07 Apr 2005: Ajax - Willem II

Bericht door **Kowalczyk** » zo apr 03, 2005 8:10 pm

Well, alright then... on to the next one.

Julien Escudé will be suspended for this one. Angelos Charisteas picked up an ankle injury and will probably not play. Rafaël van der Vaart may or may not be back for this one.

On a positive note: perhaps (if he actually plays for Young Ajax on Tuesday night) Tomás Galásek will return to the bench... He's almost there.

Ajax vs Willem II, ladies and gents! Your comments here...

K.

Bericht door **Kowalczyk** » ma apr 04, 2005 8:44 am

The AZ discussion is busier at the moment, but let's worry about this one first...

Beating Willem II is very important. It must be done. Blind is trying to keep things calm by pointing out that PSV, Heerenveen, AZ and Feyenoord are fixtures in which you could, reasonably, drop points. It's just a matter of unfortunate timing that we're playing them in one month's time. However, if we also blow it against Willem II we are suddenly facing the risk of losing five times in a row...

Everyone's talking about all kinds of things at Ajax at the moment - and it seems like the fans are already talking about the AZ game. Everyone seems to be forgetting that we actually have to beat Willem II as well - and that we will probably have to do it without Escudé, Van der Vaart and Charisteas.

By the way: I predict the lowest public turnout of the season - and, for that matter, the lowest in several years. We've lost twice in a row and there's another (more interesting) home game on Sunday... I think many season ticket holders from outside of Amsterdam will not show up. They won't bother to make the trip. As for the 'real' Amsterdammers: they tend to turn their backs on Ajax in times like these. My prediction: 30,000. Not more. The official number will be high as usual (46,000 or more), but that's because they count the number of seats sold (number of season ticket holders + number of tickets sold in presale).

The ArenA will be half-empty, for sure. Bad times.

K.

Bericht door **Jinne** » ma apr 04, 2005 11:04 am

I will be there again, although I must say that at the moment I'm not 'jumping' to go, but hell the seasonticket has been payed already long ago and since it's a midweekgame no travelcosts either. So why should I stay at home?

It's unbelievable how many we're offered a game against Willem II btw whenever the team seemed to have hit an ultimate low. I remember it with Wouters, when Knopper jumped into his arms after the 1-1. It happened with Adriaanse after Ajax had lost 5-1 in Heerenveen and earlier this season with Koeman after the 'sof' in Tel Aviv.

At least those games had one thing in common: We won.

Wie kent Cees de Wolf nog · Bericht door **Wie kent Cees de Wolf nog** » wo apr 06, 2005 8:08 pm

That tradition has ended, Jinne... After the 4-0 crush against PSV: we lost. Again.

The Purple Cow · Bericht door **The Purple Cow** » do apr 07, 2005 10:07 am

I actually had trouble getting tickets for my brother for tonight's game.

I couldn't get ticks for Vak 420 at all, so I've had to shove the poor boy into Vak 419 row 26! Up amongst the pidgeons.

Bericht door **Kowalczyk** » do apr 07, 2005 10:12 am

Here's why I think we will win...

Ajax will be well aware that this is their chance to book the win they need so desperately. They know that if they lose again, there is a serious risk that they will lose four or five times in a row - which would be historic and they'll do anything to not let that happen.

Also, Willem II are always an easy opponent for us. In spite of the fact that they always have a decent team (they're never shit or something), it is statistically the easiest away game of the season for Ajax (we always seem to score at least three goals there) and they never won a league in Amsterdam. The reason: they always have the same qualities as Ajax (skill and a certain grace), but also the same weaknesses, e.g. they are shaky in defense and are not exactly a team of fighters. Once they go a goal down against 'big club' they will usually roll over.

I think the above facts will bring us a win tonight...

... but I have to add that it will be an 'unnecessary' defeat for Willem II. If they, for a change, have the courage, the determination and the will-power to seriously go for a result in the ArenA (which they almost never do for some reason) they can walk off with the three points, plain simple. Ajax are in a terrible state at the moment and can be beaten by any opponent that really wants it.

But then again: I think Willem II will be 'good old' Willem II again, namely the team always willing to show a struggling Ajax team the light at the end of the tunnel. It's happened many times before.

K.

