Tag: Tagliafico

by Jan

Ajax’ nightmare season

In typical Dutch form, people will immediately say: “Who is to blame?”. The answer is not very straightforward. Lets first look at the problem.

Ajax was having a decent run in the past seasons. Frank de Boer did ever so well winning titles and turning the poor Ajax into a cash rich club, with some amazing outgoing transfers putting some fat on the bone. Peter Bosz came in and turned De Boer’s boring Ajax into a free-flowing attacking machine, but Bosz ended his 1 season spell with Ajax when Van der Sar refused to work with Bosz on a reshuffling of the backroom staff.

Marc Overmars was acting as technical director, but mainly with a focus on contracts and signing and selling players. The Ajax Technical Triangle was supposed to take care of the football (De Boer, Bergkamp, Ouaali).

The two friends, Dirty Marc and “I haven’t seen anything untoward” Van der Sar

Overmars was kept out of the decision to block Bosz’ plans and allowed Bergkamp his spot in the sun.

Bosz left and not much later, Dennis Bergkamp – Bosz antagonist – also had to leave.

But Bergkamp was fully in control when he was at Ajax and ushered in Marcel Keizer as the replacement for Bosz. Not a bad decision, mind you. Keizer was successful as a coach on the second tier level at Cambuur and as a real Ajax man (his uncle was Piet Keizer), he also coached Ajax 2 and impressed with that team (which had the likes of Van de Beek, De Ligt, Frenkie and Appie Nouri).

Keizer is also a close friend of Bergkamp, so the two set out to lead Ajax. The Nouri situation – the brilliant ballplayer had heart failure in a friendly in the pre-season and due to the late response, he survived the ordeal but that is about it….the poor lad is confined to his bed for the rest of his life – made matters tough for the young coach and the whole team or even club suffered through trauma that season.

Overmars decided to take the reins back from Bergkamp and organised a coup, in which both Keizer and Bergkamp had to make way. Keizer was on title course and would later impress in the Portuguese competition and in the sandpit. Bergkamp never pursued his career elsewhere and became a bit of a football recluse.

Now Overmars was in charge and he quickly lured his friend Erik ten Hag away from FC Utrecht. Ten Hag had had success with Overmars’ first love Go Ahead Eagles and Mark had always planned to get Ten Hag to Amsterdam.

The duo was quite successful, as we know. Overmars dealing with transfers and contracts, Ten Hag dealing with the first team and the results and Van der Sar safely away from the front, dealing with the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the sponsors, the board of directors and any other non-football topic.

At that time, Danny Blind was the football man in the Board and he would be an intrinsic part of Overmars little cabal.

And boy, what was Overmars good at his job. And how horrible did he behave when it wasn’t about football.

Overmars telling inappropriate jokes to Sar?

Despite being married to a former Miss Universe (or Miss Holland, not sure), he couldn’t resist using his powerful position at Ajax to bother and hassle the young ladies working at the social media/marketing department of Ajax. And it went further than texting them invites for dinner. The diminutive former winger enjoyed taking pictures of his …less diminutive mini-me and sent them to the ladies in question, who apparently were to scared to report him to the general manager. One key reason: the general manager (yes Edwin van der Sar) knew this was happening and was part of the sexist cabal at Ajax, enjoying inappropriate humor.

Van der Sar protected his powerful friend but when the news broke in the media, it was clear that the former Arsenal and Barca man had to leave.

So, many things had gone wrong already by that time. But Van der Sar took it a bit further. Instead of trying to replace Overmars with a heavyweight – but with manners – he decided to give newcomer Huntelaar and scout Hamstra the joint role of technical director (not in name though).

Oops. Exposed. But a bit too much exposed.

And obviously, both were too lightweight, inexperienced and unconnected to step into Overmars boots. And what people do forget: he is a very good negotiator. He made money playing football and but multiplied his money by dealing in property and classic cars. Huntelaar and Hamstra are definitely people with expertise and added value but they’re no Overmars.

And it showed, this season. Lisandro Martinez left for Man United. Bassey was brought in. Gravenberch left for Bayern, Austrian midfielder Grillisch is his replacement. And so on.

I believe Sar never replaced Overmars, because he hoped (planned?) to get the speedy ex-winger back after a couple of months of “distance from the club”. But it didn’t happen. And when Alfred Schreuder, assisted by his agent, started to “help” Ajax to more new signings, things turned for the worst.

