04 Aug 2007: Ajax - Arsenal FC

[Kowalczyk]

Amsterdam Tournament, remember, so of course we play Arsenal again.

YAAAAAAAWN...

K.

[Van basten]

what if the game will end draw? will be that enough for us to be winners of the tournament?

[666]

Depends on the result of the other match.

AT: 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and one point for every goal scored. Even Atlético can win this monstrosity if they spaghettify the romans.

[Venezuelan Ajacied]

Depends on the result of the other match.

AT: 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and one point for every goal scored. Even Atlético can win this monstrosity if they spaghettify the romans.

Yeah but what happens if two teams finish with the same points ??

Whats the tie-breaker ??

[ZoefdeHaas]

Arsenal win 1-0, thus win the tournament.

Dissapointing show from both sides, I was really unimpressed. Stekelenburg and Heitinga were the only decent Ajax spelers.

V.Persie needs to cool his temper, and Ajax need to use Goossens or some left winger!!!

[kraz11]

I think that ajax played quite well from about 20 till 65-70 minute
better than Arsenal but arsenalws contra attacks are deadly and
Ajax couldnt build decent contra attacks.
towards the end the game got really violent and i didnt like what johnny did
to van persie this kind of fouls can end the season for a player.
v. persie's confrontation with Vermaelen was also inappropriate.
Romedahl once again had a few very good runs and sneijder is
absolute delight.On the other hand Huntelaar looks as though he's
been too much in the sun and as aresult he can barely move.
We need another striker - Elmander or milevsky would be great

[ZoefdeHaas]

Ajax did play better as a 4-3-3, but they hardly produced real chances. Huntelaar was isolated which is becoming a bad habit.

Heitinga did do a bad foul on V.persie, but he was up for the trophy presentation so he should be ok.

And Colin wasnt half as bad as Thursdays match.

Our real test comes next week at the Super Cup, then the champions league.

[Jorien van den Herik]

Hi I'm not a regular here but I wonder what has happened to Huntelaar? I have followed him since he was at Heerenveen and to me that guy doesn't look like the same player at the moment. I hope I'm wrong but I think his development is in danger of going backwards since the new coach came? He wasn't good tonight against Arsenal which was surprising since he played well against them at Emirates. He hasn't been good in a few of the last pre-season games and I think the tactics of the coach are not helping him. Until the early substitution today Ajax in these games looked disinterested in really getting forward to support him in attack and he looked isolated. I know it's pre-season 'friendly' but new season is almost starting again shortly. I think he needs to rediscover himself quickly for the start of the season and try to work harder also on closing down defenders more aggressively, he can be a bit casual in that area. Needs to shoot more, show more quality over the full 90 minutes consistently and recapture confidence in his ability. I remember how well he played for Heerenveen vs Newcastle in the UEFA Cup and for Ajax vs Inter in the Champions League. I am a bit worried for him at the moment and think someone needs to advise him to be more single minded, try to run at defenders a bit more (like in this clip) and take more shots on goal. Test goalkeepers more and be involved in more of the action.

[SPL]

We had nothing in attack. Why was Goossens not given a run as Kennedy did very little.

KJH hardly touched the ball but the service to him was poor.

Steks and Heit were our best players.

Just one point with having ago at our attack. We will not play against many better defenses than Arsenal. They had their best back 4 playing .

We were without Gabri, Davids and Stam so overall a good performance.

[The Purple Cow]

I think KJH does well at the Eredivisie level, but against top teams his lack of mobility lets him down. He can only thrive when he's given time and space, because he doesn't have the pace or the technical skills to go past top quality defenders. He should stay at Ajax.

Heitinga had a very good tournament, but for me the MOTT was Thomas Vermaelen, he was huge. I've got a feeling he's going to have to carry a lot of weight on his young shoulders this season.

Stekkers had a good game against Arsenal which he needed after his shakey night against Atletico, where he made no less than three potentialy match-losing blunders. On his day he can have a decent game, but he's too inconsistent to ever be a top class goalkeeper.

[dws]

I think KJH does well at the Eredivisie level, but against top teams his lack of mobility lets him down. He can only thrive when he's given time and space, because he doesn't have the pace or the technical skills to go past top quality defenders. He should stay at Ajax.

You make KJH sound like Gerd Muller - no pace and no great technical ability, but goal after goal after goal.

You can't expect a striker to show up well in a match if his team creates next to no chances.

[Amol]

We had nothing in attack.

Well we started with this line-up-
Stekelenburg
Colin
Ogararu
Van der Wiel
Vermaelen
Emanuelson
Heitinga
Maduro
Sneijder
Bakircioglu
Huntelaar

Can you spot the number of defenders in this list?

[The Purple Cow]

"You can't expect a striker to show up well in a match if his team creates next to no chances."

Well the world's best strikers can create their own chances out of nothing. I'm just saying KJH is not one of those.

[GangstaRiB]

"You can't expect a striker to show up well in a match if his team creates next to no chances."

Well the world's best strikers can create their own chances out of nothing. I'm just saying KJH is not one of those.

Well.. can Inzaghi do that? Huntelaar is a great finisher. If the crosses are good, Huntelaar will almost certainly score. That's his quality.

[Philippe]

Arsenal win 1-0, thus win the tournament.

Dissapointing show from both sides, I was really unimpressed. Stekelenburg and Heitinga were the only decent Ajax spelers.

Ajax were far too static, and could not create chances except Rommedahl.
Stekelenburg was great.
Why Van der Wiel was in the starting line up only to be substituted after 23 mn is another coaching mystery by HTC ...

[dws]

"You can't expect a striker to show up well in a match if his team creates next to no chances."

