Sovereign Ajax cruise to comfortable win in Heerenveen: 0-2
0 (0) - 2
(1)
Eredivisie
Abe Lenstra Stadium, Heerenveen
Saturday, 28 October, 2006
Utrecht away, Feyenoord away, ADO Den Haag at home and
Heerenveen away... These are four traditionally tough league
fixtures for Ajax. Last season, for example, the Amsterdammers
they brought Ajax only one point in total. This season,
however, everything seems to be different: Ajax grabbed
the full twelve points, mostly in convincing and
sovereign fashion. Even more importantly: the joy,
the 'flow', the swagger, the aura of
invincibility that Ajax once had... it all seems to
be coming back. Last year, a shaky Ajax side got a
4-1 spanking at Abe Lenstra Stadium. On Saturday, the Frisian
opposition was brushed aside with remarkable ease. Ajax created
a hatful of chances and their victory was never seriously in
danger: 0-2.
A part of the credit for Ajax's recent string of fine wins
most definitely goes to head-coach Henk ten Cate,
who comes up with a smart tactical move on a weekly basis.
The traditional 4-3-3 (or even 3-4-3) formation is always
the starting point for the Ajax boss, but the line-up
and the tactical details differ. In Heerenveen, for example,
Kenneth Perez surprisingly started on the bench, as Ajax left
the left flank open for (mainly) Urby Emanuelson to command.
Instead of Perez, Wesley Sneijder played as a classic 'number
10' this time, with Gabri and Hedwiges Maduro as his more
defensive adjutants.
Tom de Mul, who scored the opening goal, is emerging as a true
right-winger. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
Heerenveen started enthusiastically at their wonderful (and
sold out) Abe Lenstra Stadium and applied pressure on Ajax's
four-man defense line in the opening minutes, but hey: didn't
Feyenoord do the same thing last weekend...? Just like the
Rotterdammers, Heerenveen couldn't seriously hurt Ajax
(although Lasse Nilsson was threatening in the 8th minute). The
visitors soon forced Heerenveen to give up their
place in the drivers' seat and started to
create chances. Once again, the Amsterdammers had
plenty in the first half and they could only be blamed for
converting just one of them.
Hedwiges was the first Ajacied to show up in front of
goalkeeper Brian Vandenbussche (13'). Referee Blom could have
given a penalty for the way the goalie denied Maduro, but
didn't. Only four minutes later it was 'bingo', after a truly
splendid Ajax attack via Huntelaar, Sneijder and Tom De Mul,
who beat Vandenbussche with a truly wonderful shot with
the outside of his right boot, into the far side netting: 0-1
(17').
Three minutes later, Vandenbussche couldn't get a good
Grygera shot under control (20'), Klaas-Jan Huntelaar slipped
and lost his footing just when he was about to tap home (39')
and Wesley Sneijder tested Vandenbussche with another dangerous
shot from the edge of the box (40'). At the other end, Maarten
Stekelenburg didn't have much to do (and was flawless when
action was required). Lasse Nilsson was Heerenveen's most
dangerous man. Rob Friend, the Frisians' Canadian striker,
and Eredivisie topscorer Afonso Alves remained pretty much
invisible against the Ajax defense, in which Jaap Stam returned
after a game's rest.
Stekelenburg kept a clean sheet in Friesland. [Photo:
Ajax.nl]
The only phase in which Heerenveen applied serious pressure
was a 15-minute stretch around the hour mark. Maarten
Stekelenburg was nailed to the ground as Michel Breuer's long
range attempt took a deflection and trickled just wide
(57'). In the 62nd minute, John Heitinga could clear with
the tip of his toe just before Afonso Alves reached the ball
for a finish from close range. For a few minutes had to
battle in order to remain upright, but the team to eventually
collapse was Heerenveen. In the 76th minute, two minutes after
referee Blom had 'forgotten' to show Timmi Johansen the red
card for pulling Urby Emanuelson down, Wesley Sneijder
beautifully fired a free-kick around the Heerenveen wall and
into the corner at the near post: 0-2 (76') and that was
it.
Heerenveen seemed to get back into the game when Michel
Breuer tapped a high cross into the netting from close range,
but the linesman's flag was up in the air: off-side. At the
other end, Gabri and especially Markus Rosenberg (on a
face-to-face encounter with Vandenbussche) should have
increased Ajax's lead in the dying minutes. The fact that
they failed was a detail: 0-2 in Heerenveen is a fantastic
result, no doubt about it.
"We should have decided the game earlier, but I am very
pleased with the way we played," commented Henk ten Cate. "We
were well concentrated. We failed to translate that to the
score-board, but we did grab three very important points. I
know from personal experience that not many teams win over
here."
His Heerenveen colleague, Gert-Jan Verbeek, had to agree:
"Ajax could have been 0-2 or 0-3 up at half-time. They
were well organized and constantly had an extra man in
midfield. We were never really in it, and that's been different
in the past. They really have improved. They're more mature.
They've become a much better team."
And a team that's entertaining to watch, we might
add, although Ajax were more 'business-like' in Heerenveen than
they were in Rotterdam last weekend. But Verbeek is definitely
right: John Heitinga, Tom De Mul, Wesley Sneijder... they are
different players. The swagger and self-awareness that are
traditionally expected from Ajax have returned. You can see it
from the way they walk. In times like these you'd say that
the next two games (against Austria
Vienna and Heracles Almelo) should normally be
won. Meanwhile, the big, if not
ultimate test (Ajax vs PSV on 12 November) is slowly
coming closer... (MP)
GOALS
- 17' 0-1 Tom De Mul
- 76' 0-2 Wesley Sneijder
Referee: Blom
Yellow cards: Drost, Johansen (SC
Heerenveen), Vermaelen, Gabri (Ajax)
Attendance: 26,000
Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; Heitinga,
Stam, Grygera, Vermaelen; Gabri, Maduro, Sneijder (82. Perez),
Emanuelson; De Mul (60. Rosales), Huntelaar (76.
Rosenberg).
SC Heerenveen line-up: Vandenbussche;
Breuer, Hansson, Dingsdag, Drost (56. Johansen); Hansen,
Bosvelt (46. Zuiverloon), Pranjic; Nilsson (58. Yildirim),
Friend, Alves.
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