Unfortunately, Efmofides is caught between two pretty groups of midfielders. On the younger side we have van de Beek and Nouri and on the older side, Andersen, Klaassen, Bazoer, Sinkgraven, and Serero. If Ajax bring in Gudelj from AZ this summer that adds yet another one to the mix. Ajax probably decided that this is enough quality and quantity.
Ajax has been doing great things lately. From buying Sinkgraven and Milik to extending Schone , the club is finally showing good ambitions. Unfortunetaly we had to wait the year where Ajax wouldn't get the title to see that. Now I believe that Ajax can take the title back next year, the team is good in quantity and quality while PSV has been playing the whole year with a thin squad and will lose some important players this summer. The only problem for me is De Boer. Certain people may consider him as a great trainer, it's not my case. I would enjoy a midfield Gudelj-Klaassen-Schone for the CL, you got Gudelj and Klaassen who can both defend and score goals, and Schone who adds the technical touch. And all of them already have a certain experience and can play the CL level , I don't think that Sinkgraven can have a direct impact on european games for example. With Bazoer, Sinkgraven and Andersen for the rotation, eventually one player more between Serero and Duarte, and Van De Beek/Nouri pushing behind, Ajax is almost certain to have a great midfield for the next four seasons. Unfortunetaly I doubt about De Boer putting Schone as AM, he will continue to spoil him. I would add a CB to replace Moisander, if possible an experienced one. But not Heitinga. I'm thinking about Ryan Donk, 29 years old, had two solid seasons as a starter with Kasimpasa. He can compete with Veltman/Viergever . Otherwise maybe Ajax should look in South America or Eastern europe for that CB. I still believe that Van Rhijn might leave, but he is replaceable. The midfield as I said, I would bring Gudelj and sell a player between Serero and Duarte. I heard that Milan wanna offer 5mo for Serero, if they can upgrade this offer to 7mo, it would be a decent offer for him. He is a good player but his potential seems to be limited for me. Milik/Zivkovic will be a great competition forward. Considering the lack of quality that the current dutch strikers suffer from, I'm sure that Zivko can make the EC 2016 if he plays a great season. For the wingers I would sell Kishna to be honest. He is not very productive and I don't really like his mentality. I like to compare him to Arnautovic, both on his technical skills and behavior. If he doesn't leave this summer, he will do it next one for sure. If Ajax can get 8/10 mo for him this summer and invest a part of this money for Berghuis, I would sign for it. El Ghazi should play on the left wing for me. He doesn't really have the pure speed to play on the right wing, I see him more in the register of Chadli when he is playing on the left. I also don't like when Chadli play as right winger with Tottenham. So to sum up : Departures : Moisander = free Serero = From 7mo Siggy = 3mo (one year contract left) Kishna = From 8mo Arrivals : A new CB = ? Gudelj = 5/7mo Berghuis = 5mo ------------------------------------------------Cillessen(Onana)------------------------------------------------------- ----Van Rhijn(Tete)---------Veltman(V D Hoorn)-------------Viergever(?)-----------------Boilesen(Riedewald) --------------------------------Gudelj(Bazoer)--------------------Klaassen(Sinkgraven)-------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------Schone(Andersen)---------------------------------------------------- ----Berghuis(Menig)-----------------------------Milik(Zivkovic)-----------------------------El Ghazi(Fischer)------ That would be a good team to start the season.
It's hard to find anyone on any Ajax forum that consider de Boer a great trainer. I was hoping that one of the EPL teams would seriously take him away but I guess they probably have awoke to the fact that he is a mediocre trainer. Schöne has lost quickness and is no longer a 90 minute player. I don't think he is as good as any of the current youn midfielders who start for the club right now. disagree completely Andersen still has not shown that he has the strength to play a high level game. Serero and Duarte should be sold as soon as possible for any price they can bring. Neither are good enough I won't be surprised at all if Schöne is sold this summer for a decent sum Take any amount that Milan will offer. they will quickly find out he really is a very average player
Bazoer and Sinkgraven are promising players but I'd like Ajax to have a mature midfield for the CL. Selling Schone and relying on the youngsters will lead to the same mistakes Ajax has been doing for ages in the CL now. Apoel Nicosie has reached the CL quarters, clubs such as Basel, Copenhagen the second round. The secret is that all these clubs have a majority of 25-30yo players while Ajax always goes with a very young team and fail. Gudelj-Klaassen-Schone looks good enough to pass the group stage for me. Of course I wouldn't have a problem with Bazoer, Sinkgraven or Andersen starting some CL games, but not together. Schone has never had a big stamina, he is the danish Van der Vaart. Not an athletic player for sure, but definitly good technically, he can hold the ball and combine better than the other Ajax midfielders. And he always offers the possibility to score/assist on a free kick/corner kick, like against PSG. + he is a player who can score in important games, he started 11 CL games and scored 5 times. I also remember he offered the qualification to NEC against Spartak Moscow in Europa league few years ago. Why would you consider a Sinkgraven who still hasn't proved anything above a Schone who scores in CL ? Both should get their chance but it would be a mistake to sell Schone and rely on Sinkgraven, really. For Serero I don't think Ajax should accept any amount. Serero has CL experience and even scored against Barca. It would be good to sell him for a decent amount.
