28 Oct 2012: Feyenoord - Ajax

[zeux]

Van Rhijn came inside to mark Immers, so I don't think it was his fault at all. The defense was simply undermanned.

Have to see the replay. In my memory there were other defenders around Immers.
It's what happened against City as wel: Van Rhijn wanting to 'help' in the box and leaving the complete left side wide open.

Van Rhijn wants to help, because the central defender let Immers run away. Then again, Van Rhijn was already running towards the middle when Immers was still being guarded by Moisander.

[souras84]

A straight red card for Immers for his cynical foul on Poulsen. He went straight for the thigh... But no... This ref, wasnt good in the Liverpool game and I remember him being an idiot more than once. Such a game wouldnt have finished in Greece if they were playing 70-30 F-word in the ArenA

[rjf1]

As soon as I saw this ref I thought 'uh-oh this may mean trouble for us.' He will make fair decisions for most of the game, but at some point he always finds a way to stick it to Ajax -- I've seen it happen too many times.

I also feel FdB made a big mistake when he substituted Babel. Earlier in the half I called for Babel to be substituted, it's true, as he was losing the ball constantly, but in the dying minutes when you have seen -- and know -- that Fyd will constantly be lobbing long balls into the box, you don't take off one of your taller and stronger players and bring on someone of the physical stature of Enoh. You use Babel to 'front' their tall players so they can't get the lob, while Toby defends behind them. IMO, not doing that is what cost us the win.

[Orange14]

My bottom line is Nijhuis is the best match official in the league right now and I don't think he got intimidated the way that others would have (he's been officiating Champions League matches this season). Think about how Vink or Blom would have been intimidated by the crowd. Admittedly both calls on Moisander were somewhat weak but he really should have been careful once he had the card and played super safe. It was unfortunate and maybe it decided the outcome of the match and maybe not.

EDIT: There was a far more horrific call today against Liverpool and Suarez when his apparent match winner was ruled offside and it clearly was not!

[Orange14]

I also feel FdB made a big mistake when he substituted Babel.

Babel was totally gassed and could even hold the ball up to save his life. When playing 10 men against 11 you need ball control and movement. At the time of his substitution it was the proper decision. Now maybe Sulejmani wasn't the right choice to start the second half but with all the injuries, FdB had little flexibility. I suspect the ManCity match took something out of all the starters today which is unfortunate but part of the hand that the club was dealt. Feyenoord was well rested.

[rjf1]

Babel was totally gassed and could even hold the ball up to save his life. When playing 10 men against 11 you need ball control and movement...

That is true when you have a goodly amount of time to kill -- but with barely a couple of minutes left and them playing long balls into the box you don't need control and movement you need to be able to head the ball out of danger and bang it down the field as far as you can. It ain't pretty or stylish, and I wouldn't want to see it as a matter of course -- but down to 10 and hanging on by a thread, it's got to be done.

[SPL]

Babel ought to have just stayed on and played back in defence at the end and Sulejmani come off as he did nothing . I know he has been injured and this is a difficult game but I really do hope we get rid of him in the winter break.

I still wonder whether our small squad is starting to suffer with all these very tough midweek CL games and there are still 3 to come.

Twente and PSV still getting odd goal wins but there is a long way to go and Ajax only start to play after Christmas. Still at least Moisander only gets a 1 game ban.

[souras84]

Just left a friends house while watching Chelsea vs the so called red devils. Talking about bad referees... It was 3 times worse than our game...

[SPL]

souras agree the ref made some poor decisions in Chelsea game but they were not as bad as in our game.

[Orange14]

To Blind3 and all of the others who live on the East Coast of the US, please stay safe. Chances are very good that we are all going to lose power and won't be able to discuss Ajax stuff for several days as we face one of the biggest storms to hit this country in our lifetimes. I hope all of you will say a little prayer for us as we batten down the hatches out here!

Forza Ajax.

[zeux]

To Blind3 and all of the others who live on the East Coast of the US, please stay safe. Chances are very good that we are all going to lose power and won't be able to discuss Ajax stuff for several days as we face one of the biggest storms to hit this country in our lifetimes. I hope all of you will say a little prayer for us as we batten down the hatches out here!

Forza Ajax.

Stay safe Orange14.

[SPL]

stay safe

[rjf1]

Batten down the hatches and ride it out safely.

[afcajax73]

stay safe fella.

[paladinby]

stay safe, mates

[Philippe]

Sulejmani come off as he did nothing . I know he has been injured and this is a difficult game but I really do hope we get rid of him in the winter break.

I still wonder whether our small squad is starting to suffer with all these very tough midweek CL games and there are still 3 to come.

Exactly !

Discussion in Dutch media about the too many and obvious refereeing blunders :
http://www.telegraaf.nl/telesport/voetb ... out__.html

[Kowalczyk]

That red card was a f*cking joke. Would f'nrd have equalized against eleven men...? We do not know and we will never know.

This is the second straight year that the referee helped f-word at a crucial moment, when they were a goal down. Last year the penalty in the first half; now the red card in the second half. Both times we were a goal up and reasonably in control, but both times the game exploded thanks to the referee.

Drives me nuts.

I'm not saying that Feyenoord didn't deserve a point. That's a different thing.

K.