08 NOV 2015 Feyenoord - Ajax Match Day 12

[Orange14]

REVENGE! Nothing more and nothing less. Enough said.

[Tom_]

Based on the first half in the cup match we know we can outplay Feyenoord in Rotterdam... I expect a win!

[Orange14]

Dijks trained with the team today and may be available on Sunday. el Ghazi is out with an ankle sprain and Fischer may be ready. Where will the goal(s) come from in this match?

[Ayman]

I predict a 1-1 draw for this game. De Kuip is generally difficult. Ajax are struggling to score goals against half decent teams. Feyenoord are not a bad side.

[SPL]

So the big day arrives and looks like just El Ghazi missing. Just thinking back to the game last season we won 1-0 with an early V Rhijn goal and they then hit our bar about 5 times ,made about 30 shots on goal but could not score.

Should add looking outside at the grey damp miserable day that last year was played in September and we were in sunny Amsterdam.Actually I was in beautiful little Edam when the game was on and when back in next door Volendam had to go in the first shop to ask for the result.It always amuses Dutch guys when I say I love Ajax and they ask why.

Back on subject any sort of win today by us will do.Just hope we have a stronger referee .Fword got away with murder last week.

[SPL]

Surprise line up with Klaassen striker

Cillessen

Tete,Veltman,Riedewald Dijks

Bazoer,Gudelj,Sinkgraven

Schone ,Klaassen Younes

How do they score?

[SPL]

Fischer not quite 100% to start.More likely having taken a knock on Thursday they dont want to risk him starting especially against this bunch of hacking thugs.

[Ayman]

1-0 to Feyenoord. Sven Beek the goal scorer!

[SPL]

Tough first half and Fword probably worth the 1-0 lead. At least Fischer has come on, I would put Milik on for Sinkgraven and put Klaassen back in MF he is not a striker and is complelety wasted there.

[souras84]

Weak passing and zero passion. Nothing. I threw away 15 euros I bet on us winning

[Orange14]

Aside from some missed marking on the Feyenoord goal there was some good defending from Ajax but there is no height up front and the long balls and crosses into the box are wasted. There were three good possessions where the ball was rotated around and moved into nice positions but that was it. I felt going in that a 0-0 draw would be the best outcome but that's now history. Milik will have to come in if only to add height but it's still unlikely to create more scoring opportunities. The midfield passing when they work at it has been close to decent. Veltman & Cillessen are both having excellent games.

Let's hope for a better second half.

[Orange14]

Just saw the replay on the goal a couple of times and it's a real weird one. van Beek didn't hustle back on defense like a center half should and when the ball was coming back towards the Ajax goal there was nobody around to mark him as they were all with the offensive players. Have to credit Kuyt who was composed and set the table perfectly for the tap in. Bad luck for Ajax is pretty much all that I could see.

[souras84]

Dijks isn't tracking Kuyt back. And it's not the first time. He takes his time to cross and of course our midfield line, hasn't returned in time

[SPL]

Cillessen and Veltman are indeed have superb games. I would take a 1-1 draw of course.Our line up suggested FDB would be happy with a draw.Very negative imo.You need 3 attackers in the front line not 2 midfielders .

[rjf1]

Usual story of the opponent being quicker to the ball than we are. They had multiple dangerous chances, and we could easily be losing by more. Our only real chances were when Sinkgraven had that open shot that went wide, and Bazoer's shot that got blocked at the last minute. Hard to see us winning at this point. They have been overall faster and more dangerous. Maybe we can get lucky and pull a draw out of the hat.

[SPL]

Milik is coming on

[Tom_]

Yeah, we shot ourselves in the foot giving the ball away trying to counter the free kick. Gudelj and Bazoer were stuck in no man's land and Feyenoord still had men forward.

We can still get back in it... Even with no strikers available!!!

[SPL]

Yes we are back it a bit of luck but who cares

[Tom_]

Klaassen places it perfectly onto Kongolo's outstretched leg to chip the keeper and find the far corner!

[rjf1]

Lucky on two counts -- ball was over the sideline in the buildup, but not called -- but it's about time the luck came our way.

[Tom_]

Seriously, why would you bring Milik into a game like this? He will get very few touches and 80% of them will be turnovers...

[Ayman]

Just as I predicted!!!!

I predict a 1-1 draw for this game. De Kuip is generally difficult. Ajax are struggling to score goals against half decent teams. Feyenoord are not a bad side.

[SPL]

I am exhausted watching that in the end we got lucky with the goal and a draw is a good result . Cillessen was outstanding and lucky for us Kazim Richards is a poor striker ,a decent striker would have scored near the end.

Although I think we should have had 3 attackers on at the start Fischer and Milik did little and I still want to see us sign another striker in January.

Still think it will be between us and PSV and F word will fade.Take away Kuyt and they are nothing special

[Orange14]

Despite the ball being lost into touch by Younes leading up to the Ajax goal, a draw was a fair result for both teams (not that we ever like to draw with Feyenoord!). Ajax was clearly drained the last 15 minutes of the match probably from having to play on Thursday. Defense was pretty good throughout the match and Cillessen came up big when there was a breakdown. When the midfield was staying on the ball and making insightful passes, the team did pretty well in getting into good positions. This is what the tactics should be rather than the long balls from the back (which they are hardly ever going to win given the height of the Feyenoord defenders).

Player Ratings:

Cillessen (8.5) - three really difficult blocks but still had to do too much kicking
Dijks (5) - really got no help from Younes at all and was often having to defend against two players
Riedewald (7) - pretty decent most of the game though didn't handle Kazim-Richards very well near the end of the match
Veltman (8) - really fine match, positionally in the right place every time and totally shut down Kramer
Tete (7) - got beat once but that was it as he continues to shut things down on the right side of the Ajax defense
Gudelj (7) - a couple of poor positions on defense but maybe this was his best overall match for Ajax
Bazoer (7) - good until he had to come off, only a nice block from van Beek kept him from scoring
Sinkgraven (7) - showed what he can do in the midfield and was effective defensively as well
Younes (4) - defensively totally asleep letting Karsdrop run up the flank at will, did keep the ball alive on the line thanks to a non-call from the linesman to help set things up for the goal
Klaassen (7) - totally wasted up front in the first half but did well in the second, could have been sent off at the 85th minute for a pull down but got lucky as Nijhuis wanted to see all 22 players finish the match
Schöne (6) - good on the ball but really is too slow to play out on the wing these days
Fischer (6.5) - really quick on the ball and worked hard to track back on defense to help out
Milik (5.5) - still doesn't get good position on long balls kicked out from the back but was OK for the rest the match
Serero (5) - surprise sub late in the game but was nether good nor bad

PSV now up to 2nd place 2 points behind with Feyenoord in third. No match next weekend because of the international break.

[SPL]

Agree with you Orange I too thought Younes poor