'COPENHAGEN REVISITED': AJAX GO K.O. IN PRAGUE
ONCE AGAIN: NO CHAMPIONS LEAGUE * EVALUATION OF
COACH & DIRECTORS INEVITABLE AFTER SLAVIA
DISASTER
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2 (1)
- 1 (1)
Champions League Qualifier
Evžena Rošického Stadium, Prague,
Czech Republic
Wednesday, 29 August, 2007
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So, what to do now? Axe Henk ten Cate? Sack the entire Board
of Directors?
Would it make sense? Would it make things better? Would
it make Ajax a better, more solid football club?
A new era started in Prague, the 'golden capital' of
the Czech Republic. Ajax's ambition, put down in the club's
official plan of policy, is to "permanently belong to the
sixteen best clubs in Europe", but after today's
devastating Champions League elimination at the hands of SK
Slavia Praha, Ajax can not even see Europe's best from
where they are in the pecking order of the beautiful
game, the 'food chain' of football. For the second
straight year the door to Europe's most prestigious and
lucrative football competition was slammed into Ajax's faces by
a modest lot that's not even in the 'B-category'
or 'C-category' of European football. Slavia Prague have
an annual budget of 5 million euros (Ajax: 65 million euros)
and never played in the Champions League before. Yet, once
again (and just like last year, against FC København)
Ajax couldn't make the difference. They simply couldn't crack
it.
This was not an incident. It can't have been 'just
another incident'.
Ajax will have to face the painful truth now: instead of
joining Europe's finest, the Amsterdam powerhouse slid further
downhill, from the 'C-category' to, perhaps, the 'D-category'
of European football. Will they still be in pot 2 or even
3 for the Champions League draw, next time they
qualify? Will they still be one of the seeded teams, next time
they get to play Champions League qualifiers? Things will get
harder and harder as Ajax drift away from the elite,
slowly losing sight of the place where they feel they
belong.
On Wednesday 29 August 2007 Ajax, the mighty, proud AFC
Ajax, became a European small-timer. A club of which
nothing special may be expected. A side that can crash
out against almost every opponent that has a bit more to
offer than the IK Starts, Zulte Waregems or FC Thuns
of the world.
Emanuelson whips in a cross.
[Photo: Ajax.nl]
And everybody was so full of hope. Okay: Ajax didn't play
well at the ArenA a fortnight ago, but they still got
a hatful of chances against Slavia. A bit more efficiency was
surely going to be enough in Prague. "We won't waste that many
scoring chances again," said Henk ten Cate, brimming
with confidence - and Ajax's twelve goals in the
first two league games were quite reassuring indeed.
But Ajax did waste almost as many 24-carat scoring
chances as they did in Amsterdam, while Slavia's 37
year-old goalkeeper, Martin Vaniak, developed into an immortal
hero. In the second half, when Ajax finally started to
play some proper football, Vaniak appeared to be
unbeatable. How on earth did he get a hand behind Jaap Stam's
slamming header (68')? How in the name of God did he
manage to turn Klaas-Jan Huntelaar's header around the post in
the 73rd minute? The latter, in particular, was a header
opportunity like a penalty kick: Suárez pulled the ball
back to Huntelaar, who was free as a bird, right in front
of goal. He could simply pick his corner, but Vaniak saved
- somehow.
Luis Suárez, who had wasted a few absolute
sitters at the ArenA, also failed to convert two enormous
chances in Prague. When Vaniak saved on Stam's 68th minute
header, Suárez wildly rocketed the
rebound into orbit from close range. In the 73rd minute,
only seconds before Huntelaar's chance, a fine one-two of the
two Ajax strikers put Suárez face-to-face with Vaniak,
but but his finishing attempt with the outside of his right
boot was poor. Vaniak saved with his legs.
Unbelievable... How did Ajax manage to not
score in the second half? One thing is for sure: Henk ten
Cate's 78th minute substitution (Urzaiz for Gabri) was a highly
unfortunate one, which marked the abrupt end of Ajax's best
phase of the game. There were good attacks. There were chances
and a goal seemed to be in the air, but Ten
Cate's substitution totally destroyed the 'flow' that Ajax
finally seemed to have.
Suarez celebrates his equalizer.
