17 August AZ-Ajax Match Day 2

[Orange14]

Poor ball handling in the back and a give away is duly punished.

[Dave the mac]

Puke! AZ scores... 1-1

[rjf1]

At the last third of the 1st half they went to a slow down style (not quite as bad as pitty pat, at least), but it allowed AZ to get more of the ball and gain in confidence. I felt they were going to give us trouble in the 2nd half, and so it turned out.

[Tom_]

We're getting close here. Looking quite decent on attack.

[Cruijff]

That's pure class from our man Lasse!

[Tom_]

Whoa, what a peach!!!

[Dave the mac]

Yes! Schone, who has played great: 2-1. Comon!

[rjf1]

We started attacking again and it paid off. I just hope we don't go back to slow down style. Keep the attacks coming and we will come good in the end.

[Orange14]

Pretty clear now why nobody wants Sigthorrsson. Really bad!

[Tom_]

Yeah that was lame. Think I'll disband the fanclub after all ;)

[Tom_]

Well. If we don't win this we'll know why.

[Tom_]

Nice. Great tracking back by Siggy, good handling from him and Serero and a nice finish.

[Orange14]

Sigthorrsson did the right thing that time, pass to someone who can put the ball in the goal. Nicely taken by el Ghazi

[saddlerian]

Very good 3-1 win...but what the hell was El Ghazi doing to create that scrum near the end??? STOP THE BLOODY DIVING!!!!!

[Frans]

Yeah that was lame. Think I'll disband the fanclub after all ;)

I dunno - The 3rd time he got through on goal he managed to not fall over, so there may be some hope.

[Dave the mac]

Wow! El Ghazi 3-1 great goal! I really like this kid. That's it, great game...weird finish with a bit of a scuffle.
The commentator wondered if this was Blind's last match for Ajax...probably but what a player!
Not sure if Veltman will return as Van der Hoorn was a rock in defense!
Well back to bed. Great game

[Orange14]

Rainy and windswept 2nd half and in the end we were just better. Some problems in the back line and a cheap goal was conceded. This really needs to be dealt with especially with PSV coming to the Arena next weekend! After the goal the team really looked good on offense and the midfield seems to be doing a good job of keeping the ball and figuring out how to move towards open spaces. FdB still needs to figure out who plays up front. Kishna looked off his game and you can read the comments on Sigthorrsson below. el Ghazi was more than decent in his half of football. Cannot afford to squander goals.

Player Ratings:

Cillessen (6.5) - really had very little to do amidst some anxious moments where AZ couldn't challenge him
Boilessen (6.5) - did enough on the wing and rattled the crossbar on a wicked shot; needs to press forward more
Moisander (6.5) - couldn't figure out if it was his lack of clearance that led to the goal
van der Hoorn (6.5) - no major screw ups and his positioning was much better
Ligeon (6) - still leaving a lot of open space on defense but did well offensively save the poor decision early on to shoot rather than pass
Viergever (7) - very solid game again as the holding midfielder and slotted back in the center when the club went 3-4-3 on occasion
Blind (7) - rounding into shape and interesting to see him play a more offensive role; was this his last Ajax match?
Klaasen (6.5) - good goal but had very few touches over all; good tracking back on defense
Kishna (5.5) - slightly above average in a single half of football
Sigthorrsson (4) - 0 out of 4 scoring chances and only redeemed by a nice pass for the third goal; extremely disappointing match and it's evident why nobody wants to take him away
Schöne (8) - well played match even though he's not a true winger
el Ghazi (7) - put in a solid half of football and his goal was nicely taken
Serero (NR) - can't remember a single touch as he came in for Blind

The team will be challenged by an on fire PSV next week. Defense needs to be really tight and offensively chances must be converted!!

[paladinby]

We must extend Schone. El Ghazi is looking better than Kishna so far.

[Tom_]

Agree with what's been said, it still wasn't perfect but it was a bit better than last week and miles away from the performance against Zwolle. We have definitely been more on the front foot in the last two games with Ligeon making a particularly noticeable difference by charging forward all the time. It's giving me some grey hairs but it's much better to watch. Maybe Frankie will consider switching to a 5–3–2 now that LvG has made it cool, if we don't have real wingers. He could really let Boilesen and Ligeon be part of the attack.

[ajaxcolombia]

Schone is becoming a bit of a folk hero to me!

[SPL]

An odd day for me ,my son was playing a cricket cup game in Brighton on the major Sussex ground so thanks to sky I tapped the game and watched it 5 hours later ,not knowing the result.An odd experience. El Ghazi's goal a beauty but he will get ticked off for the play acting at the end but impresses me more than Kishna. Schone and Klaassen also lovely goals. Siggy needs to be sold and replaced by a more mobile striker who can bury easy chances.

The press seems to think Blind is on his way and he will be very very hard to replace .Viegever made the poor clearance that led to their goal and not Moisander. V d Hoorn had a decent game for once but Az were not much of a team.

We are now into the horrible 2 weeks when players get sold. Blind Moisander and Schone could easily be gone and Siggy could stay! Sorry I am not a fan of him.

Well my son's team lost but at least I got to see another Ajax win.

[Orange14]

I was uncertain about the give away on AZ goal as I didn't see it clearly and the Russians didn't show a good replay. From what others have said it was Viergever and he probably deserved to be docked a half point for that one.

I haven't seen any rumors about Schöne leaving and I hope this doesn't happen. I really wonder after today's match whether anyone will pay €s for Sigthorrsson.