Match Day Thread: AFC Ajax @ Portland Timbers [7:00 PM]

by Geoff Gibson on May 25, 2011 2:39 PM PDT

Tonight marks the first exhibition game for the Portland Timbers. If you happened to have bought season tickets this game will be marked as "Game A" which is to be used for this match.

I've already explained briefly who Ajax is and why they're important. If you haven't yet checked out that article, I recommend taking a look if you don't really know who the club is. Suffice it to say, however, Ajax is quite a unique catch for an exhibition game so if you were planning on skipping out on tonight's game I'd recommend rethinking your night's plans.

Also remember, tonight's game is all about fun. There's nothing on the line except pride and even that's pretty minimal. Really this is just a great way for we fans to see a team live that we ordinarily wouldn't get the chance to see. So, with that said, let's take a look at the teams:

Assessing Our Team

John Spencer has gone on the record as saying that everybody will get a chance to play tonight. What this means is that you can expect plenty of substitutions. How he goes about it I can't really say. Spencer could play one team for the first half and the other for the second half, or he could just make a string of substitutions every 10 minutes or so. I've seen exhibition games do both in the past.

So, with that said, there's not really much else for me to add. I could attempt to make a stab at a starting line up but that would be a pure guess at this point. Instead, I'm gonna play this Match Thread a little loosey goosey and end it here.

Assessing the Friendly

I have very little to say here so I'll make it brief:

Essentially the Portland Timbers are taking on the Eredivisie champions (a very respectable league). Along with that trophy the team is coming over here with 9 of their 11 starters. Now, I don't know what their substitution policy will be but I'd imagine they'll want to sub in and out plenty just like the Timbers.

One final interesting thing to note, Ajax just recently flew in from Washington D.C. where they bested Saturday's opponent D.C. United 2 - 1. Certainly not truly indicative of what we can expect tonight or on Saturday, but interesting nonetheless.

Final Predictions

I said it in the past that I always expect the Timbers to win and tonight's game is no different. Yes, a win doesn't mean anything on any stat sheet and were the guys to lose there would be no repercussions. Still, I like winning and I don't care if the Timbers play San Jose, Ajax or Manchester United I expect them to win. That's not really a final prediction exactly, but it's the best I could come up with given my limited knowledge of Ajax.

Tonight's game kicks off at 7:00 PM. Watch it live HERE.

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Comments

My wife knows very little about European soccer and even less about the Dutch league

but last night she said “there’s no way in hell the Timbers win this game, is there?” And no, there probably isn’t, but as you say that’s not the point. This is spring training, or a preseason game, or however you want to spin it – it’s a fun night out regardless.

by pdb on May 25, 2011 3:34 PM PDT reply actions

on paper, the Timbers loose this game

Dutch soccer is attacking ball control soccer (for the most part), thus take away the oppositions physical D and Ajax’s job only gets easier.

But we’ll see, they just won the Ere Divisie 10 days ago after loosing the Beker the week prior to that. Jet lag too. Let’s just hope both sides play well and that there are no injuries.

Ruudster

by Ruudster on May 25, 2011 4:15 PM PDT up reply actions

Is the game on TV???

I’ve looked on the guides and whatnot and haven’t found it, but I’m really hoping it will be.

Say it ain't Cho

by Sean in Vancouver on May 25, 2011 5:11 PM PDT reply actions

Portland timbers streaming

http://www.portlandtimbers.com/sites/portlandtimbers.com/files/052411.html

Jag kom, jag såg, erövrade jag.

by Kejsare on May 25, 2011 6:59 PM PDT up reply actions

thank you

Say it ain't Cho

by Sean in Vancouver on May 25, 2011 7:38 PM PDT up reply actions

John Strong's is great

and his pronunciation of all the dificult Dutch names is absolutely awesome.

“ABCeliio”,

Say it ain't Cho

by Sean in Vancouver on May 25, 2011 7:55 PM PDT reply actions

well that was mildly entertaining to say the least (or most)

Both teams played about 60%. A lot of fun, the crowd (surprisingly large!) was pretty sedate and the teams both just kinda went through the motions for 80 minutes or so. The last 10 minutes were surprisingly competitive, though. No surprise in the result, really, and a good time seemed to be had by all.

A surprising lack of substitutions from both sides, too, but since the Timbers played mostly reserves and subs it isn’t a big drain on them for Sunday.

by pdb on May 25, 2011 10:19 PM PDT reply actions

Sellout baby

Speaking as someone who was there, it was awesome to see this match live. The Ajax supporters that I met were all nice as could be too.

Blazers win!

by The X-man on May 25, 2011 11:59 PM PDT up reply actions

I was there too

it was an oddly sedate crowd, but still a lot of fun. Sec 110 was less than half full, and our section 111 was only about 75% full – but people were still getting in to it.

by pdb on May 26, 2011 6:55 AM PDT up reply actions

Portland doesn’t seem to be able to change out too many of the starters without a big drop-off in performance. I think replace a couple of the starters and get away with it, but as we saw tonight, 4 or more just drains the team of chemistry and the the ability to create chances.

I don’t know if I would call this lack of depth at this point or if the are just missing a consistent philosophy of play across the entire group at this point.

Even playing reserves, Ajax seemed to have a unity that we didn’t see in Portland. Good god, the positioning of Ajax off the ball was just exquisite.

by encephalopath on May 25, 2011 10:35 PM PDT reply actions

That was so neat,

The ball controll of Ajax is amazing, and the passing was so crisp and on target. It’s like they are a really good team or somthing ;)

The weather (or lack of) was a nice suprise, a good night for a friendly.

And the Flounders lost to FC Dallas!

by HikinGDub on May 25, 2011 10:44 PM PDT reply actions

Watching the Ajax players with the ball was unbelievable

You forget how good other leagues are after you watch MLS for a while…hahaha. Not that MLS is horrible, but they’re nowhere near that level of ball control, positioning, and tactical skill. It’s really fun to see.

by pdb on May 26, 2011 6:56 AM PDT up reply actions

Fun friendly game to watch

It was just a nice exhibition. Crowd and TA was a bit subdued, but that was kind of expected. Everyone seemed to have fun. As mentioned, Ajax is a quality team and a odd mix of Timbers reserves/subs/starters held their own and probably should have scored a goal. Good to see some of the Timbers reserves get some work in against good players.

by yepyou'reright on May 25, 2011 11:50 PM PDT reply actions

I think my favorite moment of the game

was late in the second half. Portland won a free kick outside the penalty area, and the ref drew his line around the ball and then marched off 10 yards and drew the line where Ajax was supposed to be. The two Ajax guys watched as the line was drawn, looked down at it sorta bemused, like “what the hell is this, we’re professionals and we don’t need this” and then the minute the ref turned his back, scuffed the entire line away in about two seconds. It was hilarious.

by pdb on May 26, 2011 6:59 AM PDT reply actions