Thomas Vermaelen

[Per]

OPH, not going to disagree with any of your comments about Urby. IMO he has been the player of the season by a mile so far but because of the lack of a naturally left sided player in front of him to offer cover when he does go forward that whole side of the pitch is exposed. This is not the fault of Urby but the management for failing to spot this. With this lack of cover on the left side that is why I am suggesting putting him into the left side of midfield with Juanfran behind him. It means Urby can go forward more often without the whole side of the pitch being exposed. it also means we have two naturally left footed players on the pitch.

I am very glad to see Urby back in the team and cannot see an issue with using him to tighten up the left side of the pitch by playing as a midfielder as he is certainly not going to do any worse than the other midfielders we have playing.

You have my vote - what you are saying makes perfect sense to me.

It would then be interesting to see where they would play Rosenberg.

Doesn't he play left forward right now? Or is it that position you're suggesting for Urby? I thought you guys ment Juanfran left back, Urby left midfield (that is the left centre midfielder. And then what have you forwards.

Another suggestion would be in a 4-2-2 with Urby as a more regular left midfielder and then my attackof choice with Rosenberg and Klaas Jan linking up infront. I think we have some really good material for that lineup now. (I know I'm cursing in church but whatever)

[jamcocteau]

Doesn't he play left forward right now? Or is it that position you're suggesting for Urby? I thought you guys ment Juanfran left back, Urby left midfield (that is the left centre midfielder. And then what have you forwards.

Another suggestion would be in a 4-2-2 with Urby as a more regular left midfielder and then my attackof choice with Rosenberg and Klaas Jan linking up infront. I think we have some really good material for that lineup now. (I know I'm cursing in church but whatever)

per, yes, still keep Rosenberg in team but more as old fashioned inside left forward with Urby playing in the midfield but going forward on the overlap on the left wing. This is what I meant as Urby is a far better crosser than Rosenberg, and also I think Rosenberg is more dangerous heading directly towards goal than he ever is out wide. Would probably mean in my opinion dropping Galasek at the moment who is very negative on the ball, never willing to take risks and to be honest as a capitain in not inspirational or a motivator of players either. He has already indicated he is going to leave in the summer, so I would actually drop him now as nothing in his play since the end of the winter break has impressed me that much. Just because he is captain is not a given right to play

[SPL]

I watched Sudays goals on Eurosport, actually about 8 mins of highlights.

I accept that Vermaelens defending wasn't clever but the rest of the defence were as bad. 3rd goal was taken well . As for the second , I was expecting to see him pass from his penalty area from the comments that have been made but was surprised that this cock up came from a pass inside Fword half. As someone said above , he will improve with Stam beside him.

I will judge the game later in week when it is on Channel 5 .( thats 7 defeats they will have shown)

[Ayman]

SPL said:

he will improve with Stam beside him.

Look, you guys are missing the point, Belgians and Ajax do not mix, Belgians and PSV do mix. I think we should send them off, yes and I mean de Mol, Vertoghen and ofcourse Vermaelen.

[Cedric]

I must say I have to control myself to not say this is just bullshit.
:nooo:

[Ayman]

Cedric_AeF said:

I must say I have to control myself to not say this is just bullshit[/quote]


Im sorry have I offended you?

[Kowalczyk]

Im sorry have I offended you?

Probably not, but you did talk nonsense for a second there, mate... as far as I'm concerned. :yes:

K.

[bryan]

From what I've seen of him, Vermaelen looks like a great prospect, but Blind has thrown him to the lions way too early when there really was no need (the Gerygera-Escude partnership was doing fine).

You can't expect Vermaelen to turn out a brilliant performance against in De Kuip when he had only 11 starts in the league. I don't think we should hold his lack of experience against him, give the guy a break.

[Ayman]

Kowalczyk said:

Probably not, but you did talk nonsense for a second there, mate... as far as I'm concerned.

