25 Mar 2012: Ajax - PSV

[rjf1]

Totally misjudged by the goalie -- he was waiting to catch a header and then no one headed it.

[__earth]

[Orange14]

de Jong from the spot as Aisatti was pulled down in the box. 2-0

[Van basten]

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rjf1]

Siem de Jong --- pk -- 2-0

[Tom_]

Two fairly lucky goals. Doesn't bother me a bit!

[Orange14]

Bulykin for Blind?????????? FdB had better have something in mind here; not sure I would make this substitution.

[Van basten]

Bulykin for Blind?????????? FdB had better have something in mind here; not sure I would make this substitution.

For me strange too, but let's see..

[rjf1]

Looked like Blind was limping a little. And Bulykin will provide someone who can hold the ball up top which the have been missing this last 10 minutes.

[rjf1]

Total intensity and concentration from beginning to end -- a truly satisfying win.

[Tom_]

Nice! Glad we held on to the clean sheet. The goals were lucky but I think we were good value for 2–0 in the end.

[Orange14]

Best defensive match the club has played in some time. Some oportunistic goals to be sure but Ajax were the dominant team on the pitch today. Another victory down the stretch.

player ratings:

Vermeer (8) - didn't kick particularly well (what's new?) but did make three very good plays in the first half that could have been PSV goals
Blind (7) - very good match and maybe he tweaked a hamstring just before being subbed off (he did grab at it); kept his head on defense
Vertonghen (8) - just massive again in the middle move forward to join the attack well
Alderweireld (7) - good match today and it's nice to see a solid middle defense
van Rhijn (7) - again solid match and van der Wiel may not see another minute of action for Ajax this season with this kind of play
Eriksen (8) - ran the midfield like Wesley Sneijder
Anita (8) - solid both in the midfield and at left back when Blind had to leave
Enoh (8) - very good today and made sure of his passes; didn't commit any silly fouls
Lukoki (6) - weakest player on the pitch today, the ball tricks were not working and he dribbled into 1 on 2 situations
de Jong (7) - well taken penalty to cement the win and worked hard all match long
Aissati (8) - responsible for both Ajax goals (who cares if the first one was a poor cross!); tracked back well to help out the left side defense
Ebecilio (7) - played well coming on for Lukoki; maybe should have done better on the chance that he had
Bulykin (7) - brought on to hold the ball up in the middle

Days like this one make me a believer in Ajax once again. Let's keep playing good defense and the rest will take care of itself!

BTW, the ESPN announces said that the A-1 team lost to Inter on penalties. Too bad as they outplayed them the whole match.

EDIT: changed Enoh to an '8' he was rock solid defensively and deserves it.

[SPL]

well we dominated them although we did not create too many chances. There is now daylight between us and 3rd place. AZ have Europa games to play so hope they drop points . We just need to keep winning . Aissati's goal was superb. PSV looked a bit like that dirty Italian team I was watching earlier.

Next week Janssen will be back and maybe V dWiel fit but I would keep both on the bench . Enoh had a good game and V Rhijn improves every game( seem to rememeber Mertens finally beat him with a cross in the 92nd minute)

[kezme44]

massive win. absolutely solid in the back today. aisatti comes from nowhere, scores one draws a penalty. enoh had a very very good game

[Orange14]

Next week Janssen will be back

You really saw the difference when you have three midfielders who can move rather than two plus a stationary player. There were openings for entry passes from the back line today. Janssen is just too much of a liability (and I know he played well last week but this is really crunch time now).

[ajaxcolombia]

incredible, the midfield today was breathtaking!!!!!! enoh and midfield just ran over toivonen and strootman, very impressive, cudos to frankie for making such a selection!!!

[ajaxcolombia]

By the way orange, your description of eriksen's performance today brought a tear to my ere

[souras84]

we should definetely continue with the same 3 in the middle. No Janssen please, especially in Heerenveen and maybe in Twente

[aveslacker]

we should definetely continue with the same 3 in the middle. No Janssen please, especially in Heerenveen and maybe in Twente

I thought Frank learned his lesson about Janssen a few weeks ago, but I was wrong. I suspect we'll see him in the midfield again once his suspension is up unless he gets hurt.

[Blind3]

CONGRATULATIONS AJAX !!!! Fantastic result . Ismail Aissati off the excess to requirements list and Siem rediscovering his touch. Both not a moment too soon .

[Flipster81]

I have been calling for this midfield since Janssen was signed, I didn't get to see the game but I'm glad they played well and won... come on AJAX!!

Iwill be watching thisgame online as we speak!!

[acab]

The best thing about this team - in every game there is someone allmost "forgotten" player who steps up and make a hell of a game. First it was Ebecilio, than Lukoki (and Janssen), now Aissati. With 5-6 missing first-teamers, i think we are doing more than well.

[Orange14]

Good overview from 11 tegen 11: http://11tegen11.wordpress.com/2012/03/ ... no-chance/

[ajaxcolombia]

Finally an article about Ajax in 11tegen11 that is not about a disastrous performance. By the way, I don't know much about dutch broadcasting, but I see in the streams that Kenneth Perez usually analyzes the matches with a curly haired guy and some other guy. They do some video analysis and its incredible how the show the influence of Anita for Ajax. I think you can't overstate how much Anita brings to our midfield, the little guy is a fantastic and very tactically intelligent player. If we win this, Anita will be vital to that.

[Philippe]

Great atmosphere at the Arena.
The 14 revolucion can't be stopped.