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Flashes of great Ajax, more flashes of not-so-great Ajax
Comments(122)
Choosing titles for posts is an art. With Man United flunking it against Basel, Arsenal looking like a 40 year old Virgin on a first date and all those Dutch players benched ( Van Persie, Robben, Maduro) you do wonder what the angle needs to be.
But it feels only right to give our national club pride the top spot this week, as they went back to the Bernabeu where they impressed so many times in the past ( Gerrie Muhren? Jari Litmanen?) but were torn to pieces like boys only last year under Martin Jol.
Followers of this blog know that this away game infuriated Johan Cruyff so much that he decided to come off his bum and get involved at Ajax. Frank de Boer never looked back. He moved from youth coach and Oranje assistant to Ajax’ number one man. Covered in the back by none other than Wim Jonk, Danny Blind and Dennis Bergkamp (who didn’t travel to Madrid as a result of his fear of crashing ( it’s wrongly called: fear of flying… it’s not the flying that scares Dennis, the non-flying Dutchman)).
And Johan of course. And Edgar Davids as a board member.
The dream team off the pitch. Oh, I forgot to menion Henny Spijkerman. Hand-picked by Frank de Boer and most likely the only assistant coach at Ajax who actually works, as he didn’t get the job for being such a great player in the past 
.
The dream team on pitch is yet to materialise. But Frank is working hard on it. He wasn’t able to beat PSV or Twente in the domestic league so it is a stretch to claim that the glory years are back upon us. They’re not.
Ajax’ back four is still vulnerable. Anita as left back is wanting physically. Greg van der Wiel lacks the killer mentality and is great in the Eredivisie but maybe not ready yet for the Champions League. Vermeer is talented, but no Stekelenburg as yet. Although I don’t believe he could have stopped any of the Real Madrid goals. And he did keep out a number of other attempts. I won’t bash Vermeer.
Midfield is not my favorite line either. Theo Janssen doesn’t fit in this Ajax, in my view. He is too static and wants a team built around him. Like they did at Twente. Now, he’s playing defensive midfielder and he simply isn’t good enough for that. Not dynamic enough, lacking defensive skills and switching off too often.
Eriksen is great on the ball but merely a boy compared to his opponents ( Xabi Alonso? Khedira? Sergio Ramos? They have him for lunch). And Siem de Jong is overall a good player, but simply not great in any aspect of the game… And he’s too slow.
The offensive line up is fine, but inexperienced. Boerrigter only played Jupiler league last season. He’s got promise, but won’t carry Ajax past Real Madrid. Sightorsson needs service. And Sulejmani…he reminds me of Arshavin. He can decide games for you when he’s hot, but will allow his direct opponent to tear you down as he forgets to track back.
I love Frank de Boer and his balls to play 4-3-3 in the Bernabeu and it almost paid off too ( two good chances in the first 15 minutes) but whenever Real increased pace and played one-touch, Ajax was in shambles. For the second Real goal, Theo Janssen was playing right back!! When C Ronaldo escaped Van der Wiel in the run up to the first goal, Gregory needs to decide: I’ll get the ball or I’ll get C Ronaldo. One or the other!
Real is too good for this Ajax. It looks like a mature lion allowing itself to be bitten and harassed by his young lion cubs only to growl them off when they take too much liberty.
Jan Vertonghen, Ajax skipper, played a horrible game – in my view – and only got himself moving forward in the last phase of the game ( score was 3-0 already). He got himself into scoring position in the box only to be thwarted at the last moment. When he got up, he had a proud look on his face. As if he was satisfied with himself.
Is that the Ajax mentality of 2011? To go to Real Madrid, to actually huff and puff and make everyone believe this is different now? But still to loose 3-0? What is different to a year ago?
( It may seem as if Martin Jol is guest writing this post ).
Sure, Ajax deserved a goal. And sure, Ajax impressed with their gutzpa and balls. And yes, Ajax can play possession football and all that.
But it does hurt to see how Real simply brushes Ajax off as if it’s a narcy mosquito.
But, Real Madrid spends tens of millions if not more and is in severe financial strife.
Ajax is in less financial strife and has future.
Real might not be able to compete if the “economical and financial equality” measures ever make it.
While Frank will keep on building and building.
Ajax now needs to win the three remaining games ( away vs Lyon is important!!!) and snatch a point at home against Real to make it through. While Real needs to beat Lyon twice.
As Basel demonstrated against Man United: it’s ok to dream!
A last comment on those Man United and Arsenal games:
It only takes a little bit to make a great team average. If your opponent’s coach decides to rest half the team in lieu of a great competition clash coming up and banks on the fact that they will win against “lesser opponents” anyway, yesterday’s games of Arsenal and ManU have demonstrated that it doesn’t work like that.
The great Man United can suddenly loose against Basel.
Arsenal could have drawn against Olympiakos.
This should give Ajax some hope. If Real comes to Amsterdam and leaves some of the big guns at home, Ajax has a fair chance.
Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 122 comments.
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Haha eric what are u smoking?? demark are one of the contenders not a weak team 
roflmao
Posted from 
Bosnia And Herzegovina
Ricky van Wolfswinkel voted player of the mounth!