You guys obviously forgot about the Belgian invasion on Ajax of Soetaers, Sonck and Van Damme, who never lived up to expectation at the Amsterdam Arena. Give me three Belgians who have set the field alight, compared to say, 3 Nigerians or 3 Swedes. I'll help you with the later duo...they are, Kanu, Finidi and Oliseh/Babangida (at one point)...and Petterson, Zlatan and Rosenberg? I put a question mark for the last guy because he is in his first season, but is doing well so far. I mean its just like the Greeks, Machlas failed, Anastasiou is just an average striker, although I know SE6Ajacied is going to go up in arms for me mentioning this. Finally there is Haristeas, who isnt bad, but isnt a technical striker like Rosenberg. Now explain to me how am I talking nonsense :d2

[kaiser]

Kowalczyk said:

Probably not, but you did talk nonsense for a second there, mate... as far as I'm concerned.

You guys obviously forgot about the Belgian invasion on Ajax of Soetaers, Sonck and Van Damme, who never lived up to expectation at the Amsterdam Arena. Give me three Belgians who have set the field alight, compared to say, 3 Nigerians or 3 Swedes. I'll help you with the later duo...they are, Kanu, Finidi and Oliseh/Babangida (at one point)...and Petterson, Zlatan and Rosenberg? I put a question mark for the last guy because he is in his first season, but is doing well so far. I mean its just like the Greeks, Machlas failed, Anastasiou is just an average striker, although I know SE6Ajacied is going to go up in arms for me mentioning this. Finally there is Haristeas, who isnt bad, but isnt a technical striker like Rosenberg. Now explain to me how am I talking nonsense :d2

You might have a point in some of the things you say, but I think it is hard to generalize to such an extent.

[kaiser]

From what I've seen of him, Vermaelen looks like a great prospect, but Blind has thrown him to the lions way too early when there really was no need (the Gerygera-Escude partnership was doing fine).

You can't expect Vermaelen to turn out a brilliant performance against in De Kuip when he had only 11 starts in the league. I don't think we should hold his lack of experience against him, give the guy a break.

I do not think we should have anything against him, I just think he should not be in the starting eleven until he gets used to this level. He needs to learn to cope with the pressure step by step from now on to develop.

[SE6Ajacied]

Kowalczyk said:

Probably not, but you did talk nonsense for a second there, mate... as far as I'm concerned.

You guys obviously forgot about the Belgian invasion on Ajax of Soetaers, Sonck and Van Damme, who never lived up to expectation at the Amsterdam Arena. Give me three Belgians who have set the field alight, compared to say, 3 Nigerians or 3 Swedes. I'll help you with the later duo...they are, Kanu, Finidi and Oliseh/Babangida (at one point)...and Petterson, Zlatan and Rosenberg? I put a question mark for the last guy because he is in his first season, but is doing well so far. I mean its just like the Greeks, Machlas failed, Anastasiou is just an average striker, although I know SE6Ajacied is going to go up in arms for me mentioning this. Finally there is Haristeas, who isnt bad, but isnt a technical striker like Rosenberg. Now explain to me how am I talking nonsense :d2

I'm not going to be up in arms about that but to generalise about players on the basis of their nationality is frankly ridiculous. I'm sure you're not meaning any offence but think about it and then subsititute "bad footballer for Ajax" for some other negative generalisation and you'll see where I'm coming from. :eusa_naughty:

[Ayman]

Im not basing every player purely on their nationalities. E.g. Arveladze was great for us but Kinkladze wasnt, although he claimed that Morten Olsen tried to play him at left back.lol.....Laudrup was good for us as was Tobiasen, much couldnt be said the same about Gronkjaer, Im not saying he was crap, but wasnt great. But history seems to repeat itself, thats all, with only 'certain' nationalities, NOT ALL!!! Another example would be the the Fins....Litmanen? Need no mention, he is down in the archive as one of the greats!!! Pasanen wasnt! Chivu of Romania was! Lobont wasnt! Mitea? It remains to be seen. Now do you all understand the point I am trying to make?

