14 FEB 2016 Groningen - Ajax Match Day 23

[Orange14]

First match of the day again for Ajax as they travel to Groningen. Still in 2nd behind PSV who play NEC in Nijmegen who are having a decent team standing in 5th. Can Ajax keep up the pressure? Will PSV somehow drop points?

[Dave the mac]

Groningen have an impressive home record, losing only once so far this season. A good time to double that and stay close to PSV!
Don't know why but they always have some ex-Ajax players and some on loan. I see Rasmus Lindgren is their Captain, also old friends Hoesen and Maduro.

No doubt they will be up for the match and deBoer needs to make sure Ajax is too.
Hope Schone remains in the line-up and very much okay with Viergever and especially vd Hoorn as cb.
Good to hear from deBoer that even though Ajax is down to 5 defenders, Boilesen is not even remotely considered.
I don't often bash players but Boilesen makes my blood boil.

[SPL]

Yes plenty of ex Ajax tomorrow and Padt and Burnet came from our academy. I too am glad FDB has said nil chance of Boilesen playing again. He has said Owusu and Warmerdam from Jong are potential backups if we get any further defensive injuries.

[SPL]

With Riedewald joining Tete as a long term injury we have Serero back in the squad.That means 6 midfielders but only 5 defenders.

[SPL]

Morning all, Veltman stays at RB so Viergever starts.Schone stays so no Milik. Any sort of win will do.

[Tom_]

Same rubbish. Our walking-pace buildup is not causing any problems, but we look like we could concede on the counter at any moment.

[SPL]

agree rubbish by us.Attack does not exist ,midfield nil creativity,Bazoer 50m !!!!!!!!!!! thats a joke.Defence looks dodgy with Tete and Riedewald out and Veltman stuck out at RB.

Question ,what is the point of Gudelj? Nil creativity, poor defender, didn't tackle Idrissi who put a shot in .

[Orange14]

Well having a new manager on the touchline has not made a bit of difference. This team is really playing poorly. The midfield is awful and I've not seen a holding midfielder play as bad as Gudelj is today. He looks just like a matador, waving at the Groningen players as they go past. I counted four Ajax players who just stepped aside and watched Idrissi go right towards Cillessen's goal. We now know why Milik plays so poorly, the midfield is totally useless. Schöne had one nice run inside but couldn't control the ball otherwise he has been awful as well.

I'm amazed that we are not down 3-0 at the half. I'm seriously debating whether it's worth watching anymore or just tuning into Arsenal-Leicester which promises to be a much better match (I'm recording it for later viewing).

[Tom_]

I'm starting to resent the two hours lost from every weekend at this point...

[Orange14]

I'm starting to resent the two hours lost from every weekend at this point...

Yes, it is pretty amazing that we have been so faithful to this team.

[rjf1]

Frustrating half -- you hope that out of somewhere we will be able to nick a goal, but in reality, watching our "attack", you know that nothing of the sort is going to happen. OTOH you hope that somehow we will keep them off the board and maybe get a 0-0 draw, but in reality you know that sooner or later the axe is going to fall. Maybe they will be able to turn things around in the 2nd half. Maybe...

[SPL]

At least I watched our U19 team the other day playing real Ajax footy.I will watch through thick and thin but since the winter break we have be dreadful

[rjf1]

During the break I've been watching the Arsenal-Leicester match. It's a real cracker. It's going to be hard to come back for the second half. Probably will wait for half time.

[SPL]

What about that we get a goal,well taken by el Ghazi

[rjf1]

Against the run of play, we managed to nick that goal. Now let's hold on for the win.

[Tom_]

Whoa, what a meltdown in the Groningen defense! What was he thinking...

[SPL]

Schone a penalty 2-0 should be game over but remember Roda came back from 2-0.

V DHoorn sent off hopeless

[rjf1]

Younes tripped up in the box -- Schone converts -- 0-2. So, against all my fears to the contrary, the boys did manage to get out front. Now to just hang on...

[Tom_]

Ha, maybe spijkerman will take Milik straight off again for a defender?

[rjf1]

Hoesen comes on for Groningen -- always felt we should not have let him go -- let's hope he doesn't come back to haunt us.

[SPL]

Their goal came from a poor loss of ball from V Rhijn ,they then got the free kick and a superb free kick at least this injury time goal did not cost us any points.

A very poor game by us but we played alot better in the 2nd half.

[rjf1]

If we knew the first thing about counterattacking we would have had three more goals at the end. Don't see that award of that free kick as justified. Four players coming together for the ball -- don't see how you can say anyone was responsible.

[Orange14]

These are the kinds of matches that a team needs to win if they want to be taken as a serious challenger for the title. On a windswept and rainy day, Ajax did just enough despite playing quite poorly and then going down to 10 men with 20 minutes left to win 1-2. There was some decent team defending but quite frankly Cillessen was fortunate that several very good driven crosses went unmet by Groningen. PSV now have the pressure to win in Nijmegen in the late match today to go back on top. Let's hope FdB recovers from his flu and takes some pleasure in this win.

Player Ratings:

Cillessen (6.5) - didn't have to make any tough saves and did slow the game down enough to get a talking to by the match official
Dijks (4.5) - poor defending all match long and not terribly effective going forward
Viegever (6) - decent enough on defense when it counted
van der Hoorn (3.5) - carrying a red card he recklessly jumps in to get a well deserved second for a sending off; really stupid play when your team is up 0-2 on a bad pitch
Veltman (6) - OK match but nothing special like last week
Gudelj (4) - some good play when the team was down by 10 and a great header across to el Ghazi otherwise quite awful
€50 Man (4.5) - valuation keeps going up as his play continues to be spotty; a couple of good defensive plays late but quite mediocre the rest of the match
Klaassen (4.5) - did a lot of running with very little result though he did see Gudelj on the wing and got the ball to him when the first goal was scored
Younes (5) - gets a point for drawing the penalty but that was it, didn't track back well at all when Dijks showed he couldn't defend the flank
el Ghazi (5) - stuck again in the striker sinkhole and never saw the ball, did get open to score the first goal
Schöne (4.5) - really poor all match long but put the PK in the net which earned him a point, just too slow these days to cause any worry on the wing
Milik (5) - worked hard when the team went down to 10
van Rhijn (3.5) - whatever was he thinking when he drove forward in the final minutes and didn't head straight for the corner; gave the ball away, stood and watched the play going in the other direction and then a foul for a free kick results in a goal - DUMB PLAY
Fischer (5) - nothing bad to report back on his play as a late substitute

[SPL]

Fair ratings as usual. Would say I did not feel that was a free kick at the end and I would have been gutted if that had cost us 2 points.

Playing badly and winning is fair enough . Hope tomorrow there is a stream to watch Jong Ajax and v d Beek,Nouri Cerny and de Jong all play I may see some decent football from an Ajax team.A team that creates unlike our first.

we are currently top and maybe PSV will drop points today

[SPL]

Meanwhile Leicester give away a silly free kick and Arsenal win with a beauty , my Arsenal loving son will be very happy.

An Ajax Arsenal double would make this a very happy football house in May ! Both have a lot to do though.


We are now down to 4 defenders next week do we play the woeful v Rhijn or give Owosu a game ?