AZ chokes! Again!!

6 psv ajax 2
shell shock

Posted from  United States

AZ choked, but so did Ajax…

Well, congrats to AZ. They deserved. May the fans enjoy the huge party which is certainly happening by now at Alkmaar, near Noordhollandschkanaal.

Congratulations to Louis and his men!!!, not the best way to get the title but who cares they did it and I’m very happy for AZ. I’ll be looking forward for next year’s UCL with AZ in it, I hope they can hold most of the players.

How ironic that it had to be PSV that got them the title ??

Posted from  Singapore

@Carlos: PSV just gave back that 2007 favour AZ did against Excelsior.

Who is AZ best player? Can they do what Ajax did in 1995? I hope that Van Gaal will stay.

Posted from  Indonesia

bobotoh, Stijn Schaars is best player and together with Demi deZeeuw form an incredible twin at the centre of midfield but de Silva, Maartens, El Hamdoei? etc etc are all good, some good Belgian players there too. However the Whole is better that the Sum of it’s Parts. Hope you understand that it’s really a TEAM effort built up by van Gaal. They WONT do what Ajax did in 95 but they will do OK if the team stays together. I think deZeeuw will go to HSV, Schaars to EPL. I am sure Jan will do an AZ special so we can read about the team and it’s players – no more news about van Gaal pls .

Posted from  Singapore

Watched the match PSV Vs ajax and twente Vs Feynoord.
PSV was too tough for ajx what a silly mistakes from the Ajax diffence.ambrabat and afaleey were handfull to the ajax diffence.Finally Az can breathe and celebrate.
Twente Vs Feynoord reminds me protugal Vs neds 2006WC.
Physically twente were too strong Feynoord too with comapritivly dwarf players.3 red cards and so many yellow cards.
The most dangerous player was biaswar.Whenever he touched the ball i smelt a dangerous assist.this guy is too speedy and mercurious with his speed.kenneth parez was the playmaker for Twente but was not enough to get the gold.
Elia was the otherman,strong muscular,speedy dribbler caused lots of problems but couldnt fine the gold.
i think with amrabat and elia we can go back to 433 system.

Posted from  India

Well, I think van Gaal and his team were outstanding. They won the league with 3 games still to be played. They are truly champions but it´s impossible for them to repeat what Ajax acomplished in 1995 simply because that Ajax had so much quality that not many great teams today can match. Ajax of 1995 had very young players but most of them were really succesful and some of them will be remembered forever…Davids,Seedorf, Overmars, Kluivert, Litmanen, the Deboers, Reiziger, Blind, Rijkaard, Kanu, Finidi, van der Sar. That team had superb talent and until today we don´t know if Az has what it takes to triumph in Europe but if the team maintains together they can surprise many people in the Champions League although some of the key players can move abroad and that will make things difficult. Besides van Gaal has already said that if a big club or a national team contact him he might go. And it has been reported lately that B. Munich is not happy with Klinsman so van Gaal might go to Germany next season… who knows, but what a great victory they have achieved and for sure they have very important players for the future. Schaars will be in a very short time one of the most valuable players for Oranje, that guy has talent.

Tiju – both Elia and Amrabat have been asked to continue training and included in a special Dutch squad for Dutch based players as their season will end well before the English/Spanish Leagues. Bert needs to keep them fit for the 2 Internationals in June.

Posted from  Singapore

Every body says about balence of the team thats why kuyt is in the team.So with the hard work,energy and skill we have a better replacement for kuyt.its none otherthan Elia.elia can give balence to the team with more skill and penetrating power i think Afaleey too.But i prefer Elia.
Stekelnburg
Vanderweil-Bulahruz?-Mathijenson-Brapheid?
De jong-Znijder
Elia-vaart-Roban
Van persie.

Posted from  India

All the proposed “replacements” for Kuyt that everyone is proposing are playing in the Eredivisie. How about they manage to succeed in the Premier League or La Liga and then we can consider them? Kuyt plays at one of the best teams in the world, in the best league in the world, as a starter week in and week out. He’s not as good as Gerrard, but he is at the very least consistent in his performances.
It’s much more easy to shine in the Eredivisie than in England. I think Afellay is a good player, but I don’t think he’s that good yet. Let him move somewhere and improve a bit.
As for AZ winning the championship, I hope this will bring back some life into the Eredivisie, and I hope they can hold on to their players. Holland needs to do well in the Champion’s League, make a name for ourselves to attract good players again and produce a strong Eredivisie. Passing of the 6+5 rule looks doubtful, but it would make us so much better…

Posted from  Netherlands

great. they deserved it. they should have won once or twice in the last 5 years and finally they did it. actually i would like to see them. if they reach the best 8 in next year champions’league we should consider it as a success. the most important thing is to keep together this team (and luis as well).

Posted from  Hungary

Good comments, all. Congrats to AZ! Well deserved and long overdue.

AZ is primarely a great team, with some outstanding individual players like the afore mentioned Schaars, De Zeeuw, Romero and El Hamdaoui.

I also agree with Jeroen on the Kuyt decision. If you watch Chelsea play Arsenal in the semis FA cup and then Ajax – PSV you’ll see the difference.

Maybe I’m missing somethint, but: what makes Amrabat special? I’ve been following PSV in the past couple months, and I am not overly impressed with him. Granted, he has good speed, but he can’t dribble past his defenders and his cross is atrocious. Worse yet, his positioning is quite awful and he doesn’t have the “predator instict” that makes his a potent goal scorer. OK, he scored a goal this weeked, but in all honesty, that was just a notorious defending on Ajax part, rather than a testimony of his skills. As much as I like him to succeed, I just don’t think he will ever get to top level. Maybe several nice runs up with PSV, then tranfer to mid-table Bundeliga or Spanish League. I rarely watch Elia playing, but from what I’ve seen, he could be legit contender for a spot in the national team. I’d say, before the turn of the year, he’d get two or three caps under his belt if Bert van Marwijk is willing to experiment.

Posted from  United States

I’m not too worried about the creative part of Oranje. We have tremendous players at top clubs now and players like Afellay, Babel, Biseswar and others will only improve more.

My worry is the back four. I wish Bert would experiment with some fresh blood there and would take care of the build up from the back.

I just don’t get how Dutch clubs – Ajax for instance – play with 4 men at the back, without moving them up into midfield. Ajax plays mediocre opponents most of the time, so a 3-4-3 should be feasible.

so if all AZ player are fit what would the lineup look like?

————–Romero———–
Jaliens-Moisander-Moreno-Pocognoli
Mendes–deZeeuw–Schaars–Martens
——Dembele—-Hamdaoui——

Posted from  United States

is mendez da silva an offensive player on the wing cause I thought he played in a lot of defensive positions aswell

The more important is their most important players are Dutch, Stijn Schaars and Demy De Zeeuw. But, if they go, what will happen to AZ? And, at the same time, Van Gaal may be leaving the club.

Posted from  Indonesia