Real Madrid vs. Ajax

VS

In the goal keeping section, Ajax suffered the loss of one of their best players last year, as they sold the holland number one, Maarten Stekelenburg to Roma. In his place, Kenneth Vermeen takes the spot between the woodwork. No where near first class with this being his first season in top flight action, Vermeen has done fairly well for Ajax this season. He comes as a change for Ajax, as he is short in stature and relies more on leaping for the ball and quick reflexes as opposed to the 6 foot 6 Stekelenburg.

In front of Vermeen in defense will be the popular right back, Van der Wiel. Being very popular for his forward runs and his crosses into the box, Van Der Wiel is one of Ajax’s most important players. He will try to overlap as much as possible from our left side and our defense has to keep an eye on him. On his opposite flank, left back Anita seemed to be out of the previous game and is doubtful for the game. He is a very short and fast left back that likes to bomb forward as much as possible. Also a product of their youth system, Anita would probably not be the managers first choice for this game considering he is not the most sound defensively. Instead, newly acquired left back Boilesen will take part in the game. Boilesen is a big left back that is also fully capable of playing in the center back spot. Naturally, that makes the player not as good going forward, and more sound at defending. Playing Boilesen will allow Van Der Wiel to bomb forward more often and take advantage of double teaming our left back considering Ronaldo won’t be tracking back as often as Di Maria on the other side.

At center back, the Belgium partnership will be struck up with Vertonghen and Alderweireld paring up together. Interestingly enough, despite Vertonghen, who is captain of the squad, being 2 years older than Alderweireld, they both played and grew up together in the Ajax youth system. And while that chemistry is good, the partnership has not played to its best potential this year, with the squad conceding 10 goals in 7 games in the league and unable to keep one clean sheet in the league (they kept a clean sheet against Lyon).

In midfield, veteran and new signing Theo Janssen will be carrying the holding midfield duties for Ajax. He won the dutch footballer of the year award last year while playing with Twente and has been putting in some great performances for Ajax this season. He likes to sneak up into the box, and we all know how much our players hate that. Alongside him in the midfield trio, there is wonder kid Christian Eriksen. At only 19 years old, Eriksen has been turning heads left and right with his performances. He plays in an attacking midfield position in front of the two midfielders and will be a handful for our defenders and midfield. He isn’t the best physically, so he can be muscled off of the ball. But let him out of your sight for a little and he will punish you. The final piece of the midfield trio is Siem De Jong. A physical player in the midfield three, he is also a youth product of Ajax. Will be the muscle in the midfield and Alonso and whoever partners him will have their hands full. Our team seems to suffer against the 433 formation which Ajax deploys these days.

Finally, 22 winger Sulejmani plays on the right side of the forward 3 and he will be looking to link up as much as possible with Van der Wiel. Despite being out of favor for most of last year, newly appointed coach Frank de Boer gave him the vote of confidence last year and featured him regularly. Sulejmani has repaid De Boer for this trust by starting this season out with a flyer, scoring five times. Meanwhile, opposite Sulejmani will be Sigthorsson. Sigthorsson is not your usual winger, but it seems that Frank de Boer likes him and thats why he slotted him into the side right away after getting him from AZ. He also has 5 goals to his name this season, and it tells a lot about the way that Ajax plays. The two wingers play off of the big central forward, Boirrigter. Will be interesting to see how our defense deals with balls being pumped in from the right to an incoming Sigthorsson and how effectively they can clear their lines. As mentioned before, the biggest threat will be the 19 year old Eriksen and the veteran, Janssen, who likes to come into the area late.

Thats all i got for you lads on Ajax today. One last fun fact is that the manager of Ajax is Frank de Boer, who is a former Barcelona player. His assistant manager is someone you will all recognize, Denis Bergkamp. The latter is very likable character and a brilliant footballer. Also, credit to Ajax for having a really set out philosophy and one hell of a youth setup. This team keeps on producing and producing.

Guiltybystander wrote:Ganso: Someone who agrees! I don't really rate him all that much at all... Most ajax fans don't actually, I don't see why "Vanderweil" is so popular here? Because Bayern had interest?

Ganso wrote:

Guiltybystander wrote:Ganso: Someone who agrees! I don't really rate him all that much at all... Most ajax fans don't actually, I don't see why "Vanderweil" is so popular here? Because Bayern had interest?

yeah,ive been saying hes overrated ever since the old forums,hes pretty much a normal/average player in every way.I guess its because hes a young starter for the national team and ajax

EarlyPrototype wrote:I also thought Siem De Jong was a decent player.