Decent enough, but not much Amsterdamage.

By: Martyn | August 2nd, 2008

The Outstanding

- Young Ajax centre-back Vurnon Anita, take a bow. You were absolutely colossal. Despite easily being the smallest centre-back I have ever seen and a mere 19 years of age, you were in total control throughout. Positionally excellent – his lack of inches was never an issue as he was always in the right place to rid of the danger. Tactically disciplined – stayed where he was supposed to, didn’t get a rush of blood to the head, and didn’t leave a gap between he and his centre-back partner. Technically gifted – Upon winning the ball, he had the technique and composure to use it. This kid is destined for huge things, and I say this in spite of hearing that he’s only made two professional appearances. Players who can read the game as well as he can are a rarity and the way the market is going, will soon become priceless. If Loovens is set to depart, then should a suitable permanent replacement not be forthcoming, an attempt to snap up Anita on loan would be more welcome than a lost Beer Warehouse distribution lorry at a house party.

The Good

- Some of McPhail’s passing was exquisite. Imagine sneezing onto a table full of powder: It would blow in all directions and cause havoc. That was what McPhail’s passing range was like last night, and Ajax struggled to deal with it. Not only was the Irishman’s passing sublime, but positionally, he took advantage of the less-finesse opposition to make sure he was in the way and never caught out. In a game that didn’t dare to use the channels often enough, our first-half captain was able to excel. Pleasingly absent last night was the sloppiness that tarnished his game last season. Displeasingly present were the McPhail 270° turns. For those of you unfamiliar with these, McPhail – in spite of being paid grands and grands a week – has never bothered to build up the prowess in his weaker foot. Therefore, when he doesn’t receive the ball on his favoured left boot, he perform an odd turning-circle in order to get comfortable. This loses him time and space and closes any potential opportunity that could have been carved in the two seconds wasted. It’s amazingly frustrating and one of the reasons he’d never fully prosper in the cut-throat Premier League.
- Steven Thompson not only looked threatening, but leaner, meaner, muscled, unruffled and dainty-touched. The thing is, we’ve always known Thommo to possess several of the aforementioned attributes, but goals have never been forthcoming. Regardless, he’s an essential squad player and for this reason it’s scandalous that he remains on the transfer list.
- Ross McCormack. Played the full 90 and was given a taster of life with both Parry and Thommo. With Thommo, he was able to feed off some intelligent ball-holding and ran the channels excellently, drawing defenders and creating space for the onrushing Gavin Rae. In the second half, the tireless running of he and Parry was far from headless chicken-chic, but saw us defending fluently from the front and not giving Ajax time to relax on the ball. The attack became three-pronged on occasion as the two did their own thing, one of Whittingham or Ledley hanging forward to build unity and prevent exposure. The combination of the speedy pair is mightily dependent on the return to form and fitness of one Riccardo Scimeca however. For all Gavin Rae’s endeavour and heart in the centre of the park, he’s just not as big a threat in front of goal. With two such strikers running the channels and splitting defences, the edge-of-box midfield role is pivotal to the functionality of our team.
- The balance and tactical discipline of our team. We were up against a labouring Christmas tree, but thankfully, we never allowed it to topple over and suffocate us. Likewise, although we defended deep whenever Ajax got a foot on the ball, we never lost the link between midfield and attack, and thus we were always able to avert the threat by launching up the field.

The Orlwite

- Roger Johnson, Kevin McNaughton, and Darren Purse were relatively unflustered and imperturbable, but then they were also rather untroubled. The former covered majestically for Loovens in the first half, and Purse showed that a player is still there somewhere.
- The pace of our centre-midfield. Not exposed today, but juxtaposed with the speedy Ajax mid-park lot you wonder if a fully-fit fast midfield would have our two in their pocket.

The Iffy

- Tom Heaton flapped like a bird on one occasion as a harmless ball bounced humbly over his head, and was also seemingly nailed down to his line during the first half as a cross that should have been gathered floated across. Redeemed himself with two very good saves, but then we’ve never had a problem unearthing shot-stoppers. Clearly needs to work on other sides of his game, and although I’ll reserve full judgment just yet this wasn’t promising.

The Ugly

- Mark Kennedy clearly isn’t a fullback, and this was horribly apparent. Looked shorn and short of belief, ideas, positional sense, light feet, passing feet, and rhythm. He did not fit in with the vim, vigour and verve of the side and is not an option for the season in that position.
- Was Peter Whittingham on the pitch? Oh… he was. Right.
- Joe Ledley can’t expect to earn a move to the Premier League playing like that! Off the pace, locked out of the room with the brass sign ‘Creative Zone’, and locked out of the other room named ‘Switched on and Focused’. Less Deadly, more bad medley.

The Amy Winehouse Ugly

- Glenn Loovens. About as constructive and beneficial as using sandpaper as a dishcloth. Loovens was clearly away with the Scottish fairies. For all the attractions presented by scoreless home draws with Lithuanian minnows and potential 4 times a season League clashes against teams such as St. Mirren and Hamilton Academicals, the Dutchman is still an employee of Cardiff City and should still be focused on the job at hand. Dave Jones was fully justified in hauling him off at half time, and for all the buccaneering brilliance of the JohnLoo back two pairing last season, there is no way that Glenn can start against Southampton next week on the back of this dismal showing.

The Jay Bothroyd Award For Best Seat Snaring

- He used to play for Perguia, so erm, maybe the former Serie A side saw some kind of technical ability that places him on a pedestal higher than your average English ball-lumper? Cuddling up next to Pistol Pete, one wonders if Bothroyd is worth the gamble? It’s the cheap, get-it-over-and-done-with option yet again.

If one word could sum up last night’s showing, it would be a very vague ‘Hmmm’. A 0-0 draw against Ajax is no longer the achievement it was about 13 years ago, but nevertheless, the fact we didn’t concede is both pleasing and unbeaten-in-pre-season record maintaining. Add to that the fact our build-up play – on occasion – looked chic, tormenting, and allowed us to get amongst the recent Dutch underachievers. It wasn’t urgent, it wasn’t juncous, but amalgamation and the best-laid plans are formed in serenity and attentiveness, and lest we forget, this was still a pre-season friendly. Pardon me: The Vans-Direct trophy. I doubt there will be much haggling over who gets to champagne guzzle out of that (although a friend helpfully informed me that it looks like a toast rack, so maybe it’s not much of a chalice). However, this wasn’t seen often enough, and the failure to apply the same precision and dedication to the Ajax back 4 led to our impotency. Scoring never appeared likely, but for all their flaws and obvious lack of match sharpness (stodgy is what Martin O’Neill would call it), Ajax shut up shop extremely well. Overall, a School Grade of B-.

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****** One more bit of news unrelated to the game, is a new stadium update. Excuse the poor picture, but it shows the damage near enough. This is the tiling that will be seen by all on the exterior of the new stadium. The part that is supposed to make our ground look different to all others and give it character. Instead, it looks tacky, dated (already!), and half-hearted. Surely the creative designer on board could have come up with something better than this?!!! The cheap, safe, friendly tile effect wins no award for aesthetics, romance, taste or cutting-edge design. It’s the sexual manifestation of someone who pays too much homage to Ikea. A perfect example of how piss-poor modern architecture really is ******