The Future is Now! Ajax 2021-22 Season

Being in the English based media you tend to only see half of guys. I literally forgot Wim was still around because of course I haven't heard of him in ages. What has he been doing?

 

Unless ETH is given enough free rein and has the support of his management to allow him to rebuild over the full course of his contract, he's going to fail. In other words, he's going to fail. Not because he's a bad manager per se, but because Man U is a tough environment off the pitch.

Bielsa shat the bed at Leeds and tends to wear out his welcome wherever he goes. No thanks.

 

VI thinks he will fail

 

I read around 2m. Not bad in a world where lots of times you pay the manager when they leave.

I'm a Bosz super-fan so I'd love to get him back. Wim Jonk back in Overmars role. That would be my dream team.

 

He won't get free rein but he is going to have a major say in transfers. It was a key part of his demands. United have benefited from Ed Woodward, the president leaving and putting his buddy Richie Arnold in charge. Arnold unlike Woodward wants to be responsible for the commercial stuff but have a football guy handle the football dept. The had a DoF answer to Woodward but he was a long time admin not a guy that has coached or played at a high level. So Rangnick was brought in to be the football guy and so he will be schooling the current DoF on how to properly do his job and work with EtH on a philosophy of how to play and win. United finally looked at how others were doing it and decided to copy them.

 

Yup.I'm high on Jonk, despite my hate for anyone linked with Volendam.
I already mentioned him as a replacement for either Ajax or PSV months ago.

 

Nooo. Volendam must not promote.
I'm on my way to cast my voodoo magic against it.

 

Stekelenburg will be the keeper for the beker finale on Sunday. Good. I’d rather them lose with Stek playing than win with Onana at this point.

 

enlighten me to the negative vibes about Volendam? Is it just cause they tend to be tight with Ajax?

 

No, it's a hate dating back to end sixties. I watched in front of my eyes Ove Kindvall being karate kicked by Bol Jonk in his back. Ove's back since then was always a weak point. From the same time my hate for FC Utrecht stemms, then still called DOS iirc, with the same karate kick performed.

 

Ihattaren brought up to the 1st team for the cup game against PSV! Hope he gets some minutes as a sub, that would be epic and he will definitely be motivated!

 

Gravenberch is better then Goretzka but the German is more of a defensive midfielder.
I watch Bayern Munich play a lot and I’m not that impressed with a few of their players Goretzka, Sule, and Pavord.
Mazroui should definitely slide into right back while Pavard is supposed to move centrally in place of Sule who is off to Borussia Dortmund.

 

oh wow. Well, I guess you’ll have twice the chance to hate on them next season. Sure looks like they’re going up.

 

Extremely frustrating match to watch... PSV were way better coached and organized. Ajax looked toothless. Maybe I'm overreacting but just a few thoughts...

* Brobbey is not an Ajax player. He offered virtually zero. Never in the right place for long passes. Doesn't drop back into possession well. No more.

* Klassen just isn't good enough. He's a decent last 20 min need a goal option. But he does not have enough quality to play in an Ajax MF. Our days of consistently playing guys like him should be over. If he continues to play a lot, we're going no where.

* The MF in general just isn't up to it. Gravenbersch I think is very good (and still just 19!!) but he's gone. Is Kudus a solution? His touch has been horrendous in this short cameos (why wasn't he brought on sooner?). Maybe Taylor will be ready next year. But Ajax desperately need a transfer for 1, maybe 2 ready to go MFs.

* I'm sounding like a broken record but against a low block, Alvarez just offers nothing going forward. He's a CB. I'd consider flipping him and Timber next season if both are back. Timber's passing is just so much better. I'd also sell high on Alvarez and use that money to buy a good MF.

* Tadic needs to go back centrally. Either as the 9 or as a 10 (Although that'd be an issue defensively). He's just too old on the wings against good teams. I'm still confused why he doesn't play the 9 anymore. The best Ajax games in decades were Tadic as a 9.

