15 Apr 2012: Ajax - De Graafschap

[Tom_]

Well, de Graafschap are playing 11 in their own half. So long as we don't give up a stupid counter or set piece goal, we will be fine.

[Amol]

Crap -- they have gone back to pitty pat football and have given up all the momentum -- all it takes is one freak goal and 'ball posession' counts for nothing

Finally!!! 2-0!!

[Amol]

Derk gets his second from point blank range - 3-0!!!

[Amol]

...and we go to sleep and let one in.

3-1 now.

[Tom_]

Flipping hell, how lazy was that? Oh well, it doesn't look like it will matter.

[ajaxcolombia]

stupid defending, we haven't played a good first half, Janssen looking like he has for most of the season, very static and very erratic with his passing. We lost our clean sheet which really enfuriates me, hope De Boer gives them a good scolding for that.

[Orange14]

Vertonghen really looks like he's still suffering from the stomach flu and it was surprising to see him control the ball as well as he did on the third goal. Unfortunately, he lost his man on the Graafschap goal at the close of the half. Generally some very good play out there but then a loss of focus for about 10 minutes in the final third of the half. Vertonghen likely will be subbed off and it will interesting to see if Blind moves inside of it it is van Rhijn.

[SPL]

after a great start I thought we went to sleep abit until those 2 goals. Then we give away a stupid goal.

[rjf1]

If Ozbiliz is physically ok I would like to see him come on in the second half.

[King Litti]

Is there still some fatique from the game from wednesday? Slow movement and inaccuracy in passing. The scoreline is maybe a bit flattering. Nothing too convincing by ajax, but the finishing has been clinical and that's what counts in the end. Things looking very good for winning the title.

[ajaxcolombia]

The good thing about having Boerrigter is his "no-nonsense" approach in front of goal. Exactly what we needed today.

[Tom_]

de Jong has been completely battered today. Is Bramhaar a karate fan?

[King Litti]

A routine win. I hope winning ten straight wont screw with there heads too much. Thinking there going to get something for free. VVV and groningen shouldnt be a problem, but only if we can maintein our own level. For Twente and Vitesse away we definetly need to be alert. Dropping any points will give a morale boost for the trailing teams and we dont want that.

[ajaxcolombia]

Well that was that, we looked human today, but managed the win which is important. We are now two wins aways from the title.

[Philippe]

All right, we need to focus on the remaining games. But when ans and where will we celebrate ?

[rjf1]

Weird -- we actually played better in the second half and had no goals to show for it. Ok -- job done -- we are that much closer -- take it and move on.

[aveslacker]

So, is it correct that we need six more points from our remaining games to win the title? Can it be that easy?

[Tom_]

Six, and we should finish first on goal difference. Seven to be certain!

[Orange14]

Despite the conceded goal, this was a solid defensive performance. The team pressed quite well and Vermeer had very little to do. Some good clinical finishing and several missed chances. The team now has a six point lead and has full control of its own destiny.

Player Ratings:

Vermeer (7) - little to do and the goal was not his fault
Blind (7) - still a mediocre defender but really did well passing and going forward
Vertonghen (7) - would be an '8' except for the conceded goal; I really expected him to be subbed off in the 2nd half because of illness
Alderweireld (7) - did a solid job today
van der Wiel (7) - coming back into form and I guess he will be starting the remaining matches to get fitness for the Euros
Anita (8) - MOTM for me; didn't see a bad pass all game and his through pass to set up the 1st goal was sublime; cut off the passing lanes well
Eriksen (8) - great performance and how his 2nd half chance didn't go in can only be explained by Newtonian physics
Janssen (6) - only average and it was disgraceful not to finish the open chance in the closing minutes
Boerrigter (8) - clinical finishes and really caused a lot of trouble for the right side of the Graafschap defense
de Jong (7) - decent enough match but didn't really get a good shot on goal
Aissati (7) - nice match and his assist on the Eriksen goal was thoughtful
van Rhijn (6) - came on for van der Wiel and was OK
Ebecilio (6) - didn't really do too much
Sigthorrson (NR) - came on late and I don't think got a touch

It's nice to see the team getting the injured players back and playing solid pressing football. Keep this up and they will get the 31st title.

[SPL]

Not a great performance and we were better in the second half. All the time it was 3-1 there was a chance of giving away another silly goal , well Vermeer is in goal and although he has not given anything away since Utrecht I am not convinced .In addition V d Wiel is a poor defender and today we saw him letting that cross come over for their goal . He is good going forward but I would rather see a right back who can defend .

Boerrigter MOM by a mile . Good to have a proper winger who can beat defenders and cross a ball and score.

Anyway we now need to beat Groningen next week and then we are nearly home . 6 points max for the title but as I said earlier the others will drop points ie AZ and Fword are the only 2 who can get to 70 points play each other in 2 weeks time .

[SPL]

Looking at Orange's marks Anita and Eriksen were superb but Boerrigter edged it for me .

[Tom_]

Really? I thought we did fine, given that de Graafschap had no intention of doing anything other than defending. We made plenty of chances in the second half but didn't give any opportunities away—aside from better/luckier finishing, not much else you can ask for when you're 3–1 up.

[Orange14]

Looking at Orange's marks Anita and Eriksen were superb but Boerrigter edged it for me .

It was a tough call but I was particularly watching Anita and it's really amazing to see his field awareness. He seems to always know exactly the right space to move into both offensively and defensively. I'm really glad the Boerrigter is back and playing well, I wonder if his performance in the remaining matches will be good enough to warrant consideration for the Euros (he was called up late last year but never made the squad because of the back injury).

[rjf1]

Once again, I have to disagree with the assessment of Janssen -- I admit that his first half was mediocre, but in the second half he made 4 excellent 50 yd crossfield passes to find an open winger; two beautiful lead passes into the box that could have lead to goals; got in behind their defense for a free goal scoring opportunity (which he blew, but big deal, at least he was there); tracked back on defense; and was never out of position.

[ajaxcolombia]

Looking at Orange's marks Anita and Eriksen were superb but Boerrigter edged it for me .

It was a tough call but I was particularly watching Anita and it's really amazing to see his field awareness. He seems to always know exactly the right space to move into both offensively and defensively. I'm really glad the Boerrigter is back and playing well, I wonder if his performance in the remaining matches will be good enough to warrant consideration for the Euros (he was called up late last year but never made the squad because of the back injury).

Totally agree with your opinion on Anita. I can't stop saying he is fantastic. Strootman who??? Even more...Busquets who???