Feyenoord striker force too much for Ajax: 1-2
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1 (0)
- 2 (1)
Eredivisie
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Sunday, 28 August, 2005
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Four days after having celebrated qualification for the
Champions League, Ajax are back on planet Earth. The landing
was an extremely unpleasant one: in the 100th edition of 'The
Classic' since the start of the Eredivisie, Ajax suffered their
11th defeat to their arch-rivals on Amsterdam soil:
1-2. Ajax had more possession, more chances and most of
the time demonstrated that they're essentially (or should
we say: 'in theory'...?) a better football team. However,
Feyenoord have a strike force of a caliber that Ajax can
only dream of at the moment: the frighteningly efficient
'K2' of Rotterdam (Kalou and Kuyt) made the difference.
Two almost identical moments summed it all up...
First half, 9th minute. After a good opening
phase Hatem Trabelsi penetrates Feyenoord's
defense over the right flank and pulls the ball back to
the penalty spot. Wesley Sneijder flicks it on with a deft
little backheel and there is Markus Rosenberg, standing a few
metres from Patrick Lodewijks' goal, totally unmarked. The
Swede, free as a bird, mows wildly and totally misses
the ball, which trickles wide.
Second half, 2nd minute. Julien
Escudé clumsily loses the ball to Salomon
Kalou, who marches into Ajax's penalty area
from almost exactly the same angle as Hatem
Trabelsi did on behalf of Ajax in the first
half. Kalou pulls back to Dirk Kuyt, who is unmarked
and has almost exactly the same chance as Markus Rosenberg an
hour earlier. Bang - a split second later the ball hits
the far side-netting: 0-2 to Feyenoord and a devestating
start of the second half for Ajax.
Vonk is beaten for the first
time. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
It was only the second chance the visitors
created. The first one, after 16 minutes in the first half,
also ended in the back net: Zdenek
Grygera was suddenly confronted with two opponents
(Patrick Paauwe and Dirk Kuyt) and was forced to step
forward, out of the defense. Paauwe's thru-pass and
Kuyt's assist were perfect; Salomon Kalou's well-aimed
shot into the far top corner of great beauty. Hans Vonk's
fingertips grazed the ball, but it wasn't enough: 0-1.
"If you look at the football, Ajax are better than us," said
Feyenoord coach Erwin Koeman after the game, but was he
right? Ajax vs Feyenoord, the 50th Eredivisie edition in
Amsterdam, made clear that (apart from the strikers)
almost all of the Ajacieden are more gifted
football players than their Feyenoord counterparts. But the
Amsterdammers failed as a collective. They had loads of
possession but hardly created chances and when they had
one, they failed to convert. Feyenoord were more of a team and
their strikers' efficiency rate was close to 100% (one assist
and one goal for both Kalou and Kuyt). It raises a
question: what exactly makes a football team 'good'...? More
specifically: what exactly makes Ajax 'better' than
Feyenoord?
Two typical examples of Ajax's failure were the two wingers,
who are no wingers in the first place: Steven Pienaar and
Ryan Babel. They were up against two flabbergastingly mediocre
fullbacks (Ferne Snoyl and Alexander Östlund,
respectively), but almost never managed to beat them and
deliver a proper cross. As a result of that Markus Rosenberg
was once again totally isolated. The Swede worked hard and did
not even play that bad in the first half (in most cases he did
something good with the ball when he had it), but apart from
the 9th minute chance (that seemed to surprise him a bit)
he was almost never dangerous.
Wesley Sneijder races across
midfield. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
In total, Feyenoord had two or three chances and scored
twice. Ajax had maybe five chances (not much, given their
overwhelming percentage of possession) but scored only
once. Angelos Charisteas, who replaced Markus Rosenberg at
half-time and (it must be said) had a fairly good second
half, had a free passage on a Sneijder thru-pass and clinically
fired the ball past goalkeeper Lodewijks: 1-2
(79').
