10 Aug 2005: Brøndby IF - Ajax

[Kowalczyk]

Alright, folks... The Johan Cruyff Shield is not that important (you don't want to lose to PSV, obvious,y, but as a trophy I don't really care about it), but it's the dress-rehearsal for the really important stuff: the Brøndby games. It's about millions of euros here. Crucial.

First game is on Wednesay in Copenhagen, kick-off 19:00 CET.

I just published a news report/club profile on Brøndby:
http://www.ajax-usa.com/news/2005-2006/ ... ifier.html

K.

[petelars]

Great write-up. Just a few clarifications.

Auri is very much a back-up now. He was loaned out this spring, and is 3rd in the depth chart at both left and right defender.

Elmander is very, very important to the team.

BIF is trying like mad to acquire another player before tonight's registration deadline. Likely target is Thomas Rasmussen, a regular with relegated Hansa Rostock.

On the stadium, the fans.
When we played Barca in the UEFA cup (early 2004), the Spanish media described Brøndby Stadion as "hell in the North".

http://www.brondbytifo.dk/photogallery.php?album=358

Some TIFO picks from that game. In Brøndby all TIFOs are arranged, and paid by, the supporters.

Brøndby Support fan forum
http://www.bif-support.dk/sso/board.php

http://files.filefront.com/Legestue;388 ... einfo.html

A (big) video of the 7-0 win that clinched the championship.

Anywho, best of luck to you guys - you'll need it!

[Kowalczyk]

Thanks, man. I love those tifo pictures. Very, very nice, especially because it's all around the stadium.

Over here it's pretty much the same: we have a tifo group named Vak 410. I would be honest about it if weren't so, but they really are the best and most impressive tifo group in Holland. They pay for eveything themselves, too, for example by selling their own merchandise, but also by pitching in and collecting money at home games. They've amazed me many times. One of the best tifo actions they did, by the way, was a 'memorial' when Rinus Michels (former Ajax and Holland boss) had died.

Anyway, I hope we'll get to see some cool shit -- in both legs.

As for the atmosphere at the ArenA: it can be extremely dull and apathetic at times (especially if Ajax don't play well in 'smaller' games), but sometimes when the spark is there on European nights... it can be pretty impressive. Both extremes are very well possible and it's hard to predict what will happen. We're a demanding lot, you know: we always expect Ajax to be universally great, but that's definitely not always the case and then we can sometimes be a little bit negative...

By the way: how many Brøndby fans do you think will come over on the 24th? My prediction for the first leg in Copenhagen...? Let's see: there were 1,100 of us at Parken (FCK) at the time in 2001. This game is more important (Champions League rather than UEFA Cup), but it's also a trip the fans have to arrange in less than a week's time... I think it will be just under 1,000. Like 800 or so.

K.

[petelars]

Well... Brøndby Support is busy arranging buses and flights. It can vary a bit with how well we do in the 1st leg, but I'd guess around 500 supporters and 300-400 invitees (sponsorts, partners, etc.)

[aveslacker]

Seeing tifo like that gets my heart racing. That's awesome. :headbang:

[petelars]

With the kind of interest people have shown so far, the Brøndby-Ajax should be a sell-out, by a fair margin.

If it weren't for our status as stockholders in Brøndby, my brother and I would still be in the line-ups in front of the stadium, vying for tickets. Also, today Brøndby Tifo will be collecting money for Wednesday's game.

I suspect they'll rest a few players today. That coupled with the three ties in three games vs. AaB last season... I smell a tie on the horizon. On the other hand, AaB has just one point from three games so far.

http://www.southmedia.dk/3.jpg

This is the line up this morning, some 300 meters away from the shop

[petelars]

Last game before Wednesday's game was played today, a difficult home game vs. AaB. After being down 0-1 at halftime, BIF stormed back in the 2nd half to a 3-1 win. The first half was probably the worst half BIF has played so far this season, while the 2nd was arguably the best. Jonas Kamper, usually a substitute had a very strong game at right wing, shooting at anything, and notching the final goal. In general, the team needs to find more focus than what was displayed today.


UEFA's team of the week:
http://www.uefa.com/magazine/news/Kind= ... 23770.html


Pictures from today's tifo: 1st writing: Aab (today's opponent) "two championships since the vikings". 2nd writing: "Brøndby: ten championships since 1964".
http://www.bif-support.dk/sso/board_ent ... scasc=DESC

[Kowalczyk]

Injury update...

Maxwell, Stekelenburg and Mitea are the 'long term injuries'. They are unavailable, obviously.

Trabelsi, Rosales and Rosenberg: fit and available.

De Jong: not match fit just yet, but it looks good (he had to be replaced against PSV with a minor hamstring injury, but he said immediately he was going to be alright for Wednesday).

Lindenbergh: not match fit just yet - and it does not look good (Algemeen Dagblad reports that he probably won't be in the squad for Wednesday).

K.

[petelars]

Brøndby injury update:

The squad has recovered from the Tblisi Torpedo stomach ailment they all suffered from.

Morten Skoubo, the starting top-striker is struggling slightly with a foot injury, but played the last 45 minutes on Saturday.

A few other starters have some minor bumps and scrapes, but nothing significant. You'll notice that Elmander plays with taped fingers - he has tendon problems in his hand, but will wait until the winter break to have surgery.

The only major injury is to Kasper Dalgas, who has been out for a year and a half with a knee injury (expected to retire).

[petelars]

Injury update...

Maxwell, Stekelenburg and Mitea are the 'long term injuries'. They are unavailable, obviously.

Trabelsi, Rosales and Rosenberg: fit and available.

De Jong: not match fit just yet, but it looks good (he had to be replaced against PSV with a minor hamstring injury, but he said immediately he was going to be alright for Wednesday).

Lindenbergh: not match fit just yet - and it does not look good (Algemeen Dagblad reports that he probably won't be in the squad for Wednesday).

K.

So what would be the Ajax starting eleven as it stands?

Brøndby's is (most likely):

Ankergreen

Rytter Nielsen Agger Sennels

Kamper Retov Lantz Jørgensen

Elmander

Skoubo

Another vid: http://www.djnordberg.dk/file/bifforever.rar

[Kowalczyk]

So what would be the Ajax starting eleven as it stands?

Here's what I expect it to be (what I would prefer is a slightly different question)...

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

Trabelsi ------ Grygera -------- Maduro -------- Escudé -----

De Jong ------------- Galásek ------------- Boukhari or Sneijder

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


I would rather see Grygera and Escudé play in the centre, with youn Urby Emanuelson as a left fullback, Maduro in central midfield and Galásek on the bench. But I don't expect that will happen.

K.

[petelars]

The scouting report on Ajax so far says that the players shift positions constantly, so predicting the lineup is very, very difficult. They apply a lot of pressure, so Brøndby needs to play one-touch passes to catch the players applying the pressure out of position.

The central defenders have a tendency to stand around and watch the ball, instead of trying to clear it, so opportunitism is a definite must for the Brøndby strikers.

Sneijder might not start in?!?!? I thought he was the 2nd coming! (well, so vas vdv).

[Kowalczyk]

The scouting report on Ajax so far says that the players shift positions constantly, so predicting the lineup is very, very difficult.

If you're talking about the line-up as such, that is correct: there's not really a standard line-up. When you predict the Ajax line-up, you're almost guaranteed to be wrong for one or two positions.

If you're talking about the tactical formation, however, the players don't shift positions as much as we'd like them to. Ajax's play has most definitely become more static and less dynamic in recent years - unfortunately.

They apply a lot of pressure

Ideally they do. In practice: sometimes... :sad:

so Brøndby needs to play one-touch passes to catch the players applying the pressure out of position.

In general: if you give Ajax the space to play you may get in trouble. If Ajax get the space (and they have a good day...) you will find that the players are high-skilled, fast on their feet and good at playing one touch football. In general, Ajax have a hard time against physically strong teams that are solid, well-organized, lean back and wait for the opportunity to counter-attack.

The central defenders have a tendency to stand around and watch the ball, instead of trying to clear it, so opportunitism is a definite must for the Brøndby strikers.

Yep. Very true. It's very well possible to bring Ajax in trouble by playing opportunistic one toch football.

Sneijder might not start in?!?!? I thought he was the 2nd coming! (well, so vas vdv).

He was rested in the Super Cup against PSV. The guy who replaced him (Boukhari) had one hell of a game, scored a goal and gave the assist for the second one. If our coach has the courage, he should play Boukhari and bring Sneijder in the second half or something. I think he'll end up choosing for Sneijder anyway, though.

K.

[Kowalczyk]

A quick update...

This morning was the last training session before departure to Copenhagen. Mitea and Lindenbergh had to skip it; Nigel de Jong trained individually. All the others were there. Ajax will take off from Schiphol Airport at 15:30 CET (that's in 22 minutes' time).

The four officials for Brøndby vs Ajax are from Italy: Massimo de Santis (referee), Alessandro Griselli (linesman), Marco Ivaldi (linesman) and Paolo Silvio Mazzoleni (fourth official). Co-incidentally, Mr De Santis was also the referee of Grazer AK vs Ajax in August 2003, the last time Ajax played in the third preliminary round of the Champions League.

K.

[Kowalczyk]

Officially confirmed by Ajax: Olaf Lindenbergh is not in the squad for Wednesday. He stayed in Amsterdam.

The squad in full (in alphabetical order)

Yannis Anastasiou
Ryan Babel
Nourdin Boukhari
Angelos Charisteas
Urby Emanuelson
Julien Escudé
Tomás Galásek
Zdenek Grygera
John Heitinga
Nigel de Jong
Bogdan Lobont
Hedwiges Maduro
Edgar Manucharyan
Steven Pienaar
Mauro Rosales
Markus Rosenberg
Wesley Sneijder
Hatem Trabelsi
Thomas Vermaelen
Hans Vonk

Injured: Maxwell, Maarten Stekelenburg, Nicolae Mitea, Olaf Lindenbergh.
Not selected: Daniël de Ridder, Anthony Obodai, Rasmus Lindgren, Tom de Mul, Kenneth Vermeer.

K.

[ZoefdeHaas]

In Tubantia, it said Manucharyan could leave??

Anyways here's what I think Blind would put:

Vonk

Heitinga Grygera Escude Emmanuelson

De Jong Maduro Sneijder

Pienaar Chariteas Babel

[petelars]

It seems Ajax is having a bit of trouble with the Amsterdam police? What are the odds that the game will NOT be played at the Arena?

[Kowalczyk]

It seems Ajax is having a bit of trouble with the Amsterdam police? What are the odds that the game will NOT be played at the Arena?

The game against Brøndby...?

That one will definitely be played at the ArenA. The local government had a big problem with Ajax vs ADO Den Haag (a fixture with an extremely high 'risk factor'), this upcoming Sunday. That game was forbidden by the mayor and will now be played on neutral territory (which SUCKS). But there was never any discussion whatsoever about the Brøndby game. No worries.

K.

[martinDK]

.. I must corredct my danish friend...

I think (depending on the result in the first leg) that between 2500 - 4000 brøndby supporters will travel to Amsterdam n the second leg.

1½ ago, when we met schalke 04, we were about 2500 in Arena Auf Schalke.

this i a bigger game and Amsterdam is at much more atractive city =)

[Kowalczyk]

I think (depending on the result in the first leg) that between 2500 - 4000 brøndby supporters will travel to Amsterdam n the second leg.

Well, there you go! I sure hope there will be that much. It means I will hit the town early in the afternoon and meet some of the Brøndy fans for a beer. Always nice.

K.

[petelars]

You seemed to appreciate the TIFOs, so I cooked up a li'l something.


(FCK, Domestic, championship decider, June 2003)


(AGF, Domestic, club's 40th anniversary)


(FCM, Cup final)




(FCN, Final game of last season. CHAMPIONS!!!)


(FCM, Domestic, Brøndby Support's 10th anniversary)



Last but not least...
(Schalke, UEFA cup, 100th anniversary UEFA game)

[aveslacker]

Again, great tifo. Why are those guys holding their shoes up in the air?

[petelars]

A very, very, very long story. The urban legend of Brøndby Support. Supposedly it was first done when we were truly trouncing some hapless team, as a sign of superiority. It is however, much more complicated than that, but that's the basics.

Obviously, for the last game of the season, championship ceremony and everything, we painted our shoes golden.

[ZoefdeHaas]

Wasnt there two seperate clubs that joined together into today's Brnby? The gold and the blue colours make sense if so..

[petelars]

Wasnt there two seperate clubs that joined together into today's Brnby? The gold and the blue colours make sense if so..

Yes, back in 1964, the Brøndbyøster and Brøndbyvester clubs joined forces. That's why the full name is actually Brøndbyernes IF (the Brøndby cities' sports association).

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.