[SE6Ajacied]

Im not basing every player purely on their nationalities. E.g. Arveladze was great for us but Kinkladze wasnt, although he claimed that Morten Olsen tried to play him at left back.lol.....Laudrup was good for us as was Tobiasen, much couldnt be said the same about Gronkjaer, Im not saying he was crap, but wasnt great. But history seems to repeat itself, thats all, with only 'certain' nationalities, NOT ALL!!! Another example would be the the Fins....Litmanen? Need no mention, he is down in the archive as one of the greats!!! Pasanen wasnt! Chivu of Romania was! Lobont wasnt! Mitea? It remains to be seen. Now do you all understand the point I am trying to make?

The point I think you are making is that there are good footballers and bad footballers, also that not all of the good footballers will be suited to the Ajax system. Agreed, I just don't see where their nationality comes into it.

[Ayman]

SE6Ajacied said:

I just don't see where their nationality comes into it.

Im only saying it applies to some nationalities, and Im not saying all of them are bad, but history will tell you that you should never bank on some of them, for instance, Belgians have done really well for PSV, like Nilis, de Bilde perhaps Degryse. Look at the Belgians we had or HAVE! Sonck, Soetaers and Van Damme, not to mention our current one Vermaelen!!!
as for the Greeks, Machlas flopped it, Anastasiou is average, and Haristeas isn't suited for the Ajax system.

[dws]

Babangida :pukey:

Hans Werdekker :pukey: Dutch :yes:

Tom Sier :pukey: Dutch :yes:

Nourdin Boukhari :pukey: Dutch :yes: ( please don't post that he plays for Morocco .... I know that :yes: )

Dean Gorre :pukey: Dutch :yes:

Gerald Sibon :pukey: Dutch :yes:

John Veldman :pukey: Dutch :yes:

Fred Grim .... was very grim .. Dutch :yes:


Conclusion: The Netherlands produces shite footballers. Hence, Ajax should no longer consider signing Dutch players. :D :xyxthumbs:

[SE6Ajacied]

Conclusion: The Netherlands produces shite footballers. Hence, Ajax should no longer consider signing Dutch players. :D :xyxthumbs:

Pretty much was I was saying. A bit like saying all Englishmen carry Umbrella's wherever they go (I don't - I get wet)

[Ayman]

dws said:

Conclusion: The Netherlands produces shite footballers. Hence, Ajax should no longer consider signing Dutch players.

Firstly you have missed the point completely, secondly your argument is very poor. My point was about foreign players from particular countries such as Belgium and Greece, as I have previously stated, history will show you that they never seem to beable to perform....

[bryan]

His argument was indeed very poor, and that was precisely the point he was making.

[Frans]

You can't expect Vermaelen to turn out a brilliant performance against in De Kuip when he had only 11 starts in the league. I don't think we should hold his lack of experience against him, give the guy a break.

He played for RKC last year didn't he? I'm sure he has more than 11 league starts. I'm not saying he's a seasoned veteran but he's had more than just this year in the league.

[dws]

His argument was indeed very poor, and that was precisely the point he was making.

:yes:

[bryan]

You can't expect Vermaelen to turn out a brilliant performance against in De Kuip when he had only 11 starts in the league. I don't think we should hold his lack of experience against him, give the guy a break.

He played for RKC last year didn't he? I'm sure he has more than 11 league starts. I'm not saying he's a seasoned veteran but he's had more than just this year in the league.

good point, i had totally forgotten about that

[Kowalczyk]

The yellow card Thomas Vermaelen picked up at RKC Waalwijk last Sunday was his sixth of the season, which means he will automatically be suspended for one game. However, that game will not be the play-off encounter with Feyenoord. All Eredivisie players start the play-offs with a clean sheet. Vermaelen will be suspended for next season's opening game in the Eredivisie.

Which is good news. He's been great in recent weeks and he will have to be the man to mark Dirk Kuyt (who always scores against us).

K.

[AsgAarD_xxx]

I've just read that Thomas Vermaelen was injured during the international game against Saudi Arabia... Does anybody know anything about it? How bad this injury is (if any)?

[Kowalczyk]

He thinks it's nothing too serious.

Doesn't really matter anyway. Belgium don't go to Germany, so he's can lie by the pool and recover...

K.