30 APR 2019; Tottenham - Ajax; CL Semifinal

[Orange14]

Ajax journey across the North Sea to take on Spurs next Tuesday in the Champions League Semifinal. Four former Ajax players are on Tottenham's team with Eriksen perhaps the pivotal player now with the injury to Kane and Son's suspension for the first match. Ajax need to maintain their underdog mentality and take the match to the opponent; there is no other plan of action IMO. All previous Yellow Cards are now cancelled and Mazraoui is the only injury of note.

[Cruijff]

I hope someone can help me out with a Tottenham login account!

'Free online ticket sale' no season tickets or clubcard registration necessary to order tickets for the game. It is just login and then order etickets but they do not have the registration open for new online members.

(Cause well.... they know of course that in that case about 35.000 Dutchies are trying to order tickets and will invade London)

[Amol]

Pochettino complaining about Ajax getting 7 days of rest vs 2 days for Tottenham. It's a valid complaint. I have a complaint about their budget being 5-7 times our budget. I guess we're even now.

[SPL]

I am seriously pissed off with moaning Spurs and English press because we have no game. They wont accept the real reason. We cannot play on Sunday and because of the Kings Birthday we cannot play Friday or Saturday thus we have to play in a week or 2 's time.

My paper did point out Spurs have enough money to buy our entire squad and get 100's of millions more than us.Sky and Premier league wont help the English sides but they have to put up with that and count the millions.

[Orange14]

Seems to me that Spurs ought to be complaining to the EPL honchos rather than moaning about Ajax. While they are at it why don't they also eliminate the cup competition (not the FA cup, the other one) that also consumes match time. This is just ridiculous.

[SPL]

Barca played mid week and this weekend and playing their strongest team but no complaints .Moaning is something we English do well.
I am very angry because the press and Spurs dont understand why we are not playing this weekend. In Holland they have big celebrations for the King's birthday.Last week our Queen was 93 but we dont celebrate her!

Agree they should be moaning to EPL and the League Cup should be abolished.

[Orange14]

Mazraoui may be fit for Tuesday's match according AjaxShowtime. One thing that has surprised me this season is how few injuries the team has had. Of the starters I can remember de Ligt missing the PSV match, Onana the Heerenveen match both of which ended up in disastrous results. Bande and Eiting are the only two long term losses this season.

[Cruijff]

Mazraoui may be fit for Tuesday's match according AjaxShowtime. One thing that has surprised me this season is how few injuries the team has had.

In the beginning some players complained and leaked to some of the media that trainin with Ten Hag was too heavy and the hours on the club were too long.
Now the Ajax boys looked much fitter than Real Madrid and Juventus without having those doped crazy eyes.

No wonder if current football millionairs spend more time on pretending to be very interesting on Twitter and Instagram than on becoming a better football player!

[Orange14]

Spurs concede their first goal in the new stadium and lose to West Ham 0-1. Sanchez and Alderwiereld were the defensive pair and looked fragile in the last 20 minutes which is all that I watched. The match announcers mentioned that Kane may be back this season but I don't know if that's just wishful thinking.

[Cruijff]

Spurs concede their first goal in the new stadium and lose to West Ham 0-1. Sanchez and Alderwiereld were the defensive pair and looked fragile in the last 20 minutes which is all that I watched.

In my opinion both of them and also Jan Veronghen have lost speed, accuracy and Ajax brightness since they left from London to Amsterdam.
Also Sanchez does not play very often of course. That's never good for your rythm.

[Orange14]

Vincent Jansen came on for the last ten minutes and had a really hard header that was saved off the line. Since management lost faith in him he was never added to the Champions League roster, something they are now regretting.

[Cruijff]

Vincent Jansen came on for the last ten minutes and had a really hard header that was saved off the line. Since management lost faith in him he was never added to the Champions League roster, something they are now regretting.

[Tom_]

My biggest worry is how fast and athletic Tottenham are. We don’t come up against teams like that very often.

[Orange14]

My biggest worry is how fast and athletic Tottenham are. We don’t come up against teams like that very often.

I'm not so sure this is true. I watched their match with West Ham yesterday and they were quite slow. Eriksen is quick on the ball. Delle Alli is a strong MF but I don't think he is fast. Llorente who is the only striker on the team for this match is slow. Dier, the holding MF, is slow. I guess we will see on Tuesday.

[Cruijff]

I also think the Ajax team has way more speed on the ball, beter pass accuracy, smarter players who pick the moment to switch positions.
And better technical skills also.

[Orange14]

I also think the Ajax team has way more speed on the ball, beter pass accuracy, smarter players who pick the moment to switch positions.
And better technical skills also.

