PSV all-but champions after 0-4 drubbing of Ajax
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0 (0) - 4
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Holland Casino Eredivisie
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Sunday, 20 March, 2005
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Prior to the match Ajax USA's editor, Menno Pot, asked the
group of Ajax USA attendees: "Are you ready for a historic
hammering?"
Unfortunately, his words were all too right...
After a fairly even opening 15 minutes, PSV slowly but
surely took over the reins and posted the largest home
defeat for Ajax in the history of the
Eredivisie on the score-board: 0-4. The last time Ajax
lost a home game in the Dutch league with more than
four goals' difference was in the pre-Eredivisie days
of amateur football: 0-5 to DOS on 19 March 1950. 55 years
and one day later the final scoreline of 0-4 hardly did
justice to the tremendous difference in quality between the two
sides. "PSV are much better than us," said Danny Blind. "We
were never in trouble," added his colleague, Guus Hiddink.
Initially, both teams played cautious football, and it was
in fact the hosts who came close to scoring first, when a
20th minute cross from Julien Escudé found Ryan
Babel unmarked in the PSV 18-yard box. But the young
striker's header slammed harmlessly into the
side-netting.
Boukhari is challenged by
Van Bommel. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
Only five minutes later fullback André
Ooijer carried the ball through a tottering Ajax defence to the
end-line before pulling back a deft low cross to Phillip Cocu,
who was unencumbered by any Ajax defenders and could focus on
choosing his corner. He chose the back post, nodding the ball
well out of reach of Bogdan Lobont: 0-1 (24').
Ajax could have equalized ten minutes later, as Hatem
Trabelsi set up a one-two with Ryan Babel for what was easily
Ajax's best chance of the whole game: the Tunisian received the
ball back and had an unmarked shooting opportunity right in
front of goal. His attempt grazed the outside of the far post
and trickled wide. Although their team's play hardly justified
it, Ajax fans might have still clung to their hope of getting
back into this one. Until stoppage time of the first half,
that is, when Van Bommel had no trouble firing home
diagonally as he was left unmarked on a throw-in deep in
Ajax's half of the field: 0-2 -- end of first half. And
end of game, all in the same instant.
We can be short about the second half. PSV added a
brace of goals in no time: one from an easily given
penalty (Maxwell was punished for a correct tackle on
Farfan) converted by Mark van Bommel and -- to
complete his hat-trick -- an opportunistic goal by Van Bommel
during a goal-mouth scramble five minutes later. Ajax looked
dowright pathetic in the second half and never seemed like they
were going to score.
How to explain the root cause of this historic
collapse?
Where to start? With the Keystone Cops defending
that contributed in four uniquely disturbing ways to three of
the visitor's goals? With utterly unambitious
midfield, which seemed content to merely pass the ball
laterally to each other all night, almost never willing to
thrust themselves into dangerous positions or try
anything incisive or creative? Or with
the meandering central striker, Ryan Babel, who has played
well in recent games but today looked like a boy among men?
Maxwell's tackle on Farfan led to
a penalty, converted
by Van Bommel for PSV's third goal. [Photo:
Ajax.nl]
Actually, let's start with the new coach, Danny Blind. All
week long Ajax fans have heard about the improved attitude
among the players. And Ajax USA's trip attendees witnessed an
extremely upbeat, almost recreational, training session on
Friday, with players jousting playfully and showing their stuff
in an unusual full-sides, full-field scrimmage. The new coach
has brought the fun back to the game, say the players.
And that is a positive improvement, to be sure. But what he
has not yet been able to bring to this group - one
can hardly call them a team... and granted, he has been in
charge for less than a calendar week - is a clue. This
Ajax team is still looking for one. Whether they'll find it
next week, next season, or sometime thereafter is still
anybody's guess. Once again the once proud Ajax Amsterdam
looked like eleven football players who had just been
introduced to each other that morning.
Back to the players, who seemed to have a collectively awful
day. Not a single man from the starting eleven can be said to
have played well. Some, like Nourdin Boukhari and Nicolae
Mitea, just continued a run of bad form. Others, like Mauro
Rosales and Julien Escudé, turned on their heels from
their recent good form to add to the failure of the
squad. Rosales, in particular, looked more like something from
a pitch invasion than a legitimate participant in today's game,
spraying passes out of bounds and allowing himself to be
dispossessed time and again.
Another noteworthy failure on the day was the midfield
tandem of Sneijder and Van der Vaart, who together make
one lousy central midfield. Let's admit it: these two should
never play together in the middle of the park.
Silver linings? Whew, this is tough... The only positive
conclusion to be drawn from this game is that it can't get
any worse and that the only way from here is
up.
But, okay, maybe there was one upside to this game: when he
finally came on, long after the match had been decided, Steven
Pienaar was significantly better than Rafael van der Vaart in
the #10 position. For his brief spell in the second half, he
seemed the only Ajacied both willing and able to penetrate the
PSV defense and give the guests even a modicum of discomfort,
for example with an 83rd minute shot that hit the outside of
the post. The other substitute, Nicolae Mitea, was also
willing, but hardly able, flapping crosses into
the concrete trench behind the PSV goal, and
dribbling desperately into the teeth of the PSV defenders at
the top of the 18 yard box, where he was turned away time after
time.
It should also be said that young Hedwiges Maduro looked
reasonably good, especially relative to his flailing teammates.
One gets a feeling of solid, unfancy capability from the young
Dutchman, whose confidence was no-doubt boosted by his
first-ever call-up on Friday for Oranje, for The
Netherlands' next World Cup 2006 qualifier in Romania (for
which reason there will be no Eredivisie football next
weekend).
A moving tribute to Rinus Michels
(1928-2005), prior to kick-off. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
Sadly, the phenominally bad performance by the home
side will overshadow the beautiful tributes to Rinus
Michels, 'The General' of the 'Golden Ajax', who
passed away on 3 March 2005. The pre-game activities
included a card-display by the fans, which spelled
out the book-end years of Michels' life (1928-2005), prior
to an impressive minute of silence before kick-off. Also,
a large photo of Michels was carried across the pitch and set
down beside the far touch-line at midfield. Players from both
Ajax and PSV, in a moving gesture, laid flowers at the base of
the picture.
PSV, having paid their respects, proceeded to give Ajax one
mighty and, indeed, historic ass-kicking in the match that
followed. In one sense, it's a small blessing that Michels
wasn't around to see this one. (JM)
GOALS
- '24 0-1 Phillip Cocu
- '45 0-2 Mark van Bommel
- '54 0-3 Mark van Bommel (penalty)
- '59 0-4 Mark van Bommel
Referee: Braamhaar
Yellow cards: Sneijder, Maxwell (Ajax),
Vogel (PSV)
Attendance: 50,765
Ajax line-up: Lobont; Trabelsi, Heitinga,
Escudé, Maxwell; Maduro, Van der Vaart (71.
Pienaar), Sneijder; Rosales, Babel, Boukhari (62.
Mitea).
PSV line-up: Gomes; Ooijer, Bouma,
Alex, Lee; Vogel, Cocu (46. De Jong), Van
Bommel, Farfán; Park, Vennegoor of Hesselink (62.
Beasley).
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