26 Feb 2009: Ajax - ACF Fiorentina

[Kowalczyk]

Return leg!

Yeah!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q89rPprfaMw

Winners to play the winners of Twente vs Marseille in the next round!

K.

[Kowalczyk]

Nice video: ten Ajax goals against Italian teams in UEFA competition...

http://ajax.aegon.nl/index.php?id=1&video=18659

K.

[Philippe]

Yesterday, Fiorentina struggled to beat an opponent reduced to ten players (goals : '13 for Chievo, and '73 Gilardino + '90 Mutu for Fiorentina) : Chievo Verone number 19 of the 20 table.
We should be able to give them a hard time for their hopefully last game in this UEFA competition.

[aveslacker]

Yesterday, Fiorentina struggled to beat an opponent reduced to ten players (goals : '13 for Chievo, and '73 Gilardino + '90 Mutu for Fiorentina) : Chievo Verone number 19 of the 20 table.
We should be able to give them a hard time for their hopefully last game in this UEFA competition.

There are two things to watch for here, imo. One is Ajax taking this too lightly. One goal by Fiorentina and we're back to square one.

The other is Fiorentina being so distressed by their recent results that they don't really try hard.

I sure hope it's the latter!

[bluedaddy19]

i would assume we will need at least a goal at home

one thing we need to repeat from leg one is pulling felipe melo out wide... the key then is to play back inside and try to work our little slip passes that the attackers can shoot first touch

[martinkohout]

one thing we need to repeat from leg one is pulling felipe melo out wide... the key then is to play back inside and try to work our little slip passes that the attackers can shoot first touch

Melo is a beast. There's some chatter on the Offside Fiorentina blog about whether or not he needs to play more of a defensive mid role, since their back line has been so poor. Also about whether Adi Mutu should be pulled back to the trequartista role, since no one else on their squad (except Melo) seems able to distribute effectively.

I do worry that we may think we can coast a little bit, based on the unexpected result in Firenze. Or am I just being a ninny again?

[Kowalczyk]

We must dig in and go to war.

If we try to outplay them, we're gonna get done.

K.

[Manneken Pis]

I do worry that we may think we can coast a little bit, based on the unexpected result in Firenze. Or am I just being a ninny again?

I don't think you're being a ninny Bluedaddy.

Hubris in the club's culture has been our biggest opponent for many years now.

As Ko says we'll need to fight and win ugly if we are going to advance.

[Orange14]

We have not had a very good record on return legs recently. this could be a very dicey fixture. I wonder how fit Cvitanich and Enoh are given they did get a run out yesterday in the reserve match. As others have noted, we need to buckle down and focus. We cannot afford the easy give aways in midfield.

[martinkohout]

I don't think you're being a ninny Bluedaddy.

Manneken: I would never accuse Bluedaddy of being a ninny - that was me.

Drat those nesting quotes, anyway....

[Manneken Pis]

On a positive note, the Dutch media are reporting that Marco has virtually his entire squad available for this game...

[orange goblin]

Van Basten has called the follwing 19 men:


Maarten Stekelenburg
Bruno Silva
Oleguer
Thomas Vermaelen
Jan Vertonghen
Rasmus Lindgren
Kennedy
Urby Emanuelson
Miralem Sulejmani
Ismaïl Aissati
Kenneth Vermeer
Gregory van der Wiel
Luis Suarez
Gabri
Eyong Enoh
Leonardo
Vurnon Anita
Robbert Schilder
Toby Alderweireld

4 key players are back: Gabri, Vertonghen, Enoh and Emanuelson.
The non-available players are Wielart, Cvitanich and De Jong.
Other players not called for this game are Sno, the "babies" Sarpong, Martina, Blind, Bodul and - obviously - third keeper Gentenaar and long term injured Donald and van der Heijden.

[Philippe]

I think we will score, and they will score too.

My prediction will be a 2-1 win.

[aveslacker]

Van Basten has called the follwing 19 men:


Maarten Stekelenburg
Bruno Silva
Oleguer
Thomas Vermaelen
Jan Vertonghen
Rasmus Lindgren
Kennedy
Urby Emanuelson
Miralem Sulejmani
Ismaïl Aissati
Kenneth Vermeer
Gregory van der Wiel
Luis Suarez
Gabri
Eyong Enoh
Leonardo
Vurnon Anita
Robbert Schilder
Toby Alderweireld

4 key players are back: Gabri, Vertonghen, Enoh and Emanuelson.
The non-available players are Wielart, Cvitanich and De Jong.
Other players not called for this game are Sno, the "babies" Sarpong, Martina, Blind, Bodul and - obviously - third keeper Gentenaar and long term injured Donald and van der Heijden.

