13 Apr 2014: Ajax - ADO Den Haag

[ajaxcolombia]

Psv sucks...

[rjf1]

What a pass by Poulsen!!! And the much-maligned Serero finishes it off perfectly. Breathing room at last.

[Dave the mac]

Yes! Serero with a beauty.

[ajaxcolombia]

It's incredible that with so much individual quality a can team can be so terrible as psv is at the moment though great tactical decision by Koeman changing to a three man backline. We are pretty much champions, only one more point needed so hurray for that, maybe we finally get the double too?

[Orange14]

Full credit to ADO who made it an interesting match down to the end. Two losses of concentration by the Ajax defense were suitably punished though the club played quite well otherwise preventing any ADO build up. Offensively the midfield was much better and the interchange between the front three helped to create lots of space. PSV didn't get the job done so we need to wait another two weeks before celebrations can begin.

Player Ratings:

Cillessen (6) - didn't have too much to do and it was a rather weak shot that might have been saved on the 2nd goal
Boilesen (6.5) - generally had a good match but after he beat his man the crosses were generally of poor quality
Denswil (6.5) - own goals happen to the best of players but the lack of concentration on this one was disturbing
Veltman (7) - solid match
Ligeon (7) - good match subbing for van Rhijn and his speed really helped out
Poulsen (7) - kept things solid defensively and his offensive play was excellent today
Serero (7) - well taken goal and it was good to see him look to pass forward rather than backward
Klaassen (7) - good match and his defensive marking is really improving works hard to get every free ball near by
Bojan (7) - very active on the wing and it was strange to see him come off for de Sa
Sigthorrson (5.5) - slightly above average is all that can be said
Schøne (7.5) - best player on the pitch, constantly creating dangerous situation for the ADO defense
de Sa (6) - decent enough coming on in the 2nd half
Duarte (NR) - not on long enough
Riederwald (NR) - not on long enough

Cup final next weekend.

[SPL]

Well we made it difficult with 2 poor defensive errors to let in 2 goals. I think they had about 2 shots on goal other than that. I think our GD is now plus 9 over Fword and we should get a draw in Heracles or v NEC.

We seem to have limped to the title this year as we are just not beating teams easy . Poulsen MOM although was it him that lost the marker for their 2nd.

[SPL]

A bit of useless stats ,the last time we let in 2 goals in a league game was v PSV way back in Sept and 25 league games ago.We have lost once in that time v Vitesse and let in 12 goals in those 25 games .With that consistancy I quess thats why we are top.I doubt FDB will be happy with the 2 let in today.

[ajaxcolombia]

The reason for that is not necessarily being good defenders but veltman, moisander and blind bossing possession for such long periods of time.

[Tom_]

Suits me. We get the win, I can watch the championship game next week, and I'd far prefer Feyenoord to finish second than Chelsea B.

[Orange14]

I can watch the championship game next week

Not really. The Cup match is next Sunday so we cannot win the championship for two more weeks!

[Tom_]

Crap! Thanks for the heads-up, now you see how these problems arise...

[Philippe]

IMO Poulsen was match of the match. Not only because of his goal, and his assist, but moreover because he showed how a good DM can be crucial.
Denswil had a very poor game.

[ajaxcolombia]

I agree, Poulsen was really good in this match, actually he's been good in all the past matches he's played and probably deserves to play for the last few matches and in the cup final.

[Orange14]

IMO Poulsen was match of the match.

I would have agreed had he not be at fault on the second ADO goal where he was uncharacteristically out of position and got beat badly. I picked Schøne for MOTM but that's just me.