Ajax face FK Borac in UEFA Cup

Ajax have been paired with Serbian Superliga side FK Borac in the first round of the UEFA Cup. The first leg will take place at the ArenA on September 18th, and the return leg in Cacak on October 2nd. Borac defeated Bulgarian side Lokomotiv Sofia to get to this stage.

What do I know about this team? Well, not much honestly, but my research this morning has come up with the following. Last season Borac finished fourth in the Serbian SuperLiga (formerly known as the MeridianSuperLiga) which is currently ranked 21st in the UEFA national league rankings, behind the Austrian Bundesliga, Norwegian Premier League and Danish Superliga, but ahead of the Swedish Allsvenskan. The one team that you may have heard of from this league is Partizan Belgrade. Borac is already 2 games into their season, drawing both matches. I have no idea what brand of football they play, but I'm going to assume that it will be very similar to what we faced last season in Zagreb and Prague. Marco doesn't have to win the UEFA Cup this year, but he definitely needs to be able to field a team that can roll over a club like this. Ajax needs to regain the swagger they once had, and crushing inferior competition like this is part of that process. Show no mercy!

I need some coffee.

Game Feed?

Anyone have a good link for the game on Saturday? I don't see anything listed on my go-to site http://www3.myp2p.eu/competition.php?&competitionid=&part=sports&discipline=football&allowedDays=7

I'm hoping they have it here?
http://www.sbs6.nl/web/show/id=136046/langid=43

Please respond is you found something else.

Define "Big"

I just thought this was some interesting Eredivisie news...could it be Kluivert/Davids?

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/overseas/holland/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=international_feed/08/08/26/SOCCER_Ned-Vitesse_Arnhem.html&TEAMHD=holland

Sno returns to Ajax

Ajax.nl is reporting that Ajax have signed 21 year old Celtic midfielder and former Ajax youth player Evander Sno to a 3 year deal. Sno recently played with Oranje in Beijing, receiving a red card in the first match vs. Nigeria and starting in the 2-1 loss to Argentina. He played 49 matches in all for Celtic, but failed to live up to high expectations after his transfer from NAC in 2006. My first impression when I saw this story was that he was going to come on in a defensive midfield role, but his comments today make me wonder where he is going to end up playing, “I want a place in the midfield, either in the holding role or trying to move forwards." Yeah, good luck with that....so, who knows what impact this signing will have, but I would say that I am not a big fan of Ajax signing players that "couldn't cut it" at other clubs. Does this mean the end of Ajax' interest in Robbie Wielaert? Hopefully not, but I would be a bit surprised if that did end up working out based on how badly Steve McLaren seem to want to keep him.

A little frustrated?

After being completely out of the loop for the past week, my first foray back into Ajax news this weekend was a glance at the fotoverslag from the Murcia friendly on ajax.nl. This picture told me all I needed to know. Two losses to two of the biggest clubs in Europe in the Amsterdam Tournament, although a bit disappointing, were not really anything to be upset about. A 2-1 loss at a second division Spanish side that most people have never heard of...well again, this picture says it all. It was a "terrible performance" according to van Basten, and the frustration isn't limited to the coaching staff. KJH classified the game as "something to worry about". Fans seem frustrated as well based on what I've been reading on the message boards. Its obvious that Ajax still needs that additional defender that they have been chasing for the past few weeks, and the new additions may not have completely gelled with the rest of the squad yet. Ajax opens the Eredivisie season with what hopefully will be an easy away victory over Willem II this weekend but then get two weeks to prepare for Roda at home and then the Klassieker at De Kuip a week after that. An stumble out of the gate or a loss in Rotterdam would make people really start to worry. Ajax has yet to really impress, so a good showing in Tilburg will be critical to the team's confidence level heading into the more difficult games in September. I have a feeling that the may be a season of parity in the Eredivisie, and we may witness another close race down to the wire, so every point will count, as will every goal.

Cardiff City Vs AFC Ajax Highlights

Posts have been scarce around here recently, hopefully I'll have time to do more writing in the next few weeks. I didn't get a chance to follow the UK friendlies last weekend, but the results looked respectful and Matt's write-ups on the Offside are encouraging (nice job defense!). I did find this low-res highlight video from the Cardiff match that's actually worth checking out. Things are getting cranked up to a new level this weekend with the start of the Amsterdam Tournament. Games with Arsenal on Friday and Inter on Saturday will certainly prove to be a stern test for this revamped Ajax team. This tournament's unusual points-scoring system rewards an attacking style of voetbal and will definitely shed more light on how improved the Ajax back line really is. Hopefully we'll at least do better than Feyenoord did in their Jubilee Tournament :) The game is available on myP2p ( http://www3.myp2p.eu/broadcast.php?matchid=16124&part=sports )