Ajax aren't bad again; Arsenal's defence enjoys Europe; happy Apoel; an assist for God; and Dortmund in the dumps
A reminder of the good old days for Ajax
This week Ajax picked up their first win in this Champions League campaign. The Dutch champions have been employing an inspiring way to get the best out of their squad. Johan Cruyff came up with the idea to invite a crop of recently retired Ajax legends ? men who won the highest honours in the club game ? to get involved in and around the training ground. The head coach, Frank de Boer, consults with his assistant Dennis Bergkamp, while De Boer's brother Ronald is also on hand alongside Edgar Davids, Jaap Stam, Danny Blind, Marc Overmars, Bryan Roy et al. They have enough European Cups, plus titles from the Premier League, Spanish Liga and Serie A in their collections to ensure Ajax's squad know they are learning from teachers who have done just about everything they could wish to achieve.
The pick of the new generation is Christian Eriksen, the 19-year-old who is maturing nicely with so many good influences around him. He marked another stage in his development with his first Champions League goal, coolly outwitting the Dinamo goalkeeper to seal Ajax's victory in Zagreb. Named the Netherlands' football talent of the year in December, the willowy Dane is being closely watched by Cruyff, who said: "He's a player I really like with all my heart. The talent is there, the recognition also; now it is up to the player himself."
Laurent hardy in Europe
"Bring back Ebou�!" claimed the presumably ironic banner in the away end at the Stade V�lodrome. Of course, given the foibles of the Arsenal defensive machine, you can never be sure whether something smacks of wit or pure desperation. But credit where it is due, the Arsenal rearguard has shown far more grittiness on the road in Europe this season than domestically. Following fairly solid foundations at Udinese and Dortmund (albeit they rode their luck at times in Germany), the partnership of Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny, with Alex Song mopping up in front of them, took the wind out of Marseille sails sufficiently that Didier Deschamps's team more or less gave up at half-time.
Koscielny, whose best performance last season came as Arsenal defeated Barcelona, looks infinitely more assured away from the physical intensity of the Premier League. After the batterings they endured earlier this season, Arsenal deserve to relish their newfound defensive solidity. For a few days at least. Rory Delap, armed with his gargantuan throw-in and a handy towel for extra traction, is coming their way on Sunday. Gulp.
It's just like watching Brazil
With five Brazilians and two Portuguese in their team, little wonder they felt so comfortable playing at the Est�dio do Drag�o in Portugal's second city, bringing such pride to their supporters. Apoel, that is, from the Cypriot capital of Nicosia. At the halfway point of the group stage, no team is outperforming expectation quite like Apoel. For the club ranked 77th in Uefa's club coefficients listing to be unbeaten leaders of a group also containing Porto (seventh), Shakhtar Donetsk (11th) and Zenit St Petersburg (23rd) is a phenomenal achievement.
Their recruitment policy, of buying in bulk particularly from Latin America and Portugal, is proving successful. Most of their numerous Brazilians are not good enough to be considered for the national team, but plenty good enough to make careers in Europe. They arrived in Cyprus from clubs in Denmark, Ukraine, Greece and Portugal.
Apoel took 1,500 supporters to Porto to see their team earn a respectable draw which, with a little more composure, might even have been turned into three points. Compare that to the reported number of Villarreal fans who travelled to Manchester City (only 17) and Apoel deserve congratulations for the way they are embracing this adventure on and off the field. With two of the three remaining games at home, qualification for the knockout stages is on. "This is a big thing for Apoel and for Cyprus," said their coach, Ivan Jovanovic. "We are not top of the group through luck but we still know that everything can change with every match day."
"I say a little prayer for you."
It is not uncommon for Brazilian footballers to bring their faith on to the football pitch. Kak�, as world player of the year, has frequently demonstrated his religious devotion for all to see. He has had various inscriptions ? "Jesus in first place" or "God is faithful" ? sewn on to his boots, and after the 2002 World Cup final he removed his yellow jersey to reveal a T-shirt with the message "I belong to Jesus", before taking a few moments to pray.
What is slightly more unusual is the sight of players praying not for their own encouragement but specifically for their team-mates. Out on the Stamford Bridge pitch before Chelsea's match with Genk, David Luiz took Fernando Torres to one side, placed his hand on to the Spaniard's head, and stood with him in contemplation with their eyes closed. Whether or not that made a difference only Torres can say, but he certainly had a productive game, with two goals and a couple of near misses to help him along the road back to top form.
The mystery of Borussia Dortmund
While it is no surprise to see Viktoria Plzen, Genk, Dinamo Zagreb and Otelul Galati scratching around at the bottom of their respective groups and scrambling for any points they can get, Borussia Dortmund stick out like a sore thumb among the basement boys. At least Villarreal have the excuse of being in a fiendish group, while Shakhtar Donetsk and Lille can look at the classifications and see that everything can change with a result or two. But it is hard to stomach for Dortmund, the German champions, full of young, bright talent, who had every reason to fancy their chances when they were pitted against two teams who have spent much of the season in the doldrums (Arsenal and Marseille) together with a team that qualifies virtually every year but tends not to pull up trees (Olympiakos).
The basic recipe for qualification is to win your home games and take a point away, but they have not yet managed to do either. "It's very sobering," admitted the coach, J�rgen Klopp. "So far, I do not feel we have given a good account of ourselves in the competition." It is all the more sobering as Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen, who finished beneath them in the Bundesliga last term, are both sitting pretty in a strong position to qualify.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/oct/20/five-things-learned-champions-league
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