03 Oct 2012: Ajax - Real Madrid CF

[orange goblin]

predictable as always, the madrid goal arrived at the end of first half from one meter away from the net.
a bit unlucky, also: the ball hitted some defenders (including the ass of poulsen) before becoming the easiest assist for ronaldo.
we struggled to play all the time, it has to be said. without vermeer it would have been at least 0-3 already.

[Orange14]

Too bad that Madrid finally figured out our secret strategy of letting the air out of the game balls! At least it worked for about 25 minutes. Can't complain about being down a goal since most of the time Madrid were playing in our half and only some stellar defending and keeping from Vermeer kept the ball out of the net. Goal finally comes on a counter where van Rhijn gets caught up field when the ball is lost. I don't know why Pepe wasn't called for the foul on Boerrigter, curious decision. We are having the same problem of not getting the ball up into the attacking third. We cannot play with a midfield that cannot move the ball around but those are the cards that FdB has to play with. I suspect Madrid will go for one more goal and then play keep away resting up for El Classico this weekend. Complements to all the defenders and wingers who were tracking back but I cannot see where an Ajax goal is going to come from.

[Tom_]

Our midfield's passing has been poor, particularly Poulsen but also to a lesser extent Eriksen. It's not helping us get the ball forward.

[Orange14]

Well it was a really fine goal by Benzema. That should about do it.

[Manneken Pis]

Our midfield's passing has been poor, particularly Poulsen but also to a lesser extent Eriksen. It's not helping us get the ball forward.

They're all playing badly apart from Vermeer.
Not completing simple passes, poor control of the ball, ....

[Tom_]

Hoesen making his Ajax debut in the CL against Real Madrid almost scores with his second or third touch

[Tom_]

Crap, Dortmund are winning 1–0 in Manchester. That's pretty bad for our hopes of 3rd place.

[Manneken Pis]

They're all playing badly apart from Vermeer.
Not completing simple passes, poor control of the ball, ....

Well, scoring the goal has made a difference I must say, Real have also taken their foot off the gas pedal.

[Manneken Pis]

They're all playing badly apart from Vermeer.
Not completing simple passes, poor control of the ball, ....

Well, scoring the goal has made a difference I must say, Real have also taken their foot off the gas pedal.

Spoke too soon.

[Tom_]

Shame, we had some momentum and a half chance or two to make it 2–2.

[orange goblin]

If Hoesen had scored that goal...who knows.
We're simply not of that league. and when you finish in a poule like this is even inhuman to think to compete.
We are not that bad, but we would need a world class midfielder. and more attention in defense, it's not possible that madrid with us scores always from the little box

[Tom_]

Oh well. Positives? Good to see Hoesen and Sporkslede getting a few minutes. I thought Blind and van Rhijn both had decent games overlapping from full back.

[Tom_]

City equalized against BVB

[paladinby]

Positives - De Boer understood that defensive midfielder is needed at any level, Real Madrid gave us some examples of how to execute counter attacks, we finally scored against Madrid, Sporkslede made his debut, we had our momentum to change the game

Oh well, Dortmund players are questioning that penalty which brought Man City the equalizer, but were ok to accept that dive trick against us.

[Orange14]

Team kept fighting until the end and had about 15 minutes of good play when they were down 2-0 and snatched one back. They looked a lot more relaxed on the ball and started passing it forward. In the end it was about talent and that was a match Ajax would not win today. Madrid were stronger on the ball and the Ajax passing while good for the Dutch league was just too weak today against a top flight team. Madrid was able to keep the ball in the attacking third with ease while Ajax struggled just to get it to that point. Too bad Hoessen muffed his chance, it would have been interesting to see what would have happened if the score was even. Vermeer had a great match in goal and I hope some scouts were watching as it would be interesting to see if anyone will come after him. I don't think Cillesen fancies himself sitting on the Ajax bench much longer. It's going to be difficult to move up to third in this group.

