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Poor Ajax fail to take advantage of Feyenoord loss

Let's start with the good news: Ajax is the official new league leader in the Dutch Eredivisie, one point clear of Feyenoord. The bad news: the lead should have been three points, but Ajax failed to lay claim to a victory this Sunday in Alkmaar. Host AZ had the best chances in a lively but poor quality match in which no goals were scored.

AZ vs Ajax looked a lot like a game from some lower British division: twenty-two men on a bumpy pitch (probably one of the worst in the Eredivisie), kicking long balls forward, virtually ignoring the players in midfield. The game was characterized by many fouls, slidings and tackles, as well as an amazing lack of creativity.

You can't blame AZ (the Eredivisie's #13) for playing that way. Ajax, however, can be blamed. Not one decent attack was built in the first half. Even the news that Feyenoord had lost at Vitesse (2-1), did not inspire Ronald Koeman's team, which battled as hard as AZ, but failed to show Ajax-worthy football for 90 minutes. "I am satisfied about the dedication," Koeman said after the game, "but looking at the scoring chances, we could have lost this one."

A correct observation. Neither Ajax nor AZ were ever in control of the game. The teams were unable to maintain possession. Ajax had more chances, but the best ones were definitely for AZ. Kenneth Perez (early in the first half), Robin Nelisse (halfway through the second) and Jan Kromkamp (89th minute) each had a free passage to Joey Didulica, who needed Cris Chivu's assistance to keep Perez from scoring, but superbly stopped Kromkamp one minute before game's end.

Didulica's presence was surprising. There has been no mention of a Fred Grim injury, but the veteran goalkeeper was not even on the bench (Young Ajax' Maarten Stekelenburg was). Earlier this week, Dutch newpaper De Telegraaf reported that Ronald Koeman has announced Bogdan Lobont's return to Amsterdam for the next season and that Grim was told that his days will be over. It is unknown whether this is true, and if so, whether Grim's absence had anything to do with this.

The few times Ajax came close to scoring were all in the second half. A low Galásek ball -- was it a shot or a cross? -- was flicked on backwards by Cristian Chivu in the 60th minute. Goalkeeper Nijkamp was frozen in place, but saw the ball go wide. A few minutes earlier, one of the linesmen noticed a handball by AZ captain Peter Wijker. However, he did not see that it happened inside the penalty box. Referee Haverkort gave no more than a free kick on the edge of the box, with which Ajax - typically - failed to do anything worth mentioning.

Throughout the game, the Amsterdammers, with Wamberto playing on the 'number ten' position and Mido as a left forward, made the mistake of going along with AZ's opportunist play. Joey Didulica and André Bergdølmo kept kicking long balls forward, where Mido won most of his duels in the air but simply didn't get the chance to show that he brought his fine Africa Cup form back to Holland.

The Egyptian had Ajax' best chance, when he picked up a thru-pass in the 85th minute and slipping past Nijkamp. However, he had to shoot from an almost impossible angle and hit the side of the net. By that time, Zlatan Ibrahimovic had replaced Nikos Machlas, who had a completely off-day in Alkmaar. Zlatan's very first ball was more dangerous than anything Machlas had done before, but after that, the Swede was equally unable to force things.

Machlas was not the only Ajacied who had an off-day in Alkmaar. Wamberto, Tim de Cler and John O'Brien each played one of their weaker games, too. It would be too simple to say that Rafaël van der Vaart would have made the difference. The Ajax midfield was hardly involved offensively. Just like Galásek and O'Brien, Van der Vaart would have probably spent most of his time watching high kicks flying over his head.

This was a poor, poor performance. The one point lead is nice, but Ajax will have to play much better at NAC, next Sunday, to maintain it. (MP)

NO GOALS

Referee: Haverkort
Yellow cards: Lee, Opdam (AZ), Van der Meyde (Ajax)
Attendance: 7,997

Ajax line-up: Didulica; Vierklau, Bergdølmo,Chivu, De Cler; Galásek, Wamberto (67. Ikedia), O'Brien; Van der Meyde, Machlas (78. Zlatan), Mido.

AZ line-up: Nijkamp; Lee, Fortes Rodriguez (78. Buskermolen), Wijker, Opdam; Robbemond, Perez, Van Galen; Nelisse (78. Kromkamp), Huiberts, Lindenbergh (90. Wolters).

Related Links

• Ajax.nl: Match report (in Dutch, with pictures)