Markus Rosenberg

[jakobg]

Pettersson is a hero. He was my idol back in the late 80s.

Unlike you oldies, I'd rather see him develop into Zlatan II. :yes:

[WP_Legend]

please god no... I think you forget how much zlatan sucked for ajax... most games he just wasn't there...

[Kowalczyk]

please god no... I think you forget how much zlatan sucked for ajax... most games he just wasn't there...

Phew -- I couldn't disagree more...

But you're free to say it, of course. :yes:

K.

[Per]

I like BLind commentary that you can tell that Markus is not from the youth system or Dutch.

You see, in Sweden we're brought up on 4-4-2 from age five. Give the guy some games to adjust, hey even a month or two perhaps?

Or should we put the Sonck label on him already :redcard: ?

[jakobg]

You see, in Sweden we're brought up on 4-4-2 from age five. Give the guy some games to adjust, hey even a month or two perhaps?

Remember that Zlatan needed almost a year. But then again, Zlatan is not like everyone else. I think Rosenberg will adapt to the system much faster.

That said, I'm not sure he'll have instant success. My guess is that Rosenberg will need some time to make it to the real top level. Hopefully the fans will have a little patience, even though it's not what they are known for.

[Kowalczyk]

Jakob and Per: Rosenberg has just scored his first goal!

Ajax are playing HHC at the moment and were 1-0 down at half-time (how embarrassing), but in the second half Galásek equalized and Rosenberg made it 1-2. Good for him!

Discuss the game here:
http://www.ajaxtalk.nl/portal/viewtopic.php?t=5592

K.

[Blind3]

Zlatan was a difference maker.He was so big and strong that he always had to be accounted for.But, he wasn't a world beater in year one.I'm not sure Rosenberg will be, but I'm willing to give another Zlatan-sized ,talented #9 like Rosenberg the benefit of the doubt.At the very least, Rosenberg,Babel,Escude, and probably several others( Charisteas if he is with the club,Anastasiou, Maduro) give Ajax a real threat from set pieces.No longer is the side Smurfs United FC. :xyxthumbs:

[Jocke27]

How about that hat-trick? I know it was a pre-season game against a bad amateurteam but still it's nice to see that his form has gone up and that the scoring has started...

[Kowalczyk]

Here's a little something from today's Algemeen Dagblad. The headline is absolutely terrible and very tacky (something like 'Rosenberg makes it 1-0 to himself'...), but it's followed by a few nice paragraphs.

There was only a split second's eye contact, but it was enough. Nourdin Boukhari saw Markus Rosenberg run away from his opponent and chipped the ball on the Swede's path towards goal.

Rosenberg accelerated towards the penalty area, spotted Mattias Hain's goal and fired diagonally: 0-3. The striker celebrated his goal against Arminia Bielefeld with clenched fists, nine minutes after the break. The Amsterdammers won the friendly in Germany in convincing style: 0-4.

Rosenberg's goal was a perfect blueprint of his specific qualities. During last week's training camp in De Lutte Danny Blind explained why Ajax had landed the striker so resolutely. At that point Rosenberg had just played his first games against amateur teams, but he still seemed a bit lost and unhappy.

"He has certain characteristics that our squad did not have yet," said Blind. "Markus has the gift to run away from his marker and 'go deep', on the edge of off-side. He can take position at exactly the right moment and manoeuvre himself into shooting position immediately."

In the match against the outfit from the centre-group of the German Bundesliga the striker underscored this analysis. After his goal Rosenberg showed up in the penalty box two more times, both times by intelligently escaping from his defender. The first time he crossed to Nicolae Mitea, who missed the open chance that Rosenberg offered him. The second time he fired into the near post corner, but saw goalkeeper Hain save on his attempt.

"Games like this one are easier for me than the ones against amateurs," said Rosenberg. "Those teams played with five defender close to their goal. Over here it was easier for me to create space for myself with running actions. Moreover, I am starting to get used to the Ajax system. A 4-4-2 formation is very different for a striker than a 4-3-3. You get less opportunities to switch to the flanks, like I was used to in Sweden. But it's going better already. I can feel that in training."

