22 Nov 2005: Ajax - AC Sparta Praha

[Kowalczyk]

A point will almost certainly be enough, ladies and gentlemen! :cheer:

K.

[SE6Ajacied]

A point will almost certainly be enough, ladies and gentlemen! :cheer:

K.

:bis: Please Ajax. I'm well up for this one. A week and a bit to go before my last visit to A'dam this year (I thinK). Please can I have a point (three would be better! ) this time.

:eusa_pray: :eusa_pray: :eusa_pray:

[dws]

Hope Blind opts for:



-------- Babel ------ Iannis ----- Mauro ---------


--------- Lindenbergh ----- - Sneijder ------ Maduro ----------




---------- Urby ---- Escude -- Grygera----- Trabelsi -------


---------------- ----- Steek ------ -----------------

[dws]

I forgot about Pienaar when deciding my line up; Pienaar might be a better option than Maduro given that he is more mobile . Then again, Maduro is more likely to convert a scoring chance than Pienaar.

[Kowalczyk]

Please can I have a point (three would be better! ) this time.

A pint can be arranged, if that's what you mean... :D :bier:

K.

[SE6Ajacied]

Please can I have a point (three would be better! ) this time.

A pint can be arranged, if that's what you mean... :D :bier:

K.

Well that'll do...but again, three would be better :D

[carcajou]

I might be there for this one.

[Venezuelan Ajacied]

Hope Blind opts for:



-------- Babel ------ Iannis ----- Mauro ---------


--------- Lindenbergh ----- - Sneijder ------ Maduro ----------




---------- Urby ---- Escude -- Grygera----- Trabelsi -------


---------------- ----- Steek ------ -----------------

Well Rosenberg scored yesterday so maybe he'll get another chance up front.I dont know if Escude is going to be given another chance, at least till the winter friendlies when Blind will be able to see what he's missing.

We should grab the three points for sure :eusa_dance: .

[ZoefdeHaas]

Rosenberg can only score if someone gives a good ball, like Elmander in Sweden.
His only hope are guys like Sneijder, Pienaar, Maduro...other than that I doubt he or any current striker will get much from the wingers

[AsgAarD_xxx]

We have to play for win- even if we need only one point. We cannot go to ultra-defensive tactics this game, but I think I don't have to say that to Blind :).

[carcajou]

The French railway company has announced a strike for the 21, which might prevent me from attending the game :nooo:

[Venezuelan Ajacied]

i think this was one of those games in which the result was more important than the display.

We could be thinking this way for the rest of the season .... and , god forbid, for some time afterwards. :sad:

That's true, but now we have time to improve our play and get ready for the next round(in the meantime start winning in the eredivisie) at this point the most important thing was to qualify and that objective has been completed now the team can focus on getting better.I think that all of us including Danny Blind and the players know that if we are going to have a least a little chance in the next round we need to improve a our play.
That said he is the list of possible teams we may face, have in mind that we will face a first seeded team from another group since we will finish second here they are:

Barcelona: Yikes!!!!!!! were dead meat in this case.
Bayern-Juve: I would prefer bayern of course but either way were dead.
Villareal(and the rest of the group): the closest group so far Villareal are in the driver's seat but Man U,Benfica and Lille can still grab first place. This is the oponent i would like to face even Man U has been playing badly here.
Lyon-Real Madrid: It's almost safe to say that lyon will end in first place but you have to wait and see what hapen's today, either way i would not be mad if we face'd one of these two, Madrid are underachieving and playing poorly and we have a good record against Lyon(although they are playing extremly well).
Inter milan: Ajax hate italian oponents and this team clobbered us twice three years ago(or four?). But just like ajax this team has been winning because they are in an easy group, still they have a sleeping giant called Adriano who i hope never wakes up. Would not be a bad choice given the circumstances.
Liverpool-Chelsea:: Both teams have played well and would be a hard nut to crack for ajax but i really prefer this type of oposition rather than italians. How sweet would it be if we eliminated the current champion.... Im neutral on this one.
Milan-Psv-Schalke: : we cant play Psv because they are dutch so that leave's Milan(god i hate them !!!!!!!) and Schalke, i'm going with the germans here although its highly unlikeley that Milan will crash out in this stage, a lot of it depends on today.

As you see we have our work cut out for us, lets just hope for the best and wait till the time comes.

