Markus Rosenberg

[jakobg]

Charisteas and Babel can be backups. I think Charisteas is the most unlucky man at Ajax now. I still can't see what major thing he's done wrong this season. Mind you, same story with Escude.

I don't think anyone thinks he's done much wrong. Ajax just belives more in KJH and Rosenberg. Simple as that.

[Frans]

Charisteas and Babel can be backups. I think Charisteas is the most unlucky man at Ajax now. I still can't see what major thing he's done wrong this season. Mind you, same story with Escude.

I don't think anyone thinks he's done much wrong. Ajax just belives more in KJH and Rosenberg. Simple as that.

Well, If Blind believed he was capable then why would he buy KJH? I think Blind is very close-minded. Once he's formed an opinion of a player he won't budge on it. De Ridder, Escude and Charisteas are all examples.

[Per]

Charisteas and Babel can be backups. I think Charisteas is the most unlucky man at Ajax now. I still can't see what major thing he's done wrong this season. Mind you, same story with Escude.

I don't think anyone thinks he's done much wrong. Ajax just belives more in KJH and Rosenberg. Simple as that.

Well, If Blind believed he was capable then why would he buy KJH? I think Blind is very close-minded. Once he's formed an opinion of a player he won't budge on it. De Ridder, Escude and Charisteas are all examples.

But with that reasoning Rosenberg would also be out, right? I don't really think it's all black and white like that.

[Kowalczyk]

Once he's formed an opinion of a player he won't budge on it. De Ridder, Escude and Charisteas are all examples.

That is true.

Having said that, I would have chosen for Huntelaar and Rosenberg myself, too. And those two are not exactly failing at the moment, are they.

You know, I'm a music critic and record companies always call me, asking: "Are you going to review our CD?" I normally say: "No." (cos I can review only a few). And then they will ask: "Why not?" My standard reply: "I am not going to explain why not. There are loads of new albums every week and I review only four. I can explain perfectly why I selected those four, but I don't have to explain why I did not choose the rest."

Same goes for a football coach: Blind should be able to explain why his eleven starters are his starters - and that's it. Rosey and KJH are doing the business, so Blind doesn't have to explain anything (about his choice of strikers, that is...).

K.

[Philippe]

IMO there is not much in common between a football coach and a music critic.
If the music critic misses a good record, he can always write a critic later (when Patti Smith's first album was issued I bought it as an import, and was reading "Time" then : I still have the article with the vynil, and it's rather funny to read : it went kind of "she can a nice carrer if she calms down" - but who cares now ?).
But if a team gets bad results because of wrong choices from the coach, there is not turning back.
So Blind has to explain his choices of course, like any other coach. Especially if the results are not good...
Do you remember why we signed Huntelaar ?

[Kowalczyk]

IMO there is not much in common between a football coach and a music critic (...) So Blind has to explain his choices of course, like any other coach. Especially if the results are not good...

That is true, of course. What I mean is that Blind only owes us an explanation if he plays a striker that doesn't score. But his strikers score like madmen. Both of them. So if anyone wants to know why Chari's not playing, all he needs to say is: "Because I prefer Rosenberg and KJH, and they're doing the business, so I have no reason to change my mind."

That's it. Too bad for Chari, but that's how it works.

K.

[Frans]

I've got no problem with the starting strikers at all. What I'm trying to imply was that Blind had decided, probably from the day he took the reins, that Charisteas had to be replaced. So he bought Rosenberg and when he didn't do the business originally, was forced to give Charisteas some playing time. But Charisteas, having had his prerequisite half year to settle in to the system, didn't do too badly. But did Charisteas' success influence Blind's opinion of him? Not much, I suspect. Off he goes and buys another striker.

Then he said Escude lacked the ability to go forward and used the mistake against Feyenoord as an excuse to drop him. ffs, if a player lacks a string to his bow, then you develop that skill, don't just cast them into the wilderness. A coach is meant to improve/develop his players. But no, Blind had decided Escude wasn't up to it. So first chance he gets, Escude gets the chop.

As for De Ridder, Blind had his opinion formed there when he was still youth coach. Basically, if you get on Blind's black list, you're screwed. You could Shit gold, piss champagne and vomit Plutonium and you'd still be off-loaded as soon as the window was open.

But no problem with the striker selection at the moment. Looks like Blind eventually got it right there. Of course, the defence hasn't quite reached the same standard. Maybe next year his choices will come up trumps.

