16 Nov 2008: Ajax - PSV

[dws]

Great performance, apart from our defence going to sleep a bit for their goal.

Linesman should have spotted Lazobitch's foul on Oleguer.

[raymon]

Great performance, apart from our defence going to sleep a bit for their goal.

Linesman should have spotted Lazobitch's foul on Oleguer.

I'm not sure whether it was Oleguer or Lazovic who made the first foul. However, why did everyone else stop running back? You always have to play until the whistle blows.

[Van basten]

Great performance, apart from our defence going to sleep a bit for their goal.

Linesman should have spotted Lazobitch's foul on Oleguer.

If would honest, i don't think that there was a foul. They both pulled each other, so it was good decision by the ref, to let the ball play. but now it doesn't matter, coz we still destroyed those **********ers!

[The Purple Cow]

Just got home from the match, here are my random unconnected thoughts

Even in a rugby game Lazovitch's tackle on Oluguer would have been illegal. Tackling someone round the neck is very dangerous, so a bizarre decision to allow the P$V goal.

All-in-all it was a great game to watch, can you imagine what the score would have been if we had played with a striker?

Suarez will get most of the plaudits, but my MOTM was Enoh. A brilliant individual performance, he ran the midfield on his own. Ajax could have played a 4 - 1 - 5 formation and we would still have bossed the midfield.

What was Gary Lineker doing there?

[SE6Ajacied]

What was Gary Lineker doing there?

Well he wasn't commentating for Setanta which is good .

Great game, could easily have been about 7 -3, nice end to end stuff. I'm pleased that the tribute to Sjakje Wolfs at the beginning of the game went off well (apart from a few PSV morons) and won't end up remembered for all the wrong reasons like the one to Michels also against PSV a few years back (I think that was 4-1 too!).

All I need now is for Blackpool to hold on for a 1-0 win against Preston and my football weekend will be perfect - I don't have Sky - is anyone watching it?

[SE6Ajacied]

All I need now is for Blackpool to hold on for a 1-0 win against Preston

Too late - 2-1 to Preston At least it looks like Hamill got booked for celebrating their second goal, "unsporting behaviour" one minute after scoring

Come on you 'POOL!!!!!

[SPL]

i too thought Oleguer was fouled but no excuses for the defence then going to sleep. Still it did not matter and yes if we had KJH instead of say Rommedahl or Kennedy we would have won about 6-1.

[Ayman]

PSV are well and truly fucked, 5 defeats already, they can forget about defending eredivisie, infact 2nd spot for CL qualifications is now looking further and further unlikely for them, and question marks will be raised over H. Stevens' future. But who cares they have won it 4 times in a row. Now its our turn

[dws]

PSV's next 8 fixtures:

PSV Heracles Almelo 22 nov 2008
sc Heerenveen PSV 29 nov 2008
PSV FC Groningen 06 dec 2008
Vitesse PSV 14 dec 2008
PSV Feyenoord 21 dec 2008
PSV FC Twente 27 dec 2008
Roda JC PSV 18 jan 2009
PSV NAC Breda 24 jan 2009


Some breathing space:

De Graafschap PSV 01 feb 2009
PSV ADO Den Haag 05 feb 2009
FC Volendam PSV 08 feb 2009

Followed by:

PSV AZ 14 feb 2009
FC Groningen PSV 21 feb 2009
PSV sc Heerenveen 28 feb 2009
FC Twente PSV 07 mrt 2009
Feyenoord PSV 15 mrt 2009 :

[The Purple Cow]

Still, at least they will go into christmas after an easy three-points on the 21st.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, this is the weakest P$V team I have seen in my 21 years in Nederland. I think they might struggle to qualify for Europe next season, unless they spend big in January.

**

Enoh is the new Claude Makelele - I've decided.

[Kowalczyk]

What a fantastic afternoon.

That's all I want to say right now.

I'll say a few more thing tomorrow.

K.

[Blind3]

Absolutely jumping for joy. The Fox Soccer Channel " Oh You Beauty !!!!!!!!!!!!! " commercial comes to mind. Magnificent effort !!!!!!!!!!!I'll settle for a three goal win v. PSV any day. Welcome back Micky !! Enoh my MOTM. The young man is a diamond in the rough to be sure.

Also, I'm glad Leo and Rommedahl saw time. 34 matches is a long year and we'll need their skill and experience at various times.

[gordonvandekamp]

Just finished watching the game, I think it was one of the best performances of the year.

Enoh looked very good, glad to have him back. I love the way he doesn't quit (something Suarez should pay attention to). I've liked him all season, and I hope he continues to play like this. Emmanuelson looked very good too, he should never play in defense again, only in midfield or as a forward.

With the way Huntelaar had been performing, it's not a huge drop with him out. Kennedy didn't look too good, though, but Leonardo has looked good all year when he's gotten a chance and I thought he did today. Really glad to have Sulejmani back too, I feel a lot better to have him if Huntelaar's out.

I think a foul on their goal could have gone either way, but am not surprised it wasn't called. We still shouldn't have given up the goal, but we've looked awful in situations like that all year; I'm glad it was only one today. Sweet justice for Suarez to kick Pieters in the nuts and then put his second goal in off of him

Yeah, all in all a pretty good day. All the other games went the way they needed to in order to put us on top on goal difference. The end of the season is still a long way off and honestly with the way the last few years have gone, I think PSV will still be in the running in May. I'm just pleased with our position right now (especially considering all the injuries).

