20 Feb 2011: Ajax - VVV-Venlo

[Van basten]

No surprises here. Please.

[Dubbel]

Luis Suarez back for the day. He will take his final bow at Ajax right after today's game.

[Tom_]

Twente 0 - 1 NEC after about 10'

[Tom_]

Anyone else watching? ;)

Nice combination with Ebecilio and El H for the 1-0

[Orange14]

Twente 0 - 1 NEC after about 10'

They must still be thawing out from their visit to Moscow on Thursday.

[Ajaxfanuk]

Playing quite well. I feel Sulejmani is continuing to improve, a big change from him this season. about time...

[rjf1]

They are playing super defensively, which makes opportunities scarce even though we are controlling the ball. The key is to make them run around until their tongues hang out -- then nail them when they are exhausted in the second half -- not pitty pat the ball back and forth around the back line where they don't have to hardly move.

[Tom_]

Yeah we should be good for a few goals here, they're not even trying to get forward.

Twente equalised... guess we can't expect much help from NEC

[Cedric]

Did you see that? El Hamdaoui scored with his left foot...

[Van basten]

Boring.

[Orange14]

Disappointing that we don't have at least two more goals against this team. VVV really are a very poor side. We continue to dribble and pass into clogged areas of the pitch and except for Eriksen and Ebecilio none of our other players seem to want to make the quick pass to find openings. Of course this is nothing new and has been a persistent problem. Let's hope the second half sees a couple of quick scores to put this one away and keep us from screwing up on defense.

[Van basten]

Twente 0 - 1 NEC after about 10'

They must still be thawing out from their visit to Moscow on Thursday.

They weren't in Moscow, they were in Kazan.

[Orange14]

Twente 0 - 1 NEC after about 10'

They must still be thawing out from their visit to Moscow on Thursday.

They weren't in Moscow, they were in Kazan.

No, the match was moved to Moscow by UEFA as they thought it was going to be warmer there (which was not the case; it was actually warmer in Kazan). It's why there were only 400 fans at the match since Kazan is quite a distance from Moscow.

[rjf1]

Bad first touch from Siem -- otherwise he was through for a goal. What changed for Siem between last year and this -- he used to be a scoring monster.

[rjf1]

If we keep playing like this they will surely nick a goal before this game is out.

[Orange14]

Leemans is sent off for the second yellow; can we score against 10????

[rjf1]

Leemans is sent off for the second yellow; can we score against 10????

The burning question of our time.

[Ajaxfanuk]

Great build up play, no cutting edge, we desperately need a striker with some bite. a finisher, a new KJH!

[rjf1]

And a creative central midfielder. Eriksen doesn't seem to have the vision for it -- at least based on his play in this game.

[Tom_]

Wow, that was spectacularly dull. 3 points, I guess.

Twente 1 - 1 NEC in the 93rd minute...

[kezme44]

twente lose 2 points

[Orange14]

Truly disappointing that we could not put this match away. Why does this team insist on playing on a knife's edge against such mediocre opposition? Even against 10 men we didn't seem to be terribly dangerous. I guess it will be this way the rest of the season. The team is going to have to be mentally tough, something they have yet to exhibit. Anita had a good match at left back; perhaps he was in for Blind because of the knock picked up against Anderlecht. Three points is three points.

[SPL]

Well we had about 75 % possesion Steks did not need to make a save but I just do not know how we are going to score goals . El H is ok but a bit slow, Sulejmani always seems to shoot rather than pass .That seems about it . Looking at the bench today only Ozbiliz is not a defender or defensive midfielder and he is not ready for this level imo , as he always seems to be knocked off the ball. Cvitanich is fit but not match fit. However Twente drew today .

Anita played well and I do like Ebecilio although he did fade at the end especially when he went to the right wing .

[Orange14]

PSV are up 1-0 and NAC is down to 10 men. Looks like we will still be six behind them after today

[SPL]

It will only be 5 points I think .