01 Dec 2013: ADO Den Haag - Ajax

[Rooie]

Poor officials today. That was no offside by Hoesen.

[Orange14]

Not as good a first half as against Barca, but enough to take a 2-0 lead. Good pressing all over the field. We should be up a man after Kramer's uncalled for elbow to the head of Cillessen (BTW, great save to keep ADO at zero). Duarte has been out of position a number of times which I guess is understandable not having played fullback (maybe ever??); he needs to stay more focused here. Continued good play by Blind. Let's keep up the pressure in the second half and get another goal to seal this one.

[Tom_]

Well it wasn't an awesome first half from Ajax, but our lineup is very attacking and you can see we're trying to move the ball quickly like we did against Barça. It hasn't worked every single time, and it's made the game look a little messy, but it's quite entertaining! We're also pressing well and ADO aren't looking very dangerous except for that chance off the corner that was well saved by Cilessen.

We will definitely get tired in the second half so another goal in the next 15 would be nice.

[SPL]

2 well taken goals and we look comfortable .Agree it was red card for the elbow. An early 3rd should finish the game.Klaassen
impresses me ,after all he was out for a year and is far more effective in that position than de Jong.

[Amol]

Poor officials today. That was no offside by Hoesen.

Yeah he was onside by about 2 metres.

[Amol]

I don't know what has changed, but since the Barca game, the midfield of Blind, Klassen and Serrero is the real deal. Loving it so far.

[Tom_]

Poor officials today. That was no offside by Hoesen.

It's understandable if the ref sometimes misses something or the linesman makes a mistake on an offside call, but I'd be interested to hear him explain how he saw the elbow to the face and decided it was only worth a yellow.

[Kowalczyk]

Where you guys watching? Any good streams available?

K.

[Tom_]

I'm watching on eredivisie live but that stream's usually also available on SopCast, check here.

[rjf1]

The sopcast 13th stream feed is excellent today.

[Orange14]

Nicely taken by van Rhijn, terrible keeping to let it go in but we will take it.

[Tom_]

Ha ha ha. Well that should sew the match up.

[rjf1]

The minute I saw Van Rijn start that run I said to myself that he's going to bury it -- and he did!!!

[Tom_]

Referee saw that one too!!! What the hell?

[Orange14]

How can the match official let Kramer stay on the field??

[rjf1]

Somebody on Ajax needs to take Kramer to the cleaners before the game is finished.

[Rooie]

Wow, 2nd elbow by the same player in one match and he still standing on the pitch...

[rjf1]

For all that running they did early in the game, it looks like ADO has run itself out of gas at this point.

[King Litti]

Nice to see that we were able to maintain the needed focus and stamina after a though CL game. Things look bright for us at the moment.

[rjf1]

A fitting kick in the teeth to the thugs of Den Haag -- Hoesen did well with his back to goal and Bojan delivered the poke in the eye.

[Van basten]

FINALLY. Bojan on score list

[SPL]

A very easy win and Bojan will be very happy coming back and scoring . Agree Kramer should have had 2 reds .ADO a dirty side. We are now back on top but expect Vitesse to win today .

[Orange14]

In the end a convincing win against a team that tried to play rough and tumble football. Really good pressing never let ADO get comfortable on the ball. Opportunistic play on offense with a midfield that was fluid and quick with the pass. Good to see quickness on the pitch. League matches ahead against some of the poorer teams so we should be able to get up a head of steam before the winter break.

Player Ratings:

Cillessen (8) - two really fine saves kept the clean sheet and his kicking again was pretty solid
Duarte (7) - decent enough filling in at left back, wasn't positionally convincing but was good going forward as might be expected of a midfielder
Denswill (7.5) - no mistakes at all today and solid building the play up
Veltman (7) - a couple of poor decisions on the ball but otherwise good play
van Rhijn (7.5) - no weakness at all today and went forward strongly
Blind (8) - again a really fine match, bossing the midfield
Serero (7.5) - I hope the Barca match was a turning point for him, really good in all aspects today
Klaassen (8) - very strong play and this should convince FdB that de Jong has no role in the midfield when he gets healthy
Fischer (7.5) - solid today
Hoesen (5.5) - generally poor play except for the final three minutes when the match was already won, bad on the ball and had no sense of where his teammates were
Schöne (6.5) - OK play but got tired down the stretch
Bojan (7) - good to see him on the scoreboard and he worked into open positions on the field (was wide open when Hoesen wasn't looking around)
Poulsen (6.5) - on as a late sub and had a couple of good defensive plays
Moisander (6.5) - really on too little to make any judgement other than decent

Let's keep the momentum and avoid any injuries!!!

[SPL]

Agree Hoesen did not do much .If Siem is fit next week I expect him to play Striker instead of Hoesen no way can Siem replace Klaassen. Serero really is starting to play well.
A bit odd sending Moisander and Poulsen on but it means V d Hoorn de Sa and Andersen can all play for Jong Ajax tomorrow ,all 3 can do with 90 mins of football.

[paladinby]

I am not sure if the ref ever read the rule book but both elbows were worth the red card each.