A lifeless draw played at the speed of flowing molasses. With an opponent that was not especially quick or good on the ball why wasn't a high pressing game employed? This team is not deserving of second place but I guess with every other team below them in the table equally bad it is what it is. The only players above average in this match were Cillessen, Moisander and Veltman. el Ghazi did push things but still continues to believe he can beat two defenders every time - message alert: he cannot. Each team had an excellent chance in the run of play but failed to convert and in the end a draw is the only fair result. With second place all but assured, it's time for FdB to bring some player into the starting 11 who will show some passion. Player ratings: Cillessen (7.5) - not a bad play all match but was extremely lucky that the NAC striker made a hash of an open goal chance Riedewald (5.5) - slightly above average with no glaring mistakes Moisander (6.5) - good defending and tried to move forward when there was an opportunity Veltman (6.5) - good defending van Rhijn (4) - dismal match in all categories, when a cross was needed he failed to deliver Klaassen (4.5) - half point for getting his head on the ball off a corner but otherwise poor match, very poor passing Bazoer (4) - very slow on the ball and full of wild shots on goal, corners were awful Sinkgraven (4.5) - half point for a very good free kick but didn't accelerate the pace of the game Andersen (4.5) - had to finish his chance and didn't; too many poor passes Sigthorrsson (4) - why oh why wasn't Zivkovic in the lineup? Our Icelandic plow horse doesn't deserve to be on a football pitch el Ghazi (4.5) - half point for pushing forward but usually the result was dismal Fischer (5) - good to see him back on the pitch Serero (5) - average and nothing more Kishna (5.5) - did show some passion that has been lacking in recent games. Still need one more point to convincingly win second place and I'm sure it will come in one of the remaining games but all of us supporters really have to question whether it's worth watching any of them.
Only the media consider Frank a great trainer. And why there is yet to be a reporter to ask the question why the ******** Sigthorsson still plays for us is beyond me.
I seriously doubt anyone would want to buy Serero. Not because I think he's bad, I rate him higher than many other people do, but because he's a build like a 12 year old. Seriously. Which club would ever pay money for him...
Ajax could and should have reached the next round in the CL on multiple occasions the last few seasons. If it wasn't Balotelli diving, Zagreb/Lyon cheating, or the ref screwing us out of 2 goals vs Real Madrid. Plenty of opportunities. Just unlucky. I do think our team is too youthful and inexperienced, but I would prefer to call it not good enough yet. Some players are good enough without experience while many players with experience aren't. I for one for would not be happy with Gudelj for instance.
I pretty much agree here. I haven't seen enough of Gudelj (saw more of him sitting in the Arena on our video feed today than I've seen him actually play) to consider whether he fills any gap that we are in need of filling. There certainly are not any 25-30 year old players out there worth bringing in. The only successful time this worked was with Poulsen and I think he was probably about to retire before Ajax called him. He put in two good seasons at a reasonable price. Any player with quality will cost more than the €1M Ajax would pay in salary.
At least Jurgen Klopp did the right thing at Dortmund and he even brought the club to a CL final which is more than FdB has done.
About the first part, I think that the inexperience of Ajax is partly guilty. Balotelli dived, but Van Der Hoorn wasn't smart to touch him. Every smart and experienced defender wouldn't touch Balotelli in the box during the additionnal time. That year with Lyon/Zagreb, Ajax deserved to qualify more than Lyon. But Ajax couldn't beat Lyon in two games, both ended 0-0, Lyon was very poor, Ajax would have won with more experienced players I think. About Gudelj, I think he can bring something. He is more than decent defensivly, and a good footballer as well. Ajax has been struggling last years to find a good DM who can also play football. I believe Gudelj can be one.
