Ajax-Sparta
Entry of:09-04-2000
Ajax this week:
Sundayevening at 18.00 the match at home of Ajax against Sparta started. And
for Sparta there was little to gain, in a very neutral position on the table. They
could play very freely and coach Westerhof saw that Ajax had his hands full with
the Rotterdam squad. Arveladze scored in the 14th minute after a good assist from
Gronkjaer.But instead of the 2-0, Sparta equalized in the 29th minute through
Nielsen and even took the lead in the early second half, Marbus scored in the
50th minute. Both of the goals had some very fundamental defensive mistakes
as a cause. The first goal took place with 3 defenders in the goal instead of defen-
ding, and the second one left Verlaat alone with 2 attackers, van Halst role was
very dubious, in the 58th minute Witschges free kick was extended by Gronkjaer
so Verlaat could score with the tip of his shoe. Then Sparta had to play further
with 9 players,2 red cards in both 62nd and 69th minute. And that helped Ajax
to play more motivated and getting a penalty in the 73rd minute which Laudrup
did not miss. A very weak game, but nevertheless 3 point to be added...
Ajax next week:Halfway through april, sunday the 16th to be more precise, Ajax
plays AZ at home.AZ is now in 7th place and their claims for European football
are not unrealistic at all.Allthough Ajax takes them on at home they are still
a tough cookie, very sure more tricky than Sparta today.What Ajax can hope for is
that AZ is nervous because of their current position. Ajax has 60% chances of
winning I assume.
Note for Ajax this week: 6
Competition this week:
PSV whistles through the competition. No worries at all so it seems and also on
fridaynight they got no resistance whatsoever when they visited Fortuna Sittard.
A very weak and frightened Fortuna allowed Nilis to score 3 times and Bruggink
once which lead to 0-4. This kind of attitude of Fortuna is scandalous, they did not
even try to perform something. PSV will be champion soon.Feyenoord again could
not win, they lost for the first time since '88 at home from FC Utrecht. In the 90th
minute Kuyt scored the 1-2 for Utrecht. FC Twente, unbeaten at home for a long
time at home, should not fear mediocre MVV, but they showed little respect and
got the bill for that. A 1-2 result was a big surprise and put FC Twente in 3rd place
cause it was Heerenveen that overtook them. They won at RKC, Huizingh scored
the only goal in the 77th minute, 0-1. AZ(home against Graafschap 2-0)and
Vitesse(away againt Willem II 0-4)won and kept their hands on European football.
Roda JC and Willem II both can give up their pathetic season cause they can't
reach the European football anymore. Finally the result of the relegationmatch
of Cambuur L-Den Bosch 1-2 promises a very exiting seasonending when it comes
to the last place on the table.
Note for competition this week: 8
Moment of the week:
Feyenoord in troubles, what a pleasure to see. Against FC Utrecht again they could
not win. Kuyt took the win in the last minute and gave coach Beenhakker a reason to
resign immediately after the match. A leaving coach, unsatisfied players and fans, it is
a real treat to look at. Even though Ajax plays bad, it is Feyenoord that looks even
worse. Rumors are going that Beenhakker is interested in a position of Manager of
Youthplayers at......Ajax. A good coach nevertheless. But the direction of Ajax seems
to have lost their tongue, cause last week Cruyff was angry after he did not hear from
Ajax. This time Beenhakker did not hear anything after the phonecall he had 2 months
ago with Ajax. The board must be sleeping, I get that idea more and more. This week
again the match of Den Bosch-Ajax was rescheduled, again in fear of demonstrations
of Ajaxfans against the obligatory combi-tickets. When the major of Den Bosch keeps
being so scared this game will not be played before 2005.
Willem ter Haar
(Happy with yet another 3 points but not sure of Champions League)
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