[Photo: Ajax.nl]
And then, in the 87th minute, there was the knock-out
blow: it started with an absolutely massive error
from Jurgen Colin, who allowed Tavares to steal the ball from
him and rush forward over Slavia's left flank. Laurent Delorge,
confronted with two men, could not intercept as
Tavares put striker Stanislav Vlcek face-to-face with
Maarten Stekelenburg. Vlcek, the man repsonsible for
almost all of Slavia's dangerous moments, made no mistake,
fired his team into the Champions League and became a
Slavia legend: 2-1 (87').
Vlcek had also scored Slavia's first, in the 22nd minute of
the first half. The ball landed into the Ajax penalty
area, two Ajacieden (Huntelaar and Vermaelen) lost their
aerial duels far too easily, allowing Vlcek to beautifully
volley home in a resolute piroutte. Slavia's goals made one
thing clear: if Ajax buy one more player, it shouldn't be a
'number 10' (a 'new Sneijder') but a defender. The
defense is the by far weakest line of the Ajax team. In
Prague, Jaap Stam battled for his last chance to play in
the Champions League, but the other three defenders (Colin,
Vermaelen and Emanuelson) had stinkers of the very worst
kind. Vermaelen made a few bad errors. Emanuelson had a
complete off-day (if he is to be regarded as a left
midfielder, Ajax don't have a single left fullback in their
squad!). As for Colin... what in the world made Henk ten Cate
think that the good man is Ajax material?
Ajax's real problems lie at the back. In midfield, the
Amsterdammers were alright: John Heitinga and Gabri did the
business. Upfront, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar worked hard
and mostly did things right, although his
actions were not spectacular. Suárez? No-one wasted
as many chances as he did against Slavia, but it would be
unfair to choose him as a scapegoat, as he was the
only Ajacied to beat Vaniak in 180 minutes of football: in
the 33rd minute, John Heitinga's low pass across midfield was
brilliantly flicked on by Huntelaar. Vaniak got a finger to
Suárez's diagonal strike, but it wasn't enough: 1-1 -
and Ajax knew that one more goal would see them through. Only
one more... It surely wasn't gonna go wrong this time... was
it?
Ajax had 65% or 70% possession (as usual...), but the best
chances of the first half were for Slavia. Maarten Stekelenburg
denied Vlcek when he had a free passage in the 13th minute and
the Ajax 'keeper also turned a Vlcek screamer around the post
(42'). Ajax were dominant; Slavia were threatening. But fact is
that Ajax almost never played well. They were nervous and slow
in the first half. The second was better, but the
visitors were never impressive. There were too
many sloppy passes, too much miscommunication. The only truly
good phase of the Amsterdammers was between the 60th and
75th minutes, roughly. It was the only phase in which
Ajax really seemed to be in full control - and on
their way to a win.
Huntelaar, as the result sinks
in. [Photo: Ajax.nl]
We can analyze this game for a week, but there's only one
conclusion: it wasn't enough. Of course
Slavia Prague don't have more quality than Ajax, but the
Amsterdammers were once again unable to translate their
superiority to the score-board - and this may no
longer be seen 'bad luck' or 'an accident'. Over two
games, Ajax were once again unable to impose their will on
a very, very modest opponent. Slavia Prague will make
their début in the Champions League. They still can't
believe it. In Amsterdam, we now know that it is actually
not that remarkable to beat Ajax Amsterdam... Ajax...
it's just a name.
So, what did Henk ten Cate have to say? Oh well, it was the
usual "the show must go on" type stuff. And he's right,
too: the show must go on. Friday, at 13:00 CET, is the
draw for the UEFA Cup. Only a good campaign in that
competition, plus a Dutch title, can save the season
for Ajax. And even then, the bitter taste of Goliath's
umpteenth European nightmare against yet another football
equivalent of David can impossibly disappear
completely. (Menno Pot)
GOALS
- 22' 1-0 Stanislav Vlcek
- 33' 1-1 Luis Suárez
- 87' 2-1 Stanislav Vlcek
Referee: Larsen (Denmark)
Yellow cards: Emanuelson, Stam (Ajax), Vlcek
(SK Slavia Praha)
Attendance: 19,000
Ajax line-up: Stekelenburg; Colin, Stam,
Vermaelen, Emanuelson (58. Vertonghen); Gabri (79. Urzaiz),
Heitinga, Delorge; Kennedy (66. Rommedahl), Huntelaar,
Suárez.
SK Slavia Praha line-up: Vaniak; Krajcik,
Suchy, Brabec, Drizdal; Janda, Svec, Tavares, Kalivoda (78.
Volesak); Smicer (14. Ivana [83. Necid]), Vlcek.
Ajax eliminated and to advance in the UEFA
Cup
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