01 Apr 2012: Ajax - Heracles Almelo

[Kowalczyk]

Eredivisie 2011-2012, matchday 28. Kick-off time at the Amsterdam ArenA is 14:30 CET.

So, are we title contenders now...? Yes, we are!

Heracles are one of the season's revelations: very entertaining and sometimes very good football. The way they beat AZ in Alkmaar in the semi-final of the cup was truly impressive. Heracles visit the ArenA one week before the cup final, the very first cup final in the club's history...

Here's the top of the table after 27 games:

1. AZ: 27-56 (54-25)
2. Ajax: 27-55 (70-33)
3. FC Twente: 27-52 (69-32)
4. PSV: 27-51 (68-40)
5. Feyenoord: 27-51 (54-32)
6. Heerenveen: 27-51 (61-42)

Matchday 28 fixtures for the top six (most of them on Saturday night)...

Saturday evening:
Groningen vs Heerenveen
Twente vs Roda JC
PSV vs VVV-Venlo
Feyenoord vs NAC Breda

Sunday afternoon:
Ajax vs Heracles
Vitesse vs AZ (tough one for them...)

My two cents: Heerenveen may drop points in the derby. I don't expect any miracles from the other Saturday games: Twente, PSV and Feyenoord will probably do the job.

I expect good news from Arnhem on the Sunday, though. Vitesse vs AZ, that's a damn tricky away fixture, three days after AZ's home game against Valencia, with the trip to Valencia coming up (05 Apr) and the cup final on the horizon. These guys have a very busy schedule indeed (Ajax's schedule: no midweek fixtures and two weeks off after the Heracles game).

Fingers crossed, soemthing tells me that Ajax will go tops on April 1st... no joke!

K.

[aveslacker]

I agree with Ko. AZ are looking jaded after playing so many matches and were lucky not to drop points this weekend. The trick is for Ajax to stay focused and take care of theor own business. I worry about them having a bit of a letdown after the PSV victory.

[ajaxcolombia]

De Boer must stick with the midfield three that played so well against PSV, but sadly he is influenced by big names. It was obvious that this midfield can boss any other team in the eredivise. Let's go out and win!!

[Monkey Tonk]

Amazing.

Has the league ever seen such a comeback? Looking back, it seems that the fixture with Manchester was the turning point. I was too cynical to believe it at the time. Ajax now the big favorite here: http://www.euroclubindex.com/asp/leagueodds.asp

[Cruijff]

I would not be extremely surprised if Roda get's a result at Twente. That team is dangerous in counter attack and has one of the most effective strikers in the league.

[Orange14]

My only worry (well maybe not the only one!) is that FdB did not learn his lesson last Sunday. This team has to press all over the field and especially control the midfield. This means that the following three players ABSOLUTELY need to start in the midfield the rest of the season: Enoh, Anita, Eriksen. No Janssen or de Jong; the team cannot press with either 2 (in the case of Janssen) or 2 1/2 players (de Jong) in the midfield. Follow through on this and all will be good.

[aveslacker]

My only worry (well maybe not the only one!) is that FdB did not learn his lesson last Sunday. This team has to press all over the field and especially control the midfield. This means that the following three players ABSOLUTELY need to start in the midfield the rest of the season: Enoh, Anita, Eriksen. No Janssen or de Jong; the team cannot press with either 2 (in the case of Janssen) or 2 1/2 players (de Jong) in the midfield. Follow through on this and all will be good.

I agree. In fact, I suspect most people on these boards agree. But do you expect Frank to see it the same way? I don't. I suspect we'll see Janssen back in the starting lineup for this fixture.

[Philippe]

If I remember correctly Janssen played very well in Den Haag.
I trust Franck anyway, his coaching is superb.

[aveslacker]

If I remember correctly Janssen played very well in Den Haag.
I trust Franck anyway, his coaching is superb.