[Kowalczyk]

The most attractive opponent would probably be Barcelona (if only because Ajax never played them in European competition) and it would also be a great trip, but they will absolutely murder us, quite obviously, so I don't fancy it.

Italian opposition? Please, God, no.

Lille would be alright, Villarreal would be a nice one, Schalke would be great. Personally I am hoping for Man United or Liverpool, because we stand a fair chance of at least looking reasonably okay against them. Or even Real Madrid, who are good but not great.

Having said that: I think we will crash out anyway, no matter who we get. I just don't want it to be a complete thrashing (which it will be against Barca or Chelsea).

K.

[Cedric]

I pray for Lille ! :eusa_pray: It would be great to watch Ajax playing in the Stade de France. :xyxthumbs:
And it would be one of the weakest opponent too. But they have to qualify and to finish first...

[DrDuncan]

My red scouse mates are still hoping for a chance to avenge our 7-3 victory 39 years ago. Not much chance of that ... their strikers are worse than ours!

Talking of which, had you noticed that so far only Barcelona and Lyon have scored more goals than we have.

[bryan]

Iannis or Rosenburg? Well, obviously Babel is our best striker, but for some reason he's on the wing (when he's fit again). I guess that's why Danny Blind is a qualified manager and I'm just a Joe Schmuck, because I don't seem to understand.

I would luv it if we beat Man Utd, absolutely luv it. But it doesn't look like they'll be qualifying. :D

[dws]

Blind had to select from 3 strikers for the Sparta match: Iannis; Rosenturd and the Ajax tea lady. On the eve of the match the tea lady informed Blind that she was suffering from ripped tights. Deprived of his first choice striker Blind opted for next best ....... or should that be: opted for the least worse?

[Philippe]

the Ajax tea lady

what's that nickname ???

[Kowalczyk]

Match report is up!

http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m05-06/ ... in-cl.html

A bit later than usual, for which I apologize. As you may or may not know I have just released my début novel her in Holland and I'm extremely busy promoting it.

K.

[dws]

the Ajax tea lady

what's that nickname ???

Ajax tea lady = old lady :D with arthritic hip :D who serves cups of tea to the players.

Philippe, are you still confussed? :D

[Rubin Stark]

* Finishing match day six with 10,11 or 13 points is very positive - not least considering this Club's CL performances in recent years.

* Qualification would have a big impact upon bottom line. I wonder how much.

* Three wins out-of-four matches is good going.

* Six from the next eight matches are away trips. Time for some players to stand and be counted coming into winterbreak.

[Philippe]

As you may or may not know I have just released my début novel her in Holland and I'm extremely busy promoting it.

K.

could you tell us more about it Ko ?

by the way I wonder why no publisher could ever be found for the English version of the F Side 25 th anniversary book

Anyway, it seems to me that thousands of people were singing that Jaake had to leave during the game : I thought you would mention it on your report.

[Kowalczyk]

could you tell us more about it Ko ?

It's called Vak 127 ('Section 127') and it's a novel about a fictional group of four friends. It's about Ajax, fan culture, but also about friendship, growing up and re-arranging your priorities, or not.

Here's some (Dutch-language) information on the website of my publisher:
http://www.uitgeverij521.nl/proza/proza ... php?id=131

And here's my brand-new personal website!
http://www.mennopot.com/

It was released last Wednesday and I have no idea how sales are going. I do know that I get a lot of publicity and that I'm quite busy with it.

The answer most Ajax USA'ers ask me is: Will there be an English translation?

Answer: Probably not. It's just been released in Dutch, we don't even know how it will do over here in Holland, but even if it does well, I am not sure whether there would be a market for it abroad. We'll see.

K.

[English Eagle]

Best of luck with the book KO.

[bluedaddy19]

Iannis or Rosenburg? Well, obviously Babel is our best striker, but for some reason he's on the wing (when he's fit again). I guess that's why Danny Blind is a qualified manager and I'm just a Joe Schmuck, because I don't seem to understand.

I would luv it if we beat Man Utd, absolutely luv it. But it doesn't look like they'll be qualifying. :D

babel is nto playing at #9 for one simple reason: he can't hold up the ball to save his life... the others at least keep us moving forward so they can eventually miss the oppurtunity at the end of the rush :D