Both Steaua and RBS have rich sugar daddy's, we don't. We're still building and will continue to do so considering we will lose our more experienced players every summer. I truly believe in Fischer, Kishna and Klaassen for the future. They should be more equipped to bring us glory in Europe considering they were already somewhat succesful in NextGen along with Veltman, Denswil, Andersen etc. (it's amazing that the core of that team, bar Bouy, will form our 1st eleven next season). Next season will be that turning point once we get rid of complacent players like Siem and Vermeer etc.
Today's football is not about just creating quality players through your academy, it's more about making them stay with you as long as possible. Since football at this level is a profession and not a passion, they will leave you at tender age unless they get paid at least what the competition offers. Unless current salary policy is changed, and I don't believe it is a realistic scenario, we have to accept the fact that we a second, if not a third tier club as far as European competitions are regarded.
The club would seriously risk bankruptcy were they to change things. It was only five years ago that the finances were in really bad shape (I've been following the corporate filings for that long). Here is a list of the clubs that can seriously compete for CL: Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea, Bayern, PSG, ManU (once they retool). The following clubs are competitive but just lack a little something: Arsenal, ManCity, Juventus, Liverpool, Dortmund (and even they cannot keep all their good players). There is no realistic way Ajax break into this group or for that fact most any other team in Europe; they do not have the resources and I don't think Platini's fair play rule will affect this one bit.
This team is really bad worse than average. It also looked like FdB went straight to the changing room and didn't congratulate the NAC trainer, really bad on his part IMO. The only players that even distinguished themselves at all were Cillessen and Poulsen. Everyone else was so poor that they did not even deserve to wear the shirt today. Terrible that we are even in first place. Didn't think much of the officiating today; really don't understand how Veltman go the Yellow card as he was past the player when the player tripped. Can't call that a foul! Player Ratings: Cillessen (6.5) - let down by his defense but made two critical saves to keep the clean sheet and he's going to have to do a lot more of this Blind (5) - average at best Moisander (5.5) - good defensive play in the first half to prevent a score but too many worthless long balls Veltman (5) - aveage at best van Rhijn (4.5) - defensively below average and did nothing going forward Poulsen (6) - only one who really wanted to win today Klaassen (3.5) - few touches and looked like a quick de Jong in midfield Serero (3) - gets a point for a good defensive play to prevent a break in on Cillessen otherwise was horrible, so lightweight that he drew fouls for falling over Kishna (3) - hope he learned that he cannot beat three players de Jong (NR) - came off too early to warrant any rating Schöne (4.5) - shade below average which makes him the best of the front line players Sigthorsson (3) - had one shot on goal but otherwise terrible; he is so poor on the ball that it's pathetic to watch de Sa (4.5) - one trick pony charging to the end line trying to cross; it worked twice but the delivery was poor; did put in a lot of effort Bojan (4) - why are we even paying him? I'm seriously wondering why I even watch this team play; there are schoolboy clubs that perform much better. Disgusting plain and simple!
Man, that has been painfully bad. It's almost funny. The bright side on the other hand is that we have no key players to sell in the summer so we can only get better.
Not quite right. We need to sell de Jong, Sana, Serero, Vermeer, and let Bojan go back to Barca where he won't be good enough. Moisander will also be sold as he will only have one more year on his contract and he wants to move on. We will only get better if FdB figures out what a proper midfield looks like.
On that note it looks like Siem might have played his last match for Ajax. Maybe out with the old and in with the new?
What happens if we can't find a buyer for Siem this summer? It's not an unrealistic scenario that that might happen.
I think he will sign a 1 year contract extension if that is the case. He won't act stupid and sit out his contract on the bench. At least, it would surprise me if he did. He should be grateful playing for Ajax. This season he brought little to the table.
