26 Feb 2012: Excelsior - Ajax

[Van basten]

We have to work on goal difference, coz at the end of the race it can be crucial.

[SPL]

so far so good . 2 well taken goals . V Rhijn may have given away a penalty but remember the experieced V d Wiel gave away poor penalties v PSV and Groningen ,those cost us 3 points . V Rhijn is still learning . Ozbiliz looking good again .Vermeer saved the penalty well. An early 3rd goal should finish this game.

[rjf1]

I knew it -- you could see them giving the momentum away with that crap pitty pat football -- will they never learn

[rjf1]

Don't know why they didn't take off Suleijmani -- he's been all but invisible this game

[Orange14]

Eriksen with the great pass to de Jong; 1-3

[rjf1]

Good to see Verthongen get that -- the way he played today, he deserved it.

[Amol]

Siem should've made that 5-1.

[aveslacker]

Eriksen with the great pass to de Jong; 1-3

Siem Siem the goal machine!

[ajaxcolombia]

We played horribly during long spells of the second half, getting completely outplayed at one point. Then all off sudden Eriksen comes up with a great pass (didn't have a good game before that) and siem grabs a third. I loved seeing Vertonghen play midfield when Ooijer came on. Vertonghen is incredibly skilled with the ball and he proved it in the fourth goal. Of course, having no cover in defense he has to play centre back, but he can do fantastically well in midfield. I'd say Vertonghen and Vermeer for Man of the Match.

[SPL]

that 3rd won was along time coming but until then I just had that horrible thought they would equalise. No idea why he bought on Ebecilio but putting old man Ooijer on for the last 10 mins in front of the back 4 was good today . Vermeer had avery good game . Sulejmani was not good up front but he did come back into defence to cover alot . Hope Koppers ankle is not too bad he had a reasonable game . The 3 inexperienced players Dico , Ozbiliz and V Rhijn are not used to playing 2 games in 3 days . V Rhijn struggled a bit but will get more chances until Greg is fit .

So if all the other main games are draws we will only be 3 points off the top .

Siem my MOM and Vermeer 2nd , yes I did post that !!

[Orange14]

Not as easy a match as the final scoreline would indicate. Excelsior just ran out of gas and defended poorly in the final 10 minutes to concede the final two goals. There was a bit of a let down after the Thursday match and this is why the Europa League is terrible for clubs since they have to play Thursday-Sunday and we saw what happened with AZ and PSV last weekend! Let's hope that we can continue to get positive results moving into the final third of the season.

Player ratings:

Vermeer (7) - didn't have much to do and his kicking was decent
Koppers (7) - good match until he got kicked in the ankle; let's hope it's not to severe
Vertonghen (8) - solid on defense and offense; had a really great tackle in the box to prevent a possible Excelsior goal when the match was still close
Alderweireld (7) - good match defensively and hit a rocket down the stretch that forced a good save
van Rhijn (5) - inexperience showed today several bad plays on defense (I think it was his marker who got the goal) but good on offense; cannot get above a '5' by putting the club in danger
Anita (7) - really solid game in the midfield and at right back after Koppers went out
Eriksen (6) - substandard game for him in the field but puts in a great corner and pass that result in two goals
de Jong (7) - solid match today took his chances well and was a constant force in the midfield
Sulejmani (6) - didn't do much of substance
Ozbiliz (8) - if he would quit with the stepover nonsense which never works he would pick up his game; solid performance
Lodeiro (6) - not a striker as we all know but he gives solid perfornance
Aisatti (6) - one bad give away but otherwise OK as a sub
Ebecilio (6) - should have kept his feet on the breakaway
Oojier (NR) - on too short a time to have done much

We'll pick up point on somebody today and it will be interesting to look at the table at the end of the matchday.

[acab]

Well, i just can't explain to myself the decisions of FdB. The whole word knew that excelsior will score, but not de Boer.

[SPL]

fair assessments Orange. Fd B should have put Bulykin on for Lodeiro but apart from that cannot really fault his choices . Anyway they only played Man u 2 and a half days ago so we were bound to struggle abit today ,just as well we played against a poor team today.