22 Jan 2012: AZ - Ajax

[Amol]

ebecilio loses his nerve at the moment of truth

URGH

this game is raising my blood pressure by the minute

He should've done better than that. Great through ball from Bulykin.

[bluedaddy19]

He should've done better than that. Great through ball from Bulykin.

i have a personal rule when playing: dont try to get cute with your weak foot

he broke it

[Amol]

Was it me or did the cross from Blind hit an AZ defender's arm into touch?

[bluedaddy19]

AZ are getting away with things left and right, they're kicking every man all over the place

[bluedaddy19]

[Amol]

GOOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and a yellow card for Lodeiro

[Tom_]

Ha! I'm not even sure if that'll end up being his goal. Maybe the AZ defender can wear the yellow card as well?

[afcajax73]

get in lol

[Amol]

Mickey just generally looks more effective on the left. I think when we have Derk missing, we need to stick Mickey in there.

[afcajax73]

Mickey just generally looks more effective on the left. I think when we have Derk missing, we need to stick Mickey in there.

I've always been a big fan of Sulejmani, i think when he's on form he's as good as anything we have. Also, his scoring record this season doesn't lie.

[paladinby]

We are bad but this AZ is just disgusting. They've learned all those spanish dive and whine tricks quickly.

[Van basten]

Blind, Ebecillo and Jansen should never start the game.

[Tom_]

Well, it could've been far worse. I really think if they'd gone for the jugular in the second half, when we were 1–0 down, they could've torn us a new one, but they sat back a bit and we got the lucky equaliser.

Our current lineup, with all the injuries, just isn't good enough to win the Eredivisie.

[afcajax73]

I think it could have been worse, atleast we got a point. I guess a point away from home against the current league leaders, isnt a bad result.. plus all the injuries and turmoil.

[Orange14]

Undeserved 1-1 draw given the poor level of play by our non-existent midfield. We cannot pass the ball at all and players seem to have no clue about what to do under adverse conditions such as with today's wind. We still stand 5 points adrift of first place and FdB has to take steps to solve this midfield problem if he hopes to contend down the stretch. Tricky fixture next weekend in Rotterdam.

Player ratings:

Vermeer (5) - really did nothing to distinguish himself today and never had to make a difficult play. One might argue that Stekelenburg would have saved Elm's free kick but that was last year and he's not here this season
Blind (5) - pretty good going forward and terrible on defense; fortunate that Beerens missed on a couple of chances
Vertonghen (6) - good goal line save of a possible own goal in the first half
Alderweireld (6) - decent enough but looks like he picked up another hamstring injury
Anita (5) - really has to move up to the midfield; did not play particularly well today
Janssen (5) - why is he even on the pitch; everytime he makes a bad play it's like it wasn't his fault
Eriksen (5) - poor game and silly yellow card at the end
Enoh (5) - does he ever look up field?
Sulejmani (5) - did a lot of running but that's pretty much all that can be said
Ebecilio (6) - best match of all the fowards but nothing much came of it
de Jong (5) - did nothing particularly good or bad
Bulykin (5) - non factor when coming on for Enoh
Lodeiro (6) - kept the ball moving for the Poulsen own goal
van Rhijn (6) - came on in a difficult situation and didn't screw up which is all that was needed

I don't think AZ will win the title this season as their depth is questionable and the fact that they could not put away a mediocre Ajax side at home.

[saddlerian]

Good comment, afcajax73.....a point against the league leaders at home IS good, whatever the performance.....it's a point GAINED!!!
From here in the Midlands it's been nice to be able to say that it's a positive day...unlike Thursday!!!
Let's move on now...Fword next week, and they got stung at VVV today, and then Utrecht at the Arena....looking forward to those two....one of them I'll be there!!!!

[Jojo]

When is Boilesen going to be ready? Cause watching Blind play is not good for my health. Every time the ball is near his side of the pitch my blood pressure jumps high And i don not see any good coming from Jansen
Back to the game - all i have to say is at least we did not lose. Draw still keeps us close enough

[Tom_]

Unfortunately we've had the same midfield problem all season. I think there was a Zonal Marking or 11tegen11 post in the first month that spelled it out very clearly. But nothing's been done to address it that I can see, and there's no reason to suppose anything will be.

[Orange14]

Unfortunately we've had the same midfield problem all season. I think there was a Zonal Marking or 11tegen11 post in the first month that spelled it out very clearly. But nothing's been done to address it that I can see, and there's no reason to suppose anything will be.

Yes, I know and this is the most disappointing thing about the team this season. What bothers me is that FdB seems clueless about all this. Passing and possession are really quite poor.

