| AJAX CLEAN UP, RANGERS PLEDGE
IMPROVEMENT
Rangers were in action at Loftus Road
tonight against the current Dutch champions Ajax. As everybody
expected the men from The Netherlands were a cut above anything we
can expect to see next season and this was a comfortable win for
them in the end despite the narrow 1-0 scoreline
Holloway went
into the game with a mixture of players that will expect to start
the season and some that will merely be hoping to. Day was in goal
behind a back four of Bignot, Rose, Gnohere and Padula. Rowlands,
Bean, Johnson and McLeod made up the midfield four with Furlong and
Thorpe in attack.
It was clear
from the first minute what Ajax were all about as almost from kick
off they kept the ball with a minimum of fuss as our midfield toiled
in front of them desperate for a touch. The man at the hub of
everything was the outstanding Maxwell who was a class above
everyone else on the pitch.
The opening
exchanges once Ajax had finished showing off were pretty even.
Thorpe stole a march on the Ajax defence to set a chance up for
Furs, only a well timed near post challenge stopped him from
registering. At the other end the giant Anastasiou forced Day to
turn an effort around the post.
Maxwell showed
that he was not just a passer of the ball moments later when he
slalomed through four challenges before cutting a ball back from the
by-line. Luckily Arthur was on hand to clear. He was turning in a
far more polished display than the rather turgid showing at Caley on
Saturday.
The sides went
in even at the break although you sensed that the Dutchmen had yet
to really move out of second gear. There were changes aplenty at the
break with Thorpe, Rowlands, McLeod and Gnohere making way for
Gallen, Cureton, Hjelde and a new trialist, Serge Blanco (former
France rugby union fullback…maybe).
Rangers seemed
to deploy a 4-3-3 formation in the early stages and in truth it
didn’t really come off. The midfield three of Bean, Johnson and
Blanco was too defensive to get any meaningful support up to Curo,
Furs and Gallen. Beany tried manfully to get forward but with the
best will in the world, Paul Scholes he aint!
Ajax took the
lead through a sub of their own; Rasmus Lindgren. The left winger
had been linking well with the aforementioned Maxwell and causing
Bignot more problems then the first halves left wing incumbent,
Nicolae Mitea. It was no surprise when he got up at the far post to
thump home a header from a De Mul cross.
It could have
and probably should have been 2-0 not long after but Anastasiou
contrived to hit both posts with a header from a tremendous Lindgren
cross. Rangers almost got back into the game moments later but giant
keeper Maarten Stekelenburg plunged low to his right to turn away a
good effort from Gallen.
It was now keep
ball time for Ajax as they gave the R’s the run-around for the last
twenty minutes. Olly had now thrown Daly, Perry, Forbes and Hamilton
into the fray to give them a taste of the Loftus Road pitch and bar
Forbes, they all seemed a little out of their depth. When Forbes
came on there were some boos to be heard around the ground, it seems
the British justice system has yet to reach all parts of W12.
The game ended
as it had begun, with the ball glued to the feet of the Ajax team.
This was a hard workout for the lads and the amount of running they
did will certainly benefit them. We won’t come across another team
like this all season so I am not worried about getting beaten.
There were some
plus points though. Hjelde again looked good and teamed up well with
Rose in the second half. Arthur was much improved from Saturday and
Beany in the middle was always industrious. Furs did well in the
first half and Cureton likewise in the second. On the down side,
Daly looked lost when he came on and trialist Blanco seemed nothing
more than a clogger and we have plenty of those already. Hamilton
was played on the left wing when he came on, the fourth different
position I have seen him play, and by far the least effective.
On to Brizzel
Roverz next and a homecoming for Olly. He will get a heroes
reception when he rocks up and hopefully this will inspire his team
to kick it up a notch as we strive for the form to take us into the
Rotherham game brimming with confidence.
simon@qprnet.com |