By that time Ajax were numerically superior: left fullback
Ferne Snoyl was sent off in the 71st minute after having been
presented with his second yellow card, for a harsh foul on
Zdenek Grygera. Feyenoord's defense was under enormous
pressure in the latter half hour of the game and
there were a few modest chances for Charisteas, Maduro (long
range shot) and Julien Escudé (header cleared off the
goal-line), but the Rotterdammers remained upright to
book a victory that did not reflect the balance on
the pitch, but most definitely wasn't undeserved.
Only a few Ajacieden had a good game: Urby Emanuelson was
voted 'Man of the Match', Hatem Trabelsi played well
as usual and so did Zdenek Grygera, who did loads of
useful work in defense and also appeared in front
of Lodewijks' goal remarkably frequently. When
captain Julien Escudé was substituted in the 75th
minute, he passed the captain's armband on to his
Czech buddy. Grygera is becoming an increasingly dominant
figure in the Ajax team.
Zdenek Grygera assumed the
captaincy
when Escudé was substituted. [Photo:
Ajax.nl]
Escudé himself, on the other hand, did not have
a good day, to put it diplomatically. The Frenchman
has developed into an almost flawless defender in the past
year, but today he looked terrible when Feyenoord scored their
second goal, whereas his passing was slow and overly
cautious. Danny Blind: "I will not comment extensively on
individual player performances in the media, but indeed: I was
dissatisfied with Escudé's play. That's why I replaced
him."
The captain was not the only disappointing Ajacied. Hedwiges
Maduro could never determine the pace of Ajax's play in
midfield, Nigel de Jong had an off-day and the three forwards
(Pienaar, Rosenberg and Babel) were never in it. Substitute
Mauro Rosales was possibly the weakest of the lot. When he was
brought on Ajax finally had at least one real winger,
but the diligent Argentine never made an impact.
And so, the section of travelling Feyenoord fans could
erupt when referee Van Egmond blew his whistle for the last
time, celebrating their club's 11th Eredivisie win in
Amsterdam. Feyenoord's triumph added to Ajax's remarkably poor
home record in games against the two traditional top opponents.
Their home record against PSV is much discussed, but the
results from the last seven clashes with Feyenoord are
not exactly impressive either: one win (November 2003),
two defeats (May 2001 and today) and four draws.
Ajax's results in De Kuip are excellent; Feyenoord's at the
ArenA are not bad either.
Danny Blind, after the game: "Feyenoord have a few players
upfront who can create time to breathe for the rest
of their team. And so they did. We started well in the
first ten minutes and created a good chance for Rosenberg. I
think we had about six in total, but we converted only one of
them. Feyenoord had three chances and they scored twice. That
was the difference today."
The opening of the 2004-2005 season has made clear that Ajax
have some qualities (the winning of the Johan Cruyff Shield and
the qualification for the Champions League were a promising
start), but also that the team has serious weaknesses. It was
reason for a few journalists to ask Danny Blind whether he
wants to add another player to his squad before the transfer
window closes on Thursday. "No," answered Blind, very
resolutely. "This is it. This is what we're going to work with
this year." (MP)
GOALS
- 16' 0-1 Salomon Kalou
- 47' 0-2 Dirk Kuyt
- 79' 1-2 Angelos Charisteas
Referee: Van Egmond
Yellow cards: Grygera, Trabelsi (Ajax),
Paauwe (Feyenoord)
Red card: Snoyl (Feyenoord, 'double yellow',
71')
Attendance: 49,567
Ajax line-up: Vonk; Trabelsi, Grygera,
Escudé (75. Boukhari), Emanuelson; De Jong (55.
Rosales), Maduro, Sneijder; Pienaar, Rosenberg (46.
Charisteas), Babel.
Feyenoord line-up: Lodewijks;
Östlund, Bahia, Greene, Snoyl; Ghaly, Paauwe, Pardo (50.
De Graaf); Kalou (71. Leonardo), Kuyt, Boussaboun (76.
Bosschaart).
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