17 Mar 2013: AZ - Ajax

[paladinby]

It's nice to win despite some players having a day off (I mean Eriksen and Fischer).

And Hoesen looked much better than Sigthorsson actually.

[Blind3]

DEAREST AJAX, I LOVE YOU, BUT YOU DRIVE ME CRAZY !!!!! I am getting too old for this . A hard fought , sometimes more than necessary, victory and we're still top. Life is good.

[Orange14]

Well they sure kept this one on a knife's edge until the final whistle blew. Really soft 2nd goal to give up as Alderwiereld got caught way out of position and it was just too easy for Altidore (though maybe Vermeer could have done a little better). Good substitution to bring on Hoesen as Sigthorsson was just not doing anything on the pitch. de Jong was solid for a change both on offense and did some good work defending corners.

player ratings:

Vermeer (7) - decent enough game with a couple of good saves, let down by the defense on both AZ goals
Blind (6.5) - was really not all that good on defense and was fortunate that AZ wasn't able to capitalize; good goal on the plus side
Moisander (7) - positionally good match today given he was put under pressure by Blind's poor play
Alderwiereld (6) - great through pass on the goal but only average on defense when we need better play
van Rhijn (5.5) - not anything to write home about today, poor tackle getting a Yellow and a suspension for the next match
Poulsen (7) - another solid game, kept Altidore from doing more damage than he did
Eriksen (6.5) - quiet but solid on the ball today
de Jong (7.5) - really good to see him step up the game today, liked his defending
Fischer (6.5) - better today in terms of decision making, had a couple of opportunities on goal
Sigthorsson (4) - really an enigma, is he fully fit? All around poor match
Schöne (6) - decent enough but he's still not a good winger in my book
Hoesen (6.5) - solid game coming on, held the ball up very well in the middle and pressed on defense, should start the next match
Boerrigter (5.5) - decent coming on for Fischer
Denswil (NR) - on late for Poulsen

This was a tough match as I suspected. Good to get out with full points and the team needs to realize that they cannot coast against anyone from here on out. Each match must be contested as if it was the final game of the season with the championship on the line. We still need a better option on the right wing and I'm unsure what Sigthorsson's problem is at this point; he really should be stronger in the middle.

[SPL]

Our midfield control did struggle and Eriksen had a poor game. At least we held on to a 2 goal lead this time . Vermeer might have stopped the 2nd but I did not think our full backs defended that well ,the amount of times their right winger was unmarked and clear away with Blind nowhere around , maybe he should be DM !

[SPL]

Fair comments Orange , relief when I read you too did not think the fullbacks defended well. As for a right winger well Cuenca is evidently going to be fit for the next game.His fluid on the knee has just about gone and his surgeon was happy for him to return to us.

With V Rhijn suspended for NEC I do hope Ligeon plays and we do not play Toby at RB with Veltman in the centre like we did once before.

[SPL]

Just looking at our stats,in our last 16 league games( since the 2-0 defeat v Vitesse) we have won 12, drawn 3(Utrecht Roda ADO) and lost 1 v Vitesse which is very good . 5 more wins and say 2 draws one of which at PSV will probably be enough .Surely Bony and Pelle cannot keep winning every game for Fword and Vitesse.
The other 3 teams should be worried that we do not need forwards to score goals!!! Not being in Europe is a bonus for us as we do have a small squad and one game a week is enough.

Tomorrow is our 113 th birthday so at least we are top for it.

[Kowalczyk]

This was not a good performance. A pretty weak performance, actually, especially defensively.

AZ were shit and it should have been an easier (and bigger) win for Ajax.

Having said that: I had a very bad feeling about this fixture, so I'm very happy with the win.

K.