Ocampos was on the wishlist and Ajax would have signed him for 30+ million euros, if the Board of Directors hadn’t intervened. They forced Ajax to take him on a loan basis. And less than 6 months later, the winger was sent back to Spain as he was never able to convince anyone in Amsterdam.

Ocampos failure

But it went further downhill, as Schreuder lost the dressing room due to several bad decisions. His treatment of Daley Blind (who left after the World Cup), his decision to protect Tadic and never sub him, his decision to not use newcomer Wijndal but try Blind, Bassey and Rensch on that spot, the list goes on.

Daley Blind’s exit had another consequence for the club: highly rated Danny Blind – sounding board for coaches and technical management – could not continue his director’s role what with Daley being pushed out unceremoniously. And again, it appeared that Van der Sar and the Board did not have a shadow list waiting in the drawer.

They didn’t have one for Overmars. Not for Danny Blind and when stalwarts like Michael Reiziger and Academy director Said Ouaali announced their exits too, it was quite clear things are a bit fishy in Amsterdam.

John Heitinga was pushed forward when Schreuder was sacked. Much like his old team mate Van Nistelrooy at PSV, Heitinga planned to build up his career with care and consideration. The former Everton defender managed Ajax 2 and was about to start as Schreuder’s assistant but was propelled into the hot seat immediately.

So now, Ajax is re-building. They were able to get former midfielder Jan van Halst in as new football director in the board of directors. They installed Heitinga for this season, with Dwight Lodeweges as he new assistant and they finally signed a technical director – Sven Mislintat –  to replace Overmars, who seems to be enjoying his time at FC Antwerp, with Mark van Bommel. I personally believe Mislintat could well be the right choice, as he has quite a strong resume and clearly adores Ajax.

So, in conclusion, I think its fair to say that after the mismatch of Bosz-Bergkamp-Overmars-Van der Sar, the combination of Ten Hag-Overmars (without Sar) worked amazingly well. There is no need for me to list the achievements of Ten Hag at Ajax.

But when Overmars had to take his leave, Van der Sar needed more than 12 months (!) to replace him. Imagine that, your key guy in the organisation. And it’s not like Van der Sar was ambushed by the dick-pics, he knew about it. So his lack of taking action resulted in a head coach (Schreuder) who was drowning from day 1. And in hindsight, Schreuder also didn’t do himself many favours with his headstrong attitude within the club.

Heitinga with new technical director Sven Mislintat

The combi Ten Hag – Overmars was replaced by Schreuder-Huntelaar-Hamstra and that combination had no chance!

Ajax’ terrible season – in my view – is another nudge of the keepers gloves of Van der Sar. His list of failings is becoming very long.

And if things turn really sour for Ajax this coming weekend – away versus in form Twente – they might end up playing conference league football next season.

The only bonus: last year, when Van der Sar was asked about having to play in the conference league potentially in the future, his answer was: I will not be with the club when that happens. And the fans will now clutch that claim to their chest. The only silver lining in case Ajax finishes 4th this season.

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by Jan

Alfred Schreuder’s Ajax plans

Alfred Schreuder impressed in his early coaching days, at FC Twente and PSV and made his way from assistant coach (Ten Hag, Nagelsmann, Koeman) to title winning head coach, at Club Brugge.

He was seen as instrumental in the 2019 success campaign with Ajax and is now back at the club, in the head coach role. His plans and ideas for the new season…

“I can see the team getting sharper and the chemistry is growing really well amongst the new lads. The mainstay players are back and hitting their usual levels and we have some new blood now as well. Last season, we had a couple of set backs to deal with her. The CL loss versus Benfica was a shock to the system, but so was Antony’s injury. Despite the weaker second half last season, I can see the patterns of the first season’s half emerging again. That is our platform.”

Mohammed Kudus

“We have some much attacking talent. Let me mention Kudus. He came as a midfielder, a number 8 or 10. We didn’t see much of him due to his injury woes, but I love playing him higher up the pitch. He is such an intuitive player, to play him in midfield means I have to restrict him. He needs to play more tactical. Not his strength. If I play him in a free flowing false 9 role, call it the Tadic role, he shows some real quality. He is unpredictable. I love that in a player. He’s strong, he’s quick and he doesn’t stick to one particular thing. He is one of the players that exceeded my expectations.”