[Frans]

I don't think anyone thinks he's done much wrong. Ajax just belives more in KJH and Rosenberg. Simple as that.

Well, If Blind believed he was capable then why would he buy KJH? I think Blind is very close-minded. Once he's formed an opinion of a player he won't budge on it. De Ridder, Escude and Charisteas are all examples.

But with that reasoning Rosenberg would also be out, right? I don't really think it's all black and white like that.

Rosenberg is Blind's buy. So he has given him an extended shot to prove himself, and Markus has come through - good on him. Vermaelen will keep getting time as he is Blind's choice. Hopefully he rewards the faith shown in him. I think next year De Mul will probably be under Danny's protective wing, and will be given leeway and time to prove himself, which is exactly what a player needs.

Where was the time and leeway for Charisteas? De Ridder? Escude? Why are the rules different for these players?

[jamcocteau]

Where was the time and leeway for Charisteas? De Ridder? Escude? Why are the rules different for these players?

To be honest I personally think that Charisteas has done ok, scored a few goals but I don't rate him as an overall footballer. In a lot of games he has been simply atrocious, poor first touch, for a big guy gets knocked off the ball very easily etc but scored especially in the run out towards Christmas. Took him far longer than Rosenberg to settle in and in all his Ajax games that I have witnessed I would say he has only played a handfull of decent games. In fact his best game by far was a few weeks back against Utrecht. Maybe because he actually has some competition up front it was a wake up call to him. Overall Rosenberg is a better player, but that is just my own personal opinion.

De Ridder I am not bothered about either way to be honest - another who flattered to deceive. He has not exactly set the heather alight down at Celta Vigo since his transfer. Anyway you cant just blame Blind for his demise at Ajax , he played under Koeman for a lot longer and was not rated by him either. Seemed a nice enough person but as a footballer never really did anything to convince me that he was out of the ordinary.

Escude I agree has been treated extremely harshly by Blind and it is something that Ajax will regret, especially in a game like tomorrow night where his experience would be invaluable. Should still be here but isn't so just got to get on with it.

[Frans]

I wasn't intending to judge any player's ability, merely Blind's mindset. At any rate, by next season Blind will have a team that is entirely of his own choosing (except maybe Rosales) and so could then be expected to take full account for results. To be fair, when he decides he likes a player, he does tend to stick with them (note Rosenberg) and this continuity/faith has worked in some cases. Maybe if he's kept on with 'his' squad next year he will show that faith in the team which gives them the confidence to succeed.

[jakobg]

This is actually a quite interesting issue. Think about how many players there are, only at Ajax (but of course in other teams as well) that have been considered very talented, but after some bad games, they've been dropped out and never really made it back. That can turn a players career into shit.

Then there are the other ones, talented as well, and with coaches who like them and believe in them. They get chance after chance, even though they fail, and many times they later on develop into great players. An interesting example is Zlatan. When he came to Ajax he got a coach that believed in him. Koeman (after Adriaanse left) had his mind set on Zlatan. He got chance after chance, even though he didn't do well his first year. Now he's having the same luck in Juventus. Even though he sometimes has bad games over there, legend Del Piero is always on the bench, while Zlatan plays 90 minutes most games.

There were many who didn't believe in Zlatan at all. What if Koeman would have been one of them? Where would Zlatan be today?

I'm going a bit off topic here, but it's quite interesting how big part of players' careers are affected by the personality of their coaches. Chari, Escudé and De Ridder were unlucky. Zlatan has been very lucky. Rosenberg seems to be lucky now as well.

[Feest]

Please don't mention De Ridder. The guy is just utter, utter crap. Not better than Turpijn, for example.

[FlaFlu]

Please don't mention De Ridder. The guy is just utter, utter crap. Not better than Turpijn, for example.

But he's such a looker. And smart too. :D

[vipester458]

when the players get picked and get bought for loads of money that must terrify them when things dont go right. But thats how you can tell whos got the talent to do well. as for positions they play, i havent made my mind up yet which one works best for Markus.

[FlaFlu]

Then all you need to do is look at the Ajax-Inter game again and have a good luck at Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. Then you'll know that Rosenberg hasn't got what it takes to play in the centre and Huntelaar does. Rosenberg's only chance at playing time is the leftwing for know.

[Blind3]

KJH is the classic "Fox In The Box". I never completely understood what the buzz about him was until I saw him against piss-poor opposition and against excellent opposition in the span of four days.His attitude and nose for goal never changed. A goal poacher's goal poacher.

