10 Aug 2005: Brøndby IF - Ajax

[SE6Ajacied]

Three BIF players were selected to the Danish national team today, for the game vs. England on Wednesday, next week.

Per Nielsen
Daniel Agger
Morten Skoubo
Recent BIF players Thomas Kahlenberg (AJ Auxerre) and Søren Larsen (Schalke 04) were also selected.

Jonas Kamper and Kasper Lorentzen were selected to the U21 squad.

Love the banners, they're very well done. I'm afraid I might be supporting England next week though :D . Not sure about the rest of Ajaxtalk though...

[ZoefdeHaas]

Will this match be on television?

[petelars]

Will this match be on television?

In Denmark, it'll be on TV2. They have an on-line sister channel called TV2 Sputnik, where you can watch this game for €3. I believe the website is in Danish, only, though.

[Kowalczyk]

Will this match be on television?

In Holland it will be on RTL5, mate...

K.

[ZoefdeHaas]

Thanks lads ;)

[petelars]

AJAX Ole Tobiasen, oud-speler van Ajax en AZ, verwacht dat Ajax zich woensdagavond ten koste van Brondby zal plaatsen voor de Champions League.

De 30-jarige verdediger speelt zelf bij FC Kopenhagen, de rivaal van Bröndby. Probleemloos zal de kwalificatie niet gaan, zo voorspelt de Deen.
"Bröndby is de competitie goed begonnen en is vol zelfvertrouwen. Ajax krijgt het moeilijk, maar zal het zeker in Amsterdam afmaken. "

What does supertanker-Ole have to say about the game, exactly? My Dutch is a bit rusty...

[Kowalczyk]

Ajax's line-up for tonight accoring to De Telegraaf (based on the training sessions in Copenhagen):


-------------------------- Vonk ------------------------------

Trabelsi ------- Grygera ------ Escudé ---- Emanuelson --

De Jong -------------- Maduro ------------------Sneijder --

Pienaar ------------ Rosenberg ------------------ Babel --


To be honest I am quite pleased with that. As I said before: Urby Emanuelson is young and a bit of a 'risk factor', but at least he's a real left fullback. If you don't play him, you will have to shift at least two or three other players around and play them out of position (Escudé to the left, Maduro to central defense, etc.). I prefer it this way. We're Ajax and we play with youngsters we believe in. Even in big games. We gamble. That's what brought us failure; that's what brought us glory.

Also: Boukhari picked up a minor groin injury in training yesterday. That's why he will probably not start. Had he been 100% fit I think he may have started instead of Sneijder. But Sneijder knows that his starting slot is in serious peril, so he'll be very determined - for sure. Stiff competition on key positions; that's what we need, that's how it should be.

Otherwise no surprises. I agree with Blind that this is probably the way to go.

K.

[ZoefdeHaas]

Glad to see Rosenberg ready and recovered enough to show what he can do. Wonder when Manucharyan is ever going to play

[Kowalczyk]

What does supertanker-Ole have to say about the game, exactly? My Dutch is a bit rusty...

This what the article says...

Ole Tobiasen, former player of Ajax and AZ, expects that Ajax eliminate Brøndby and qualify for the Champions League. The 30 year-old defender plays for FC Copenhagen, local rivals of Brøndby. It will not be easy, is the Dane's prediction: "Brøndby have had a good start in the league and they have great self-confidence. Ajax will have a hard time, but they will surely finish the job in Amsterdam."

I also read another Ole Tobiasen quote on AT5 (local news network here in Amsterdam).

"I expect it to be an entertaining game between tho offensive sides. I expect a draw in Denmark and Ajax to finish the job in Amsterdam."

He seems more convinced of it than me, actually...

K.

[aveslacker]

Ajax's line-up for tonight accoring to De Telegraaf (based on the training sessions in Copenhagen):


-------------------------- Vonk ------------------------------

Trabelsi ------- Grygera ------ Escudé ---- Emanuelson --

De Jong -------------- Maduro ------------------Sneijder --

Pienaar ------------ Rosenberg ------------------ Babel --

I like this lineup too. It will be nice to see (or read, in my case) how this lineup handles the pressure. I agree that Emanuelson should be given a chance to prove his worth.

Hope Rosenberg plays well.

[Over Pasanens Head]

Have I missed something - what has happened to Galasek?

My prediction is all doom & more doom - a 2-0 win for Bronby with a 1-1 draw in the return.

I would feel a bit better if Sikora was still with us - only kidding really :D

[Kowalczyk]

Have I missed something - what has happened to Galasek?

I'm afraid Blind is not a fan. He was dissatisfied with Galásek's play in pre-season and he prefers Maduro because he has more 'depth' in his play.

My prediction is all doom & more doom - a 2-0 win for Bronby with a 1-1 draw in the return.

I would feel a bit better if Sikora was still with us - only kidding really :D

Where exactly are you kidding? Only in the bit about Sikora - or in the whole quote?

K.

[Over Pasanens Head]

Where exactly are you kidding? Only in the bit about Sikora - or in the whole quote?

