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PREVIEW:
How good is Feyenoord actually? Can they remain at the
top of the table for long? These questions will be answered
today when they play against their rivals Ajax in Amsterdam
at 12.30 p.m. Dutch time.
Ghaly scored in the last match, will he repeat that
against Ajax?
The last 2 matches were of an OK quality from Feyenoord's
point of view, but is the quad good enough and well
prepared for 1 of the 2 biggest matches of the season?
As everybody knows the matches between these two clubs
are the most anticipated by every fan, the 2 giants
have been battling each other for over years. So, if
the players also know the game’s importance, they
don’t need to be motivated whatsoever, Ghaly is
one of them who knows it.
A very positive thing is that the 2 Feyenoord strikers:
Dirk Kuijt and Salomon Kalou will remain at the squad
at least until the January transfer window opens again.
Egyptian player Hossam Ghaly will feature in his 4th
so called ‘Klassieker’ (Classic) against Ajax,
his last appearance wasn’t too good because he
had to be taken off because of a head injury. And he
has also never won against Ajax, so hopefully today
will be different and he achieves his first win in ‘De
Klassieker’.
With which midfield Koeman will begin is still unknown,
because Alfred Schreuder still has a light injury, but
maybe able to play. Even if he is able that won’t
change Ghaly being in the line-up and start the match,
because it will be Paauwe who will be sacrificed. There
is no other real ‘new’ injuries at Feyenoord,
only Tim Vincken will not be able to play the upcoming
weeks due to setback of his injury. The other injured
players are suffering from major injuries like Nicky
Hofs, Romeo Castelen and also John Owoeri is unable
to play due to VISA request and handling.
Erwin Koeman, has an almost fully fit squad to choose
from, he will almost certainly start off with 4 defenders
like he did last week against Sparta. This is logical,
because of the quality of Ajax’s strikers; they
are of a different class than those from Sparta or NAC.
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Last 10 meetings between the squads are in advantage of Ajax:
4 wins, Feyenoord 2 wins, and 4 draws. It is up to Koeman
and his men to continue the wins and make their 3rd, which
is important to start off the season very well and get in
front of the opponents (PSV already lost 2 points, a Feyenoord
win makes Ajax become 3 points behind). Ajax has an ok squad,
but in comparison with other years they don’t really
play as convincing as they used to do, with the departure
of Van Der Vaart they also lost an important player. But as
they lost him, they bought a Swedish talent called Markus
Rosenberg and as we all know Ajax has had more unproven Swedish
players turn into world class strikers (Zlatan Ibrahimovic).
There have not been any big changes in the rest of the squad,
so almost the same as last year with Sneijder, Trabelsi, Heitinga,
De Jong and some other good players and new talents like defender
Emanuelson.
Last 10 meetings:
Home
17/4/2005 Feyenoord - Ajax 2-3
11/4/2004 Feyenoord - Ajax 1-1
6/10/2002 Feyenoord - Ajax 1-2
26/8/2001 Feyenoord - Ajax 1-2
10/12/2000 Feyenoord - Ajax 3-1
Away
14/11/2004 Ajax - Feyenoord 1-1
30/11/2003 Ajax - Feyenoord 2-0
9/2/2003 Ajax - Feyenoord 1-1
3/3/2002 Ajax - Feyenoord 1-1
13/5/2001 Ajax - Feyenoord 3-4
It will become a test case for both squads and after this
match they can really tell how far their squad has developed
to become a title challenger.
Keep tuned at EP for a match report from tomorrow’s
‘Klassieker’ THE match to watch every season between
Ajax and Feyenoord at 12.30 Dutch time.
Preliminary line-up:
Feyenoord: Lodewijks;
Östlund, Greene, Bahia, Snoyl;
Ghaly, Paauwe (Schreuder), Pardo;
Boussaboun, Kuyt, Kalou
Ajax:
Vonk; Trabelsi, Escudé, Grygera, Emanuelson; De Jong,
Maduro, Sneijder; Pienaar, Rosenberg, Babel.
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