05 Feb 2012: Ajax - FC Utrecht

[SPL]

never mind who caused the ball to be crossed Vermeer was completely at fault . He should not be playing and its time Cillessen played .Would be nice to see a striker playing .

[SPL]

Just watching that goal again , a straight forward cross and a decent goalie would catch that . Vermeer is not a decent goalie , cannot catch high balls and cannot kick.

[Tom_]

Sigh. I'm actually starting to find these matches really REALLY boring. It's the same thing every week: loads of possession going nowhere, concede stupid goals, grab a late one, draw.

At least Janssen's off.

[souras84]

whats our teams line up?

[souras84]

still thinking we can cross our way to the goal... with what kind of striker????

[souras84]

i now firmly believe Utrecht should be considered the most hated team. feyenoord my ass. those guys are amateurs compared to the Utrecht c*nts

[GangstaRiB]

"Ladies and gentleman, this is your captain speaking. We're about to hit rock bottom."

[SE6Ajacied]

Sigh. I'm actually starting to find these matches really REALLY boring.
At least Janssen's off.

Glad it's not just me then. It's still on, but I'm listening rather than watching, looking at the internet and doing other stuff. Utrecht have just scored again which doesn't exactly improve things.......

[Tom_]

"Ladies and gentleman, this is your captain speaking. We're about to hit rock bottom."

Sure hope so

[rjf1]

At this rate we will be lucky not to finish in the bottom 10.

[Cedric]

"Ladies and gentleman, this is your captain speaking. We're about to hit rock bottom."

So, there's a captain?

[GangstaRiB]

"Ladies and gentleman, this is your captain speaking. We're about to hit rock bottom."

So, there's a captain?

Captain Chaos reporting.

[Amol]

It's been the same shit week in week out for the whole fucking season. At no point today did I get the feeling that - aw well we'll win this one at the end.

Playing 1 DM is a great idea in a fluid mid field, we don't have the players for that right now. Just play 2 defensive mids who will be ready to receive the ball from the defenders.

[zeux]

It's been the same shit week in week out for the whole fucking season.

+10

It's awful.

[souras84]

TELL ME ONE GOOD REASON WHY SHOULD little sneider PLAY FOR US NEXT YEAR??

[Amol]

Hahaha - at least the bit where Mickey tried to lift an injured Sneijder Jr. off the field.

[Tom_]

The only thing vaguely enjoyable about the entire match was de Jong running over to get stuck in, and falling flat on his arse in cartoon fashion.

[Amol]

TELL ME ONE GOOD REASON WHY SHOULD little sneider PLAY FOR US NEXT YEAR??

He's been acting the c**t against us in both games this season.

Ladies and gentleman - it's finally over. At least they didn't score 6 against us this time around

We officially are the joke of the Eredivisie now. Can't believe I wake up at 6:30 in the morning for this every week.

[Amol]

The only thing vaguely enjoyable about the entire match was de Jong running over to get stuck in, and falling flat on his arse in cartoon fashion.

That was funny I hope he isn't serisouly hurt. But I do hope that he has to sit out a couple games so that Bulykin can play CF.

[souras84]

Ajax - Utrecht 0-2 FT. Okay, a lot of regulars out, but honestly can't remember having seen a worse performance by an Ajax team...

By tegen 11 on twitter

and

Ajax are a mess. A young mess.

By some Janusz Michallik ESPN

[SPL]

That was woeful and I feel at an all time low point in watching. Vermeer cost us the game and the only time our young defence could be faulted was the 2nd when Koppers came into the centre to mark someone leaving the right wing open.However we were pressing for a goal at that time . Janssen should along with Vermeer not play again. As for the attack Sulejmani was clearly not fit and the starting 3 are of a level of RKC or VVV . Sorry but Ebecilio and Ozbiliz are not good enough for Ajax and de Jong is still a midfielder and should not be judged on being a poor striker.

Where do we go from here!!! Well off the field its D week . On the field the season finishes once Man U thrash us. We wont finish in the top 4 so we wont have Europa cup next season. At least we will have loads of money as Eriksen will leave as he is not going to learn much more here. V D Wiel and Vertonghen will also leave.

If he had not won the title last season sadly de Boer would be sacked at this point. I await the results off the field this week and at this moment I cannot see Ajax doing any worse if Cruyff loses and V Gaal takes over. He may even pick a proper striker !!!!!!!!!!! Yes if Cruyff loses I see V Gaal as coach.

[souras84]

That was woeful and I feel at an all time low point in watching. Vermeer cost us the game and the only time our young defence could be faulted was the 2nd when Koppers came into the centre to mark someone leaving the right wing open.However we were pressing for a goal at that time . Janssen should along with Vermeer not play again. As for the attack Sulejmani was clearly not fit and the starting 3 are of a level of RKC or VVV . Sorry but Ebecilio and Ozbiliz are not good enough for Ajax and de Jong is still a midfielder and should not be judged on being a poor striker.

Where do we go from here!!! Well off the field its D week . On the field the season finishes once Man U thrash us. We wont finish in the top 4 so we wont have Europa cup next season. At least we will have loads of money as Eriksen will leave as he is not going to learn much more here. V D Wiel and Vertonghen will also leave.

If he had not won the title last season sadly de Boer would be sacked at this point. I await the results off the field this week and at this moment I cannot see Ajax doing any worse if Cruyff loses and V Gaal takes over. He may even pick a proper striker !!!!!!!!!!! Yes if Cruyff loses I see V Gaal as coach.

true. how on earth can van gaal do worse than that?? what can he possibly do to harm the academies or the club?

