☆☆☆ AFC Ajax: Sons Of Gods & The Three Stars ☆☆☆ [R]

There are a bunch of videos at the Big Soccer store, but I don't know if they are available directly from Ajax. See: http://shop.bigsoccer.com/shop-by-team-ajax-amsterdam-fc.html

 

Both team a bit unlucky not to have gotten on the scoreboard. Alderweireld hits the post and a great save by Vermeer to keep Feyenoord at zero. Sulejmani looks slow today and was lucky the terrible give away in our own one third didn't result in a score. We still have a lot of difficulty in getting the ball up from the rear. Vermeer must have handled the ball a hundred times in the half. A second midfielder needs to come back to help out but then this has been the issue all season long. Young Dico Koppers did all right and van der Wiel is playing well after some lackluster games. I suspect this match could very well end up 1-0 and it's a toss up as to who can win it.

 

The same old problem, only one midfielder coming back to help out in the build up with the two defenders. Fullbacks are out wide and easily pinned against the touchline. FdB needs to watch some Barca film to see how you bring the ball up. Valdez touches the ball no more than about 10 times a match. Vermeer is constantly getting back passes with no possible outlet. He must have had about 10 or more long kicks having no one to pass to. This is NOT a recipe for success!

 

As JC the omnipresent oracle so famously put it, "Playing against 10 is harder than playing against 11 players. You know why? The team with 11 will think “ok, we can take it easy now”, while the team with 10 will think “we really have to work hard now”…" In the end, it's is a well deserved draw based on the final 25 minutes of play. The previous 65 minutes were absolutely terrible. Poor play in the midfield allowed Feyenoord to dominate play in the middle of the pitch.

Vermeer played well and could not be faulted on the goal. He had a tough play on the breakaway and it's always difficult for the keeper to make a clean play. Cillessen had little to do coming on and the team playing down a man seemed galvanized on defense. van der Wiel was decent but sacrificed on the sending off so that Anita who is better on the ball moved back to right fullback where he played well (he did alright in the midfield but was offered little support by Eriksen and Janssen). Koppers played well for his debut match though he did get beaten on two occasions but the defense was solid. Alderweireld and Vertonghen were solid and it's good to see Jan finally get his first goal of the season. Maybe he could have done a better job clearing the ball prior to the Feyenoord goal (I think he was the one who got a foot on the ball). I don't know why Eriksen was substituted since he wasn't having all that bad a match. Janssen was dangerous on set pieces but his lack of mobility in the midfield really hurts the team. He's only a threat in the open field and doesn't have the skills to beat an opponent 1 v 1. Sulejmani was poor today and the substitution of Lukoki was the right decision. It wouldn't surprise me to see Sulejmani on the bench for the cup match against Roda. de Jong was decent as a striker today when he did get the ball which was all to seldom. Boerrigter was a constant worry to the Feyenoord defense but his crosses went for naught (primarily because Sulejmani was no where to be found at the back post). Bulykin was OK coming on.

Maybe the CL matches contribute to this hangover type of play. FdB needs to figure out how to solve the midfield problem. I think we were all optimistic that moving Anita in today would solve that but the fact remains, Janssen is just too slow. This team has really not posed any offensive danger since Suarez left and it's unclear where the scoring threats are going to come from given Sigthorrsson's absence. The selection for the cup match in mid-week will allow FdB a chance to experiment and he should take the chance. Fortunately, the difficult part of the first half's fixture list is now behind the team but they really need to go on a roll. They cannot afford any more draws and need a solid winning string to get back into contention for the title.

 

I disagree, they still have no clue about how to play in the midfield. Eriksen is being squandered and Janssen has not right to be on the field other than to take free kicks. You cannot do any attacking once you lose control of the midfield and I'm hard pressed to find any match this season where we dominated in this aspect except perhaps the Heerenveen game.