in the mood
remember how last season, i could count with my fingers the number of times all four teams won?
i must admit that i am no great fan of hamburg. i only liked hamburg because of van der vaart and de jong. in the bundesliga, i supported stuttgart in the kuranyi-hleb-lahm days, and then turned to hamburg. but if you ask me frankly, there isn't a team which i truly love in germany. maybe things will change. bayern?
so this season, i have been honest, and cared alot only about arsenal, ajax and valencia.
seems like the focus is paying off.
arsenal- 6 games, 5 won, 1 drawn; ajax 5 games, 4 won, 1 drawn; valencia 5 games, 4 won, 1 lost. arsenal and ajax lead england and holland, while valencia is third in spain. and all three won their opening europe games, although ajax's participation in the uefa cup is somewhat of a letdown.
still early days of course.
but you can't deny that we are in the mood this season.
my starting XI for the season thus far:
gk: almunia (arsenal)
the truth is that our keepers haven been fantastic. consistent, yes; outstanding, no. but it is also true that i would rather there be no need for our keepers to show how good they are. i picked almunia because i think he more or less banished the horror of enduring lehmann's gaffes.
left-back: clichy (arsenal)
consistent at the back, threatening going forward.
centre-back: toure (arsenal)
rock in the defence, i thought he led the team brilliantly in gallas' absence. which leads to the biggest question of them all: why make gallas the captain?
right-back: miguel (valencia)
steady in defence, skilful, attacking fullback. forms a formidable partnership with joaquin on the right.
left-mid: emanuelson (ajax)
played in defence and in midfield. but whenever he gets the ball, he just drives the team forward with his runs. people rave about royston drenthe, but i think emanuelson has been brilliant in the campaign so far.
centre-mid: fabregas (arsenal)
enough said.
centre-mid: silva (valencia)
always lively, always out to create problems for the opposition.
right-mid: joaquin (valencia)
joaquin is finally showing week in week out what a world class winger he is. each time he gets the ball, you feel that something is going to happen. that is the mark of a match-winner.
left forward: suarez (ajax)
his first season in amsterdam, and he's playing like he was groomed at de Toekomst. with 6 goals already to his name, i think he has struck up a wonderful partnership with huntelaar, who has 7 goals. fans are fast forgetting babel, who didn't score enough. and the most important thing about suarez is that he helps to score, so it takes pressure off huntelaar.
centre forward: huntelaar (ajax)
he scores. but it is not just about his goals. it is his overall play, holding up the ball to feed the wingers, etc etc.
right forward: adebayor (arsenal)
i am not putting him in here because suddenly everyone is gushing about him. he can be very frustrating to watch, but he really gives another dimension to arsenal's attack. he has decent pace, decent strength, decent control and is at least putting away chances. what i like about him is his overall play, what he does that helps the team's cause. this is why i prefer to watch whole matches rather than just the highlights, because then you are able to better appreciate a player.
the negatives:
ajax: with sneijder gone, alot of playmaking has fallen on emanuelson doing something with his runs and luis suarez conjuring up some magic, especially if kennedy isn't playing, because our midfielders haven't really shown themselves to have the ability to dictate the play. this exposes the weakness of the 4-3-3: if you don't have a fantastic central midfielder who can be the playmaker, your midfield will be very ineffective in attacking. and i still don't understand why we bought luque and rommedahl.
arsenal: i can have no complaints. just that we need to get better with each game.
valencia: i don't like the way we like to play in tight areas, and sometimes we play too slowly, even in those tight areas. i think we have lost many balls like this. the difference between valencia and arsenal in this respect is that arsenal are able to open up the play suddenly from this sort of situation, while valencia are less effective in doing this. the midfield also faces the same problem as ajax's: not enough creativity, resulting in alot of focus on the flankers when it comes to attacking.
all these aside, there is cause for optimism, that this season will be special.
it will certainly be a wonderful way to condemn these two years to history.
i must admit that i am no great fan of hamburg. i only liked hamburg because of van der vaart and de jong. in the bundesliga, i supported stuttgart in the kuranyi-hleb-lahm days, and then turned to hamburg. but if you ask me frankly, there isn't a team which i truly love in germany. maybe things will change. bayern?
so this season, i have been honest, and cared alot only about arsenal, ajax and valencia.
seems like the focus is paying off.
arsenal- 6 games, 5 won, 1 drawn; ajax 5 games, 4 won, 1 drawn; valencia 5 games, 4 won, 1 lost. arsenal and ajax lead england and holland, while valencia is third in spain. and all three won their opening europe games, although ajax's participation in the uefa cup is somewhat of a letdown.
still early days of course.
but you can't deny that we are in the mood this season.
my starting XI for the season thus far:
gk: almunia (arsenal)
the truth is that our keepers haven been fantastic. consistent, yes; outstanding, no. but it is also true that i would rather there be no need for our keepers to show how good they are. i picked almunia because i think he more or less banished the horror of enduring lehmann's gaffes.
left-back: clichy (arsenal)
consistent at the back, threatening going forward.
centre-back: toure (arsenal)
rock in the defence, i thought he led the team brilliantly in gallas' absence. which leads to the biggest question of them all: why make gallas the captain?
right-back: miguel (valencia)
steady in defence, skilful, attacking fullback. forms a formidable partnership with joaquin on the right.
left-mid: emanuelson (ajax)
played in defence and in midfield. but whenever he gets the ball, he just drives the team forward with his runs. people rave about royston drenthe, but i think emanuelson has been brilliant in the campaign so far.
centre-mid: fabregas (arsenal)
enough said.
centre-mid: silva (valencia)
always lively, always out to create problems for the opposition.
right-mid: joaquin (valencia)
joaquin is finally showing week in week out what a world class winger he is. each time he gets the ball, you feel that something is going to happen. that is the mark of a match-winner.
left forward: suarez (ajax)
his first season in amsterdam, and he's playing like he was groomed at de Toekomst. with 6 goals already to his name, i think he has struck up a wonderful partnership with huntelaar, who has 7 goals. fans are fast forgetting babel, who didn't score enough. and the most important thing about suarez is that he helps to score, so it takes pressure off huntelaar.
centre forward: huntelaar (ajax)
he scores. but it is not just about his goals. it is his overall play, holding up the ball to feed the wingers, etc etc.
right forward: adebayor (arsenal)
i am not putting him in here because suddenly everyone is gushing about him. he can be very frustrating to watch, but he really gives another dimension to arsenal's attack. he has decent pace, decent strength, decent control and is at least putting away chances. what i like about him is his overall play, what he does that helps the team's cause. this is why i prefer to watch whole matches rather than just the highlights, because then you are able to better appreciate a player.
the negatives:
ajax: with sneijder gone, alot of playmaking has fallen on emanuelson doing something with his runs and luis suarez conjuring up some magic, especially if kennedy isn't playing, because our midfielders haven't really shown themselves to have the ability to dictate the play. this exposes the weakness of the 4-3-3: if you don't have a fantastic central midfielder who can be the playmaker, your midfield will be very ineffective in attacking. and i still don't understand why we bought luque and rommedahl.
arsenal: i can have no complaints. just that we need to get better with each game.
valencia: i don't like the way we like to play in tight areas, and sometimes we play too slowly, even in those tight areas. i think we have lost many balls like this. the difference between valencia and arsenal in this respect is that arsenal are able to open up the play suddenly from this sort of situation, while valencia are less effective in doing this. the midfield also faces the same problem as ajax's: not enough creativity, resulting in alot of focus on the flankers when it comes to attacking.
all these aside, there is cause for optimism, that this season will be special.
it will certainly be a wonderful way to condemn these two years to history.
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