18 Dec 2011: Ajax - ADO Den Haag

[Flipster81]

I mean come on guys, we're winning, have all the possession and they will tire in the second half. Those of us that have played football at any kind of level know the game is much easier with the ball.

Lodeiro is doing well and looks to be growing into the role, Enoh had another good half also.

Bulykin on in the 2nd half and he'll score 2!!

[SPL]

I am not getting any pictures on sopcast Anyone else having a problem

[SPL]

Its ok now must have been my connection

[Flipster81]

Every time Lex **** Immers gets the ball I find myself saying 'Enoh, Kill!!'. I really despise that dude.

[Tom_]

Nice, we needed that.

Any idea why that handball in the box wasn't given? It looked blatant to me.

[rjf1]

Now to start working on the goal difference...

[ajaxcolombia]

great to see bulykin on the scoresheet

[ajaxcolombia]

What is wrong with sulejmani???

[ajaxcolombia]

and then he scores

[Tom_]

I'm not sure what that was all about either. He looks exhausted, but he hasn't had a very good game.

[Orange14]

Comfortable enough victory against a 10 man ADO. Lodeiro keeps improving with each week and I'm hoping that once our strikers are all healthy he can move into a starting role in the midfield with Eriksen. That will give us a lot more options since Janssen is essentially a static player. van Rhijn and some ups and downs in his first start but was able to recover each time. Good to see Ozbiliz play the full 90 minutes since he's a better option than Ebecilio. Bulykin looks fit again after his injury and his assist on Sulejmani's goal was nice. Cup match with AZ coming up midweek and then a chance to get everyone healthy.

[ajaxcolombia]

A very flattering scoreline - 4-0 - against a team I really despise. Nice to see ADO thrashed in the ArenA. A very weird moment were Sulejmani didn't make an effort to get in a position for Janssen to pass, and later received jeers from the crowd as he made a series of one touch passes that left him straight on goal and didn't fail to score. Had little reaction towards the crowd there. Nice cameo by Dico Koppers, didn't have trouble on defense and had a supporting role going forward. It also speaks well of Van Rhijn that the team was able to keep a clean sheet today. Nice weekend for Ajax, a high note to go into the holidays.

[SPL]

A very comfortable win and had we played with a striker for the first 73 mins we may well have scored more. ADO were always on the back foot once they went down to 10 men so early. A horrible 2 feet tackle that deserved the red. Considering he had a slight injury this week Eriksen had a very good game and so did Greg. Weird about Sulejmani but what a well taken goal . V Rhijn did well enough and deserves a game on Weds v AZ .We will see if he can really defend then. Like the look of Lodeiro even though he was having to play as a striker.

[rjf1]

I have to disagree about Janssen. He may be 'static'. as you say, but IMO he brings a certain steadying influence and a physical and mental toughness to the side that is missing when he isn't there.

[Orange14]

I have to disagree about Janssen. He may be 'static'. as you say, but IMO he brings a certain steadying influence and a physical and mental toughness to the side that is missing when he isn't there.

He has hardly missed any playing time so it's very difficult to say what the impact would be with him out of the lineup. We were a disaster early in the season when he was playing the deep position as he cannot defend and was too far back to offer any offensive options. If you watch his play he runs no more than 5-10 meters before stopping. He cannot defend at all and his only redeeming feature is free kicks which haven't been all that spectacular.

[ajaxcolombia]

He did score a pretty nice goal today though, However I agree with Orange14, I'd rather have a more dynamic player like Lodeiro in midfield next to Eriksen.

[SPL]

Me too. Lodeiro to start in place of Janssen and have Bulykin as striker until Siggy is fit .

PS A good goal today by Janssen though

[ajaxcolombia]

I mean I understand the concept behind playing Janssen in that deep midfield role, which he played again today after Enoh was taken off. Andrea Pirlo is doing that amazingly well for Juve this season, but even Pirlo has way mroe pace than Janssen and can do one or two dribbles to leave his markers behind, and applies pressure correctly. Janssen compared to him is an amateur.

[Blind3]

Any win over ADO is sweet in my book. Bad memories of watching their supporters dump piss and other liquid on Ajax supporters in 2004. This clean sheet definitely helped keep my depression at bay. THANK YOU AJAX !!!

[pizza 5]

I agree with Orange 14,and we were talking about this in the bar after the game yesterday.I think Theo is to fat and needs to either get on a diet or buy some bigger shorts,his arse is bigger than my girlfriends sisters.He can hardly run and has to shoot from distance because he is to slow to make it any closer to the goal.
Then we moved on to Lodero and why Ajax are so keen on such small players.Without getting back on to the Rosales rant(Im over that now) why do we continue with this process?

[Flipster81]

We continue with the smaller players because that's the vogue of the moment. Smaller technical players are what is coming through and it's been that way a few years now. Barcelona, Arsenal and the Spanish national teams are testament to this. Imo the smaller technically gifted players are fine if you have the right balance.

Silva, Mata, Iniesta, Xavi, Modric and Messi are all this type and are not so bad this is why we do it. Now put those 6 with 5 more bigger physical players and you have the perfect modern football team.

I for one want to see Ajax play football the proper way, maybe not as far as tiki taka but good quick flowing football. I do not want them to be like the Mourinho Chelsea, machine like and flair-less.