Was a beast today. The whole team was doing Sporting dirty on their own turf. If they keep this up, this team is going to get gutted because they have a lot of great youngsters. Possibly see Alvarez leaving soon.
gonna be such a weird summer transfer window in 2022 with the WC being in the winter. Do we want him to make a move to a new league/country just 3 months before the WC?
No, of course you won't. He will spend alot of energy into adapting to a new play style, infighting in the team, new surroundings and show up in the green shirt gasped.
Alvarez was MOTM for me against Fortuna Sittard this afternoon. Just a perfect match. His pass to Blind on the third Ajax goal was incisive and his defending wonderful winning every duel. He is looking to make quick forward passes now and his teammates are seeing this improvement and getting him the ball these days. Keep it up!!!!!!
He is having another great match. I think he has won every duel and his passing is top class. His value is increasing weekly for this team.
It’s amazing how much Edson’s improved with Ajax. And people still debate whether or not to send our guys to the Dutch league vs another league.
All the Mexican players who have gone to the Dutch league have seen their game greatly improve. they are forced to play quicker and ball skills are at a premium. Alvarez, and I've been one of his biggest boosters, was weak in both when he came to the team. His teammates would not pass to him at first because he didn't react quickly enough. This doesn't happen anymore. He is quick to see open players and make good through passes which is what is needed from the holding MF.
Alvarez goes the full 90 minutes and his first half goal was the match winner. Good play all around and is proving to be a great defensive stopper. Champions League match coming up against Besiktas mid week!!!
Edson Alvarez with the header to give Ajax the lead!!! pic.twitter.com/QzvN0Ncnr8— MexNexGen (@MexNexGen2) September 25, 2021
Anyway, the reason he has improved immensely this season is because he after the regular training worked with among others another 10-15 minutes extra with Gerald Vanenburg ( a master technician footballer) or Richard Witsche to improve his execution speed of play, technical mastery of the ball, like his kicking. His labour with these skill trainers show up in his matches this season.
You know, in the other/better? leagues clubs exploit you. In the Eredivisie and Belgian league we invest in you. Just look at the coaching staff of Feyenoord/PSV/Ajax. You find there former superstars transferring their knowledge to players of the club. Van Nistelrooij/van Persie/Makaay etc. You donot see that with the "superclubs".
@feyenoordsoccerfan has it right in his post. Ajax were very patient with Alvarez when most of the supporters thought the club made a huge mistake. The player also contributed by working on the necessary skills that would make him a starter on a club that is playing CL football right now. Of course he won't spend the remainder of his career with Ajax, but he is a far better player right now than a year ago when a lot of people were arguing that he should be sold to a Spanish club even if Ajax would take a loss on the transfer. Good holding MFs are valued and I won't be surprised at all if his transfer value approaches €30M given his young age and physical skills.
I’ll out myself, I’m not entirely sold that the Dutch league is the gold standard unless there’s champions league guaranteed. Which isn’t always the case since the second place team rarely gets through the qualifying stages. The development can be great but the level of competition behind maybe one other team seems to be below mls standards. What is more valuable, the chance that one player at Ajax becomes better or facing better competition every week? Edson appears to have improved so far in the Dutch league and I’m not hating on him at all - he’s probably my current favorite player for the national team but he did make two huge mistakes this summer. Did other players start to transcend after playing the Dutch league? Lozano imo was as good going in as he was leaving, corona as well
As one who has attended and watched MLS matches since the league began, I don't take this sentence seriously at all. MLS players have nowhere near the technical proficiency of their Dutch counterparts. The only problem Dutch clubs have is the lack of television revenue that forces them into selling players early and often.
Let alone the tactical proficiency of the Eredivisie players. Beckenbauer once said if he had the time and possibility to watch a Dutch league match, he always would do it, just for the interesting tactical things going on.
How many times has a Dutch team gone through CL qualification the last decade? What good is tactical proficiency if it doesn’t help elevate your level of competition