31 OCT 2015 Ajax - Roda Match Day 11

[Orange14]

Home to Roda next weekend following the Cup tie with arch rivals Feyenoord. I'll be out of town for a wedding but maybe able to watch this match before the festivities begin.

[SPL]

Bazoer's knee is troubling him and he probably wont play this game . Only other injury Boer out with a calf problem so Onana replaces him.

Should add Sanogo is still out with a long term groin injury but this guy is so bad doubt anyone cares.Just hope we send him back home in January.Wenger rates him so let him have him back.

[Orange14]

Agree about Sanogo. To bad we cannot recall Zivkovic who seems to be finding his form.

[SPL]

I was too quick with my Bazoer comment above .Press conference for the game just took place and Bazoer could well be fit but Dijks is out with a groin injury. Sanogo is now fit but not match fit and could play next week for ourJong.

[Dave the mac]

Good to see vd Hoorn getting some playing time! With Dijks out Riedewald may play there and vd Hoorn plays again in the middle. Didn't get to see the last two matches so really looking forward to see him play...by all accounts he played quite well.

[Ayman]

Ajax have a problem on the left wing. Fischer clearly isn't one. Younes can not back track when the team is on the defensive, and Sinkgraven is a midfielder. I guess there is no alternative than Fischer at the moment, until the January transfer window opens.

[souras84]

Looks like whenever we face Roda, Frank fields us with a 3-4-3 system!

[SPL]

yes 3-4-3 today with Tete,Veltman Riedewald as back 3 with Serero and Sinkgraven mf with Klaassen and Gudelj .El Ghazi,Milik Fischer is still our best front 3 though.

I am watching on sky 5 live .

[Orange14]

Getting to watch on my tablet in beautiful Montauk New York on the far end of long Isl and. Good to see some goals.

[SPL]

A great first half with Roda's defence poor and we can now coast to 3 points. Fischer and Sinkgraven having good games. Fischer is not a central striker, playing out wide he is far better and Sinkgraven in his proper MF position.

[souras84]

El Ghazi is out of rhythm today. I hope it's still the flu... I wish his fire really doesn't stop burning so soon

[FearNoArt]

We saw the real ajax tonight, just beatyfull.. although el-ghazi had a quiet game..

[Orange14]

Great match with some nice goals. No chance to do ratings as I need to get ready for our cousin's wedding. Will tomorrow when I get home.

[SPL]

Great performance by us Beautiful football all night and we could have hit10 .Klaassen and Sinkgraven had great games Fischer my mom.

No moans about boring footy tonight real Ajax style

[SPL]

Great reception when Heits came on. We have had a lot of moans about our performances this season but we sometimes forget this is a very young side and can only get better.Tonight they clicked and what a beautiful 90 mins it was being an Ajax fan.It washed the nasty taste of that odious Fword out of my mouth.

I guess Roda were lucky that our best player of the season to date was injured,ie. Bazoer. He instead of Serero ,who was not bad,and we really would have been even better and that 10-0 would have been likely.

Hope our mate Orange enjoys his cousin's wedding.

[Cruijff]

Great match with some nice goals. No chance to do ratings as I need to get ready for our cousin's wedding. Will tomorrow when I get home.

Ok super, enjoy!

[Ayman]

Does anyone remember when results like this used to be normal?

[Amol]

I just finished watching the replay. Where is this Ajax team hiding? Was it the switch to 3-4-3 which opened up a lot more lanes or was it having players playing in their proper positions? This was so refreshing to watch.

[Orange14]

My wife and I had a delightful weekend in Montauk which is on the tip of Long Island NY for a family wedding. On Saturday we drove into the Hamptons to see how the rich and famous live (in complete splendor, that's for sure). We got back in time for me to watch the Ajax match as the wedding was not scheduled to start until several hours later. What a wonderful display of football! FdB sent the team out in a 3-4-3 and IIRC he frequently uses this against teams that employ a two striker set up feeling that three deep lying defenders can handle two strikers. Roda uses an almost classic 4-4-2 but were certainly underwhelming on the day. They defended poorly and for once this season, the Ajax midfield had a splendid performance with Sinkgraven and Gudelj on the outside and Serero and Klaassen inside. When Klaassen moved further up the field the team was in a 3-3-4 with some pretty potent attacking options.

Six goals, braces from Fischer, Milik & Klaassen. It was good to get a big win in advance of the EL tie with Fenerbace on Thursday and a return to Rotterdam to take on our archrivals. Maybe van Beek will score another OG next Sunday!!!

Player Ratings (may be slightly off as it has been over 24 hours since I watched the match; modest ratings are somewhat a reflection of Roda's mediocre play)

FdB (9) - sent them out in a 3-4-3 and unleashed them all, maybe only 3-4 back passes to Cillessen all game

Cillessen (6.5) - one point blank save and then little to do the rest of the match; fortunate that the Roda striker muffed his chance on the only defensive lapse during the match
Riedewald (7) - solid game and did venture forward on a couple of occaisions
Veltman (7.5) - anchored the three man back line and there was only one counter where the striker got free but not sure it was Veltman's fault, did well to break away from his marker on the corner that led to the first goal
Tete (7) - continues to shut down the opponents left side
Sinkgraven (7) - well done in the midfield showed good field vision
Serero (7) - lively addition to the midfield and only had a couple of back passes
Klaassen (7) - played a good all around game with some very nice passing for a change
Gudelj (7) - excellent play and his free kicks were almost Schöne-like
Fischer (7) - another demonstration that he's back to full fitness, good reactions on the post rebound to slot the goal home and some nice passes
Milik (7) - played well both on and off the ball, what a great free kick to score from distance though maybe a better keeper would have saved it
el Ghazi (4.5) - flu hangover??? Perhaps, in any event he was a total non-factor in the match
Heitinga (5.5) - on for Gudelj and it looked like the club moved back to a 4-3-3 for the rest of the game
Viergever (5.5) - in for Veltman and had little to do

[SPL]

Might have given Klaassen and Fischer 8's or 7.5 both had very good games.

On sky the commentator, on seeing V d Sar and Overmars said, they talk about Man U 's class of 1992 but Ajax as a club has to be the class of the last 25 years for all the great players produced and still being produced.Nice comment and perfectly correct.

[Tom_]

I missed this match (travelling). Good to hear we played some decent football at last. Let's hope for some momentum for the next few games and a nice winning streak!!!

[Dave the mac]

Yeah what a great match, fun to watch all the goals scored! And here's to Roda for trying to football.
Ajax now top of the table, 30 goals scored with only 5 against! The team is really coming together. At the two previous games at Vitesse and Heracles it's a great stretch. Only el Ghazi had an off day.
Sinkgraven really caught my eye, Klaassen finally had a good game...they all did. Also like that Orange gave fdb a 9!
It's really fun to watch again.