Markus Rosenberg,I know this is his thread, is a perfect compliment. He and KJH create space for each other ,are good on ground and in air, and are a true #10 or winger away from terrorising the league. Back to Rosie. He has excellent skills, a nose for the ball, and an attitude fans should embrace. I saw him play with passion and a willingness to run himself into the ground to help his side.I said it before.Full Pitch Rosie. He gets full marks from me. One helluva buy.

[FlaFlu]

Huntelaar is not just a goalpoacher. If any one in this Ajax squad is merely a goalpoacher, it's Rosenberg.

[kaiser]

Huntelaar is not just a goalpoacher. If any one in this Ajax squad is merely a goalpoacher, it's Rosenberg.

This Rosenberg- Huntelaar debate is meaningless. Let us all face the truth. The truth is that Rosenberg can not compete with Huntelaar as number 10, he does not have the physical attributes for that, but few players has a greater skill to play beside a strong player like Huntlelaar. Markus
has the speed and the sense for finding the goal that is ideal for playing beside a target player. This potential is not exploited fully on the left flank, where he is invisible sometimes, despite this Markus is the best choice there.

What can we learn from this? We can learn that there is really something wrong with our club. We obviously lack wingers of really high class. Instead of changing system we put Rosenberg, the natural complement to Huntelaar on the left flank just to put on paper that we play the 4-3-3, and on the other flank Rosales, a player that has failed to convince us about his qualities. :nooo:

Any other club in the world would have played 4-4-2 when having two top forwards of high class, complement to each other and at the same having no wingers of class. But not Ajax. X'C :nooo: Zlatan has told Rosenberg not to stay too long in Ajax because you can not develop there because of the system and that he has developed more in Juventus in one year than in three years in Ajax.

Once we where lucky to have players for 4-3-3 and that must always be the ambition, but when we do not, we have to play another system to keep up the Ajax brand so that we can attract the players needed for the next period of greatness. As it is now, we raise players eager to leave the club, I think we have to start thinking how this relates to other factors, about living in the past.

4-4-2 with Rosenberg and Huntelaar as attackers is the solution. Then we escape this silly discussion about the right and the left flank :xyxthumbs:

[FlaFlu]

Huntelaar functions a lot better in a 4-3-3 system than in a 4-4-2 system. Now that we finally have a striker that fits the bill to play in the Ajax-system you want to to play a different system? No thank you. ;)

[bluedaddy19]

to me, markus looks like he might need a breather

[kaiser]

Rosenberg continues to surprise us positively, he has shown that he can not merely score but also brilliantly assist his team mates. Has he dropped playing for him self, will he continue to play for the team? If he has, I think we have a really interesting spring ahead. We are thankful for his goals, but now we know that he can do so much more.

Keep it up Markus :xyxthumbs:

[vipester458]

I havent been able to see recent ajax matches but from what ive read and heard hes playing really well.Its great to hear.well done Markus.keep it up :xyxthumbs:

[Kowalczyk]

KJH had a tough one against Alex, but Markus had another great game. He's really in excellent form at the moment. Okay, he missed the two enormous chances that he had, but to his defense: he basically did everything right and his shots were good, but Gomes is just a great goalkeeper. Tremendous saves. Many other goalkeepers would have been f*cked. Gomes kept PSV upright in the second half and Markus was one of our best on the pitch. I don't think he was the best (my man of the match was probably Lindenbergh or - surprisingly - Vermaelen), but great anyway.

I don't know why Blind replaced him (probably because he'd done so much work and was getting a bit exhausted), but it had nothing to do with his performance. Babel was crap in the 15 minutes that he played.

K.

[Feest]

I thought he (Rosenberg) was threatening when Ajax reverted to a 4-4-2 in the second half. Yet his first half performance was poor and he did should've put one of those chances away.

Yet he's Ajax' hope in Milan on Tuesday. I'm expecting Blind to switch to a 4-4-2 again sometime during that game too to free up space for Rosenberg.

Trabelsi was Ajax' best player. Followed by the omnipresent Urby and then the solid Vermaelen who played very well for 70 minutes (he suffered w/ VoH in the opening 20) and Lindenbergh had a very poor first half and a very good second one as the defensive player in the diamondshaped midfield.

[Kowalczyk]

I thought the entire Ajax team was a bit disorganized in the first half. Not just a few of them, but all of them (with Trabelsi being the exception that proves the rule). But you're right: I guess that makes Trabelsi the best Ajax man. Lindenbergh would be my #2, though.

K.