More of a general suggestion. My point is that Ajax should look more at Japanese players. Also interesting from a merchandising point of view, apart from player quality.
@DRB - but Zivkovic will be joining from Groningen and he looks to be a better #9 than anyone on the current roster even though he is so young.
He is too young to rely on. Apart from still having to go through his dip season, he still has to prove he is able to transform into an Ajax striker rather than being the counter striker he was/is at FC Groningen. I can not get my head around the fact that Ajax leaves the Japanese market for what it is. Sure there are non EU issues it comes with, but the type fo players they produce is in line with the Ajax vision. Technical, skillful, hard working players with a good mentality often. I still remember Ono at Feyenoord. Liked him as well. Plus it would give van der Sar something to do in terms of developing his merchandising skills. I just think Overmars and by that Ajax is missing out on something.
Ajax scouting territory: * Netherlands * Denmark/Scandinavia * Balkan/East Block * Rest of the world Should be: * Netherlands * Japan * Denmark/Scandinavia * Balkan/ East Block * Rest of the world. I don't exactly know if I had to fit in Ajax Cape Town as they are part of the Ajax family, so it more or less goes without saying. Japanese females have reached world class level. Their men outplayed Netherlands not that long ago. One does not have to be a rocket scientist to see what direction this is heading to. If VVV can get an Honda, then there is no reason why Ajax can not jump into this talent pool of the J -League. Contrary to many Bundesliga clubs, who find their way to Japan these days, Ajax can offer CL football.
@DRB - I agree with you about the scouting. I think the club was interested at one point about doing something in China and there was discussion of a commercial agreement of some sort. I don't know what happened to that but it's safe to say that Japan is much more promising today than China. If they are going to the far East, I wouldn't neglect Korea either as there are some decent players there. Ajax did have one experience when Suk showed up several years ago asking for a tryout. He was on the team for two years and I think left when his contract was not renewed. He couldn't make it at Groningen either.
Well maybe China is another South Africa. Ajax Cape Town had his fruits, but over that many years one maybe might have expected more. An African country who always showed potential is Ghana. Better a smaller but football culture rich country than a big one without really much tradition in the sport. China vs Japan the same. Sure the former is an immensely populated country, but Japan worked itself to where they are now. There are actually Dutch coaches/technical directors going to Japan to get a closer look at their youth development. Allach from Vitesse for example. If I have to choose between Korea or Japan, then I choose Japan. I saw in an article that Overmars goes for big focus on a few regions, rather than a world wide focus that might not allow Ajax to act quickly. Adding an extra region is already a significant change. On that note, Overmars could do with a surprise that really works out. Does he convince you so far?
Totally agree with you here. I'm not sure that China will every do much in football. If you look at their performance in Olympic games it is mostly in individual sports and not team sports. Of course it is a massive country and with 1B people you will always find surprising athletes. they also have lots of tall people which is good for basketball. Yes, I think Overmars has been good for the club. Not only was he world class football player but he is a good judge of talent. I think the club are headed in the right direction these days even though it will always be difficult to compete in Europe. What I don't want to see is a downward spiral like the one taking place in Barcelona!
Mmmm, do you really call a CL semi final, finalist of the Copa del rey and (ok barely) still in the run for the league title a down ward spiral
I watched all the matches in question and it's clear that the club has been mismanaged almost as badly as Feyenoord was until they sorted out the financials a couple of years ago. BTW, they only reached the CL quarterfinals this season, not the semifinals. If the FIFA transfer ban is not overturned they will have great difficulties next season and it is entirely possible that they would finish fourth or worse in La Liga (no decent keeper, a poor midfield and defense).
This has to be one of the most pathetic displays of football that I've seen in some time. School boy teams play better football than this Ajax team are displaying today.
THE worst Ajax game I have seen in years.. Also, KNVB need to take action for what happened today with the supporters.. Throwing fireworks at your own players.. WTF!? Ajax supporters should be banned from the Kuip for 5 more years.
this was a total humiliation and by all rights Zwolle should have had 3-4 more goals. I really don't know how they messed up a two man break in on goal. I suspect the U-17 team that played in the Aegon Cup match would have done the shirt better today. This Ajax team is likely to win the league and I believe it will be the worst champion since I've been following the club (and that goes back to 1974!). the team has little quality and has been quite fortunate that opponents in the league are worse. Player Ratings: Ajax Supporters (0) - no excuse for the behavior in the first five minutes of the match Vermeer (5) - made one good save near the end of the match and most of the goals he was left stranded but he does not inspire confidence Boilesen (4) - tried to do the right thing but his passes were weak and he was out of position a lot Denswil (3) -questions really need to be asked whether he is ready for first team football, weak passing and dumb on the ball Moisander (3) - quite poor today, maybe he is more comfortable on the left side van Rhijn (2.5) - wonderful goal and terrible defending all match long Blind (4) - played hard but had no impact on the match at all Klaassen (2.5) - seriously did he even get a touch on the ball or make any kind of contribution Serero (3.5) - managed to draw some fouls because he falls over at the slightest touch Bojan (4.5) - decent until he came off Sigthorrson (3) - really bad on the ball, cannot play out on the wing, and it's just lucky that we only paid €6M for him Schöne (4) - not as good as Bojan de Sa (5.5) - best front line player, worked hard despite the score and had some decent crosses Poulsen (5.5) - best Ajax player overall really played hard and with desire Kishna (4) - needs to know he cannot beat two players but of course this is typical for Ajax wingers these days I'm not especially keen to celebrate a league win after the play this season. I hope we can move out some of the dead wood and bring up some of the exciting young players.
Each club has its gang of hooligans. The bigger the club and tradition the larger the amount of hooligans it seems, but it is really mostly up to the police and KNVB to tackle this problem like they have in other countries, succesfully. Great amount of respect for v/d Sar coming on the pitch the way he did and make clear that the club Ajax doesnt want anything to do with the people who threw fireworks on the pitch, nevermind at their own keeper. That said- Great game!
Terrible performance by both team and the traveling support. PEC's win was completely deserved. It's frustrating that nothing seems to have been learned from the PSV, Vitesse and Salzburg games. Aggressive pressing is the Achilles heel of this team and it seems more and more Eredivisie teams are catching on.
You are surprised that FdB likes his idea of a 4-3-3 and refuses to change it? While he has taken us to three and soon to be four straight league titles, IMO he is not a very good manager. He's tactically clueless and cannot adapt to the players he has. Of the young managers in Europe today Brendan Rodgers, Jurgen Klopp and of course Pep Guardiola are far superior.
I don't think De Boer is a bad tactician on the whole. The possession based play style has been the basis of the relative consistency in league results with a not very talented side. He has also a good record in the games in terms of substitutions and results against the other top sides in the league. De Boer is hardly a Moyes in terms of coaching. The high up half players who perform penetrating runs are possibly a way to deal with the lack of goal threat by the forward line. However this leaves Blind and the back line vulnerable to a degree. It will be interesting to see if De Boer will change anything in the formation next season. I think we'd see a very different team if we had access to a decent target man striker and some midfielders who combine technical ability with power and range. I think Ajax's main problem is the scouting process, as the club has a beyond average fail rate on the transfer market. This is complicated by De Boer (excessive )patience with under performing players.
Exactly right. Why he ever thought Siem de Jong was a midfielder was just baffling and why he continues to stick with Serero who falls at the touch of finger likewise.
Pretty embarrasing. I really love the city of Amsterdam and the Ajax Arena ... but I totally dislike parts of the Ajax support. Why can't the club control all those idiots?