I'd read somewhere that Cvitanich is available. Assuming he is, here is how I'd line them up:

Steks
VDWiel--Oleguer--Vermaelen--Schilder
Gabri--Lindgren--Urby
Suarez--Cvitanich--Leo

Depending on how the game goes, I'd sub Aisatti in in the second half and maybe Sulejmani as well.

[orange goblin]

According to the official website, he is not fit enough..

So my starting eleven would be:

steek

v d wiel oleguer vertonghen vermaelen

gabri enoh lindgren

suarez sulejmani emanuelson


yes, indeed: I would like to see mickey as central striker. It won't happen, anyway.

[Kowalczyk]

I'd read somewhere that Cvitanich is available.

That was the story in the past couple of days, but the final word was on Ajax.nl today: Vertonghen, Enoh, Gabri and Emanuelson back in the squad. Cvitanich returned to action with Young Ajax on Monday, but has not been deemed match fit just yet. He's not in the squad.

K.

[Kowalczyk]

According to the official website, he is not fit enough..

So my starting eleven would be:

steek

v d wiel oleguer vertonghen vermaelen

gabri enoh lindgren

suarez sulejmani emanuelson


yes, indeed: I would like to see mickey as central striker. It won't happen, anyway.

I think this might in fact be the line-up, but in a slightly different formation (a 4-4-2), with Emanuelson as the outer midfielder on the left and Suárez/Sulejmani as the duo upfront.

Is my thought, anyway. I surely think Kennedy will drop out. And perhaps Vermaelen and Vertonghen should change positions: I expect Fiorentina to play in a 4-4-2, so you're gonna need two man markers in the centre. Ajax's left fullback is likely to get some space to build up and pass the ball.

K.

[Philippe]

So my starting eleven would be:

steek

v d wiel oleguer vertonghen vermaelen

gabri enoh lindgren

suarez sulejmani emanuelson

Same but with Emanuelson in the middle : we should start with a 4-4-2 formation.

[SPL]

some report that Van Der Wiel is sick thus Silva might have to play.

Still good to see so many injured back. Siem de Jong is back in training as well.

[Dubbel]

PRANDELLI HOPES TO PROGRESS

Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli is confident his team can upset the odds and seal a place in the last 16 of the UEFA Cup.

The Viola travel to Amsterdam to meet Ajax on Thursday night trailing 1-0 from the opening leg in Florence.

Kennedy Bakircioglu grabbed the only goal of that game and Prandelli's team now face perhaps their the biggest challenge of the campaign so far if they want to go through.

"We are optimistic," said Prandelli. "We can overturn the result and progress to the next round."

But he added: "Ajax have plenty of experience at international level."

Fiorentina have never lost in the Netherlands, taking a win and a draw in their previous two visits.

The Viola reached the semi-finals of the competition last term only to lose 4-2 on penalties after a 0-0 draw at Rangers.

And Prandelli believes his team has what it takes to go all the way this time.

"We want to go as far as possible in this tournament," said Prandelli. "We came mighty close last season to reaching the final and there is no reason why this time we cannot go all the way.

"But Ajax are also keen to their UEFA Cup run going, it is their primary aim and for us this is a problem."

The Florence-based outfit beat Chievo 2-1 at the weekend to keep a hold of the last Champions League qualification spot in Serie A. They are one point clear of fifth-placed Genoa with 13 games remaining.

Alberto Gilardino, who is the team's top scorer in Europe with four goals, will partner Adrian Mutu up front.

Despite his team's advantage, Bakircioglu still knows there is work to be done if the Amsterdammers are to keep their European hopes alive.

"It's impossible for us to be relaxed ahead of this game," he said.

"Fiorentina are a good team with quality players. We have to stay focused, just like we did over there. Now we have the advantage of playing at home with the support of our fans. That will give us the power to perform well."

Coach Marco van Basten has been boosted by the return of Gabri (concussion) and Jan Vertonghen (foot), while Urby Emanuelson is available after suffering a neck injury in the first leg.

