Vitesse eat immature Ajax alive in second half: 4-2
4 (0) - 2
(2)
Eredivisie
Gelredome, Arnhem
Sunday, 24 December, 2006
Christmas Day of 2006 will be one the Ajax squad won't
easily forget. All the players from the squad that
travelled to Arnhem's Gelredome today are due at the
Amsterdam ArenA for an extra training session behind closed
doors. On top of that they will all be handed a fine. The total
amount will be donated to charity. No relaxed Christmas
breakfast with the family for the Ajacieden this year.
The reason for this punishment ('cos that's what it is)
is the second half of Vitesse vs Ajax, in which an aloof,
immature and utterly clueless Ajax team somehow managed to
squander the comfortable 0-2 lead they had taken in the
first half - and lose by the shocking score of 4-2. "This was a
matter of poor mentality. This team has an
attitude problem," said Henk ten Cate after the game.
"Perhaps it's a chronic problem. I mean: my
predecessors couldn't find a solution, either."
Vermaelen battles with Lazovic.
[Photo: Ajax.nl]
Ironically, Ajax should have been warned. Last week, in
their league game against Roda JC, Vitesse pulled off the exact
same stunt: a 4-2 win after having gone two goals down.
What makes Ajax's defeat so terribly painful is the fact that
the first half was alright. Good, even. The Amsterdammers,
playing without Kenneth Perez, John Heitinga (both suspended)
and Jaap Stam (flu), took a very early lead at the
Gelredome (fine cross from Tom De Mul, clinical, resolute
header from Zdenek Grygera) and were in complete control of the
game in the first 45 minutes.
Ajax allowed Vitesse some possession, but were solid at
the back: the only first half chance for the hosts was for
striker Danko Lazovic, who came face to face with Maarten
Stekelenburg, but decided to take a dive. Referee Pieter Vink
didn't take the bait. Ajax, meanwhile, were more
threatening. Both wingers, Tom De Mul and Ryan Babel, were
on-form, and Ajax's second goal was in fact a
'co-production' of the two Ajax flank players: goalkeeper
Harald Wapenaar couldn't hold on to Ryan Babel's shot, De Mul
stepped forward to tap the loose ball into the net: 0-2
(35') - and in all honesty, it felt like a
decisive goal.
Ajax should, in fact, have gotten a penalty in the 28th
minute, as Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was pulled down by two
Vitesse defenders inside the penalty area. Referee Vink was the
only person at the Gelredome who actually saw a foul from
the Ajax striker - and gave Vitesse a free-kick. It didn't
really seem to matter at that point. Ajax were in the
drivers' seat in Arnhem. The points seemed pocketed. Fine first
half. No problem at all. The only bad news was Roger's injury.
Hedwiges Maduro replaced him.
The question is: what in the name of God happened during the
half-time break...? Did someone pump a sleeping gas into the
Ajax dressing room? Did the Amsterdammers start their
Christmas celebrations early by downing a few bottles of
quality wine?
No-one knows, but fact is that the second half saw one of
the most shocking Ajax collapses in recent history. The
visitors' lead had evaporated in less than six minutes' time:
in the 49th minute top goalscorer Danko Lazovic notched his
13th goal of the season by nicely converting an Anduele Pryor
cross from the left - and two minutes later the score was
level, as a sleepwalking Ajax defense didn't
react adequately to a Lazovic cross and Mads Junker
hammered home from close range: 2-2 (51') and the
heat was on at the Gelredome.
Ajax were like a car crash victim lying in the middle of the
road, but bystanders' resuscitation attempts were in vain.
Vitesse smelled blood and put Ajax under enormous
pressure. The Amsterdammers lost literally every
man-to-man duel, started collecting yellow cards (Ogararu,
Maduro, Gabri) and failed to string more than two proper passes
together. The score would not change for 38 minutes, but Ajax
were so clearly falling apart that Vitesse's late
triumph didn't surprise anyone. You
could feel it coming, especially after the 70th
minute, in which Gabri picked up his (rather daft) second
booking and Ajax were reduced to ten men. Henk ten Cate brought
Markus Rosenberg for Ryan Babel and Jan Vertonghen for Tom De
Mul (Ajax's wingers were good in the first half, but useless in
the second), but it the tide could not be turned.
Gabri struggled mightily against
Vitesse. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
"All of a sudden everybody started to do silly
things, such as frivolous little backheels," said a
visibly annoyed Henk ten Cate after the game. "Some of our
players think that they can win games in a frivolous way - and
that's a misconception. Some of our boys tend to think they're
superior. Why is that? Some of our players only want to have
fun, more than anything else. It's a matter of mentality. It
also has to do with youthfulness, but conceding the goals
in such a stupid way as we did today... I can't believe that,
on any level."
How ironic: Ajax were eventually punched to the canvas by
two rejects from their own youth system. Ghanaian
substitute Fred Benson Erchiah was brought on by (former Ajax)
coach Aad de Mos in the 85th minute. Only four minutes later he
was standing in the right place when the Ajax defense once
again put on a slapstick show: BANG, 3-2. Ajax were
officially K.O.'d now, so it was no surprise that the yellow
and black home team scored another one against a defense that
was now one big, black hole. Youssouf Hersi calmly converted
after a counter-attack that cut through Ajax's defense like a
knife through warm butter: 4-2 (90+3').
Both coaches couldn't believe what had just
happened. A euphoric Aad de Mos: "Amazing... The powers
that broke loose! This is a wonderful Christmas gift to the
fans and also to my wife, who's having her birthday today."
Added Henk ten Cate: "Vitesse were aggressive in a very
positive way. We were utterly unable to compensate for that. We
have ruined many people's Christmas celebrations."
Even the most optimistic Ajax fans will no longer have
any hopes for the Eredivisie championship now. PSV booked an
easy win over Willem II this weekend (4-0) and are now 11
points ahead of Ajax, with 16 games left to play. In the first
18 fixtures the Eindhoven side dropped precisely 5 points.
They will have to drop twice as many points in the second half
of the season, in fewer games, and even if they
do, Ajax will have to win
everything. Ajax will have to face it:
there's absolutely no way. It is deeply, deeply disappointing
that that conclusion must be drawn before Christmas,
especially as the first three months of the season (09 August
to 09 November) were Ajax's best start since 1997. The
half-time break of Ajax vs PSV on 09 November was, in
retrospect, a pivotal moment. Until then everything
was just fine. After that, it - somehow - fell apart.
(MP)
GOALS
- 04' 0-1 Zdenek
Grygera
- 35' 0-2 Tom De
Mul
- 49' 1-2 Danko
Lazovic
- 51' 2-2 Mads
Junker
- 89' 3-2 Fred
Benson
- 90+3' 4-2 Youssouf Hersi
Referee: Vink
Yellow cards: Van der Schaaf, Benson, Hersi
(Vitesse), Roger, Maduro, Ogararu (Ajax)
Red card: Gabri (Ajax, 'double yellow',
70')
Attendance: 24,450
Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; Ogararu,
Grygera, Vermaelen, Emanuelson; Gabri, Roger (40. Maduro),
Sneijder; De Mul (72. Rosenberg), Huntelaar, Babel (72.
Vertonghen).
Vitesse line-up: Wapenaar;
Verhaegh, Sprockel, Sansoni, Fränkel (46. Due); Kaya (85.
Benson), Van der Schaaf, Pryor, Hersi; Lazovic, Junker.
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