Well the world's best strikers can create their own chances out of nothing. I'm just saying KJH is not one of those.

Yeah, Gerd Muller was second rate.


And as GangstaRiB put it:

Well.. can Inzaghi do that? Huntelaar is a great finisher. If the crosses are good, Huntelaar will almost certainly score. That's his quality.

[The Purple Cow]

"Well.. can Inzaghi do that?"

No he can't, not that that is relevant to my point.

"Huntelaar is a great finisher. If the crosses are good, Huntelaar will almost certainly score. That's his quality."

Riiiight, so that's why he couldn't score against Atletico's reserves out of season, or against Arsenal who will be lucky to finish in the EPL top 4.

Clearly english comprehension is not you guy's strongest point, but let me reiterate. KJH is a good finisher but he needs service, he can't create goals like Zlatan or Jari can (or could). That's what seperates great footballers, from merely very good ones like KJH.

The point about Muller is idiotic. He scored goals regularly at the very highest level, both in club and International level. KJH has done neither.

[dws]

"Well.. can Inzaghi do that?"

No he can't, not that that is relevant to my point.

"Huntelaar is a great finisher. If the crosses are good, Huntelaar will almost certainly score. That's his quality."

Riiiight, so that's why he couldn't score against Atletico's reserves out of season, or against Arsenal who will be lucky to finish in the EPL top 4.

Clearly english comprehension is not you guy's strongest point, but let me reiterate. KJH is a good finisher but he needs service, he can't create goals like Zlatan or Jari can (or could). That's what seperates great footballers, from merely very good ones like KJH.

The point about Muller is idiotic. He scored goals regularly at the very highest level, both in club and International level. KJH has done neither.

I perfectly understand your point, I just don't agree with it.

Going by your criteria Muller should never have made the grade, so the point is not idiotic. Muller - World class footballer? Probably not. Muller World class striker? Definitely.

KJH is a great finisher, that's all he needs to be. Its's not his responsibility to create scoring chances - THAT's for his teammate's to do.

[The Purple Cow]

DWS, You clearly haven't bothered to read a word I said.

Am I right in thinking you are a conservative?

[dws]

DWS, You clearly haven't bothered to read a word I said.

Oh, but I did.

You seem to think it is important that a striker is of the 'all singing all dancing type', but I don't.

Am I right in thinking you are a conservative?

ps: are you calling me a little c?

[Van der Vaart]

I hope we can make a shot in target against P$V ,next saturday

[Jorien van den Herik]

I think if you watch this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZoZgzgdNxg

It shows that Huntelaar clearly can create his own chances and has far more potential than Inzaghi who has never scored so many goals of that quality at only 23. The real issue is that he should be told to try these things much more often in every game. He hasn't played against many top quality teams to be able to say anything for certain about what he can or can't do against them. He didn't score in a pre season friendly against Arsenal but did score and play a great game against Inter in a far more important Champions League match.

The performance of striker Huntelaar on his Champions League debut also stretched the Italian side's experienced rearguard marshalled by former Real Madrid defender Walter Samuel.

The 22-year-old Huntelaar, who joined Ajax from Heerenveen in the winter transfer window for nine million euros ($10.71 million), showed his class from the start.

"We already knew what his qualities were but what he showed at this level was excellent," said Blind.

"He played a great match for his team."

http://www6.sbs.com.au/netherlands/inde ... &cid=68292

He also played a great game for Heerenveen against Newcastle in the UEFA Cup. He scored a superb goal and was a constant threat. The skilful turn and left-footed rocket in off the underside of the bar shown in the clip above, was the goal he scored in that game past Shay Given.

24' (1 - 0) Huntelaar (Heerenveen) scores!
A fabulous finish by the game's outstanding performer so far. Bramble fails to collect a long ball, and it instead finds its way to the 21-year-old. He still has work to do, but turns well onto his left foot and hammers it in off Shay Given's crossbar. A deserved lead and a deserved scorer.

32' Heerenveen put more pressure on Newcastle. First Huntelaar looks to turn again, and then Hestad hits another stinging cross which is just about cleared.

35' Heerenveen are pulling Newcastle around at times, here, with Bruggink and Huntelaar bringing their markers wide time and again.

45'+1' Babayaro collects a loose pass down the left and crosses deep but there's no one there for the visiting side.

The referee blows for half-time.

Klaas Jan Huntelaar's rocket of a goal capped an excellent first-half showing by the 21-year-old as the home side caused Newcastle all sorts of problems. Heerenveen's direct style kept the visitors' defence under constant scrutiny, and it was their prime threat who opened the scoring on 24 minutes. United barely managed an effort on goal and were looking bereft of ideas by the whistle.

http://www.uefa.com/competitions/uefacu ... index.html

He also scored against against Werder Bremen in the UEFA Cup, who held Barca and beat Chelsea in the Champions League all of which should count for a bit more than some pre season matches in a team that starts with 6 or 7 defenders and just 1 striker. I don't think his potential is an issue. He is definitely capable of scoring great individual goals but should be doing everything possible to enhance this qualities now while the chance is still there to develop his game in Holland for another year more.

He is a quality finisher but he is also capable of very special moments especially at Heerenveen which prove he can be a great striker capable of scoring brilliant individual goals out of nothing. He just needs to try these things more often each game with confidence and self belief and be encouraged to. He should be developing at Ajax but is in danger of stagnating. In these pre season games the tactics have been poor for attacking football and a striker should have more attacking support to combine with. He should be told to be more single minded at times instead of a simple pass, try more dribbles and one-two's and take more shots, he has shown potential to be a complete striker but I worry about his development at the moment under Ten Cate.

[Kowalczyk]

Quality posts, Jorien. Interesting to read.

Welcome here!

K.