20 May 2007: AZ - Ajax

[Kowalczyk]

The first leg of the play-off final... and our fourth match against AZ this season. The four previous ones all ended in draws. Will there be a winner this time?

One thing's for sure: Ajax will be without Gabri (suspended), Davids (suspended) and Stam (hamstring injury)... Not the four most unimportant players...

K.

[Jesse]

The four previous ones all ended in draws. Will there be a winner this time?

Three.

One thing's for sure: Ajax will be without Gabri (suspended), Davids (suspended) and Stam (hamstring injury)... Not the four most unimportant players...

Again three.

[Kowalczyk]

I just like the word four, okay? What's wrong with that?

The final score against Heerenveen was still in my mind, I guess...

K.

[saddlerian]

I think that ou're in need of a break Ko! Enjoy Cuba...but don't forget the Falkirk match!!!!

Cheers

[Philippe]

we need to play the CL so badly

[FlaFlu]

This would be my starting eleven in the first game against AZ:

-------Babel---Huntelaar

------------Perez

-----Sneijder-----Maduro

-----------Heitinga

Urby—Vermaelen--Van der Wiel—Ogararu

------------Stekelenburg

We have to play leftback, so that Jenner will get just a tad less space than in those 10 minutes after half time in Amsterdam. Cziommer is an ideal opponent for Heitinga. Sneijder is a better player when he has to walk into space from midfield than as a number 10 and with Maduro in midfield as well the risk is smaller that we'll play hasty and sloppy football in posession. That's very important in my opinion, because AZ are going to be right on top of us. And the last thing we want is for Ajax to get caught with their backs against the wall for over seventy percent of the game.

I'm hoping that Van Gaal will be able to play Opdam again. Aside from that I'll give Huntelaar a great chance to net at least one with Donk in front of him. The wings will remain open more or less, but we've seen how well the space was used earlier in the season with Sneijder and Perez and Babel & Urby will look for those gaps on the left as well. Perez is the ideal man to use the space on the right in this match.

Vermaelen should play Koevermans. Van der Wiel will take Shota.

With this line-up I would give Ajax a good chance to come away a nice result to bring back to Amsterdam. Even without Gabri, Davids and Stam.

[Van basten]

Moussa Dembélé, Danny Koevermans, Boy Waterman and Ryan Donk are doubtful for today's match for AZ

[Van basten]

Fuck!!!! 0-1...

[dws]

Sneijder 1:1 ..

[Van basten]

goal!!! 1-1!! sneijder! damn i went to wc for about a 30 sec, and mist the goal

[Cedric]

Here it is : http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z28/ ... a3/1-1.gif

[Van basten]

Here it is : http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z28/ ... a3/1-1.gif

thanx

[Van basten]

lindenbergh for KJH. WTF?

[Van basten]

fuck that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dws]

2:1 AZ ... Arveladze ... final score.

Sneijder picked up a booking ... misses the return.

[rjf1]

The team that played beautiful Ajax-style football won. Unfortunately, the name of that team was AZ. The team that played like they didn't have a clue as to what football is all about lost. It's not like you couldn't see it coming.

[Van basten]

urby got injury, we got goal, and wesley got yellow card and wil not play in Amsterdam. once again - fuck that!

[dws]

Another Henk ten Twat production. How much more of this crap can he pull out of his arse?

[Cedric]

I wonder if it's funny or if I should take this the other around. You can't be serious right ?

[dws]

I wonder if it's funny or if I should take this the other around. You can't be serious right ?

Serious? YES.

[SE6Ajacied]

Well that was well worth waiting all weekend for - what a bore, and we lost it.

I just hope the Conference play-off later on is better otherwise I'll have watched 4 games this weekend with only one being even vaguely exciting.

2 good goals from AZ, 1 incredibly stupid booking from Sneijder.....

[ZoefdeHaas]

Ah we'll own those confident bastards in Amsterdam. Hopefully.

Wtf was that KJH-Olaf substitution??

Beautiful Wes goal btw

[Manneken Pis]

urby got injury, we got goal, and wesley got yellow card and wil not play in Amsterdam. once again - fuck that!

Just to be clear, the goal was deserved after AZ's complete control during the game.

Wesley's yellow was incredibly stupid....90th minute....middle of the pitch (no danger)....very very late on de Zeuw. He'll now miss the final critical game. Totally moronic.

[ZoefdeHaas]

And this may well be his last Ajax game, if he's leaving for sure.

[bluedaddy19]

urby got injury, we got goal, and wesley got yellow card and wil not play in Amsterdam. once again - fuck that!

Just to be clear, the goal was deserved after AZ's complete control during the game.

Wesley's yellow was incredibly stupid....90th minute....middle of the pitch (no danger)....very very late on de Zeuw. He'll now miss the final critical game. Totally moronic.

first of all, no one really deserves any goal until they put it in and stekelenberg saw to that

so what's the deal? because we didn't have our best game the other team gets to have referee gifts? i'm sorry, i don't follow how that's okay

the "non-foul" on urby was should be a red card foul, the goal was offside and once again we are forced to operate by far stricter rules than our opponent... one would have thought we'd suffered enough crap at AZ in february

still, if we were receiving these kind of ref gifts we would never hear the end of lucky AJAX talk

naturally, sneijder's red mist is another matter, he clearly needs to be able to contain that impulse to go vigilante when calls don't go our way

that being said, everyone but babel and wesley looked tired out there - we were awful in the second half, partially because HTC stupidly decided to play "prevent defense"

hopefully, we can summon one more magic afternoon for the season, but it won't be easy without stam, gabri and wesley

in the end, this game is done and we know what the last job is