Ajax work on goal-differential against VVV
| 6 (4) |
1 (1) |
Eredivisie
Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam
Sunday, 30 Sep 2007
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After his team's 6-1 win over the poor visitors from Limburg, Ten Cate found himself in the perfect position to make his point once again: "Out of the first six league games we won five. The other one was a draw. As far as I know we're the unbeaten league leaders and we scored four goals per game on average. So it really can't be that bad, if you ask me."
Must be said: Ten Cate has a point. Of course, one of Ajax's two most important missions (qualifying for the Champions League) has already ended in tears. But (despite injuries for Davids, Stam, Vermaelen, Kennedy, Leonardo, Mitea, Manucharyan and a few others) they're ahead of PSV, Feyenoord and AZ in the Eredivisie, and scoring like crazy. Moreover, Ajax are the only of last season's top three that are still in the KNVB Cup. And things are looking good in the first round of the UEFA Cup: an away win at NK Dinamo Zagreb is a very good achievement by anyone's standards.
Crisis was looming at the ArenA less than two weeks ago, but Ajax's catenaccio in Croatia proved effective, their 2-3 win (on counter-attack!) at AZ was an unexpectedly good result and scoring six goals in a home game seems to be the perfect way to pick up some confidence and form. It was, in fact, scandalous that a part of the crowd already booed at newcomers Jurgen Colin and Albert Luque before the game had even started. No team in the world deserves such a negative, evil approach from their own supporters. These folks proved Henk ten Cate's point. Shame on them.
So, was it good against VVV-Venlo? Were Ajax as mighty as the scoreline suggests?
No. Of course they weren't. In fact: the opening phase proved how vulnerable Ajax are at the moment. The team started with determination, but after only four minutes VVV demonstrated how easily Ajax can be thrown off their balance these days. Long throw from the right, Stekelenburg yells "my ball!", John Heitinga lets it go and there stands Karim Soltani by the near post: 0-1 (so, Maarten Stekelenburg can still make mistakes!). The immediate effect the visitors' goal: whistling and booing from the crowd and fifteen minutes of absolutely dismal football from a suddenly very, very shaky and insecure Ajax team.
Fortunately for the home side, VVV-Venlo are even easier to throw off their balance. The team of coach André Wetzel deserved respect for their refusal to dig in at the ArenA (VVV started with three forwards, like they always do), but they paid a high price for it. Ajax's 16th minute equalizer (a razorsharp thru-pass from Gabri allowed Albert Luque to calmly tap home for his first goal as an Ajacied) came out of nowhere and 1-1 was still a fine scoreline for the visitors, but the goal marked VVV's sudden and complete collapse.
Goalkeeper Begois misjudged a screamer from Albert Luque (19'), had no chance on Hedwiges Maduro's finish from close range, on a Suárez free kick (27') and hammered Dennis Rommedahl's half-baked finish across the goal-line himself (32'), once again after a good assist from Suárez. And there you go: 28 minutes after VVV's opening goal, Ajax were 4-1 up - and it could have been worse for the visitors.
The first half of Ajax vs VVV-Venlo was one that Albert Luque will not easily forget. The Spanish forward scored his first brace of Ajax goals in three minutes' time, but had to ask for a substitution almost immediately thereafter: he slipped when he fired on target for his first goal, sustaining a groin injury. Scoring his second must have hurt a bit; two minutes later the Spaniard gave Henk ten Cate the signal that he couldn't carry on. "I hope it's not too serious," said the Ajax coach after the game. "This is Murphy's Law: our injury woe is really getting dramatic now."
The second half of the game proved that Ajax indeed deserve some of the credit their head-coach is demanding, but also made clear that there are still plenty of things worry about.
Let's start with the positives: Ajax continued to create chances, on two occasions after some truly delightful one-touch football. Laurent Delorge, who was brought on for Gabri (one of Ajax's best) after 67 minutes, almost scored two minutes after his arrival when he stormed across field and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar nicely nodded the ball back to the penalty spot. Delorge's first-time volley was superbly saved by Begois. The VVV goalie saved once again in the 71st minute, when a beautiful Ajax attack and great work from Dennis Rommedahl allowed Luis Suárez to tap home from close range. Somehow, Begois accidentally saved on the goal-line.
Ajax did add another two goals, eventually. In the 77th minute, Luis Suárez beautifully slipped past his defender, cut to the middle and fired on Begois' fists. The rebound was a piece of cake for Laurent Delorge, who graced a fine appearance as a substitute with his first Ajax goal. One minute before the end, finally, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar made it six. Delorge's low cross from the right (after a beautiful pass from Ogararu) was excellent, and 'KJH' reacted the way you'd expect from the top goalscorer of the Eredivisie: he came in front of his defender at the near post and fired Delorge's perfect cross into the roof of Begois' goal for his 8th in six league matches.
6-1. Great result, good goals, some of them after surprisingly good play.
But like we said, there still are more than enough things to worry about. Let's face it: VVV-Venlo bowed their heads very, very easily after Luque's brace, so that Ajax did not even have to play well to add another four. Most of the time, the Amsterdammers' passing is still worryingly sloppy. Ten Cate's main concern, however, must be his defense. Ajax may have scored 24 goals; they also concede more than one per game on average. VVV scored after poor communication in the Ajax defense and had two enormous header chances shortly after the half-time break. Paul Jans' header (52') had to be cleared off the goal-line by Urby Emanuelson. As long as teams like VVV-Venlo get at least three massive, unmarked opportunities when they visit the Amsterdam ArenA, Ajax are not safe against any opponent and definitely not against a team like Dinamo Zagreb.
But that's the future, and the UEFA Cup. Today, in the Eredivisie, Ajax are top of the league, with 16 points out of 6 games, a goal-differential of +17 and 24 goals scored. Indeed, Mr. Ten Cate, that's not bad whatever people say. We have to give you that one. (Menno Pot)
Goals:
- 04' 0-1 Karim Soltani
- 16' 1-1 Albert Luque Martos
- 19' 2-1 Albert Luque Martos
- 27' 3-1 Hedwiges Maduro
- 32' 4-1 Dennis Rommedahl
- 77' 5-1 Laurent Delorge
- 89' 6-1 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
Referee: Van Sichem
Yellow Cards: Amrabat, Linssen, Kahya (VVV-Venlo)
Attendance: 49,126
Lineups:
- Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; Ogararu, Van der Wiel, Heitinga, Colin; Gabri (67. Delorge), Maduro, Emanuelson; Suárez (78. Schilder), Huntelaar, Luque (23. Rommedahl).
- line-up: Begois; Mampuya (34. Timisela), Kahya, Auassar (46. Blondelle), Fleuren; Linssen, Kantelberg, Leemans; Amrabat, Jans, Soltani (69. Ofrany).
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