Multi-functional

“I love players like Kudus, who can play in different roles. I mean, Tadic…he can play in the 10 role, as a striker and as a left winger. Same with Steven Bergwijn. Berghuis can play the 10 or the right wing or even in a midfield role as an double pivot holding mid. Daley Blind can play in 3 roles, Timber can play in different spots, I can keep on going like this. This way, I don’t have to have a “core eleven”. I can switch it up anywhich way. Depending on the opponent, the form of the day, the specific circumstances of the day. It’s abundance for me as a coach, as if I have 44 first squad players. You don’t win trophies with eleven players…”

Competition

“Yes there is competition of course, but also collaboration. We are doing this as a team. We have several players for only a limited number of positions. I can only field 3 midfielders, but I have 6 top options. It’s not a problem for me. It’s just my job. If a player doesn’t play for 6 matches in a row, yes, he’ll get frustrated, I get that. But we will play a match every 4 days so rotation is the name of the game. My job is to make sure all players feel seen and are happy. Playing or not playing.”

Patterns

“Some people say you can only get these automations and patterns when you play the same eleven. Not true of course. You can work on these with all players so it becomes even easier to rotate and use different players. There will be subtle changes, but the time that a player could only play with one particular team mate or something is over. We have 3 or 4 possible left backs, in Blind, Wijndal, Bassey and Rensch. Tadic will have to be able to play with all of them and knowing what the particular strengths are of the different players.”

Fitness levels

“Remko Pasveer, Jurrien Timber and Antony are recovering really well. They’ll be making their first minutes soon. With Antony, we get more options as he is amazing on the wide side, but he can also play in the half spaces, close to Berghuis. We’ll experiment more with those options. Timber might not be ready for the Johan Cruyff Shield. We’ll be careful with him, we envision a long season.”

Level of play

“We are focusing on the way we played in the first half of last season. The level was really high and we know we can touch on that again, as our benchmark. We need to see the positive energy again, the joy of playing. If we can muster that in combination with the quality we have, we should be doing really well again. We will build on what Erik ten Hag did here. Our way of pressing will need to adapt a bit. We need to get more different options. Feyenoord also presses high but they do it differently to us. We used to use our wingers to put pressure on the half spaces and the centre back. Feyenoord uses their #10 to put pressure on the centre back. An interesting option for us to check as well. A lot is also depending on how much space the opponent has between their centre backs. If the space is too wide, our #10 pressing will mean our other midfielders are facing a man more. Which might not be ideal. And all these choices have flow on effects for the wingers and the other players. It’s like conducting a symphony, isn’t it?”

Pressing

“I studied Bayern Munich’s pressing under Hansi Flick. They were able to press anywhere and in any combination. It looked like chaos but they all joined in and it was glorious to see how they all participated. It requires trust and team work because if one player doesn’t participate, you’re gone. I am working hard with the lads to make sure they can recognise the patterns. What to do when the opponent plays with the centre backs close together, or… when they are more wide. I need players to come up with solutions. I don’t want to pre-chew their food.  Take the Red Bull Salzburg game, who started playing long balls. I am keen to see how our team deals with that, without me jumping up from the bench to yell instructions.”

The Key Players

“I spend a lot of time with the players whom I expect to be able to take charge on the pitch. Tadic, Blind, Klaassen, Timber and Berghuis are those guys. I need to them to recognise situations and patterns. These lads are all tactically astute and need to be more pro-active in their football thinking. Yes, it’s called football but it could have been named brainball…”

Schreuder’s talks

“I talk a lot with the players. I need to know how they feel about things, what their beliefs are and how they process certain things. I also need to get to know them personally. What motivates or triggers them. Take Mohammed Kudus, I spent time with him also to explain that my choices do not mean I don’t see him as a midfielder. I don’t want players to become anxious when I do something unpredictable. I need them to see my point, just like I want to see their points.”