Bericht door **Kowalczyk** » do apr 07, 2005 2:05 pm

Latest team news...

Rafaël van der Vaart is fit and ready to rock 'n' roll (recovered from a hamstring injury). Wesley Sneijder will also return (from a one game suspension).

Unavailable are: Angelos Chariosteas, Rasmus Lindgren (injuries), Julien Escudé (suspended).

K.

Philippe · Bericht door **Philippe** » do apr 07, 2005 2:29 pm

Kowalczyk schreef:The official number will be high as usual (46,000 or more), but that's because they count the number of seats sold (number of season ticket holders + number of tickets sold in presale).
K.

are you sure about that ??? last time I came (den bosch) figures were very low, and I would say that it was the total number of people there ...
and how many seats do not belong the season card holders ?

Bericht door **Kowalczyk** » do apr 07, 2005 4:24 pm

philippe schreef:are you sure about that ??? last time I came (den bosch) figures were very low, and I would say that it was the total number of people there ...
Against Den Bosch the official attendance was 45,619.

http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/ ... p-win.html

The actual number of people on the stands is usually an estimated 5,000 lower than that (season ticket holders and ArenA certficate holders not showing up).
and how many seats do not belong the season card holders ?

A few weeks ago Ajax announced their official figures over the year 2004: the number of season tickets sold for this season is just over 41,000. Then there's the away section (1,600) plus a 'buffer zone' on both sides of it (200), the 'certificate holders' (a sort of shareholders) of the Amsterdam ArenA, plus approximately 200 'impaired view' seats that are normally not sold. The number of tickets available for free presale is 5,000 or 6,000 or so.

The official attendance is always the number of season ticket holder and certificate holders plus the number of tickets sold in presale. Which is - again - not the real number of people in attendance, but I understand why Ajax work with that figure: it's the number of seats sold to people. The number of seats they have received money for - and can not sell to anyone else anymore. Whether or not people actually show up on the day is not Ajax's problem (well... it is, in a way, but from an administrative point of view it isn't).

K.

funzoid · Bericht door **funzoid** » do apr 07, 2005 10:42 pm

WE WON!!! WE WON!!!! WE F**KING WON!!! 2-0. what a relief.... how long has it been since last time we won??

Bericht door **Kowalczyk** » do apr 07, 2005 11:02 pm

funzoid schreef:how long has it been since last time we won??

Ahhh... The last time we won... Glorie be ye olde Kingdom of The Netherlands. Twas in the merrie old days. When we hammered ye olde Feyenerde. When our bhoyz drove ye olde PSV peasants out of their farmhouses and into ye deep blue Northe Sea. Ye peasants screameth in agonie. Twas a merrie noise. When the olde Amsterdam flag was up high and thou feareth ye invasion of ye red and white...

Or whatever... Maybe I am pissed...

About fucking time is what I say.

K.

bryan · Bericht door **bryan** » vr apr 08, 2005 1:13 am

You can't keep dropping players when you lose, and thus indirectly blaming them for problems in the team. Eventually you end up dropping the entire squad at one time or another, and the whole squad hates you. Ask Ronald Koeman.

But 2-0 will do very nicely.

Venezuelan Ajacied · Bericht door **Venezuelan Ajacied** » vr apr 08, 2005 1:55 am

Fine, a win is a win and even more at this paticular moment, but still y mean we always score 4-5 goals against this team and this time at home we only managed to score twice, and the second one was scored at the 90 minute mark. We still got a lot off things too work on for the next game witch is ............ AZ YIKES !!!!!!!!!!!

Bericht door **Kowalczyk** » vr apr 08, 2005 10:56 am

Match report is up on Ajax USA, people...

http://www.ajax-usa.com/matches/m04-05/ ... i-2-0.html

K.

Blind3 · Bericht door **Blind3** » vr apr 08, 2005 4:02 pm

:xyxthumbs: About time.Hallelujah.

Philippe · Bericht door **Philippe** » vr apr 08, 2005 4:30 pm

according to de telegraaf : Ajax - Willem II Toeschouwers: 35.000.

and 45.216 Toeschouwers according to ajax.nl

so about 10.000 season card holders did not bother to visit the Arena for that game ...

07 Apr 2005: Ajax - Willem II

07 Apr 2005: Ajax - Willem II

Match Report