K.

Sikora - the result I am deadly serious about.


Plus what is this "depth" business with Galasek & Maduro - what is meant by depth?

[Kowalczyk]

Plus what is this "depth" business with Galasek & Maduro - what is meant by depth?

Basically, Blind thinks that Maduro has more of forward drive. More thrust. According to press reports he criticised Galásek for giving too many safe passes wide, whereas Ajax's problem is that they have to switch from defense to attack more quickly. Blind feels that Maduro is better at that: defending, intercepting the ball and then think forward immediately.

Don't shoot the messenger, OPH...

K.

[Over Pasanens Head]

Basically, Blind thinks that Maduro has more of forward drive. More thrust. According to press reports he criticised Galásek for giving too many safe passes wide, whereas Ajax's problem is that they have to switch from defense to attack more quickly. Blind feels that Maduro is better at that: defending, intercepting the ball and then think forward immediately.

Don't shoot the messenger, OPH...

K.

I certainly won't shoot the messenger as I have a feeling that Blind is basically correct. The only thing I say is that Galasek would rather make a safe pass than punting it forward in hope. In the games in which I have seen Maduro perform (last season only) he was prone to taking the hopeful option. However, this could be put down to his inexperience.

My other comment would be that I would have thought that what we really need tonight etc is a player with experience to bring the others along. With this line-up I cannot see where this leadership is coming from. Especially in the away leg I would have preferred Galasek in the midfield at the expense of Pienaar.
However, it appears the king is dead, long live the new king.

[raymon]

You are right about the experience Galasek brings, but much of a leader he ain't. That was always the problem with him. So I think Blind is hoping that the experience in the defence line (Escude and Grygera) will be sufficient for coaching this team.

I can understand why Blind is chosing Maduro over Galasek for the offence part of his role, but sometimes a safe pass to the side can keep the ball in your possesion a little longer. Especially under pressure that is really important. No wonder he put Galasek on the pitch in the final moments of the PSV game last Friday (in my opinion).

[petelars]

Well, I'm off to the game. I promise plenty of pictures and a game report some time tomorrow.

[raymon]

Well, I'm off to the game. I promise plenty of pictures and a game report some time tomorrow.

Have fun! But not too much fun :xyxthumbs:

[Manneken Pis]

Well, I'm off to the game. I promise plenty of pictures and a game report some time tomorrow.

Have fun! But not too much fun :xyxthumbs:

He won't....Babel's just made it 1-2 (15 minutes to go).

:worshippy: :worshippy: :worshippy:

[Manneken Pis]

Well, I'm off to the game. I promise plenty of pictures and a game report some time tomorrow.

Have fun! But not too much fun :xyxthumbs:

He won't....Babel's just made it 1-2 (15 minutes to go).

:worshippy: :worshippy: :worshippy:

Oops..spoke too soon.... :oops:

[Venezuelan Ajacied]

Ahhhhhhh Shit, there we go again.... why do we always have to suffer last minute setbacks. I mean come on cant we ever learn from our mistakes????? Oh well we had our qualification almost in the bag, now the return leg is going to be more interesting. Not a bad result by any means just the way we ended up with the result...... Crap.

Lets hope good old(and injured) Ole Tobiasen is right.

[bluedaddy19]

wonder goal by babel, wish i coulda gone to this cracker - i can't wait for the photos - a good result and really a deserved one... but man... what lucky bastards in the last minute!

[Kowalczyk]

Okay - it was a bit shit that we conceded a last minute goal (again), but let's face it: a few minutes earlier Brøndby were extremely close to the equalizer already, as Skoubo took advantage of erratic defending and hit the bar. They were very unlucky there - and alright: in stoppage time they were lucky that it went in off SQD's leg.

All in all we shouldn't complain: Brøndby were better and had more dangerous moments than us. On the other hand: their goals were a handball and a deflected shot... and Sneijder had the ultimate chance to make it 1-3. Not everything they did was overly convincing.

There's a lot you can say about this game, I guess. It was very entertaining and all in all I think this is a good result for us. We scored two away goals and they are the ones who will have to score in Amsterdam. A 2-2 draw at home... the only reason why they're happy about that right now, is because it could have been worse.

K.

[ferry]

Not the best game ever from Ajax side, but 2-2 is a good result for an away game. Perhaps it made a difference that Brondby is already playing in the Danish leaugue and Ajax lacks some rhythm. This result will be sufficient for entry to the Champions League, though.

[aveslacker]

On the one hand, you can't be too upset with 2 away goals playing against a team that is close to midseason form, so I'm optimistic. On the other hand, I remember being optimistic going into the Auxerre - Ajax match last year, and that turned out pretty crappy (other than causing Koeman to resign, of course).

Then again, Blind is no Koeman, and two away goals is a pretty good thing to have. Hopefully this means that Ajax will press from the beginning, in search of a home goal. It would be nice to see (or read about) the boys attacking with conviction.

All in all, I have to give today's match a :xyxthumbs: .