Build up

“I like to build up with three players from the back. And I need them to be higher up, so we can create more effective triangles. When we play against a 5-4-1 it won’t really work, there will not be enough space, but I need to make sure we can use our players’ strengths. Antony is very good with his back to the touch line. But Tadic is better in the half spaces. Bergwijn can do both very well. Last week, I trained with three at the back: Blind, Rensch and Timber. And Rensch has got some development to make, to realise his positioning. When we’re in possession, it goes well. He really understands where to be, but when we lose possession, he’s drifting too much. A bit like Mazraoui in the beginning. He had that too. It takes time. We’re also working hard on different options in midfield. When Alvarez is marked, what does Berghuis do and vice versa. I now want to try out Ken Taylor in the Frenkie role. I think he can play that role but I need to work it still. That is for next week. We’re also trying to get some variance in the build up. At times, I want to pivot the full backs. Keeping the right back deep and move Timber into midfield. Or vice versa. Against Salzburg, we were faced with a diamond in midfield. Interesting. Rensch forgot to follow the left midfielder, who at times came into the left winger role. These are the details we are working on now.”

Target man

“We almost have a well-balanced squad but I miss a target man. We don’t have one of these and you can really use them in certain situations. Take Luuk de Jong at Barca. Haller can be dangerous from crosses from the wings and he’s not longer here. Brobbey is not that type and I think it will be hard to find a 25 year old to play that role. You’re more looking at a Luuk de Jong or a Klaas Jan Huntelaar in his last phase here at Ajax. We are still looking for a strong header to take that role.”

Players leaving

“I can be brief about this topic: as far as I am concerned, no one leaves now. Tagliafico is the last to go. Antony will stay at Ajax. Not for sale. Martinez went to Man United and we signed Calvin Bassey in his place. A strong player, who can also play left back. Giving us an extra option. Blind and Bassey can both play centrally too. I haven’t used Daley as midfielder yet, and I think I will. I know he’s capable in that role. He is so good tactically. He is one of those players who can easily slot into a new position.”

Francisco Conceicao

“What a player! He is young, he has a tremendous dribble one v one. He has a lot of potential. He is leaving Porto and his dad because he can see Ajax is the ideal next step for him. He has a great mentality. We had some good talks with his dad, who used to be a top top player too. He finds it hard that his son is leaving but he also knows Ajax is a great club for his development and next steps. He knows his son will be in good hands. We signed him as a stand in for Antony, and we’ll give him time to get used to the game and our squad.”

Goal keepers

“The battle of the goalies is still open. Stekelenburg started so well too, but he got injured. I do think he’ll be back soon. But all three are top. Pasveer has that calm and cool, while Gorter is very lively, a mega talent. Gorter is ready to go but I think we will wait with our decision until all goalies are fit. I am also focusing on the partnership with the central defenders. I think they’re quite equal in their qualities, they all three are great with their feet too.”

Mo Ihattaren

“The club is in contact with him. That is all I can say. I focus on the players I have at my disposal and at this stage, Mo is not ready. He’s dealing with some nasty personal business. We have a trainings program for him and I hope we’ll see him soon again.”

The title battle

“I will be between the top 3 again. PSV has done amazing business, and they had to too, due to their CL ambitions. Feyenoord is a bit slow again but they did good business late in the window last season and Slot has demonstrated he doesn’t need a lot of time to gel a good team. But we’ll focus on ourselves. We have a top squad again and we will keep on building on our own strengths.”

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by Jan

“Ajax’s biggest game ever”

We love hyperboles… We actually witnessed one in action yesterday. With Stevie G watching on from the stands in Anfield, the man who led his team to the CL win in Istanbul, after being 3-0 down at half time… That vibe was present in Liverpool yesterday and must have inspired the Reds like nothing else. And only a few people realised that we are watching a huge shift in hierarchy in world football. After many many CL finals, we will see a finals without either Messi or Ronaldo. Their reign ended. The new super stars are called Van Dijk. De Ligt. De Jong. And they will reign supreme in the next decade.

Tactics won yesterday. Tactics, Klopp’s to be precise, in combination with the typical English gung ho mentality and energy. And how is Wijnaldum a typical example of Liverpool’s heavy metal football. Gini runs, tackles, pushes, scores, jumps and passes… What a game, what a team! From their goalie to their right back to their Egyptian pharao Mo Salah. Respect!

And yes, Tottenham Hotspur will be inspired by the Liverpool feat. Sure. But it will also have done something with Ajax. Don’t worry.

Ten Hag calls it the biggest game in Johan Cruyff Arena ever. That is probably not true. But for him and his team, it will be true. And for all the fans tomorrow as well. It will be the first time in 23 years that Ajax might get into the CL finals. Two years ago, they reached the Europa League finals under Bosz, which was quite a feat already, but the prestige of the CL finals is unprecedented. In this century, no other Dutch club reached this far. In 1996 Ajax lost the finals vs Juve on penalties and that was it.

