Ajax- Legia Psv- Zenith AS Roma - Feyenoord Legia is very impressive this year, I feel the scenario of Salzburg can repeat again.
Always fun to travel to Russia in the dead of winter. I remember several years ago FC Twente played Rubin Kazan and they had to move the match to Moscow (I think) as it was warmer than Kazan. It was still well below 0C when the match was played. Feyenoord got the short end of the draw and it will take some doing for them to advance. Ajax is always dicey in the Europa League.
Why are they impressive? Serious question, i have no clue. The return will be played in an empty stadium btw.
Legia dispatched Celtic with ease in the CL qualifiers, won 5 of their 6 group matches in the EL, and they are currently top of the league in Poland. Ajax could have drawn far worse but Legia shouldn't be underestimated. Not a good draw for the league coefficient. If Zenit and Roma take these matches seriously they are favorite to progress. On paper the odds only favor Ajax to make the next round.
I think Ajax and PSV can progress. Feyenoord would have to be very, very lucky to make it past a very good Roma side right now. Ajax especially I feel are starting to get into a bit of a rhythm.
I'm watching PSV tonight. Boring first half against Zenith. Depay showing again that he is a constant ball loser when he has a "strong" opposition. Poor first touch most of the time, unability to make the difference...Narsingh and Luuk not really better tonight. Arias was the best PSV player, some nice playings and strong defending. Willems has been defending surprisingly good so far. Hard tackles on Hulk. He also had some nice playings. Guardado working hard and providing good balls as always, Hijlemark globally good except one sloppy moment. Wijnaldum can do much more, I never liked him as midfielder. Bruma and Isimat globally correct
Great to see Feyenoord fans acting like their normal boorish selves. I guess this means a ban on travel should the club advance.
It's a shame for their dedicated supporters but that hooligan element is disgusting. Unfortunately we have our own scum tagging along on away games in Europe. Wish the government would crack down harder on this rubbish. Good to see the Roma police kicking ass and some proper individual fines (45000 euro) have been given.
Good result for Feyenoord against the best rival for the dutch clubs, Roma is a great club that have one of the best world midfield. So Cheers for Feyenoord!! PD: Clasie played wonderful tonight!!!
In the end a win a draw and one loss so not bad overall, I really wanted Psv to win since they where in homeground. Very happy with Ajax, again Bazoer played really well. Cheers!
Gutted with Hiljemark. Lost the ball rather easily, and then he was completely lost tracking back, resulting in a very soft goal to give away. The rest of the team was pretty mediocre. Willems' crossing is improving, and now he seems pretty comfortable doing it with his weaker right foot. On the opposite side, Brenet is laughable
Don't think the team had anything to do with the riots. Do you? Very good result from Feyenoord. Only saw about 30 minutes of the first half and that didn't indicate they had any chance of going home with a point.
if you mean that they wash their hands of it and bury their head in the sand as fast as possible, you're right. personally i don't think tomorrow's game should be played. there have been fresh threats toward visiting roma fans in the run-up to the game. the competition cannot proceed. there is a real and actual risk to human life.
(ANSA) - Rome, February 25 - On the eve of Thursday's football match in Rotterdam between local club Feyenoord and AS Roma, a T-shirt appeared on Twitter reading: "We were just kidding, we'll see you Thursday and we'll stab you" under an image of the Bernini Barcaccia fountain that was damaged in fan riots in Rome a week ago. http://www.lifeinitaly.com/news/feyenoord-fans-threaten-roma-fans-twitter-ahead-match here is a visual: www.theguardian.com/football/2015/feb/25/dutch-police-on-alert-as-feyenoord-fans-produce-t-shirt-threatening-roma-fans rome police are to co-operate by identifying italian trouble makers: A small number of Italian police who know the Roma fans will also be on hand to help their Dutch counterparts identify possible hooligans. this while rotterdam police continue to seem unable to identify any rotterdam hooligans. personally i don't see how uefa can allow this match to take place.
Maybe you should take your complaints to UEFA and not this forum? Unless you know one of the Dutch posters were involved..... Every club has some pretty awful "supporters" and there are some pretty awful Feyenoord "supporters", but I think everyone here knows that.
to be honest i don't understand your reaction. you closed the other thread saying 'we aren't going to solve the hooligan problem here.' but we're not going to 'solve' a team's poor performance here either, for example, so by that reasoning we shouldn't discuss anything at all (unless one of the dutch posters scored the own goal?). big soccer doesn't exist for that purpose. this is a live issue involving a dutch club. i understand national pride but sometimes it's inappropriate. censorship makes no sense. feeling offended is not the right response. and what we saw in rome is well out of the 'any club has them' range. it's an issue that cannot be trivialized. i did contact uefa by e-mail last week, by the way. anyway, early reports are that things are quiet in rotterdam. maybe the hooligans, the authorities, and the club have had some contacts. my guess would be some sort of cover-up for last week in exchange for a calm match tonight. hope all goes well, we'll see.
according to president of roma fan clubs' group, roma supporters stopped by dutch police, kept in open field near airport in the rain for over two hours, photographed and searched individually. still no word from dutch police on the identities of dutch hooligans in rome.
Dude, stop spamming. Here: http://www.fr12.nl/, knock yourself out. With a tiny bit of effort you could have found that one yourself and I imagine you know how Google translate works. Most posters here have nothing to do with Feyenoord fans. It was actually funny how Ajax supporters were willing to address your questions, while Feyenoord are their (arch ) rivals. You think they care if Feyfans are punished with 45.000 Euro penalty or 100.000 Euro? What do you think? I am sure you had a good laugh about that one yourself. I would like to see the same commitment you put into this issue when Napoli fans start stabbing visiting (English) fans in the future. Actually, stabbing has been a problem at more Italian clubs. I can only imagine the horror you go through when another story like that pops up. I suggest we use this thread to discuss football, like the original thread starter intended. If you choose to continue to post the latest hooligan news (go off topic), you will do so at your own risk. Moderator has warned you now 2 times.
Ok, passing the war in this topic, Ajax is winning 2-0 whish is very important for us!! On the other hand oh boy, PSV, no words.. I think maybe we should low down a little the expectations on Depay, sure he has potential, but he is far for being important against strong opponents. Maybe just maybe he should go to a midtable team before Man U. Cheers for Ajax!! PD: Dont want to be lousy but Bazoer is so good right know!!
Yeah I expected more from PSV, but then again, Russia has really good teams and Zenit is their best. Ajax now ahead 3-0. Quite effective. Here is hoping Feyenoord will outdo themselves.
What a poor performance of PSV. As future champions, they should have showed much more, Zenith destroyed them without even forcing. Best attack of eredivisie but on this double game they gave almost no problems to the russians, Smolnikov blocked Depay just like Abate did last year, Narsingh is a poor player that cannot engage any 1vs1 without sliding or going out of the field with the ball...Wijnaldum invisible...Only Luuk could be a bit dangerous on aerial balls and that's what Willems tried to exploit with his crosses on both games. I really don't think that Depay is ready for a big move, he looks so amateur sometimes with his dribbles. He wouldn't even play with Zenith, Shatov is a more complete player and Hulk is another dimension. Wijnaldum and Narsingh can go to Turkey or Portugal maybe. I will put all my hopes on Willems, and I think he should stay one year more.
¨Smolnikov blocked Depay just like Abate did last year¨ Totally agreed, Depay seems to suffer against fast full backs, that´s why I am very worried that he wouldnt make it at the top. He really needs to develop other aspects in his game like creativity and his first touch. Cheers!