06 Nov 2013: Ajax - Celtic FC

[SPL]

Serero rubbish and Siggy ,no idea why he is playing.Celtic are physical, dirty, play acting when touched ,just about everything I hate in football.Everyone might be frustrated with Ajax's football at present but thank god they don't play like Celtic.

[afcajax73]

amazing goal... and thanks for the link too!

[Orange14]

OMG, we scored! Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooal Lasse Schöne

[Tom_]

Phew, that was tasty passing.

[Van basten]

WOOW. That was NICE.

[Tom_]

Boilesen

[Tom_]

Is the crowd whistling Boerrigter? That's not cool!

[afcajax73]

get in!

[Van basten]

I think no one will argue that Veltman is Man of the Match.

[Tom_]

Veltman had a great game. Schöne was good too until he got tired at the end and couldn't catch up to the ball...

[King Litti]

We were the better team. Celtic didn't create much (again). Proud of the effort. We saw our guys fight well against a physical side. This was a big win. Everything is possible again. I think we really needed this (both players and fans). Feel that everything is going to be alright or is it just the beer talking.

[souras84]

It's all about:

1) getting De Jong out of the midfield
2) getting rid of Serero in the future
3) having Bojan back

[SPL]

A fine taken goal, Celtic had to try and play football after that but we were by far the better team. Veltman was superb Schone had a great game, V Rhijn played well. Fischer maybe out of form but just watching him he is still a different class to the other attackers in this game.

Thank goodness we have actually won a CL game.

[Orange14]

Well they did enough to win against a team that looks no better than many of the mid-table Eredivisie teams we have struggled against. Defended strongly and only made a couple of blunders on defense which were fortunately covered by other players. Nicely taken goal by Schöne after some tight passing. Probably should have had a second with Celtic really tiring near the end. Milan lost to Barca 3-1 so it will be an interesting match coming up in the San Siro with an outside chance to take second place (though I'm not getting my hopes up).

Player Ratings:

Cillessen (7) - commanded the goal area quite well and made some good plays on corners
Boilesen (6) - better game today but still some soft passes that were intercepted
Denswil (6) - two bad plays on defense but his ball handling and free kicks are just excellent
Veltman (7.5) - best player on the pitch for me; two really outstanding defensive plays that prevented goals and was always in the right place
van Rhijn (6.5) - didn't have much defending to do and went forward more than we've seen so=so on his crossing
Blind (6.5) - held tough in the midfield and was a good outlet for balls going forward
Serero (3.5) - I'm sorry he was the worst player out there, can't pass or hold the ball at all
Klaasen (6) - decent enough tonight and quicker than de Jong, harsh yellow card on what was a 50-50 ball
Sigthorrson (4) - he's not a wing player and was marginally better than Serero
de Jong (6) - better tonight when he is closer to the goal; should be the starting striker going forward
Schöne (7.5) - worked hard all match long and created good space and had some nice passes
Fischer (5.5) - decent coming on
Poulsen (6) - added some nice defense down the stretch
van der Hoorn (NR) - my heart skipped a beat when he came on but wasn't on long enough to do much more than head a ball over the end line

We need to get players healthy and start winning some league matches!

[orange goblin]

Veltman had a MONSTRE game. loved it.
I enjoyed the aggressive mood of the squad. maybe we've been poor on quality in midfield, but we had a clear plan and it worked.
Many of them did a game of sacrifice. Siggy is not the poor player I see is rated here. He is not sublime technique, but a physical strong striker who is needed at this level. even on the "false" wing. I don't even blame Serero, as he struggled a lot. many giveaways, but has been important for vivacity. Blind has been very self confident in his new role. Klaassen maybe is not ready yet, but enjoyed the fight and playing a game like this teaches a lot.
We're not special now, but we're a team in a phase of transition. This win can be important for our development.
oh, yes: de jong has to do the "shadow" striker or not be fielded at all. i prefer the first, after all.

[Tom_]

van der Hoorn (NR) - my heart skipped a beat when he came on but wasn't on long enough to do much more than head a ball over the end line

Tell me about it, it must've been on his mind as well after the penalty against Milan...

[ofey]

Some observations:

* Why in the world do we keep persevering with Serrero? I don't see the point in him and Duarte. We need only one of them, sell the other in January.
* Schone scored both in the first leg and this one. He's the only class player we have apparently.
* Fischer is on a slippery slope. He's definitely not stepping up to the plate.
* Veltman when developed will be an absolute star.
* Klaasen needs games else he'll stagnate and we'll be losing a star in the making.
* We talked about Blind in DM last year and it's working! With Boilesen back we should play Daley in DM permanently.

[Cruijff]

Is the crowd whistling Boerrigter? That's not cool!

No they gave him applause. 52.000 people were whistling quite hard for the Celtic substitute (as we also whistle as loud as possible for every Milan sub during 90 minutes) and we noticed Derk quite late. When it was clear Boerrigter came in Amsterdam Arena started clapping.

Damn this victory feels good. What a goal!!

I can never get any sleep when Ajax is giving me such a big adrenaline rush. But f*ck it, who cares. YEAH BABY!

[Cruijff]

[Tom_]

Nice, would've been fun to be there.

Actually the goal in Glasgow is worth a point too since if we end up level on points will Celtic that's what will put us above them.

[Philippe]

Will not comment on the inadequate assessments about Serero who was very good yesterday.

Anyways, Frank De Boer is a genius.

[King Litti]

Thought that Serero worked hard. Dropped down to help Blind, made a couple of good runs (won us a freekick or two), a couple of good passes (nice work to set up Schöne for the goal). Not saying he was great, but not useless either. This was one of is better games and I guess that's the problem: he needs to play a good game to be mediocre.

[Cruijff]

Nice, would've been fun to be there.

Actually the goal in Glasgow is worth a point too since if we end up level on points will Celtic that's what will put us above them.

Yes that's true.

It was a great match for an Ajax supporter. Brilliant goal, but also good seeing Ajax really fighting for the points and defending the lead together with all the 11 Dapp're Strijders. Poulsen was crucial in chasing Celtic backwards after he came in.

You're still living in Germany Tom? Perhaps I should have invited you over for your third Ajax game in 15 months... On Monday 25 November there is bound to be online ticket sale for Ajax - FC Barcelona so hey everbody, come over to Amsterdam Arena to watch Messi lose a match.

[saddlerian]

Well, what a tremendous surprise that was....! I thoroughly enjoyed that display, everyone giving 110%, Blind being brilliant in midfield!!!

Why can't they reproduce that in the league???

NEC, WATCH OUT!!!!!

[Tom_]

Hmm I've been thinking about Ajax–PSV in January, actually. But a game this year would also be good.