Having said this, remember Red Boys, Marco and all... :whistling:

http://www.voetbalstats.nl/ec/453.html

Spelbos Ronald (5 p.), Koeman Ronald (9, 73, 78), Basten van Marco (15, 39, 49, 65, 84), Bosman John (18, 82), Rijkaard Frank (47), Vanenburg Gerald (57), Schoenaker Dick (71)

Players to stay at home: Vertonghen, Mitea and... Perez (all injured).

Recovered from injuries and in the squad: Vermaelen, Grygera.

K.

TEN CATE SPEAKS HIGHLY OF NORWEGIAN OPPOSITION

Amsterdam, September 12th 2006 - IK Start may not be a major name in European football, they are definitely an opponent to take seriously, Ajax boss Henk ten Cate told the Dutch press. "This team plays better football than FC Copenhagen."

Ajax's Norwegian opponent is unknown to many, but the conclusion that Ajax will jump the hurdle easily is one that annoys Henk ten Cate. "First of all, it's not a very respectful thing to say. More importantly, it's a totally wrong conclusion. This team plays better football than FC Copenhagen and I vaguely remember that we did not beat them," the Ajax boss explained, with an eyewink to Ajax's elimination by FC Copenhagen in the qualifying stages of the Champions League. "Copenhagen were purely physical and only played kick 'n' rush football. These people, however, try to cross the pitch with a few very good midfielders."

Ten Cate sent one of his assistants to Norway no less than twice, for an IK Start league game. The team from Kristiansand impressed them and the statement that IK Start are an opponent to reckon with can easily be underscored with some facts and figures: they won five out of the last six matches, for example against powerhouse Rosenborg and - last weekend - against league leaders Lillestrøm, both times with impressive figures. Ten Cate: "And the only game they lost, they more or less played the reserves team, because they had qualified for the UEFA Cup two days before. Those boys were probably still recovering from the party..."

Eightteen Ajax players will make the trip to Norway, a country where Ajax never won an official game. Nicolae Mitea (hamstring), Kenneth Perez (back) and Jan Vertonghen (calf) will stay behind due to injuries. Jaap Stam and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar will be fit and ready to play, in spite of the fact that they trained individually today. Defenders Zdenek Grygera and Thomas Vermaelen are also ready for action.

Ten Cate will use TV footage and words to convince his men of the power of IK Start, an unknown club to many, but not inside the office of the Ajax coaches. "Start are playing in the highest division for the second year and in their first season they were the runners-up," Ten Cate told the journalists in the Ajax press room. "They want to become a second Rosenborg, you could say. Quite a lot of money was put into the club, so they've been able to buy some good players. Some of them have played in England and coach Stig Inge Bjørnebye is an experienced man. He played for Liverpool and knows what it takes to play an international game."

Ten Cate's praise for Ajax's upcoming opponent is genuine, but not meant to make Ajax the underdog. "We are Ajax and our status and reputation oblige us to advance. But it's going to cost a lot of effort and power. We will soon find out whether or not we actually learned something from the Copenhagen games. At the time we had been in training for only four weeks. I think that since that time we have made some progress."

what seems scary to me is that we fear a team like IK start ... :scared: :nooo:

not underestimate our opponent, yes, over rate them, no.

We should win this IK games with monster scores, just to impress Europe. :ajaxsmiley:

I said it before, but I still do not understand why we should play with Babel as left winger. Let's give a chance to Rosenberg.

I may be in the minority in this, but I'm pleased with Babel's play on the left side. He looked quite dangerous in his last outing, against Vitesse. He has a good shot from distance, and played several wonderful balls into the box.