In the rest of the article Blind has some polite, politically correct quotes about Charisteas (he's got different qualities, bla-bla, he's a different type of striker, yada-yada). But it's crystal clear that Charisteas is f*cked. Blind doesn't rate him.

The Amsterdam Tournament will be important for Markus: if he can present himself to the Amsterdam crowd with a good performance (and hopefully a goal)... that would be a major step and give him a lot of credit.

K.

[Jocke27]

How was Rosenberg against Arsenal?

[ZoefdeHaas]

Not impressive, was "okayish", missed a shot just 12 yards out

[San Marco]

How was Rosenberg against Arsenal?

He was terrible.
No control of the ball, no passing, did't see his 'good movement' [according to Blind], didn't see one single succesfull backpass [how do you say 'kaats' in English].
He reminded me of our great goleador Wesley Sonck, that ain't a compliment :sad:

[pizza 5]

He was pretty poor.I hope he will find his touch and get some confidence soon.It may take some time,Im glad the crowd didnt seem to get on his back.

[Kowalczyk]

He didn't have a lucky. His positioning was alright, so he got the ball pretty frequently, but today he just didn't do anything good with it, most of the time. He was probably the most disappointing Ajax player in a very acceptable first half.

Oh well, shit happens. Who knows he'll do the business tonight.

K.

[SE6Ajacied]

He was pretty poor.I hope he will find his touch and get some confidence soon.It may take some time,Im glad the crowd didnt seem to get on his back.

I think the crowd were too stupefied by the excitement of it all to get on anyone's back :sad:

[Jocke27]

Why wasn't he on against Boca Juniors?

[ZoefdeHaas]

Are we Blind? My guess is that he wants to rotate abit in the friendly, and Rosenberg, being new, is out for Anastasiou

[Kowalczyk]

Why wasn't he on against Boca Juniors?

Minor injury. Just like Grygera and Rosales, for example. They all trained separate from the group today. Had nothing to do with Friday's game, if that's what you're thinking.

K.

[Kowalczyk]

You'd almost forget that yesterday's game was Markus' official Ajax-1 début (he didn't see action against PSV) and I must say that he did very well. He was constantly moving, always ready to receive the ball. When he had possession he protected it well and usually did something good with it. He created one chance all by himself: a good solo run from midfield, he was mowed down by a defender (and the ref should then have given Boukhari the advantage...). Last but not least: when Rosenberg had his typical 'striker chance' he took it immediately. Bang. Goal.

I think he played really well in what was definitely not an easy game to play (because they were big and very physical). Well done, Markus. Keep it up!

K.

[Per]

It has been confirmed that Markus will be a starter in the 4-4-2 formation next to Henrik Larsson in tomorrow's game against Czech republic.

He starrs instead of Zlatan who picked up a minor injury in Juve's "friendly" against Milan. Apparently he was mowed down by a friendly chap by the name Jaap.

Let's hope Markus has a good game and comes backfull of confidence.

Cheers!

[Jöhnk]

Sweden - Czech Republic

20' [1 - 0] H. Larsson

22' [1 - 1] J. Koller (pen.)

25' [2 - 1] M. Rosenberg

[jakobg]

Yeah, Rosenberg had a quite good game together with Larsson upfront. He ran alot and it was obvious he wanted to prove that he's good enough also internationally, to the Swedish crowd. Which he did.

Good game for Markus in a quite boring Swedish victory. Without Zlatan or Ljungberg in the team.

Btw, I can't believe none of the 'big' clubs hasn't bough Isaksson yet. He once again proved himself as an excellent keeper tonight.

[carcajou]

Yeah, Rosenberg had a quite good game together with Larsson upfront. He ran alot and it was obvious he wanted to prove that he's good enough also internationally, to the Swedish crowd. Which he did.

Good game for Markus in a quite boring Swedish victory. Without Zlatan or Ljungberg in the team.

Btw, I can't believe none of the 'big' clubs hasn't bough Isaksson yet. He once again proved himself as an excellent keeper tonight.

Is he still playing at Rennes ?

[jakobg]

Is he still playing at Rennes ?

Yep. They'll probably demand quite a lot of money for him, when they sell.

[ZoefdeHaas]

Just like Lyon