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Ajax’s young guns come of age
Ajax’s 1-0 win over Kaizer Chiefs was a huge step towards announcing themselves as potential title contenders.
17 January 2011
First of all, it should be mentioned that Friday night’s game at the Cape Town Stadium was one of the best in the Premiership for some time, certainly the most exciting game this season in the Mother City, despite the fact that finishing in front of goal in the PSL is still sub-standard.
The noise made by the 45,000 crowd, in particular when the AmaKhosi squad first came out to warm up, was deafening – far louder than any of the World Cup games, which had the benefit of an extra 20,000 people.
This set the tone for what was a thrilling game – real end-to-end stuff, played at a blistering pace, which ultimately suited the more pacey and youthful Ajax side.
There was not a single Urban Warriors player that shirked his responsibility on the night.
In attack, Thulani Serero showed that the big stage doesn’t phase him as he delivered yet another masterful performance; his skill on the ball and incredible speed were a joy to watch as he operated effectively either as the front man, or at times dropped deeper to deliver some balls of real vision and quality.
Sameehg Doutie was excellent out on the right, and seems back on track to deliver on his potential after a disappointing campaign last season, while Khama Billiat, after an indifferent start to his Ajax career, is getting better with every game and appears an exciting prospect.
In the engine room, George Maluleka was immense, his contribution recognised with the man-of-the-match award.
Serero and Billiat are both 20, Doutie and Maluleka are 21 – and if these four, plus a couple of other youngsters such as Thulani Hlatshwayo and Granwald Scott, can continue to deliver performances of this nature, the Cape side have every reason to believe they can challenge strongly for their first-ever league title.
No doubt, coach Foppe de Haan will be downplaying title talk, understandably so because the season is only halfway through, but Friday night’s win was just the sort of victory that characterises a championship-winning team.
The older players too will play their part and should be mentioned – Hans Vonk showed that at 40 he could still rival Ithumeleng Khune in terms of athleticism as he made some crucial saves.
Clayton Daniels was key in the heart of the defence, as are fellow defenders Nazeer Allie and Brett Evans, who both missed this game through injury.
And of course Brent Carelse, who could just be the missing link that Ajax have been searching for, the one who could bring it all together – his experience certainly came to the fore when he held his nerve in extremely pressurised circumstances to slot in from the penalty spot.
That Ajax beat AmaKhosi without skipper Evans, the reliable Allie, and top goal-scorer Terror Fanteni is another plus point.
Exciting times for the Cape Town side, who are by no means favourites for the title, but are very much in the picture – along with Sundowns and Chiefs – Pirates showing more evidence that they are not up to the challenge as they played to a lacklustre draw with Santos.
A quick mention of another game should be made – down at the bottom of the log, Swallows finally secured their first victory of the season – a 1-0 win over Wits.
In terms of drama and excitement, the last 10 minutes of that game rivalled Friday night’s match in Cape Town as the condition of coach Gordon Igesund’s heart was tested to the maximum.
Igesund had to watch as Siyabonga Nomvethe and then Auguston Leonard missed sitters in front of goal.
Then with around five minutes to go, the Birds conceded a debatable penalty, only for David de Oliviera to hit the bar.
And there were several more close shaves in the dying moments, most of them via defensive error and several of which could have ended in a goal for Wits, before Swallows were finally able to celebrate the three points.
It’s still a long way back for the Birds, but with Black Aces also floundering, the Jo’burg side should at least be able to steer clear of automatic relegation.
All in all, a very exciting weekend of local football, not always high on quality, but never short on entertainment.
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Goals win games, so do crosses
Poor execution of crosses, free kicks and corners continues to plague football in the PSL; it’s so bad sometimes that it becomes embarrassing to watch.
David Beckham’s limited range of skills means he’s never going to be mentioned in the same breath as a Lionel Messi or a Zinedine Zidane.
But man, was he effective with the one tool in his arsenal: his delivery of the ball into the box.
You may recall that in Manchester United’s most successful year in their history, 1999, Beckham’s crosses for Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke produced a huge number of goals.
At SuperSport United, Gavin Hunt spent hours on the training ground to perfect set-pieces, and a large number of their goals came from this route – especially when Daine Klate, one of the better crossers of the ball in the Absa Premiership, was still there.
A couple of examples from the past weekend:
Soccer City, 16:42 Saturday afternoon: Jimmy Tau hits a long raking cross-field ball to Siphiwe Tshabalala. Tshabalala controls and without doing anything fancy, sends in a perfectly-flighted cross. Kaizer Motaung Junior times his run to perfection (and buys some brief respite from the fans that hate him so much) as he sends the ball past Wayne Sandilands and into the net. Goal, match won, and three crucial points for Chiefs.
It was a goal of real simplicity, but it proved to be the difference in a tight match.
Unfortunately, this was the exception to the rule.
Fast-forward four or so hours to the Dobsonville Stadium, and it was back to square one.
With a succession of at least three free kicks within 25 minutes, newly-signed Swallows winger Tshepo Ramokala sent the ball straight into the defensive wall.
Not where the defenders had to stretch to get a head on it, but at their feet.
The SABC commentator at least made sure the public was aware of the error of Ramokala’s ways: “useless,” he said after yet another shocker of an attempt.
Unfortunately the camera didn’t pan to Gordon Igesund – it would surely have made for good viewing, especially considering Ramokala’s feeble attempts were in stark contrast to Koketso Mmotong, who was having an outstanding debut on the other wing, doing what he was bought to do: putting the ball into the danger area – one of his crosses led to Bradley Ritson’s goal.
Ramokala’s error lay in his attempt to put some kind of Roberto Carlos-like power and swerve into his left-footed deliveries. The problem is, Ramokala ain’t Carlos.
He should rather stick to floating it into the general danger area, using the law of averages to his advantage. Or alternatively, he should stay away from free kicks and leave it to someone who knows better.
Not only does it waste a good potential chance to create a goal, but it puts the attacking side in immediate danger of conceding on the counterattack.
It’s even more unforgivable at free kicks and corners, where the player has all the time to place the ball and pick his spot, without having to evade defenders or deliver the ball while on the run.
As mentioned, Tshabalala’s (and later Mmotong’s) quality of delivery was a departure from the norm – there were plenty of similar amateurish efforts at Athlone on Friday night, with Golden Arrows the culprits this time.
Just switch onto channel 204 or 131 any weekend or Wednesday night and you’ll see plenty of the same.
It’s basics like these that must be sorted out if we are to move forward. All the skill in the world is null and void if the final ball into the box, and our finishing, remains backward.