Affelay out for 6 months… so hopefully he’ll be 100% during Euro 2012… but players are never 100% 3 months after they tear an ACL. Hopefully Elia, Kuyt and Robben are 100%… and I can possibly see v Persie back on the wing to support Hunter upfront
Posted from 
United States
@srinjoy– I stand corrected. I did say “weak” in relativism. To be frank, there is no weak team in the tournament (the weak teams stay at home ). While I think Denmark is an up-and-coming force in Europe, I do believe Denmark is at least a step below Oranje at the moment, in terms of individual skill sets and teamwork. If you think Denmark is a title contender, I surely don’t have problem with that. Everybody is entitled his/her own opinion.
eric… why would you? Denmark won the 1992 Euro… beating Oranje in PKs in the semis. Marco Van Basten missed his kick…. well Schmeichel saved it. I can still remember that kick till today.
Hell, even Greece won Euro!! GREECE!!
Posted from United States
Stekelenburg is OUT – Krul or Vorm ? Both have been player of the week (Krul this week) on ESPN Soccernet.
Interesting
Posted from 
Singapore
Robben has some of the worst luck in the footballing world.
I agree with Eric that as it stands right now, the likes of Denmark and Greece are definitely weaker on a RELATIVE basis and would love to have Denmark in our group. This isn’t 1992 and last time i checked Schmichael has retired so i’m not sure why others would think otherwise.
Posted from 
Hong Kong
danemark as one of the contenders? i don’t think so. last year they played badly in south africa. they don’t have any worldclass player,they are solid,but technically not too gifted. in a good day oranje easily beat them 3-0,4-0. 1992 was 20 years ago,in the 80s and 90s they have worldclass teams,but laudrup era is over. let’s compare danemark with ajax: ajax were a brilliant team in the early and especially mid 90s,no team wanted them,but 15 years later it’s no more the case. in the late 80s and 90s danemark had fantastic players,not too many team wanted them,but now it’s completely different. i would be happy if oranje met danemark and greece. the contenders remain the same: oranje,spain,germany. italy and england made some progress,but it wasn’t be enough. danemark might be good enough for the tournament,but i would be surprised if they got a good result (qualification from the group).
Posted from 
Hungary
Comparing a mercurial team like Denmark to a shit drab untalented team like Greece is pure criminal..jalepinho shud be suspended from the blog for a week for a comment like that 
ferenc even u? i am stunned! Name 2 19 year old players that are Dutch that are even close to the level of Eriksen and Boilesen!!(in their positions) Hahah stuck now arent u?? (and this is coming from an Oranje die hard!!! ) think before u speak ppl
btw i am so xcited to see the compeition in an oranje shirt for the 2 best keepers in the premier league VORM & KRUL! at the moment I feel VORM will get the nod ahead simply because he is older in age! both are on fire…(vroom vroom vorm more so! )
srinjoy…i understand you really like denmark but let’s just leave it at that – this is an oranje blog!
Posted from 
United Kingdom
haha its not about my likes n dislikes its about the facts of life…the faster you come to terms with them the better!
Srinjoy,not 19 but Wijnaldum(20) and Maher(18).
Dont tell me that Danmark has better talents than Netherlands…
no i’m not saying they do but yeh wijnaldum is not 19 is he? and maher is not close to the level of Boilesen or Eriksen and nor is he capped (so we dont even know whether he is a Dutch International)
Viktor Fischer is 17 and there isn’t a single 17 year old dutch player who can dribble like him! 
We have different opinions because I think there are better dutch players and dribblers than Fischer in his age group,but lets leave it at that… Many “smaller” countries have some world class talents (Switzerland,Croatia,Serbia,Danmark),we just dont follow them here,because its a dutch blog. You wont find me bragging about Croatian big talents here.
No offense.
Well, I love Fischer’s playing style and think he’s definitely got it. I still rate Davy Klaassen on a higher level, pure class.
wales has gareth bale,they had giggs in the past,but they haven’t achieved anything with them. eriksen and boilesen are talented but none of them is close to bale or giggs. i watched eriksen against real madrid,he wasn’t brilliant,he was more or less ok,but nothing more. i don’t care how good he is against average or less than average teams. great players should proove their great talent at the top level,against top teams. on the other hand,if you have two great player,it doesn’t mean your team is great. i’m sure oranje would easily beat danemark,with no problem.
Posted from Hungary
Maduro out with an ankle injury, Vlaar as replacement.
Posted from 
Canada
Srinjoy, i’m not convinced. you named two 19yr olds and like Ferenc mentioned are quite avg (although they do have huge potential) and your point is? we are talking about euro2012 which starts in less than a yr, no? Srinjoy, you need a reality check!
Posted from Hong Kong
haha boilesen is average? he is better than pieters amd anita and van der wiel and braafheid combined…he can beat players for fun!
OMFG !!!! can you people not stop talking about Danish people or Denmark!!!! This is the oranje blog.. I dont care about Boilesen OR Eriksen or Fisher, for all i care they never play again.
They’re not even that good!!!!
Posted from 
Netherlands
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