Quite right and Ajax are adept at winning the second ball: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-wcQKE3pFg&t=376s

[Orange14]

UEFA just posted the officiating group for the match. We get a Spanish set of refs: MATEU LAHOZ (ESP)
Hernandez Hernandez is VAR. Undiano Mallenco is FO. this will mean an even game with little rough stuff allowed!!!

EDIT: I forgot to mention that English referees cannot officiat CL games as they have not instituted VAR this season. This is academic anyway as both semifinal games involve EPL teams. It will be interesting to see if Kuipers gets the Barcelona/Liverpool game.

[Orange14]

Mazraoui is in the 22 man traveling squad but it's not certain he will start.

I will miss the match in "real time." I have a Board of Directors meeting of the non-profit organization I serve on that begins at the same time as the match. I've set it up to record and won't be checking anything that might provide me with results. I'll watch the match when I get home and then post player ratings.

[Amol]

Mazraoui is in the 22 man traveling squad but it's not certain he will start.

I will miss the match in "real time." I have a Board of Directors meeting of the non-profit organization I serve on that begins at the same time as the match. I've set it up to record and won't be checking anything that might provide me with results. I'll watch the match when I get home and then post player ratings.

I have to present at a one-hour long meeting which starts the same time as the game. I am not as strong-willed as you and will be checking on scores while trying not to get a heart attack/show emotions.

[rjf1]

Mazraoui is in the 22 man traveling squad but it's not certain he will start.

I will miss the match in "real time." I have a Board of Directors meeting of the non-profit organization I serve on that begins at the same time as the match. I've set it up to record and won't be checking anything that might provide me with results. I'll watch the match when I get home and then post player ratings.

I have to present at a one-hour long meeting which starts the same time as the game. I am not as strong-willed as you and will be checking on scores while trying not to get a heart attack/show emotions.

As usual for CL matches, game time in my timezone is 3 in the morning, so I'll miss watching the match and will wake up to the results, and read all the comments that you all have to say about it. So... here's to a good result for the boys, and hopefully I'll be reading nothing but good details.

[kezme44]

Mazraoui is in the 22 man traveling squad but it's not certain he will start.

I will miss the match in "real time." I have a Board of Directors meeting of the non-profit organization I serve on that begins at the same time as the match. I've set it up to record and won't be checking anything that might provide me with results. I'll watch the match when I get home and then post player ratings.

I have to present at a one-hour long meeting which starts the same time as the game. I am not as strong-willed as you and will be checking on scores while trying not to get a heart attack/show emotions.

what's wrong with your non-profits/companies? don't they know that ajax are playing in the semis for the first time in 22 years and that NO meetings should be scheduled during that time?!

in the latest news, vertonghen might miss the game tomorrow. still will be very difficult and i hope the team got some rest.

[Manneken Pis]

Martin Jol shares his thoughts....

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... ie-de-jong

[Orange14]

what's wrong with your non-profits/companies? don't they know that ajax are playing in the semis for the first time in 22 years and that NO meetings should be scheduled during that time?!

in the latest news, vertonghen might miss the game tomorrow. still will be very difficult and i hope the team got some rest.

LOL!!! I've been retired since 2010 and usually don't have any conflicts. The Board meetings are set up 8 months in advance and who knew that Ajax would be playing on April 30? I will tell them next year that they have to be more flexible around the Ajax football schedule.

[Amol]

Mazraoui is in the 22 man traveling squad but it's not certain he will start.

I will miss the match in "real time." I have a Board of Directors meeting of the non-profit organization I serve on that begins at the same time as the match. I've set it up to record and won't be checking anything that might provide me with results. I'll watch the match when I get home and then post player ratings.

I have to present at a one-hour long meeting which starts the same time as the game. I am not as strong-willed as you and will be checking on scores while trying not to get a heart attack/show emotions.

what's wrong with your non-profits/companies? don't they know that ajax are playing in the semis for the first time in 22 years and that NO meetings should be scheduled during that time?!

in the latest news, vertonghen might miss the game tomorrow. still will be very difficult and i hope the team got some rest.

I did tell my boss about not scheduling any key meetings from 3p to 5p this Tuesday. He had agreed, but both of us forgot to tell the person who scheduled it with folks higher than us. He's from Madrid and a huge Athletico fan. More often than not, he lets me off the hook if there's a big Ajax game.

Also the last time something like this happened, we were playing away in Madrid (March 5th). I'll be happy to sit this one out, if we get the same score as that game

[Amol]

....and just like that my meeting has been rescheduled to Wednesday!!