Ajaxtalk

One more friendly (against Omniworld on Wednesday) and then it's for real, starting with the Johan Cruyff Shield game against champions PSV at the Amsterdam ArenA. It is officially an 'away game' for Ajax (so it's PSV vs Ajax, not Ajax vs PSV).

K.

Maybe Hiddink's trip down under will cause problems within PSV...hey I can hope can't I?

He was at the boca game I think, trying to embarrass Ajax even more

Yeah, Guus Hiddink was sitting next to the likes of Frank Arnesen and Soren Lerby watching AJAX get humiliated as if it were feyenoord...

Hopefully Hiddink will find himself underestimating AJAX next week due to yesterdays game... :hypocrite: :eusa_pray:

Just to illustrate how much this fixture means to the supporters...

The Johan Cruyff Shield fixture is very much a promotional event for the KNVB. I think they invented the whole trophy because they needed some sort of prestigious event to which they can invite people. It's a 'hospitality event' more than anything else.

They invite all the kids from Holland who play footie and won the championship with their team. They also invite some 15,000 KNVB volunteers (amateur referees, club people and what have you) plus of course all the 'suits', sponsors and VIPs you would expect.

As for the real fans... Ajax sold some 7,000 tickets to their fans, which means that the part of the stadium allocated to Ajax fans (the South Curve) will be reasonably full. PSV sold... 1,100 tickets, which means that their fans won't even fill up the away end.

So, 8,100 'real' supporters and an estimated 25,000 'tourists' and guests. That's how much of a 'buzz' there really is for this fixture.

The importance of this fixture is nowhere near the average Champions League, UEFA Cup, Eredivisie or Amstel Cup game (in that order). In fact, it is only slightly more important to me than a prestigious friendly (Amsterdam Tournament or something). What this one will have in common with the Amsterdam Tourney is the slightly odd composition of the crowd: many people who never go to a football game, from all over the country. Always a bit of a surreal atmosphere.

On the other hand: it is an official KNVB trophy, we play PSV (that always counts) and - generally speaking - we're f*cking AJAX, aren't we, so if we play for a piece of silverware we should win it, plain simple.

K.

Danny Blind will take no risks and rest a few players, including Sneijder, Lindenberg, Rosenberg and the slightly injured ones, Trabelsi and Rosales. AT5 expect the following line-up against PSV tonight:

Vonk; Heitinga, Grygera, Maduro, Escudé; De Jong, Galásek, Boukhari; Pienaar, Charisteas, Babel.

K.

:sad: X'C

Next time I have trouble sleeping, I'm going to watch a video of this game.

Much better than counting sheep.

The defense is a mess, which we are used to, but now we have a forward line that would struggle to score against a team of 12 year-old school girls.

Bring on Manucharyan, i say.

Only plus point from the first half: Nordin Boukhari.

:cheer:

How sweet it is. My P-o-S computer repaired just in time to follow a victory v. PSV. Unofficial game,practice game,promotional event, whatever.Wins v.PSV aren't so plentiful that I'll look this gift horse in the mouth.Hopefully Blind is onto something. using Boukhari and his offensive skills in midfield, and this wasn't the players contribution to the season. :xyxthumbs: to this result.

As for the injuries, paraphrasing The Who, meet the new year, same as the old year.

No Fear schreef::sad: X'C

kinda ironic given your nick is no fear.

eh. :xyxthumbs: