14 Sep 2006: IK Start - Ajax

[Kowalczyk]

No Eredivisie football next weekend, then Ajax vs Vitesse (10 September) and - only four days after that - the first leg against IK Start in Norway. My plane tickets to Oslo are already booked!

K.

[Kowalczyk]

Kick-off time for the away leg: 18.15 CET.

Kick-off time for the return leg at the ArenA on 28 September: 20.45 CET.

K.

[Venezuelan Ajacied]

To play or not to play...that is the question.

wich shall thou be ??

[Dubbel]

I expect a win by at least a 4-goal difference. This opponent is crap. A junk team that is middle of the table in the poor Norwegian league and that bearely progressed to this UC round by beating an Irish side at penalties. 0-4 or maybe 1-5. Have fun.

[Kowalczyk]

I do expect a few goals as well...

K.

[Dubbel]

Having said this, remember Red Boys, Marco and all... :whistling:

http://www.voetbalstats.nl/ec/453.html

[Blind3]

I'd love a performance like 2001 at KAA Ghent (0:6), but take nothing for granted.

[666]

Having said this, remember Red Boys, Marco and all... :whistling:

http://www.voetbalstats.nl/ec/453.html

Remember the return match?

Spelbos Ronald (5 p.), Koeman Ronald (9, 73, 78), Basten van Marco (15, 39, 49, 65, 84), Bosman John (18, 82), Rijkaard Frank (47), Vanenburg Gerald (57), Schoenaker Dick (71)

Final score 14-0.

[Kowalczyk]

This opponent may be a little tougher than everybody expects. I expect them to be solid and very physical. I would be pleased with a win and it would be great if we could score a few goals. But I won't demand 0-4 or 0-6 wins. We're not talking about a team from Cyprus, Malta or Luxembourg here.

K.

[Kowalczyk]

IK Start had a good 'dress rehearsal': they beat one of the top sides in the Norwegian league, Lillestrøm SK, by the score of 2-0. Start are slowly recovering from their very poor season start. They were in the bottom half of the table for weeks, but they're now on their way up again.

K.

[dws]

PSV v's Brann Bergen .......... need I say more?

[Kowalczyk]

Players to stay at home: Vertonghen, Mitea and... Perez (all injured).

Recovered from injuries and in the squad: Vermaelen, Grygera.

K.

[aveslacker]

Players to stay at home: Vertonghen, Mitea and... Perez (all injured).

Recovered from injuries and in the squad: Vermaelen, Grygera.

K.

How did Perez get injured? In training, I presume?

[Kowalczyk]

Nice one!

One of HTC's assistants, Alfons Groenendijk, watched IK Start last weekend against Lillestrøm SK (2-0) and he was interviewed for the IK Start website after the game. There's a video interview on http://www.ikstart.no/

Check it out:
http://ikstart.no/default.aspx?m=3&amid=228412

K.

[Kowalczyk]

I translated the Ajax.nl report on today's press conference, just for the heck of it...

TEN CATE SPEAKS HIGHLY OF NORWEGIAN OPPOSITION

Amsterdam, September 12th 2006 - IK Start may not be a major name in European football, they are definitely an opponent to take seriously, Ajax boss Henk ten Cate told the Dutch press. "This team plays better football than FC Copenhagen."

Ajax's Norwegian opponent is unknown to many, but the conclusion that Ajax will jump the hurdle easily is one that annoys Henk ten Cate. "First of all, it's not a very respectful thing to say. More importantly, it's a totally wrong conclusion. This team plays better football than FC Copenhagen and I vaguely remember that we did not beat them," the Ajax boss explained, with an eyewink to Ajax's elimination by FC Copenhagen in the qualifying stages of the Champions League. "Copenhagen were purely physical and only played kick 'n' rush football. These people, however, try to cross the pitch with a few very good midfielders."

Ten Cate sent one of his assistants to Norway no less than twice, for an IK Start league game. The team from Kristiansand impressed them and the statement that IK Start are an opponent to reckon with can easily be underscored with some facts and figures: they won five out of the last six matches, for example against powerhouse Rosenborg and - last weekend - against league leaders Lillestrøm, both times with impressive figures. Ten Cate: "And the only game they lost, they more or less played the reserves team, because they had qualified for the UEFA Cup two days before. Those boys were probably still recovering from the party..."

Eightteen Ajax players will make the trip to Norway, a country where Ajax never won an official game. Nicolae Mitea (hamstring), Kenneth Perez (back) and Jan Vertonghen (calf) will stay behind due to injuries. Jaap Stam and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar will be fit and ready to play, in spite of the fact that they trained individually today. Defenders Zdenek Grygera and Thomas Vermaelen are also ready for action.

Ten Cate will use TV footage and words to convince his men of the power of IK Start, an unknown club to many, but not inside the office of the Ajax coaches. "Start are playing in the highest division for the second year and in their first season they were the runners-up," Ten Cate told the journalists in the Ajax press room. "They want to become a second Rosenborg, you could say. Quite a lot of money was put into the club, so they've been able to buy some good players. Some of them have played in England and coach Stig Inge Bjørnebye is an experienced man. He played for Liverpool and knows what it takes to play an international game."

Ten Cate's praise for Ajax's upcoming opponent is genuine, but not meant to make Ajax the underdog. "We are Ajax and our status and reputation oblige us to advance. But it's going to cost a lot of effort and power. We will soon find out whether or not we actually learned something from the Copenhagen games. At the time we had been in training for only four weeks. I think that since that time we have made some progress."

K.

[Venezuelan Ajacied]

Interesting and scary at the same time. Thanks for taking the time K :xyxthumbs:

[Philippe]

what seems scary to me is that we fear a team like IK start ... :scared: :nooo:

[ZoefdeHaas]

what seems scary to me is that we fear a team like IK start ... :scared: :nooo:

I'm not. We'll go through.

[bluedaddy19]

IK start had a great season last year, but havebegun quite slowly this year - as someone said above, they are very physical and certainly no pushover

that being said... i do expect us to advance by a safe margin, if only because it would mean that our boys are finally beginning to regain that AJAX killer instinct

[Kowalczyk]

@ Philippe: taking an opponent seriously (and showing them the respect they deserve) is not the same as being afraid of them...

Anyway - there's he expected line-up for IK Start, as posted on some fan forum...


---------------------------------- Rune Nilssen --------------------------------------

Steinar Pedersen -- Atle Roar Håland -- Lars Martin Engedal -- Marius Johnsen

--- Fredrik Strømstad ------- Sebastian Schindzilorz ------- Kristofer Hæstad ---

--- Geir Ludvig Fevang ----------- Todi Jónsson ------------- Stefan Bärlin ---

K.

[ZoefdeHaas]

Don't really know em, but this is what I'm guessing will be the line up for Ajax:

Stekelenburg

Ogararu-Stam-Vermaelen-Emanuelson

Gabri-Roger-Sneijder

Rosales-Huntelaar-Babel

[Arthur]

I think Heitinga will play rightback. He will still have more credit than Ogararu.

[Philippe]

not underestimate our opponent, yes, over rate them, no.

We should win this IK games with monster scores, just to impress Europe. :ajaxsmiley:

I said it before, but I still do not understand why we should play with Babel as left winger. Let's give a chance to Rosenberg.

[aveslacker]

not underestimate our opponent, yes, over rate them, no.

We should win this IK games with monster scores, just to impress Europe. :ajaxsmiley:

I said it before, but I still do not understand why we should play with Babel as left winger. Let's give a chance to Rosenberg.

I may be in the minority in this, but I'm pleased with Babel's play on the left side. He looked quite dangerous in his last outing, against Vitesse. He has a good shot from distance, and played several wonderful balls into the box.

I'm more worried about the right side. Rosales did not look that good to me. I agree that in an away fixture, we need to have a solid defense, so Heitinga should play right back instead of Ograru, although I'm really not that bothered if Ograru plays right back and Heitinga plays in the middle with Stam.

Here's my lineup, which is wonderfully easy to come up with. Virtually the same as the one that dominated Vitesse. Isn't it nice to have such a pat lineup for a change?

Stek
Heitinga Stam Vermaelen Emanuelson
Gabri Roger Sneijder
Rosales KJH Babel

[Kowalczyk]

I may be in the minority in this, but I'm pleased with Babel's play on the left side. He looked quite dangerous in his last outing, against Vitesse. He has a good shot from distance, and played several wonderful balls into the box.

I agree. I wasn't impressed with Babel so far this season, but I liked him against Vitesse (although I don't think he should have been boted MotM). Number one reason for that: his crosses! They're normally crap, but HTC forced him to practice crosses with his left - and there you have it. A fine performance against Vitesse. Unlike last week I see no reason to replace Babel.

K.