to have him play well and give LvG any bright ideas!!!
I saw this game and Ajax was quite a bit lucky. The main piece of luck was a terrible offside call that denied Barca a beautiful goal to go up 4-1. The second piece of luck is that Van Gaal is so full of himself that he actually thinks he can protect a 2-0 halftime lead by subbing Reizinger for Christanval and teaming him with DeBoer in what was essentially a back two. Ajax got two goals off goal mouth scrambles and two goals off uncharacteristic errors by Carlos Pulyol, who Van Gaall has playing a role floating between the central defenders and the midfield. It was a very exciting game. Van Der Vaart's first goal was brilliant, and he is world class. Ajax has a deep and talented squad, though I don't think when the real play starts they will be quite in Barca's class. BTW, Witsche played the left back/left midfield role that both Van Gaal and Koeman use. As for Ajax's midfield, I don't see how JOB wouldn't have been an improvement over what Ajax had out there.
Re: Good move by Koeman I wouldn't complain too much if O'Brien got an offer from Barca, although I think he fits in perfectly and has a great situation at Ajax. Then again Barca is pretty much a second Ajax. I do hope Ajax have a big year this year, because I seriously doubt Van der Vaart is going to be there next year. I see him at Barca or AC Milan really soon.
Match report. JOB probably best player against Manchester United. http://www.ajax-usa.com/ajax/matches/02-03/0804.html
Sorry for the late post, but I have been offline for the last few days. I caught the game(s) on Sky in London and agree generally with Martin Fischer's comments. Ajax was flat in the first half and then roared back in the second half. Luck favored Ajax in the first with the offsides call, but shifted to Barca in the second. In the end, Ajax probably deserved the victory and the hardware for their overall play and great attitude during the tournament. Van der Vaart is the Bomb. He has improved substantially over last year, which is a real accomplishment considering how much time he has been sidelined in the last 12 months. On his first goal, IIRC, he recieved the ball from the right corner, controlled it away from the Barca goal with his first touch while shielding the defender, and then struck a no-look rocket with his left foot with his back to the goal into the left side netting. It was a great display of technical skill, body positioning and clinical finishing. Witschge started in place of JOB and played a fairly pedestrian match. He had a couple of decent combinations and attacks in the second half, but wasn't really a factor until he scored the winning goal (a bending free kick from 25-30). It was a dramatic finish to a fun game. Chivu vs. Kluivert was fun to watch. Kluivert got the better of the battle in the first half, but Chivu finished the match pretty well. In the end, it wasn't his best game, but he showed (again) that he can match up mano-a-mano against one of the world's best attackers. IMHO, he has more upside (at 21 years old) and better overall value than Rio, but doesn't get a fraction of the media attention. Hopefully, FSW will pick up the Eredevisie again so we can watch Ajax week in and week out. As the Sky broadcasters commented, they could do some real damage in the CL this year, although they're probably a year of "seasoning" in Euro competition away from being considered a top competitor. Between Mido, Chivu, VdV, Stekelenburg, Yakubu, Zlatan, Pienaar, Maxwell and even guys like JOB, Trabelsi and van der Meyde, it's a really an amazingly young team. JOB was on the field in street clothes for the celebration and post-game awards. He was wearing a suit with loosely knotted necktie -- California cool meets Euro formality, I guess.