The only possibilities are mid to lower table teams in Germany. He's really not fast enough for the English League and he sure isn't a midfielder. If anything it looks to me as though isn't as quick this season but maybe that's because of the series of injuries he has had. IMO, FdB made a big mistake last season by making him Captain; it should have been Alderwiereld.
Right now we have no key players. Anyone can miss a game and hardly someone will notice, it's that bad.
Actually, Cillessen is way better than Vermeer so I would put him as a key player; same with Moisander and Veltman who are superior to their backups.
I think Ajax should try to keep Moisander. From a Dutch NT interest I say sell him (Denswil), but if my nr 1 concern would be Ajax then I would say try to keep him. Not so much a brilliant defender, but he is one of those defenders that could become older pillars at the club. His experience is needed in a young team as Ajax. His mentality is pretty damn good. For Eredivisie he is a fine defender. He is another ideal son in law, but that is what Ajax got 4 titles in a row. For me it is more a thing to phase in the gems in that framework of ideal son in laws. PSV experienced that first hand. Totally dipped mid season. Now they have the framework of Park, Hiljemark and Schaars as a block in midfield and are on a 7 game winning streak. Try and get gems at the front. All of them are not good enough, bar Kishna. Midfield needs more gems also. Moisander and Schöne should be those players that end their career with Ajax. In the Eredivisie of today, they are assets. Winning the league is the basis. That unlocks CL, money and with that better players that want to come to Ajax. Moisander and Schöne would also not blow up the dressing room in case they get benched for a super talent. They might want to get out if it takes too long for them getting playing time again, but if Ajax plays league, Cup and CL that should not be a problem.
I totally agree with DRB300 on Moisander. He's a very solid player and it's really not clear to me what the "step up" to a higher league would be. He's not suited to the English league, Italy is a cesspool these days; he could play in Spain but not at the big three clubs (look at how much playing time Alderwiereld is getting at Athletico) or in Germany. He's only 28 years old and certainly has several more years of playing time in his body. Unfortunately, this would mean Denswil doesn't get much playing time.
^I don't see the point? You're comparing a 17 year old Groningen striker with a 24 year old Ajax striker. Unless your point is that Zivkovic under those conditions already performs similarly to Sightorsson.
I thought the graph type to profile a players ability and compare to another is an interesting one, though I have seen it before. And yes, I found it it also interesting that a 17 year old kid at a club like Groningen shows overlap if not over performance compared to a striker like Sig. That being said his current coach equates Zivko to Makaay and we have yet to see how he does at a more ball possession based team like Ajax where players also have to be able to operate in the tight spaces.
One of the poorest officated matches that I've seen in some time. Cards given when they shouldn't have, and hard fouls not even called. I think it pretty much evened out for both sides as both FdB and Advocaat were constantly yelling at the fourth official. In the end it was a bit of luck and superb goalkeeping that gave us the 1-0 win. Player Ratings: Vermeer (8.5) - just stopped everything that came his way and four of them were hard shots, kicked amazingly well Boilesen (5.5) - didn't do much and was forced to defend a lot after Veltman was sent off Moisander (7.5) - rock solid at the back Veltman (4) - maybe he was the victim of poor officiating but he did get sent off so points come off van Rhijn (5.5) - had some trouble with Beerens as usual Blind (6) - lost his man several times when he moved to full back but otherwise solid Serero (6) - drew a lot of fouls Klaassen (5.5) - really did very little and maybe was the weakest of all the starters de Sa (6) - decent game and played up front with Sigthorrson when it was 10 v. 10 Sigthorrson (6) - better than in past matches and showed surprisingly good ball control Schöne (7.5) - fantastic free kick and solid play Denswil (7) - solid game and didn't try to get too fancy with the ball Duarte (6) - really should have put one of his two chances on frame Poulsen (6) - came on for defense in the last 15 and did not disappoint Twente on Sunday and it's really a match to win as PSV are really on a roll
Cillessen without a doubt. He is also a better kicker. Vermeer was exceptional today, usually he is quite spotty.