"We did what we could"
AZ - AFC Ajax
3-2
KPN Eredivisie, Sunday September 17, 2000, 17.15 hrs, Alkmaarder Hout.
AFC Ajax - RBC in:
All times CET Amsterdam
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Ajax was unable to follow up its glorious appearence in the UEFA Cup competition, today. While the team won against KAA Gent by a score of 0-6 in that game, in today's KPN Eredivisie match in Alkmaar, AZ beat Ajax 3 goals to 2. Although Ajax was the better team overall during the first half, AZ had the far better attack, through the play of Nelisse and substitute Bosman. By contrast, Ajax' forwards - Van der Meyde, Gronkjaer, Arveladze and Hosé‚ - were fairly terrible; and that was what made the difference.
After the match, Co Adriaanse said that it "is always hard for Ajax to play in Alkmaar." He also stated that "the length of the AZ forwards was an impossible problem. We did what we could and we couldn't do more. It's the quality that Ajax has today. We need a first goal otherwise the young players do too many things wrong." Unfortunately, that first goal fell for AZ, even though Ajax had chances of its own to open the scoring: In the 13th minute referee vd Ende refused to give Ajax a penalty that should have been given; and both Van der Meyde and Knopper missed good chances - which did nothing to help Ajax' fortunes.
AZ Coach, Van der Lem, had to change his battle plan early in the match when Dries Boussata was forced to leave the pitch with an injury after only 17 minutes. Having to bring on Bosman as a replacement, however, was the best thing that could have happened for AZ. It was Bosman who brought AZ the 1-0 lead in the 26th minute when he headed a corner behind Fred Grim. Ten minutes later, Ajax equalized on a goal by Knopper to knot the score at 1-1. One minute after that, Shota Arveladze (failing again) was replaced by an even worse playing Brutil Hos‚. Just before the tea break, AZ striker Robin Nelisse curled the ball into the upper lefthand corner of the net from about 17 meters out to make the score 2-1 at the half.
After the break, Petri Pasanen made his debut for Ajax on defense - replacing Ferdi Vierklau. This caused a major realignment in the defensive formation: Bergdolmo, who had been having big problems with Nelisse, went from the left to the right; Chivu shifted from the center to the left; and the young Fin, Pasanen, patrolled the center. The changes brought a bit more stability to the defense, but the play of the forwards continued to disappoint the fans. Nevertheless, Ajax did manage the equalizer when a splendid pass by Witschge was headed behind AZ keeper Timmer - who didn't have a chance to stop it - by Tom s Gal sek. That gave the Ajax fans some hope, but AZ went on to win the match, 3-2, after Opdam scored out of a free kick by Buskermolen.
It was a bitter disappointment for Ajax. But, according to Adriaanse, Ajax just couldn't do any better. We will all have to wait for a lot of players to show better form, and for the return of Nikos Machlas. Today's forwards were just plain crap - and not for the first time this season.
Ajax has already lost eight points this season. Progress in comparison to the Westerhof era seems hardly visible. But, you should look at Adriaanse's bearing - which is a lot better. Adriaanse stands for the typical Ajax way of staying with pretty much the same players. It gives them clarity and things will go smoother because of the confidence they get. Unfortunatley, during the building process, that goes hand in hand with losing some points. This Friday RBC comes to the Amsterdam ArenA. "
Ez pedig a meccs legjobbjára leadott szavazatok állása:
"Wie was de beste tijdens AZ-Ajax?
[154 votes total]
Fred Grim (6) 4%
Ferdi Vierklau (1) 1%
André Bergdolmo (6) 4%
Tomás Galásek (46) 30%
Christian Chivu (34) 22%
Aron Winter (2) 1%
Andy van der Meyde (4) 3%
Richard Witschge (14) 9%
Shota Arveladze (5) 3%
Richard Knopper (14) 9%
Jesper Gronkjaer (9) 6%
Brutil Hosé (3) 2%
Petri Pasanen (9) 6%
Cedric van der Gun (1) 1% "
QQRYQ!
Replayoltam a levelet!Megkaptátok?
Hajrá Ajax!!!