Should Ajax win the CL, they will add a cool 22.5M euros to their bank account. They’ll play the World Cup for clubs too which will bring them around 3.5M euros. All in all, this season Ajax could write 42.5M euros for reaching the group stages of the CL. And don’t forget, Ajax started all this early in the season as qualifiers… Ajax will earn around 100M in total as a result of their European adventure.

Dutch football in general will benefit greatly as Ajax will earn heaps of coefficiency points, which will result in an easier entry in European tournaments in the future.

What can we expect tomorrow?

It seems Ajax’ squad is top fit, with the exception of David Neres who has some slight issues (but will play).

Mazraoui is back in full fitness and his tremendous turn as a sub – in combi with Veltman’s not so great game – will probably mean he starts as right back again.

“When you have the ball you can avoid getting into duels. In the first phase of the first half, we demonstrated how this works” – Erik Ten Hag at the presser

This quote above tells us how Ten Hag will want to play. The same as he did in the first 30 mins at White Hart Lane. With Ziyech and Neres coming in tight. With Tadic dropping to midfield at times. With Frenkie de Jong dropping next to Blind and Veltman moving inside to offer more options. And zipping the ball from foot to foot.

“We didn’t anticipate their changes well enough and as a result it became fight football,” – Erik ten Hag on Ajax TV

Ajax failed to have enough players around target man Llorente to grab the second ball and entered the arena for fight where avoiding and using the space to play out of trouble was a wiser option.

“After the break we managed to set the team up to deal with Spurs. Defensively, we were well positioned and never really got into trouble” – Erik ten Hag for Veronica TV

In the second half, Neres and Ziyech don’t press together. Ziyech presses the central defenders while Neres drops back to support his midfield. Matthijs de Ligt follows Llorente to challenge the long balls while De Jong drops back to fill the space in the centre of defence. He also does this when Blind follows the wandering Moura.

When Spurs has longer spells of possession, Ziyech and Neres drop back as wide wingbacks. It’s telling that Hakim Ziyech had the most successful tackles of all Ajax players (6).

“We failed to execute our game in possession. We should have had the peace to keep the ball longer. There was so much space on the other end of the pitch and we should have used this for the change pass and to let Spurs run ragged. In those situations, you can pounce.” – Erik ten Hag for Veronica TV

Ajax sees most space available for the full backs and Ajax prefers to use Veltman, as Tagliaficio would use the space Frenkie de Jong likes to dribble into. The plan was for Ajax to use the ball on one flank and then use the cross pass to utilise the space on the other end. Ajax fails to do this. Until Mazraoui comes for Schone. The right back (and former playmaker) constantly finds space behind Eriksen, like with the spell which resulted in Neres shot on the post.

This will be the key lesson for Ten Hag: when Spurs uses the diamond in midfield, the interplay between Ajax’ holding midfielder and full backs allows them a route out of trouble. This will probably prove to be a convincing response to this Tottenham Hotspur version.

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by Jan

Frenkie de Jong’s break through year

2018 was the year of Frenkie’s international break through. A start spot at Ajax, impressive games in the Champions League, a dominant role in the new Oranje and a mega transfer to a European super power looming on the horizon. “I play in the Champions League and so does my manager Ali Dursun.”

It’s a cold December day in 2012. Ali Dursun is at the Willem II youth academy to watch his son Mike play in the D pupils. After that match finishes, the football dad decides to check out the C-team at Willem II to kill the time waiting for his son to get ready to go home. “What I saw there was unbelievable. A blond kid, with 10 on his jersey. The goalie kicked the ball out, that number 10 picked it up out of the air, made a Zidane turn and played no look pass through the eye of the needle to the striker who scored. The striker did well. But the midfielder made all of that happen. I gave my car keys to my wife and said: you go home with Mike, I need to watch this kid.”

Ali Dursun decided to follow the youngster and started a conversation with the dad John and grandpa Jan who were always at the playmaker’s games. Dursun was a local player’s agent and working part time in the courier company of his brother. There was a click. Frenkie de Jong now: “We started to build a bond. Ali became a friend of the family and my confidante. He was there when I was a kid and offered wisdom and guidance. He was never about control, or contracts or money. He really wanted me to succeed. We share everything as he completely gets me, the way I think and I get his way of thinking.”