I see experienced players make mistakes like that all the time. And I think Van der Hoorn will continue making those mistakes for the next decade. He's just not good enough, has little to do with experience imo. For example, I'd very much like to have the 20 year old John Stones play for us. I would rank Ajax in the same category as Apoel and Copenhagen. We would have actually faced Apoel in the round of 16 if we weren't cheated in 2012. All three teams normally only have a small chance to get through the group stage. With a bit of luck, or even without bad luck, Ajax would have succeeded once or twice though. I don't think think this comes down to experience, but to quality and luck. I mean, where are Apoel and Copenhagen now? I'm sure they still have experienced players. I don't rate Gudeljs footballing abilities. I believe Gudelj can defend and score a goal, but everything in between he's poor. I don't like him in a possession based team. And I'm worried Frank would play with a Gudelj - Bazoer - Klaassen midfield. Giving us very little creativity.
Frank might be the worst football coach for cup games/finals ever. Imagine if he would ever become bondscoach.
Don't be to harsh. The last four years he was the best coach we ever had! Four titles after a long dry period (6 years!), with even better squads and (probably) better coaches we couldn't manage to win a title. I think that some players are to scared to take any risk, and FDB isn't to keen on players taking risks that can lead into loss of possession.
De Boer has never won the title with more than 76 points while Jol finished second with 82 points in 2010. Ajax will probably finish the season with 72-76 points and that's not less than the previous years. The conclusion is that De Boer was simply lucky to come when PSV was in a crisis and Twente/AZ regressing year after year. Feyenoord could compete in 2012 but that's all. I also believe that PSV would have taken the title last year if they had kept Mertens and Strootman. Moreover the european performances with De Boer as coach haven't been better than with the previous coachs. And I've never seen as many bad decisions in the club (not only De Boer is to blame for that) while De Boer was the coach. The players contracts were always a problem, VDW, Eriksen and Vertonghen were all sold with one year contract left and could have brought more with a better gestion for example. Players such as El Hamdaoui and Ozbiliz have been sold for almost nothing and for obscure reasons etc. Ajax was awful under De Boer, the titles didn't worth much to be honest.
best coach we've ever had? thats insulting to the Rinus Michels, Van Gaals... all i hope to see now is for Fisher to get back on track. and i agree with oranje14, give zivkovic some playing time! Question about the whole Jonk, FdB, bergkamp technical meetings. i believe Jonk refuses to join their regular meetings because FdB is ignoring the youth players and going out to buy players. What is the hierarchy structure here? does Jonk report to FdB? or do these 3 guys report to someone like cruyff? i'm just asking cause i find it odd that no one steps in here immediately to try and mediate the whole situation. this kind of stuff should not even leak out to the media.
Don't take it to literal. After our first title everybody agreed that FdB was the best and that Cruyffs "Velvet Revolution" will bring in some good spirit into Ajax. Now after 4 years we see that we have a mediocre team with players that don't bring their best in important games. I think the whole Jonk, FdB, Bergkamp situation is part of the whole Cruyff situation/confusion. He had a vision, brought it to the table, everyone agreed that it was the most logical step for Ajax and now they don't know how to continue without sacrificing the youth and bringing some experience to the team. I think they planned on selling some players earlier but due to some injuries they are still here and their replacements are on the same level. But to be able to sell they have to play otherwise you wi'll lose money/investments.
Same can be said for Ajax if they had retained Blind and Siem de Jong. I think De Boer deserves a bit more credit for the things he did do right. While terrible in knockout games De Boer did squeeze out consistent league performances with an increasingly younger and weaker squad due to reduced spending and greater youth reliance. Remember Jol had Suarez and Pantelic upfront, that makes a lot of difference. The main issue is the same one that has plagued the club for decades. Ajax is far from shrewd in the transfer market and scouting department is not able to identify outside players who would strengthen the first team.
