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Weekend Shenanigans

October 7th, 2007 | By: Jan | 11 Comments »

Where to start…? All that stuff that happened… Well, first things first: Henk ten Cate leaves Ajax for a three-year contract at Chelsea (for a reported 3 Mio Euros p/y!!) and his players thanked him in his last match against Sparta - managed by former Ajax star and coach Danny Blind - with a narrow escape. A late equalizer saved Ajax from a loss 2-2.

AZ couldn’t win, again! It seemed all hunky dory against FC Groningen, 2-2. Groningen scored the equalizer in the dying seconds. AZ was able to took the lead twice, but they squandered it.

Feyenoord had a tough match away against Vitesse, but won 0-1, thanks to former Vitesse players Roy Makaay (assist) and Nicky Hofs (goal). PSV won an easy game against Willem 2: 3-0 with two goals by Koevermans.

Heerenveen took revenge on themselves after their abysmal defeat in the UEFA cup by smashing Heracles 9-0. Brazilian enfant terrible Alvez scored 7 times, a new Eredivisie record. Before that, 6 goals was the record held by Van Basten, Cruyff, Lammers and Kerkhof. The all time scoring record is Henk Schouten’s, the Feyenoord striker in the 50s, when the Eredivisie didn’t exist yet with 9 goals in one match. LAst season, Alvez was topscorer in Holland with 34 goals.

Feyenoord is the leader in the Dutch Eredivisie again.

Our Dutch abroad are doing nicely too. Raf van der Vaart has reached Uwe Seeler’s record at HS Hamburg. The former Ajax star seems to score every match he plays.

Patrick Kluivert made his mark - at last - at Lille. The permanently overweight and injured former superstar started for the first time this weekend and scored his first goal, securing Lille’s first win. Van Basten sent a “congrats telegram”.

Robin van Persie helped Arsenal win again, 3-2 over Sunderland. He opened the score early in the match with a scorching free-kick, Senderos scored the 2-0 within the first quarter but Sunderland fought back in the style of their coach, Roy Keane, and made it 2-2. It was again Van Persie with a beauty in the second half to secure the win and the lead in the EPL. I saw the match and in the first 30 minutes Arsenal played awesome football… Barca, look out!

Ruud van Nistelrooy did it again! He scored the first goal against Huelva. In stoppage time, Higuain scored the 2-0. Three points, but still Real Madrid (with Sneijder and Robben, Drenthe was rested) missed the schwung of Barcelona. The Rijkaard managed team won 3-0 against Atletico Madrid, again with Messi pulling the trigger. Deco scored the first, Messi the second and Xavi the late third. At times, Barca danced over the pitch, as we are so used to.

Salomon Kalou scored the only goal for Chelsea in their match against Bolton. Liverpool escaped against Tottenham Hotspur. With Kuyt and Babel rested, the Reds had a tough game against Jol’s boys. In the last phase of the match, Torres secured the draw.

AC Milan found their mojo at last. Against Lazio Roma, Milan was unstoppable from the first second onwards: 5-1.

Tags: Group C, Rafael van der Vaart, Robin van Persie, Roy Makaay, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, The Netherlands

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Comments

By Kyle | October 7th, 2007 at 9:16 pm

Well at least the talent abroad can still play.

And to be honest I think this is the best news possible for Ajax, it will allow them to move on and hopefully redevelop their talent, I know that they sell all their players way too early in the game, but that’s going to take time and money to change. The problem is Henk, just can’t manage a squad like Ajax, he’s not fit for the youthful movement at Ajax, one of the big 3 in Holland, but just good enough elsewhere now. He is best for developing talent, and as well managing top level teams with systems. It just was a bad fit in the end, and I wish him the best of luck at Chelski.

On a side note, I looked at Henk ten Cate profile and had a good chuckle that he actually played in Canada. Didn’t realize any Dutch player would ever want to play in Canada.

Posted from Canada

By sphinx | October 7th, 2007 at 11:01 pm

nice to see Vaart and Persie in from before Romania test & Ruud keep on scoring. BTW could Persie in squad for that match?

Posted from Thailand

By Jan | October 7th, 2007 at 11:21 pm

Persie, Sneijder and Melchiot are suspended for Rumania. So count on Robben,Nistelrooy, Babel up front and Vaart, Gio, De Zeeuw in midfield. Seedorf benched again :-).

Posted from Australia

By ferenc | October 8th, 2007 at 2:22 am

nice week-end: barca won,arsenal won,milan won - all of them with attracrive and dominant football. what a pity that robin is suspended for the roumania game. hope that clarence will start.

Posted from Hungary

By goose | October 8th, 2007 at 7:21 am

Az will be dutch champions .. they still have the strongest team (on paper) in the Eredivisie

vdVaart played great again .. he was part of every good move Hsv had

vPersie is growing each week, hes a better striker than i tought

Ruud again (ofcourse)

well see what happens saturday .. looks like vanBatsen will def. leave Oranje after the EC08 to join Ajax as headcoach

grtz

Posted from Netherlands

By Kyle | October 8th, 2007 at 10:23 am

Goose can’t we just let him leave sooner… cripes I can get a pet monkey to put in more satisfactory tactical lineup for the Dutch to play with.

Posted from Canada

By goose | October 8th, 2007 at 11:15 am

hehe Kyle; totally agree ofcourse…BUT, nothing that can be done..the only way is for us not to qualify and thats not an option (altough we have nothing to win there!)

were stuck with Marco (and Cruyff for that matter) i just hope that the KNVB has learned its lesson finally and will offer the job to someone who has already proven themselfs as managers…

lets hope and pray
that the KNVB
finally sees the way
and we will play better
……….one day

haha..nice little poem there!

grtz

Posted from Netherlands

By Kyle | October 8th, 2007 at 11:42 am

Goose,

Very nice poem indeed, I quite enjoyed it.

But yes I know we have to deal with the pain of Marco coaching until the end of the Euro 2008 tourney, where we will squeak into the final 8 and then lose to Portugal or some other Iberian nation, which will cause us to riot against the team, and shatter the confidence of the players, who at the moment are hitting full stride. To be honest, other than the shaky defense, 2008 might be the best opportunity we have had since hosting the tournament in 2000… just as long as Jaap makes those penalty kicks. ugh

Posted from Canada

By goose | October 8th, 2007 at 2:06 pm

well Kyle, at first i thought you were joking with your “best change since 2000″ comment but youre actually rigth!it is the best change we have (if we qualify, haha) since 2000… cant seem to remember a WC beeing played in 2002..EC04 was without any real change..WC06; well….. so 08 it will be…maybe!!

on a serious note: dont think midfield is balanced enough too…actually only our offence is top quality

who is it gonna be Marco?? Clarence, Wesly, Rafael, Stijn, Demi, Giovanni, Johny???

grtz

Posted from Netherlands

By bobotoh | October 9th, 2007 at 12:48 am

So, who’s gonna replace Ten Cate’s at Ajax?

Posted from Indonesia