It’s easy to see 2018 as a perfect year, but Frenkie grabs his phone and shows the interviewer a photo from February. It’s an ankle and on the angle is a knock visible, the size of a tennis ball. Ronald Koeman had plans to invite De Jong for Oranje but the Ajax player (he left Willem II for Ajax when he was 19 years old) missteps at training and does himself in. The first invite for Oranje melted like snow. “Initially I wasn’t too worried but somehow the horror stories of Van Basten and his ankle woes came into my head. I think he was 20 or so when he injured himself (Van Basten aggressively tackled Groningen midfielder Edwin Olde Riekerink but injured his ankle severely which ended his career prematurely before San Marco turned 30). It took a long time to heal. And I started to get really upset.”

Ajax wanted to use the midfielder in the title race but he wasn’t able to get fit in time. “My life revolves around football. Without it, I feel this void. Slowly however, the pain disappeared and I was really relieved that I could participate in this season’s preparation.”

Frenkie remembers the first game he played this season, against Anderlecht in the Olympic stadium. A friendly in July. “I was waiting and working for months to play again and finally I could and I was so bad. I was sooo incredibly bad. Unbelievable. I don’t think I ever played a shit game like this one. Passes went astray. I ended up moving in the wrong spaces. Dribbles were dramatically bad. I wanted to do too much. I was doing so well at practice, but I learned then and there that match fitness and rhythm are real things…”

Last season, Frenkie played 26 games in all competitions. This season, he already played 30 and we’re only half way. The high point? “Without a doubt, my debut in Oranje. It was five months after the initially planned debut but I finally got there. I got onto the pitch in the Sneijder farewell match.. In the Johan Cruyff Arena.” Frenkie got to show his exceptional skills in that match. Ali Dursun can’t control his excitement. “I know Wesley well, and I always hoped one day Sneijder and Frenkie would play together… They did, only for 15 minutes, but still.”

In the matches vs Germany and France, Frenkie demonstrated his qualities and as a rocket established himself as a super target for the big clubs. His breakthrough. Frenkie: “Yes, it feels like that. I think that last year in Holland, most football fans and pundits and media started to recognise my qualities but there was always something like “yeah, cool, fun, but can he do it on the highest level?”. I think I dealt with that question and I have shown myself.”

Frenkie talks like he plays football. Without pressure, free style, no restrictions. The Frenkie de Jong Hype has ceased to be a hype. It’s structural now. The Spanish media lead the dance. For months now, his face graces the cover of the plethora of Spanish sports publications. Frenkie: “The first time I saw it, it was very special. My picture on the Spanish newspaper front page, that was pretty cool. My grandpa was on holiday in Spain and picked up the morning paper with his grandson on the cover. That must have made him proud, hahaha.”

The tremendous media attention and the continuous questions about his future, Frenkie is still as fresh and polite and patient as in the beginning. “Oh, ye it doesn’t phase me at all. I don’t mind it. I don’t mind the attention and I don’t mind talking to the media. Why would I? It’s not hard. You just have a conversation with someone, but this time with a mic involved. You, I’m a positive guy. I try to keep things light. I also don’t want to come across as a puppet or a machine. I try to remain genuine.”

Not a lot phases him but when people started to compare him with Johan Cruyff, he started to push on the brakes. “Come on man, that is such BS. That is the only time when I thought, come on people! Now it’s going over the top. He is the football player of football players, he is God. I mean, comparisons are always ridiculous, but especially with him. Just let me be Frenkie.”

“I don’t mind criticism, and I don’t mind negative comment. Why would I? It’s someone’s opinion. Only when they are factually wrong, I can get a bit antsy. Recently on telly someone claimed I lacked speed. That is definitely not the case. I am the second fasted player in the squad, you know? You don’t seem opponents running away from me. I also recover a lot of balls, statistically. I can see that I have aspects that need improvement though. Don’t get me wrong. My shots from distance are not great. I do train a lot on this, but I still have to show it more. I also need a bit more composure in the box. My long pass needs to be more flat. More speed. And my through pass radius is too short. I need to be able to play that pass over a longer distance and take out more opponents.”

