Effective Ajax continue winning ways: 0-2
0 (0) - 2
(1)
Eredivisie
MyCom Stadium, Breda
Sunday, 18 December, 2005
It was a near perfect weekend for Ajax. Almost
all Eredivisie results were favourable to
the Amsterdammers: three teams that were higher on the table
lost their matches (Feyenoord, NEC and RKC Waalwijk),
whereas a few of Ajax's pursuers (Vitesse,
Utrecht) dropped points after conceding late
goals. Most importantly, the Amsterdammers themselves
continued their winning ways, beating NAC Breda at
their atmospheric MyCom Stadium: 0-2. Markus Rosenberg was
the man that made the difference: the Swede scored Ajax's
first goal himself and deserved most of the credit for Wesley
Sneijder's 80th minute goal.
Markus Rosenberg was the difference. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
Just like last weekend at
Vitesse, Ajax played in a 4-4-2 formation. Coach
Danny Blind firmly believes in Ajax's 'house formation' of
4-3-3, but opted for a tactical change after a
string of dramatic results in the Eredivisie, particularly away
from home. And it must be said: the tactical changes
have had the desired effect. Ajax's performances in
the traditionally tough road games at Vitesse and NAC
were not nearly as stylish and offensive as
people might expect from the Amsterdam club, but they were
solid, determined, flawless in defense and - more than anything
else - remarkably effective upfront.
Ajax's performance at NAC was, in many ways, very similar to
that in Arnhem. The Amsterdammers were anything but great in
the first half and failed to create real scoring
chance until the 39th minute, but they were well
organized and hardly allowed the determined hosts any
chances either. NAC had one in the first half: in the 22nd
minute goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg, defender John Heitinga
and Hungarian midfielder Tamás Petö all went
for Arne Slot's thru-pass. The NAC man touched the ball
first and beat Stekelenburg, but his attempt went wide
of the empty goal.
It was NAC's only real chance in the first half. Their
second dangerous attack did lead to a goal... but
at the other end. Anouar Diba's cross caused panic in the
Ajax defense. It was cleared half-heartedly, then simply
whacked away by Wesley Sneijder. Much to the dismay of the
home crowd, Sneijder's wild clearance ripped the entire
NAC defense apart and allowed Markus Rosenberg
to demonstrate his most powerful weapon: his
acceleration. Suddenly face to face with goalkeeper Arno
van Zwam, the Swedish striker rocketed home: 0-1 (39'). Ajax
hardly deserved the lead at that point. The goal came totally
out of nowhere. Even the word 'counter-attack' would give
too much credit to the way Sneijder accidentally launched
Rosenberg.
Wesley Sneijder's goal ensured three points for
Ajax. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
"After a rather poor start we scored a goal that we didn't
deserve at all," admitted Danny Blind. "To be honest we didn't
start playing until the 20th minute. The first half was for
NAC."
Ajax improved after the half-time break. The red and
white had more control, managed to determine the pace of
the game and briefly imposed their will on the yellow and
black, who - by the way - have won only four (out of 18) home
games in the year 2005. In spite of the return of Breda's
prodigal son, Pierre van Hooijdonk, NAC are once again having a
disappointing season.
Markus Rosenberg should have doubled the score when he
showed up in front of Van Zwam in the 59th minute, but he
waited too long before firing, allowing Tony Vidmar
to come to rescue with a good tackle. Five minutes later
NAC had their only chance of the second half: at the far
post Tony Vidmar placed his foot against a sharp cross from the
right, but he only hit the side-netting from a tight angle.
After 15 minutes of Ajax dominance NAC increased the
pressure and spent the latter half hour desperately searching
for an opening. They never found it, thanks to Ajax's
flawless central duo, John Heitinga and Thomas Vermaelen. Left
fullback Juanfran had a quick and sassy opponent (right
winger Julian Jenner) but was once again impressively calm and
resolute. Ajax have an option to land Juanfran on a permanent
deal from Besiktas. If the Spaniard continues to perform this
well, Ajax can not possibly turn him down.
It must be admitted: Ajax looked a bit 'Italian' in the
second half. They were solid and well organized, leaned back
comfortably and established a new Guinness Book
record for 'highest number of backpasses to the
goalkeeper by an Ajax team'. Maarten Stekelenburg even
picked up a yellow card for time wasting. Not exactly 'Ajax
style', but in this phase of the league the end justifies the
means. Ajax patiently waited for their chance, which
inevitably arrived in the 80th minute. Markus Rosenberg
dribbled into the penalty area and nicely tricked Sander
van Gessel. Goalkeeper Van Zwam failed to hold on to the
Swede's shot, leaving the ball for Wesley Sneijder to tap home:
0-2 (80'). NAC had wasted all their energy and were unable to
fight back. Angelos Charisteas almost made it 0-3 after
a beautiful solo move, but fired inches
wide.
"I think we deserved this win after all, based on the
second half," said Danny Blind. "In the second half we
were very well organized and our position play
was quite good. We didn't allow them any chances, although
we didn't really create anything ourselves either."
In Breda Ajax's play was as close to
catenaccio as it will ever be, but can anyone
blame them? Ajax can be compared to a groggy boxer, trying to
pick himself up after having received a series of uppercuts.
The Amsterdammers started the season with good football and
plenty of chances, but also with a very worrying string of bad
results. In order to stop the bleeding Ajax needed
confidence. And for that, they needed
a few solid wins. The result is all that counts
right now.
No matter how you look at it, Blind's decision
to revert to a 4-4-2 system (at least for as long
as he doesn't have any real wingers) has turned
out to be an extremely fortunate one. The facts: Ajax were
9th on the table on November 27, 14 points behind leaders PSV.
Three weeks later they have leapfrogged no less than five
teams and narrowed the gap with leaders PSV and
AZ (now 11 points) as well as #3, Feyenoord (now
'only' 8 points). It is still way below 'Ajax
standard' of course, but if the
Amsterdammers continue to recover as quickly as in
the past two weeks (and if the rest of the Eredivisie
continues to 'cooperate' like it did this weekend), Ajax
may be back in the race sooner than anyone ever thought
they would be. (MP)
GOALS
- 39' 0-1 Markus Rosenberg
- 80' 0-2 Wesley Sneijder
Referee: Jol
Yellow cards: Van Hooijdonk (NAC
Breda), Vermaelen, Trabelsi, Stekelenburg (Ajax)
Attendance: 15,933
Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; Trabelsi,
Heitinga, Vermaelen, Juanfran; De Jong, Galásek,
Sneijder, Boukhari; Rosenberg, Charisteas.
NAC Breda line-up: Van Zwam;
Elshot, Zwaanswijk, Van Gessel, Vidmar; Mendes da Silva,
Petö (86. Stam), Slot; Jenner, Van Hooijdonk, Diba (63.
Vonlanthen).
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