However, Mitchell Donald (knee), Jan-Arie van der Heijden (knee), Siem de Jong (collar bone), Daley Blind (groin), Eyong Enoh (hamstring) and Dario Cvitanich (thigh) make up what is still a sizeable Ajax injury list.

http://www.football365.com/story/0,1703 ... 66,00.html

Fortunate Fiorentina find wins but not form

The conspiracy theorists might just wonder if Fiorentina were "in credit" with the referees after all. That was the term used by Cesare Prandelli, their coach, after a series of big decisions went against his team during their 1–0 defeat to Milan in January. A week later, after La Viola had a goal disallowed and a strong penalty appeal turned down in an identical loss to Juventus, Prandelli was so angry he couldn't speak. The team's owner, Andrea Della Valle, told Sky TV he feared Italian football was returning to the "dark days".

This week, however, the boot was on the other foot. Ninety-three minutes into their game against Chievo, La Viola were lucky to be level at 1-1 after being largely outplayed, but with less than 45 seconds of injury-time remaining Adrian Mutu dug out a winner from the edge of the area. Chievo's players were livid. During the build-up to his goal Mutu had appeared to foul Davide Mandelli, jumping into the defender while challenging for a high ball near midfield, only for the referee, Christian Brighi, to wave play on.

"Mutu used a kung-fu move," railed the Chievo manager, Domenico Di Carlo, afterwards. Gazzetta dello Sport's Luca Calamai was inclined to agree. "Chievo left Stadio Franchi with justified complaints," he notes in his match report. "One was greater than the rest: Mutu's decisive goal was preceded by a foul."

Of course, Fiorentina themselves would have had grounds for complaint had the result not gone their way. They were denied one penalty when Mario Yepes appeared to pull down Alberto Gilardino and had another, less convincing, appeal turned down after a shot ricocheted off the same player's arm in the area. Such things are easily forgotten in victory, however, and Prandelli was far more concerned by the disjointed nature of his side's display.

Fiorentina have now won four of their last five games and the only draw in that run came away to a Genoa side who are yet to lose at Stadio Ferraris this season. "On paper that looks like Scudetto-winning form," Prandelli noted. "The performances, however, have been anything but."

Last week Fiorentina were 3-0 down to Genoa with half an hour remaining before Mutu scored a remarkable hat-trick. The week before Sébastien Frey had pulled off a number of fine saves to keep La Viola level with 10-man Lazio before Gilardino snatched a 90th-minute winner.

"Sooner or later our luck will run out and that is when we need the real Fiorentina back," Prandelli said, but his side's greatest problem right now will not be an easy one to fix. Mario Santana was the driving force of this team from a creative standpoint and performances have dropped off markedly since he was carried out of this month's win over Bologna on a stretcher. Santana, who suffered knee-ligament damage and minor fractures to his left leg, is not expected back this season.

Against Chievo, Prandelli reshuffled from a 4-3-1-2 to a 4-3-3 and eventually a 4-2-4, but his team rarely looked cohesive. Thankfully for him, with Mutu and Gilardino up front, they do not always need to. The pair have now scored 27 league goals between them this campaign, making them by some distance the most prolific pairing in Serie A.

Unfortunately, the rest of their team-mates have combined for just 10 between them. With or without some help from the officials, that simply isn't good enough.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog ... a-juventus

[ZoefdeHaas]

Common Ajax, let's kick their asses tonight!

Possibility:

Stekelenburg

Silva Oleguer Vertonghen Vermaelen

Enoh Lindgren Gabri

Kennedy Suarez Sulejmani

Hard to say, as Cvitanitch and Leonardo may vie for a place, not sure if Emanuelson is fully fit.

[Dubbel]

Media report MVB will opt for 442. Something like this?

Stekelenburg

vd Wiel Oleguer Vertonghen Vermaelen

Gabri Lindgren Emanuelson Enoh

Suarez Sulejmani

[Philippe]

Nope. We'll play 4-4-2, with Leonardo and Suarez upfront.

[Philippe]

This will be our 100th UEFA game.

We have scored 200 goals in this competition so far, and out of the 99 games played we won 56 games, drew 13 and lost 30.

[Venezuelan Ajacied]

alrighty people i'm going to play it safe and place a bet on Fiorentina...that way if we loose i`ll have enough money to buy some beer and get drunk and if we win...i`ll still buy some beer and get drunk celebrating. its just money right ?