[SPL]

Well a draw against the leaders is a plus considered we were not much better than Thursday when they needed an iffy penalty to beat us . watched AZ play us 3 times and not impressed at all by them.
As for us well we are handicapped with Siggy and Boerrigter out injured so starting every game without a striker and Janssen is a hugh handicap.
I know Blind is not rated but he was no worse than Anita as a full back today and ok he should not be playing but if he should not be playing then want does that say for Enoh .
Blind and Ebecilio are playing because of injuries but sadly Enoh and Janssen are first choices .Good news Enoh's yellow today is no 5 so we are not subjected to him next week .

Lodeiro should start every game in place of Janssen and Anita in place of Enoh .Trouble is Boilesen is still not fit and may not be for a few more weeks.Koppers ,the only other left back is injured so we are stuck with Blind!

At the present time I see PSV winning with Twente 2nd and we Fword and Az chasing 3rd place.

[kezme44]

does anybody know when we can expect our injured players to be back?just read that Toby will be out for 2 weeks

[Cruijff]

No idea kezman. It seems our players get injured all the time. The medical team brings most of them back quite soon, but you can count on it that players like Toby en Derk will get new injuries over and over again.

[paladinby]

There's something wrong with training process I believe. Oh well, there's nothing right within this club at the moment.

The thing i dislike much about De Boer is that there some holy cows who play no matter what - Janssen, Eriksen, De Jong. Some players like Lodeiro just never get a proper chance to play.

[gordonvandekamp]

Undeserved 1-1 draw given the poor level of play by our non-existent midfield. We cannot pass the ball at all and players seem to have no clue about what to do under adverse conditions such as with today's wind.
.

Cuz I haven't posted in a bit, my thoughts (agree with the above, although I might be more harsh):

Vermeer (4) - Elm's goal was savable with a better keeper. Pretty poor throughout and I think lucky we didn't concede more. Overall I'm going to blame the lack of performance (with others) on the break over the last month or so. Lots of bad positioning throughout and we're lucky that didn't concede another goal or two.
Blind (3) - Would be happy to never see him play for Ajax again, as others have said over the last year, not Ajax quality.
Vertonghen (6) - Our best consistent player. Hate to see what we're going to be without him. Silly foul to give the free kick that resulted in the goal, but also a good goal line save. Ideally he should be our defensive mid if we had capable central defenders.
Alderweireld (5) - decent enough, capable and going to be interesting if he misses more, hopefully van Rhijn can step up, he seemed decent today.
Anita (5) - Agree, he should take Enoh's (although I like Enoh, Anita is better in the role) spot
Janssen (4) - His time is up, a decent set piece 1 out of every 20 chances, little from the flow of play and even worse defending. Get rid of him at this point, he just doesn't fit into what we need. All I think when I look back in most matches is "what did he do that stood out?" generally this is nothing unless he had a decent set piece.
Eriksen (6.5) - Agree silly yellow, but his individual play is really all we have at midfield. He's decent on the ball and really seems to be the only creative player there.
Enoh (5) - I like his tenacity, but that's about all he has. Would rather have Anita in his role who is smarter in distributing the ball.
Sulejmani (6) - Didn't create much, but I think he's still a threat when he gets the opportunity. Will take him over the other options.
Ebecilio (5) - Think he was worse than Sulejmani, really undecided on him at this point, and wish we were fit and he was on the bench.
de Jong (5) - Not our striker, super-sub at best based on how we line-up
Bulykin (5) - Will take him over de Jong, he at least seems more of a threat and gets into better scoring positions.
Lodeiro (6) - Wish he got more chances, has done decent when he plays this season, and I think he needs to consistency to settle in.
van Rhijn (6) - Agree, didn't screw up which is about all that could be asked, will be interesting to see if Alderwiereld misses a few matches; best of luck.

Overall, it's time for a change. I don't know if de Boer can cut it with the match selection. There's still a bit of the season to go, and the results in this match could have made it worse, but we really don't have a good squad. Janssen has been decent at best and 10 v 11 at worst for most of the season, and I think his time should be up. We really do little in the final 1/3rd this whole season to create goal scoring chances, I think that's our biggest problem. The last few years it has been the defense, which I think this season is at least capable (except for Blind when he plays). It's a nervy squad (either decent or really bad) this season with little distribution to the front 3, and I'm losing faith in de Boer each match that Jansen and de Jong are out there (which I think are a big part of generating so few chances at goal).

Lucky to come out 1-1 and not lose any points. There's a lot of the season to go and AZ don't look particularly dominant, I think PSV will challenge them and win the title at the end of the season. Shame really as we really should be able to compete, but don't see it happening over the next few months (similar to last season, but don't think we'll have the luck this time).

[Orange14]

does anybody know when we can expect our injured players to be back?just read that Toby will be out for 2 weeks

Here is my understanding:
Siggthorsson - fractured foot; may be out the rest of the season
Boerrigter - hairline vertebra fracture that went misdiagnosed for some time; no return date
Boilesen - bad hamstring injury; I understand he is running but no return date set

I do think that the training staff need to be questioned about the number of hamstring injuries this season. I've never seen a single athletic team suffer so many of them.