[Orange14]

The lone bright sign from today's match is FdB's final realization that Theo Janssen just should not be on the pitch. His removal at the half was telling though it remains to be seen if this has finally sunk in with FdB. Otherwise it was a non-performance by the midfield and forward line who knew that they had to step up their play if Ajax were to get a result out of a match where they were severely weakened and playing a back four which had only one first team starter (who is really a midfielder). Nevertheless the back four players with a couple of problems during the match generally did fine although helped by Utrecht's rope-a-dope style of play.

Player Ratings:

Vermeer (4) - in a match where he knew his defenders were young and untested he made a major mistake on an easy cross and cost the team dearly
Koppers (5) - weakest of the defenders, beaten a couple of times and completely out of position on Duplan's second goal
Blind (6) - good game and was even adventurous going forward
van Rhijn (6) - whether he is a first team defender is still an open question because of the lack of physical skills; kept a cool head out there
Anita (6) - decent enough and did go forward some
Enoh (7) - good saving tackle in the box to save a sure goal in the second half; still some silly fouls but he was at least not MIA today
Janssen (4) - terrible in all aspects of the game
Eriksen (5) - a non-presence though it is really hard finding space in the Utrecht defense when the play is too slow in developing
Ebecilio (5) - constantly getting double teamed because he thinks he has skills he doesn't have
de Jong (5) - did not do anything to show that he is a long term asset for this team
Ozbilitz (5) - extremely active and moved into space better than anyone else but was poor in his passes and crossing (maybe because of the long layoff)
Lodeiro (6) - at least he was moving around and trying to get open but as a substitute he tries to make the killer play
Sulejmani (5) - came on late and did little; really stupid in trying to help Sneijder up - let the match official sort that out
Bulykin (6) - at least he tries to make something happen

The club continues to spend too much time in possession in the back 2/3 of the pitch and cannot find a way to get anyone open for a shot on goal. The only real threats were on scrambles which were more a function of poor goalkeeping or defensive blunders. I don't expect this to change anytime soon given the injuries to the only offensive minded players we have (Boerrigter & Sigthorrsson). While I may be branded a heretic, it might be better for this club not to engage in Europe competition next season so that they can get the club sorted out. Maybe the players are spending too much time reading about the Boardroom problems and not focusing enough on the pitch, I'm not sure. What is clear is that this team is really not much more than an upper mid-table club and won't do much better until some speed and passing is made a part of the tactics. It's all really too bad given the promise of last September.

[jamcocteau]

Well may as weigh in with my first post of the season.

I woke up this morning and went for a walk before 9am on a beautiful subzero Amsterdam morning, down round the canals before picking up the Sunday newspapers. Got home and had nice cup of tea and couple of bacon rolls reading Sunday Times and it struck me why should I let that poor excuse for a football team spoil my day, in fact spoil a beautiful weekend for me. So I decided not to go and looking at the sparse crowd I was not the only one. I don't feel any guilt at all about my decision. I have had a season ticket now for 8 years and this season I have never become so disillusioned with football. I used to look forward to a Sunday and my trips to the ArenA but now there is total apathy from me.

The club is a total shambles from top to bottom. The off the field situation I pay little attention to now, it has become that boring. Appears to me that it is one bunch of spoilt schoolkids fighting against another with a massive football club as the prize, but all the time the prize is crumbling to bits and all the victor is going to be left with is a handfull of dust.

On the playing side this is by far the worst Ajax team I have seen in years, forget injuries etc it is still a poor excuse for a football team. I have seen 8 year old football teams with more tactical know how on a pitch. How can you be expected to win games never mind trophies when you dont even start games with a recognised striker on the pitch.

There is not one player in the squad who gives me any sort of excitement to go and watch. No Suarez's, Huntelaar's, Sneijder's, Zlatan's etc instead we have a team full of journeymen. Even Eriksen is doing nothing for me now - when I saw the guy's first game for Ajax I thought he looked something special. Now I see his value falling and if he does not get away from Ajax by the end of this season then I think he is making a big mistake, and this pains me to write that. He has so much potential but it is being wasted at the ArenA.

The academy is a disaster as far as I can see. If Imbecilio is the standard of player it is producing then god help the future of Ajax. I seriously think somebody at the club should have a word with that guy. He is everything that is wrong with modern young footballers. All bling - fancy boots, fancy haircuts etc - and absolutely no substance at all. Somebody at the club should be telling him prove yourself on the pitch first first then when you have done that then you can act the fancydan.

As for De Boer I know he has had bad luck with injuries on the playing side but some of his decision strike me as pure stubborness as if he has a point to prove. He brings in Lodeiro for a few months and he does reasonably well playing out of position and then he drops him. Why was Bulykin not on from the start, especially against a physical side like Utrecht. What is Blind even doing anywhere near an Ajax jersey. Vermeer has lost all confidence and should be dropped - a goalkeeper with no confidence does not help an already poor defence. I could go on.

Anyway today I sat reading monthly music magazines with the game on in the background, and with not a lot being commented on I very rarely raised my head to watch it. This is the state that Ajax this season has reduced me too.

I know my comments will provoke criticism but really dont care. The club already has my season ticket money which is fortunate for them because if I was paying on a game by game basis I am afraid they would be lucky to get anymore cash from me this season.

Anyway gents enjoy the rest of your day.

[Orange14]

Biggest crime of the day is that the performance was in front of a bunch of Ajax legend players. I wonder what they make of the club these days?