Ajax ready for tougher opposition after 0-18 win
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0 (0) - 18
(8)
Pre-Season Friendly
Sportpark Stock-Akker, De Lutte
Wednesday, 12 July, 2006
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"A game like this is good fun for the strikers," said
head-coach Henk ten Cate after his team had played with poor SV
De Lutte for 90 minutes, like a cat with a dying mouse. "But to
be quite honest, this match didn't really help us. We weren't
really tested in any way." Which was, in fact, an
understatement after a football game that had a final score of
0-18...
Ten Cate didn't want to be disrespectful of the hosts, a
modest amateur club playing in the Fourth Class of KNVB amateur
football: "You can't blame the opoosition. Those boys did
everything they possibly could. They are fine amateur players,
who work hard during the weeks and were here today for a
friendly kickabout. We are their guests, everything is
very well organized and we're very pleased with it. But today
we didn't have enough resistance."
Kenneth Perez notched a hat-trick
in the first 15 minutes.[Photo: Ajax.nl]
After two wins with double digits it is, indeed, time for
Ajax to play higher quality opposition. And they will. After
games against teams from
the First, Third and Fourth
Classes of KNVB amateur football the Amsterdammers
will take on their first Hoofdklasse ('Top Class')
amateur opponent on Thursday evening. Not that they
will outclass Ajax, but there will be more resistance, for
sure. Ask Feyenoord, who played the very first friendly of
their pre-season campaign against Hoofdklasse side
Katwijk... and lost (1-0).
At Sportpark Stock-Akker, home of SV De Lutte and (for one
week every year) home of Ajax, Ten Cate rested players
such as Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Roger, whereas Michael
Krohn-Dehli is was still injured (and will be in rehab for a
few more weeks). Thomas Vermaelen was on the bench in his
training suit, but is still recovering from injury, too.
The Flemish defender, however, is making fast progress and
may be ready for action sooner than expected. Goalkeeper
Dennis Gentenaar started the campaign slightly injured, but was
now ready for his first 45 minutes of competitive
action as an Ajacied.
Well... 'competitive'...? Gentenaar had an entire half of
the pitch to himself most of the time, while his team-mates
scored as many goals as they wanted at the other end. The
half-time score was 0-8 and six out of those eight goals were
scored by Ajax's 'number 10' (Kenneth Perez) and central
forward (Rydell Poepon). The first netted a perfect hattrick in
the first 15 minutes of the encounter; the latter also scored
three times. "Strikers always want to score. See that ball hit
the back of the net. That's what this game was good for," said
Ten Cate.
Six Ajacieden were replaced at half-time. The second half
line-up was even more productive, scoring ten goals in 45
minutes. Rydell Poepon's replacement (Angelos Charisteas) was
once again on target (four goals) and is Ajax's pre-season
topscorer at the moment. Another remarkably productive player
is Nicolae Mitea, the Romanian left winger who missed the large
part of the 2005-2006 seson due to injury and seems determined
to fight back this season. He added two goals, including a
beautiful, diagonal screamer that made it 0-18 in the last
minute. The best goal of the day, however, was Jeffrey
Sarpong's superb long range 'banana shot' into the upper
ninety. Yes, the crowd in De Lutte saw some good Ajax goals.
Hell, Mauro Rosales even scored one with the head!
Gabri has been praised by his new
coach for
his high workrate in midfield. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
Earlier this week Henk ten Cate explicitly praised Gabri for
his hard work in midfield. Today he had praise for another
player: Robbert Schilder, who played the full 90 minutes at
left back, contributed a couple of goals and played
well. "The coach is really working on me," said Schilder.
"Which is a very good thing." Ten Cate was standing at
the sideline throughout the game, coaching his players and
giving them specific, 'positional' instructions. Schilder:
"I couldn't hear everything he said, but I understand what
he wants and I see what he's talking about. By the way:
when you do something good he will say that too, which is
nice."
Schilder's latter statement is remarkable and rather
telling. Under head-coaches Ronald Koeman and Danny Blind the
younger players admitted that they sometimes felt ignored and
insecure. Insufficiently supported and coached. One of the main
reasons for the club to land Henk ten Cate was the
fact that he is known as a 'people's manager', who
acknowledges the social, 'human' aspects of
football coaching. The difference can be seen during
every training session in De Lutte: Ten Cate is
constantly close to his players, rather than observing them
from a distance. He talks to them, jokes with them, will
sometimes pull a player out of the group for a quick individual
chat, often with an arm around the boy's shoulder. The players
smile and laugh a lot and so does their boss, who wants
them to have fun. Ten Cate genuinely believes
that having fun is the key to success. The sense
of positivity is almost overwhelming and adds to the
general feeling that Ajax, as a club and as a football
team, have found the right direction again. (MP)
Source:Ajax.nl
GOALS
- 08' 0-1 Kenneth
Perez (penalty)
- 11' 0-2 Kenneth Perez
- 15' 0-3 Kenneth Perez
- 18' 0-4 Rydell Poepon
- 27' 0-5 Tom De Mul
- 40' 0-6 Robbert Schilder
- 42' 0-7 Rydell Poepon
- 45' 0-8 Rydell Poepon
- 52' 0-9 Angelos Charisteas
- 54' 0-10 Edgar Manucharyan
- 55' 0-11 Angelos Charisteas
- 57' 0-12 Nicolae Mitea
- 59' 0-13 Jeffrey Sarpong
- 69' 0-14 Robbert Schilder
- 72' 0-15 Mauro Rosales
- 78' 0-16 Angelos Charisteas
- 87' 0-17 Angelos Charisteas
- 90' 0-18 Nicolae Mitea
Referee: Beldman
Cards: none
Attendance: unknown
Ajax line-up, first half: Gentenaar (46.
Van Duin); Boakye, Stam (46. Ogararu), Vertonghen, Schilder;
Gabri (46. Manucharyan), Perez (46. Sarpong), Lindenbergh; De
Mul (46. Rosales), Poepon (46. Charisteas), Mitea.
SV De Lutte line-up: unknown.
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