Ten Cate satisfied with progress after 0-6 win over Emmen
0 (0) - 6
(4)
Friendly
Sportpark Veenoord, Nieuw Amsterdam
Tuesday, 25 July, 2006
The Netherlands is in the grip of a heat wave that seems to
have no end. More and more employees report 'sick', while
companies complain about the lack of productivuty. In
their friendly against Dutch First Division outfit FC Emmen,
however, Ajax only shift to a lower gear after having played a
very good first half. Score after 45 minutes: 0-4. Final
score: 0-6. "We're not quite there yet, but we're getting
there," said a satisfied Henk ten Cate. "It gets a bit
better each time."
Ajax were still without their injured
Spaniards (Gabri and Roger) and once again started with
Edgar Manucharyan on the left wing. The Armenian youngster is
making an excellent impression so far. If he stays healthy
('Manu' is known to be injury-prone...) he could be a serious
rival for Perez and Mitea on the left, as well as - perhaps -
for Sneijder at 'number 10'.
One of the revelations of
pre-season: Jan Vertonghen. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
Ajax's first goal was on the boards after only five minutes.
Mauro Rosales (who also has a good pre-season campaign so far)
scored with the head (!) on a Wesley Sneijder corner kick.
Rosales was also involved in the build-up towards Ajax's second
goal: the winger passed well to Markus Rosenberg. The Swede
tapped it back to an onstorming Wesley Sneijder, who fired
home: 0-2 (15'). A very good 'training goal' and a perfect
example of the attacking patters Henk ten Cate has
been working on in recent weeks.
Thomas Vermaelen hammered home from another corner kick
(37'), after which a beautiful Sneijder thru-pass sent Robbert
Schilder on his way to Ajax's fourth goal (45'), which
concluded a splendid first half by the Amsterdammers. "I was
very pleased with that first half," said Ten Cate. "They held
their positions well, the kept the pitch 'small' and the goals
were scored from situations we worked on in training."
It was understandable that the second half was less
impressive. Ajax had trained hard during the day and
the heat in Nieuw Amsterdam was still scorching. Referee Ben
Haverkort interrupted the game every 15 minutes for a quick
'drinking break'. Yet, Ajax could have scored another four
goals or more, but (believe it or not) Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
had trouble finding the net. 'The Hunter' started on the bench,
but replaced Markus Rosenberg after only 34 minutes. And
for a reason. Ten Cate: "Markus is a bit behind when it comes
to stamina, compared to the other internationals. We agreed
that he was going to play a half hour."
Doing well on the left wing: Edgar Manucharyan. [Photo:
Ajax.nl]
Eventually, Ajax added two goals in the second half:
one from Jan Vertonghen, the Flemish youngster who's doing
so tremendously well so far and will (as Ten Cate confirmed)
stay with the first squad, and a very pretty one in the
dying minutes from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who tricked two
defenders before firing into the far side netting to make
it 0-6 (87').
"The second half was a bit lazy," admitted Ten Cate, "which
I think had to do with our big lead, the substitutions
and also the fact that I took off Jaap Stam at
half-time. The boys were a bit tired, as most of them
trained quite hard this morning. And I haven't even mentioned
the heat yet... This is no weather for football. All in
all we did well, though. We didn't allow them any real
chances. Which is good, as a well organized defense
is the main thing. And I'm not just talking about the defenders
here. Defending is something you with the whole team."
Indeed, the Ajax team of Henk ten Cate is taking
shape. Which means it is also time for the first major
decisions. After having announced that fullback/defender
Emmanuel Boakye may be loaned out for the season, Ten
Cate also had a statement to make about Angelos
Charisteas: the Greek striker can look
out for a new club. Ten Cate: "I hope he'll
find a good club. He's a perfect bloke, a good
professional and a very nice person. For a system with two
strikers he is fantastic. But we don't play that way and
we have many good forwards in the squad. He is, in principle,
our fifth striker at the moment, behind Huntelaar, Rosenberg,
Babel and even Poepon, who had a great pre-season run with us.
I am not going to kid around with him. He's got time to find a
new club now."
Will 'Chari' move back to Germany, perhaps...? One
thing is for sure: Ajax will drive to Germany
this weekend for a friendly fixture against Borussia Dortmund,
the new employers of former Ajax man Steven Pienaar. (MP)
Sources: Ajax.nl, FC Emmen.nl
GOALS
- 05' 0-1 Mauro Rosales
- 15' 0-2 Wesley Sneijder
- 37' 0-3 Thomas Vermaelen
- 45' 0-4 Robbert Schilder
- 66' 0-5 Jan Vertonghen
- 87' 0-6 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
Referee: Haverkort
Cards: none
Attendance: 6,000
Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; Ogararu, Stam
(46. Heitinga), Vermaelen, Emanuelson (62. Grygera); Schilder
(46. Vertonghen), Sneijder (76. Boakye), Lindenbergh; Rosales
(46. De Mul), Rosenberg (34. Huntelaar), Manucharyan (62.
Perez).
FC Emmen line-up: Van Westerop;
Geers (46. Breinburg), Bevaart (82. Tailor), Wolters, Karreman;
Hoogstrate (65. Leferink), Stroeve, Tevreden (46. Bonevacia);
Verweij (65. El Khalifi), Van Dijk, Mghizrat (46.
Veldmate).
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