7 FEB 2016 Ajax - Feyenoord Match Day 22

[rjf1]

We could have had that second goal if El Ghazi would have cut the ball back to Klaasen instead of taking that second touch so he could score the goal himself.

[Tom_]

Ha! I think that's the only shot we've had this half? Awful performance but two nice goals...

[SPL]

Great work and a fantastic strike by Bazoer

[rjf1]

What a cracker from Bazoer -- he's been trying them for a while, and finally got one to go.

[Amol]

Playing with a purpose again and we score the 2nd.

[SPL]

good old Vermeer pen.Gudelj you are hopeless get back to Az

[Amol]

I almost expected us to miss the penalty.

[rjf1]

I was just saying to myself, why is that guy taking the penalty - he's going to louse it up, for sure. Sure enough...

[SPL]

El Ghazi ought to be taking pens.

[Tom_]

I was thinking of Immers's penalty in the ArenA a few years back ;)

[Tom_]

Against Vermeer, I meant to say

[SPL]

Thank goodness we held on ,I hoped we were not going to it give it away like last week.Had we let a proper goalscorer take the pen and not our worse player it would have been a comfortable last 25 mins with us 3-1 up.

[Tom_]

Got away with one there. We had nothing going in the second half until Bazoer's goal out of nowhere. The game opened up when Feyenoord were chasing the equaliser but we wasted several good opportunities on the counter. Happy with the result but it covers up more lacklustre football.

[SPL]

Will wait for Orange 's ratings but v d Hoorn and Viergever settled down ok for bench players who have not had much competitive games this season.

Still say Gudelj is poor and why did Bazoer come off and not him.

Well 3 points and that was certainly not a boring game.

[Orange14]

I'm sitting here thinking that Gudelj was going to sky the PK over the bar and I was not disappointed. It capped an absolutely mediocre game for him. Ajax did enough and it took two wonderful goals to beat arch-rivals Feyenoord today. Other than the first 25 minutes of the second half there was lots of passion and decent positional play. I don't know what FdB said at halftime but the team really came out flat. FdB lives to coach another week.

Player Ratings:

Cillessen (8) - did everything expected of him and dealt with Vilhenna's shot very well. I don't think there was much he could do about the goal as it was very well placed
Dijks (6) - fair game but some really poor crosses from someone who usually does much better
Riedewald (5) - jammed his ankle when his toe caught the turf and took an early shower
van der Hoorn (6) - slipped trying to defend Vilhenna and had a couple of dicey clearances but was otherwise better than average
Veltman (7) - out of position at RB but played very well, frustrating any Feyenoord player coming down his wing
Gudelj (3.5) - can he kick it into the second deck next time?
€25M Man (5.5) - one moment of brilliance amidst 80 minutes of mediocrity
Klaassen (7) - best match in some time, great pass to Younes freeing him to do his magic
Younes (6.5) - absolutely fantastic goal and his all around play was much better
el Ghazi (5.5) - cursed by having to play in the middle where he will never see the ball (I think Zlatan would never see the ball either were he to return to Ajax)
Schöne (5.5) - he is so slow these days that he presents no threat on the wing at all
Viergever (5.5) - sure he came in early for Riedewald but he did need to do much better on challenging Toonstra on the goal; after that he was decent
Fischer (5.5) - very lively coming on after Younes took a knock
van de Beek (4.5) - awful pass late in the match when Ajax were trying to keep the ball and Feyenoord almost broke away as a result

The team still looks fragile at times and is in a position where they have to win the remaining matches in order to make it 5 out of 6 championships for FdB. This team needs to press much more like they did in the first half to be effective.

[SPL]

Agree ratings ,Veltman played very well at RB and Klaassen indeed had a very good game.

[SPL]

Meant to say a lovely reception for Heits.The tv showed him walking all round the ground,great reaction from the fans and nice to see Kuyt gave him a hug.

[Ayman]

Ok so I was wrong. The reverse score happened. It's only a matter of time till Ajax start to lose games consecutively. But even if Frank de Boer goes. Overmars will stay till the end of the season, that will stop Wim Jonk from returning!

[Tom_]

Just read that as a result of accidentally kicking the ground, Riedewald's ankle is broken and he's expected to miss the rest of the season. Poor kid...

Also read about the behaviour of some fans towards Vermeer. It's a disgrace, and I wish Ajax would take the initiative and do something about these idiots.

[Dave the mac]

Yeah I just read also that Riedewald is likely out for the season. Another blow to the defense but this is why Ajax has a strong bench. Otherwise the match was entertaining and a much needed result.
Will be interesting to see how de Boer reorganizes the defense. I think vd Hoorn and Viergever should be fine in the central spots.
Get well soon Jairo!

[Orange14]

Wow, it certainly didn't appear to be that serious. Hope Riedewald makes a complete recovery!

[SPL]

Gutted for Jairo and not good for us.In the space of 2 weeks we have had 2 defenders out long term,Heits retire and we are left with just 5 defenders .The 4 who finished yesterday plus v Rhijn. The only 2 in Jong Ajax who look good enough are Owusu plus Sanniez both are RB's.For some weird reason Sanniez has only been used as sub in Jong games since the winter break

If Veltman or Dijks were to pick up an injury we really would be in a mess. Viergever and v d Hoorn will now be our Cd's and hope they can improve with regular games.If Dijks were injured Viergever would not be good enough as LB.

Maybe get Boilesen playing for Jong Ajax so he can cover !!! We may be that desperate.

Not much chance of bringing a youth in as the best one by far is CD Matthijs de Ligt who is only 16 .

[Tom_]

Wow, it certainly didn't appear to be that serious. Hope Riedewald makes a complete recovery!

Didn't he stay on the field for another 5 minutes or so, including a dribble into the midfield? I'll admit to being a coward, but I'm having trouble believing that that would even be possible after breaking an ankle.

[Amol]

Wow, it certainly didn't appear to be that serious. Hope Riedewald makes a complete recovery!

Didn't he stay on the field for another 5 minutes or so, including a dribble into the midfield? I'll admit to being a coward, but I'm having trouble believing that that would even be possible after breaking an ankle.

I was wondering about the same thing. He had a a short sprint and a dribble after the injury. It looked like he was trying to walk it off. How do you do that with a broken ankle?

I guess its a stress injury and needs rest (?)

[Ayman]

First Tete, now Riedewald! Time to bring on some kids, perhaps Owuso as back up on right back and Sanniez and Van Bruggen as back up for centre back. As for the left back spot. Remember we have Mauro Savastano! He may not be ready yet. But he is of Italian descent, so its in his genes!