[souras84]

I still believe De Jong was missing again. Making him captain is starting to seem a bad decision. There's nothing for him in the midfield

[Cruijff]

De Jong seems not good enough for this level.

A small detail: only two Ajax players were switching tricots with a Real Madrid player, no one was interested in C. Ronaldo's shirt.

[souras84]

Our players were obviously disappointed, after missing the chance to level the game at 2-2.

All this shit brings back the truth, that if we want to do something extra in Europe we should (unfortunately) be able to keep our good players. Well, it's something that isn't happening so I am awaiting more embarassment in Europe this year

[King Litti]

Just dreadful. I definitely expected more after the relatively good away game against Dortmund and considering the poor start by Madrid and the up coming el classico. Where was the movement? Poulsen and De Jong were like statues in the midfield. They really made me miss Anita.

Just saw the new documentary of Litmanen that brought back wonderful memories from the mid nineties. You always kind of hope we would not be that far away from Europeas elite but these kind of games really puts us to our place. Hope this defeat makes them summon up some fighting spirit and show their true quality against man city. We can do better.

[Tom_]

Man City looked pretty awful against Dortmund. Without Joe Hart it could've been 3 or 4 nil and they were quite lucky to get that penalty. Kompany is suspended for the game against us, as well. We will have to take points off them in order to stand a chance of third.

[orange goblin]

We are better than this, we can do better than this. Even if we loose.
But in my opinion it's our midfield that's not of international level. of this top level, at least.
Poulsen showed my fears about what his pace is nowadays.
He can do really well in the Eredivisie, but that's it.
And I add that he was left too alone also. he can't be the only midfielder who starts the action with 2-3 forwards doing costant pressure on him, when our supposed two number 10 are far away.
If I were Frank, I would play ALWAYS with 2 solid midfielders in CL matches.
Enoh or Poulsen AND another one, whom is missing and should be top priority on the transfer market.
Anita and De Zeeuw are sadly missed, at least by me.

[Kowalczyk]

Bah.

K.

[Orange14]

Man City looked pretty awful against Dortmund. Without Joe Hart it could've been 3 or 4 nil and they were quite lucky to get that penalty. Kompany is suspended for the game against us, as well. We will have to take points off them in order to stand a chance of third.

I caught the replay on TV last night (US time) and you're right they were quite bad. Hart made more amazing saves than Vermeer did against Madrid (and Vermeer was stellar). I go into every match expecting that we will win (call me deluded) and do think we match up pretty well against ManCity. I don't rate Mancini very highly as a manager.

[Kowalczyk]

Pretty disappointed.

I was hoping we'd show some progression, more maturity against Real. But we looked like shit in the first half, even though Vermeer kept us alive for a long time. We had no clue, we were outplayed and we looked... afraid.

For fifteen minutes in the second half Ajax were what I hoped they would be for an hour or more.

Oh well - having said that: we will beat Man City at home (then lose the away game) and we'll also beat Dortmund at home to finish third.

K.

[Orange14]

If I were Frank, I would play ALWAYS with 2 solid midfielders in CL matches.
Enoh or Poulsen AND another one, whom is missing and should be top priority on the transfer market.
Anita and De Zeeuw are sadly missed, at least by me.

Agree that Anita and even De Zeeuw would have been better for us last evening. The big difference is the ball handling speed which is just too slow for this level of competition. If you look at the passes, they were just too lazy from everyone. Look at Eriksen who is our best midfielder, how many passes did he complete in the attacking half of the field? The other thing is that our players are just too weak on the ball and got dispossessed when contested. This is a fact of life against these kinds of teams and the only way to beat it is through quickness so you don't stay on the ball that long. Babel would get a pass and then be nudged off, losing possession. Sana and Lukoki looked surprised when challenged. Sure these maybe go as fouls in the Dutch league but they will never get the call here.

We don't have the type of midfield that can play at this level until some of the young players develop. Maybe the NextGen series will provide some answers for this (I remember when we played Liverpool in that competition last year and how really good Raheem Sterling was for them; he's now a starting winger).