[Kowalczyk]

Nice YouTube video of the Sjakie Wolfs memorial - and the ArenA celebrating the first goal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbAGw9Y7hZs

Too bad a small handful of PSV a**eholes did not have enough braincells to keep their mouths shut for one minute, but that's a detail.

K.

[DanK]

What do you guys think of Enoh? The midfield is completely different with him in there, I'd almost say he's my man of the match. Just doesn't give the ball away.

Urby and Enoh were my players of the game. I was hugely impressed with Enoh. Strong, skillful, not afraid to kick the shit out of the opp.

[DanK]

Oh and meant to add. 4-1 take that. Teach you for being f*cking disrespectful

[saddlerian]

What a day! Not only nails in PSV's coffin.....but hammered in tightly by a team who proved that hard work does reap rewards!

Roll on next Sunday.....who knows? With this effort....could go top by 3 next week!!!

[Tom_]

Suarez will get most of the plaudits …

Not from me. I know he's probably been our most important player this season, but he's a cheat and a whinger. If he was on any other team we'd all hate his guts.

[aveslacker]

I don't think that people can complain that we won this game ugly. I thought we dominated. Enoh is such a difference maker, and Urby was brilliant. That chip to himself and rocket shot (which led to Sulejmani's goal) was inspired.

Now the task is not to take our eyes off the prize and give away points against the lower half of the table, as we have tended to do in years past.

If Ajax can keep playing like this, Marco will deserve all the praise that he gets.

[Blind3]

Ko, thank you for posting the video link. Great stuff, not even the PSVidiots could ruin the moving ceremony . Sjakie was one of a kind. Even if he did tell me I was too, um , portly ( ) for football when I had the pleasure of meeting him at AJAX-USA in Amsterdam 2001. I admire that kind of brutal honesty.

[Kowalczyk]

Highlights video for your Mondag morning enjoyment...

http://ajax.aegon.nl/index.php?id=1&video=18506

K.

[Kowalczyk]

Right then. Here's my two cents...

I thought Ajax started really, really well. The first 30 minutes were the best half hour of football they played so far. There was passion, they were solid, they looked like a team and... (last, but most definitely not least) they looked quite sexy: it was fast and offensive. One touch football. Really nice. That first goal was a seriously pretty attack.

After Ajax's opening goal PSV took over. They dominated in the latter fifteen of the first half and the first fifteen of the second half, but they didn't create much and were never as fluent as Ajax in their best phases. PSV increased the pressure, but that was about it. You can tell that they have no confidence at the moment, and that Afellay is their only creative player at this point.

By the way: what a f**king terrible goalkeeper they have... The goals were not his fault, but he's a flapper of the worst kind on high crosses and he's not exactly a confident kicker either. He panicked on several backpasses in the second half and whacked it into the stands a few times. Insecurity was written all over Isaksson's performance (speaking of insecurity... do I need to mention Erik Pieters? - this must have been the worst day of his career...).

All in all, Ajax were the dominant side for 60 minutes, PSV for 30. That's 2:1, you could say, but the difference in real scoring chances was a bit bigger. I thought 3-1 would have been an accurate reflection of the match as a whole. That fourth goal was PSV's punishment for not shutting up during Sjakie's minute of silence and the fact that they didn't even try to cross halfway line in the first hour. This win, and the fact that it was 4-1 win, was in part a reward for Ajax's intentions (whereas PSV were the team that needed the result).

Almost everybody played well for Ajax. My man of the match was Urby (who was fantastic), but Enoh and Vertonghen came close. Oleguer did really well (he's starting to look like a leader), Vermaelen has finally developed into a really good defender and Suárez... man, I love the guy. He's a nutter, but a fantastic nutter. Also: Gabri did really well when he came on.

The weakest link was Dennis Rommedahl. I could see why Van Basten fielded him (to keep the wings occupied and make the pitch wide) and he kind of did his job if you look at it that way, but his touches (control of the ball) were horrible. Several promising attacks over the right flank terminated when the ball was passed to Rommedahl.

Also, Lindgren was not having a great one. Lost the ball a few times, his passes were a bit erratic, but I have to say: he worked hard and corrected most of his tiny mistakes himself.

I would say: Rommedahl 5/10, Lindgren 6/10, almost everybody else at least 7/10, one or two 8/10, Urby possibly 9/10.

We're not there yet (AZ are a more 'complete' football team right now, and we might lose next weekend), but something good is happening at this club. There is a certain team spirit that I like, the football is improving and there is an almost tangible sense of unity and positivity at the ArenA which makes it good fun to be an Ajax supporter at the moment. Something positive is unfolding, and it's been a while since I had that feeling.

K.

[aveslacker]

We're not there yet (AZ are a more 'complete' football team right now, and we might lose next weekend), but something good is happening at this club. There is a certain team spirit that I like, the football is improving and there is an almost tangible sense of unity and positivity at the ArenA which makes it good fun to be an Ajax supporter at the moment. Something positive is unfolding, and it's been a while since I had that feeling.

K.

That's the sense that I'm feeling from all the way over here. It seems like the fun is returning to the ArenA. Ajax may be getting their swagger back, but this time it won't be the empty swagger that they had a few years ago.

[Rubin Stark]

Just watched the game. What's up with Urby? The man played out of his skin.

[The Purple Cow]

I didn't think Urby did all that well, his crossing, and particular his corners were really poor. Enoh was by a distance MOTM.

I agree with everything else that Ko says, particularly about Pieters, how inept do you have to be to make Rommedahl look like a serious attacking option?