Janssen has taken away from the team's performance far more than he's given. I like Frank as a coach, but he is too loyal to Janssen (and De Jong as well, to a lesser extent). The team clearly flows better with Janssen on the bench and Anita playing the deep-lying midfielder role.

[Blind3]

Would much rather see 90 minutes of fluid movement than hope for one moment of brilliance out of Theo. I've watched our midfield closely vs. PSV on ESPN 3, both live and on replay. Really enjoyed Anita - Eriksen - Enoh.

[ajaxcolombia]

Enoh is very enigmatic. We tend to think of him as a liability because of his limited technical skills anda tendency to lose the ball easily. However, this season he has come up big in several occasions. Had some great games in the champions league, particularly against Zagreb.

[Manneken Pis]

My only worry (well maybe not the only one!) is that FdB did not learn his lesson last Sunday. This team has to press all over the field and especially control the midfield. This means that the following three players ABSOLUTELY need to start in the midfield the rest of the season: Enoh, Anita, Eriksen. No Janssen or de Jong; the team cannot press with either 2 (in the case of Janssen) or 2 1/2 players (de Jong) in the midfield. Follow through on this and all will be good.

The 11 Tegen 11 match analysis would suggest you're spot on:

http://11tegen11.wordpress.com/2012/03/ ... no-chance/

[Amol]

Selection for tomorrow's game:

Kenneth Vermeer
Jasper Cillessen
Toby Alderweireld
Jan Vertonghen
Vurnon Anita
Eyong Enoh
Christian Eriksen
Siem de Jong
Lorenzo Ebecilio
Theo Janssen
Daley Blind
Nicolás Lodeiro
Dmitry Bulykin
Aras Özbiliz
Ismail Aissati
Ricardo van Rhijn
Jody Lukoki
Dico Koppers

[ajaxcolombia]

Opstelling Ajax: Vermeer; Van Rhijn, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Blind; Anita, Eriksen, Janssen; Özbiliz, De Jong, Ebecilio. Again Frank is weak too weak to drop Janssen. Why Ozbiliz instead of last week hero Aissati?? WHY???

[ajaxcolombia]

just read aissati is sick...too bad.

[SPL]

Aissati is sick and Siggy replaces him on the bench.I make it 10 starters from our academy.

As we played Heracles this weekend last year and I was there my thoughts at this moment are on that great day .Hope we can win 3-0 again .

[rjf1]

We can't take this game too lightly -- we have to play with the same energy and concentration that we did last week. No problem if we do that.

[SPL]

13th stream is up on sopcast and MM6 on sopcast also showing the game.

[rjf1]

Whew -- nearly a disaster. Ozbiliz looking good in the opening minutes.

[aveslacker]

Aissati is sick and Siggy replaces him on the bench.I make it 10 starters from our academy.

As we played Heracles this weekend last year and I was there my thoughts at this moment are on that great day .Hope we can win 3-0 again .

Nice to see Siggy back out there again. Hope gets a run out.

[rjf1]

Finally get the breakthrough -- Beautiful through ball to Ebecilio then Janssen for the tap in.

[Van basten]

Theo

[rjf1]

Looks like Ozbiliz picked up a knock -- Lukoki coming on to replace him. Too bad for O -- he was having a terrific game -- but good to see L get another chance

[Orange14]

The goal was a long time coming given Heracles was defending very poorly and we probably should have at least two more. It was difficult to see what happened with Ozbiliz and let's hope it was nothing more than a slight knock as he was playing quite well. A quick goal in the second half should be enough to put this one away but we can't lose focus on defense and concede a stupid goal.

[ajaxcolombia]

Ajax main problem was being terribly wasteful. Didn't like Eriksen shouting at Lukoki after making a wrong decision when he had a breathrough, players should respect each other, even he has been wasteful at times. Can't stop showering praise on Anita, I think he probably won the ball back like 50 times or something. Incredible. Ozibiliz was playng well, bad luck for him.