* This team really, really missed Antony. He can make things happen out of no where. The different between him and Berghuis is enormous. They also desperately need another winger. Total failure by Overmars to transfer Neres and get nothing back on the wing. It seems like Daramy just isn't ready?

* Mazraoui was really good but of course got hurt. I'll miss his level of play but man, you cannot rely on the guy to get through a week without getting hurt. Good luck to Bayern/Barca/wherever he goes.

Lots of issues with this team that a well-coached, organized team like PSV exploited. Maybe I'm reaching but it feels like with a new coach coming, there will be massive changes.

 

Unfortunately I do remember the '16 disaster. Looking back though with the run that was right after that might've been the best thing to happen to the club.

Agree with all of this. The '19 run was about having an incredibly talented roster moreso than anything ten Hag did. I think EtH is a good manager but nothing special. His style of play is almost too cautious. I'd welcome back someone like Bosz who plays with higher risk/reward.

Netherlands has the 7th UEFA country ranking so they enter the 3rd round of qualifying next season. It'd be first 2 weeks of August then ANOTHER round. Lots of that will depend on the opponent. Also-- With Russia banned, I'm not sure how that would effect CL qualification.

538 still gives Ajax a 94% chance to win the league. A 4pt lead with 5 left is fairly big in the Eredivisie. I feel pretty good about it-- PSV would have to go 5-0-0 for them to have any shot. Even then, Ajax has 4 pt cushion and GD.

When I have more time, I'm going to really dive deep into the post-CL transfer windows. But to be quite blunt: they've been an absolute disaster when you consider how much Ajax got for de Ligt, Donny, Frenkie, Dolberg, Ziyech, Dest etc.

 

Yep plus Martinez was a great transfer.

All taken from transfermarkt just year by year since the CL run. Just doing the bigger transfers:

19/20 (+158m Euro)

IN: Promes (15.7), Alvarez (15), Marin (12.5), Martinez (7), Pierie (5) -- Babel/Varela loans

OUT: de Jong (86), de Ligt (85.5), Kasper (20.5), Wober (10.5), Sinkgraven (5), Kristensen (5), de Wit (2), Schöne (1.5)

This window was an incredible opportunity for Ajax-- and I think they did OK. Alvarez/Martinez were very good guys. Marin was a total zero, Promes was horrendous without Ziyech. Kik just isn't going to play for Ajax. The loans were bad.

Selling wise, this sounds nuts but if Frankie didn't agree in Winter '19 to go to Barca, I think we would have gotten 100+ for him. Kasper felt like selling low but he was done at that point.

Overall, I think this was fine. Not a disaster but could have been much better.

20/21 (+46m Euro)

IN: Haller (22.5), Anthony (15.75), Klaassen (11.7), Kudus (9), Klaiber (4.25), Steklenberg (free), Idrissi loan

OUT: Ziyech (40), Donny (39), Dest (21), Promes (8.5), Veltman (1)

Haller/Anthony transfers were brilliant. However not registering Haller for Europa does downgrade that a little. Klaassen I still don't understand. Kudus jury is out. Klaiber was just lighting money on fire. Idrissi was terrible.

I thought Overmars got good value for all the guys leaving especially Dest. Getting anything for Promes was a very good move.

Overall-- not a disaster but again tons of money in and some questionable spends. I do think COVID totally screwed Ajax though in terms of selling the big 3 they lost.

21/22 (+24m).

IN: Daramy (12), Berghuis (5.5), Gorter (1), Pasveer (free), Brobbey/Ihattaren (loans)

OUT: Neres (12), Traore (10), Marin (6.7), Lang - officially moved (6), Scherpen (5), Eklelkamp (3), Eiting, Brobbey (free)

It was clear Ajax needed some reinforcements and all they really got of value was Berghuis. Losing Brobbey on a free was bad. Lang was pretty much given away (4x value now). Neres sold at his lowest value (could have moved him for 40m).


Maybe not as bad as I thought it was. Was going to be impossible to keep the talent level up to 18/19 standard. But really feels like some giant missed chances.

The 'winter attacking' transfers have been just awful and killed Ajax in the European knockout stages.