Less Than Effective
By: Matt | May 12th, 2008
I am going to try to stay as positive as possible here. A 2-1 away defeat in the first leg by no means is decisive, yet. The away goal from Suarez could be a tremendous aid. A 1-0 victory at the Arena will be enough. Looking at the highlights, however (I was out of town and unable to watch. Did I jinx us?) we may have something to worry about. As commented below, we did not create that much. I was not blown away by their attacking prowess, but N’Kufo can be deadly effective.
KJH was not. Since his hattrick against the Super Farmers back on 6 April, KJH has only managed one goal. And that once came during the 5-1 drubbing of Heracles, a game in which everyone on the pitch could have scored. Now, I love KJH and am not at all ready to criticize him, but I must say I am concerned. He seems to be disappearing, which is not totally bad because strikers can do that provided they appear for that one magic moment to deposit the ball into the net. What is the deal? Is the decision “to move or not to move?” driving him crazy? If we are going to sell, a playoff goal or two (which he is currently without) could add some value, and if we are going to keep him, few players could do as much to ensure the squad is playing CL matches next fall. Maybe the picture I posted of him in a previous post was just too much. (And yes, the fisherman is none other than the Hunter himself).
Of course, it may not be entirely KJH. FC Twente may have something to do with it. Twente had managed a draw and a victory over Ajax in our two meetings prior to this weekend, including a costly victory just after our draw with PSV. Had we won that match, the homestretch title race would have been quite different. Twente has played us very well this season, not quite dominating like we did over Heerenveen, but solid nonetheless. They do not seem intimidated, and their tactics seem well-suited to their intentions. It is a good thing that Koster has all week, we might need a new wrinkle.
As for the injury scares, Davids and Suarez both played the entire match. A slew of yellow cards emerged, but Heitinga was the only player at the limit. No one will be suspended going into the final match of the season, where a key victory is absolutely necessary.
Category: Team News
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