One thing that can be said about the Boer's championships is that he never achieved it with point totals into the 80's. This season he will not reach that either. PSV will. There is an element of how strong Ajax has been in the Eredivisie the past 4 seasons and how weak the opposition has been. Especially considering Ajax making no impact in Europe under de Boer. My biggest annoyance was that game away against Milan against 10 men when Montolivo got a red card pretty early in the game after a challenge he made on Poulsen IIRC. The Boer brought in Hoorn in the last minutes to play hoof ball .... . We can also see Eredivisie weakness from looking at the results of other Dutch clubs in Europe. Eredivisie will now even be passed by Belgium next year. I think de Boer has done well with what he got, but his titles might not represent the brilliance it suggests. Brilliance is a term I reserve for coaches that are complete and adapt. De Boer does not take the next step in Europe, not in the KNVB beker, does not improve on his league point top score. Do players under him evolve into risk avoiding players making them less interesting? That is an open question to all people here. I saw Guardiola this week attacking his medical staff in an older clip. Bayern's life long doctor is quitting. If transfers and scouting are the key problems all these years, does de Boer have the balls to attack those responsible? It's great they can fire a guy like Endt, but do the football guys have the balls to attack each other as they deem one of them as not good enough at their job? Is Overmars good enough at what he does? Has de Boer enough balls to attack him and demand his resignation? No it is maybe not his place, but if he would stop trusting Overmars openly, surely something would happen. I just wonder if de Boer has some political skill in his locker to do what is best for the team and club. Even if that goes at the cost of one of his buddies. That is also what I mean with a complete coach.
[QUOTE="DRB300, post: 32117258, member: 114319 One thing that can be said about the Boer's championships is that he never achieved it with point totals into the 80's. This season he will not reach that either. PSV will. There is an element of how strong Ajax has been in the Eredivisie the past 4 seasons and how weak the opposition has been. [/quote] I don't think the league was "weak" rather teams were relatively equal and the old "on any given Sunday" rule applied. I remember the league title going down to the last match day in the first couple of years and the football was pretty exciting from a supporter's perspective. He is good at managing a team through a season but a very poor manager for knock out matches. Tactically the team has regressed and I'm unsure what the reason for this might be. When Vertonghen and Alderwiereld were central defenders they were much more opportunistic going into the attacking zone. Enoh was the DM on the 2011-12 team as Anita was moving all around the place. Eriksen was a key player and the club has not yet found an adequate replacement for him. Theo Janssen was a disaster and that was FdB's purchase and not Overmars. None of us know what really goes on behind closed doors in terms of what FdB and Overmars want and expect from each other. I don't care much for the scouting aspect of things as Ajax is always looking to develop their own players. How much scouting does Feyenoord do? Not much I venture to say given that most all of their talent is home grown as well. I also don't think that one can be too critical of the scouting given the good Danish players that have come into the squad and now perhaps both Cerny and Murcic will make an impact soon.
PSV attackers Depay and Luuk De Jong scored 39 goals between the two of them this season and are 1 and 2 on the topscorer's list. De Boer won the league while he only had 1 player in the top 10 in the last 5 years. Siem de Jong, primarily a midfielder, in season 11/12 with 13 goals. With that kind of impotence up top it's hard to win games decisively and draws are more likely. De Boer's championships are based on defensive organization. He never lost more than 4 times in a season. No team with more than 6 losses has won the league in decades. It's no surprise PSV finally won the title when they reinforced their defense and played a more counter attacking game. Suppose De Boer didn't have to deal with losing players every season, his squad could have looked like this: ----------------------Cillessen-------- Van der Wiel---Alderweireld---Vertonghen---Blind ---------------------Anita-------------------- -------------Klaassen---Eriksen--- --El Ghazi------Siem de Jong------Suarez----- I'm sure the second round in the CL would have been a lot more likely.
A few key signings have always been part of the best Ajax sides like Blankenburg and Vasovic in the 70s and George and Litmanen in the 90s. There is a reason PSV and not Feyenoord has been the main sports rival since the 80s. Youth scouting in some areas has been good as John Steen Olsen has been key of finding Danish talent but he is 72 years old. Haesaert did the same for Belgium but has left for Anderlecht and we haven't seen any Belgian talent since. The only players that leave Ajax for a profit are from the academy or developed at a young age. Pretty much every Eredivisie purchase has failed bar Cilessen while PSV has successfully raided Utrecht, Sparta and Feyenoord and increased the value of their squad year by year.
Suarez, Huntelaar, Rommedahl???? And certainly Grygera, Galasek, and Maxwell from the early '00s' were all decent players brought in from abroad.
I was talking about the current situation post Cruijff revloution. If we look at the a time frame since 2000 the picture is pretty aweful as well. Around 40 players from the eredivisie and a half dozen of good buys. An failrate of over 80% is pretty damning when it comes to transfer policy.
^^sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Feyenoord brought in a bunch of over the hill players who didn't add a thing to the team. PSV were in the wilderness for 7 years. Most of us agree that there have been some terrible transfers but this happens to even the best of teams throughout Europe. My preference is always to develop from within and this is what the Cruyff approach is.