One thing that is not on his list to improve is the risk factor. He tends to take too many risks, people say. Like in the home game vs Bayern Munich. “But I don’t! I don’t ee it as taking risks. Statistically, you can see I hardly ever lose possession. I don’t see it as risks, anyway. For me, it’s normal. Risks are part of football. It’s part of my game. I see it as my role, to try and find the opening. And this is how I made it into Ajax 1 and into Oranje. Should I now play simple? This, what I do, for me is the simple and natural way of playing. When I change, I will become like so many others, what would be the use? I play the way my intuition tells me to.”

Dursun: “Before every game I app Frenkie and tell him: buddy, play your own game, do what you are good at. That is all I send.”

Frenkie: “In the youth teams, I always had coached who wanted me to keep it simple. Play simple. I always nodded and went and did my own thing, hahaha. And usually, it worked out so I never got in trouble. A lot of youth coaches take the freedom and joy out of the game. Deciding to take the non risk pass. Or touch the ball twice and play on. I was never open to that stuff, I merely went on my intuition. In Holland, the positioning / passing game is sacred but we overdo it. A pass square, a back pass, keep possession. No, I want to play forward, I want to take risks and be adventurous. That is who I am as a player.”

Marc Overmars saw Frenkie come on as a sub in an Oranje under 16 match. “I wasn’t there to scout, I was just watching some of our lads. He came on and I remember thinking: whoa, he might need to eat some more steaks for dinner. Thin, thin legs, but his first move on the ball grabbed me. And I took his name and kept following him.”

Frenkie’s girl Mikky, a pro hockey player

Dursun: “Frenkie had some team mates at Willem II who were scouted, like Sam Lammers by PSV and Ould-Chick by Twente. There were clubs for Frenkie as well, also big clubs from England, Germany, Spain, but he wasn’t keen. We decided he would take the normal route in Holland. Stay at Willem II, finish high school, make a move to a big club in Holland.”

PSV felt it had the talent already, but Ajax was simply more pro-active. Frenkie: “I wouldn’t change a thing if I had to do it again. You see, at Willem II, I was the key man in midfield. And as a result, I always received the ball. I think at Ajax in the youth, there is more competition. Also at Willem II, very important, we always were under the kosh. We always had to play stronger teams, basically. And I was a tiny lad. I had to be creative, I had to work on my technique a lot and my speed. The time at Willem II was key for me.”

The partnership between the two is remarkable. They talk rapidly, finish each others sentences and cherish their history, while dealing with the future. Dursun: “It was a busy time, these last couple of months. And Frenkie luckily made it easy for me. He said, tell me which club has interest to talk and if I’m not interested I will let you know. We don’t want to waste anyone’s time and I told those clubs a simple “No, sorry”.

Frenkie: ‘All those clubs, it is quite special and strange. As if I am in a computer game…’

Ali : ‘So we brought the list back, from 10 clubs to 3 and then suddenly another phone call from another big club with questions. And if Frenkie liked that club, well… the list grew again.”

The picture in De Telegraaf of camp De Jong, Ajax and Paris St Germain, meeting in Amsterdam early December, fueling the rumours of a move to PSG

Frenkie: ‘We can’t talk to all of them. I simply can’t make the time. All my energy and focus are with Ajax and I will give that priority always. But it’s also very important to make the right decision.’

Ali : ‘And we need to take it all in, right buddy? The whole picture needs to be right. From A to Z.’

Frenkie: ‘For sure. But still, what is a good choice? You know this in hindsight and I know now already that there are several good choices, but you can only pick one. I only look at the key thing for me: my role and development. Is it a club that plays like I want to play. Do they share my football values? Attack, dominate. And, can I play regularly.”

Ali : ‘The football technical story is leading. Frenkie needs playing time, we don’t want him to be the 5th midfielder in the squad.’

Frenkie: ‘The money involved is insane. The amounts that you hear are preposterous. It’s a lot of money, but it’s not something I can influence. This is between the clubs. It’s supply and demand. I am an Ajax player, so they can set the price. How do they determine this? I am not sure, it’s not based on goals or assists, or passes or whatever. How does this work?’

Ali: ‘Indeed, that is something the clubs sort out between them. And it’s rough. I can see that. It’s like a chess match at top level.”

Frenkie: ‘If I knew where my future was, I would tell you, but in all honesty, I don’t know yet. I still have to make the decision. All stories you read are presumptuous.’

Ali: ‘I think we will decide in the coming weeks. I think Frenkie should focus fully on Ajax in the second season half. It’s football. Winning trophies with Ajax and Oranje.’

Frenkie: ‘Seriously, it doesn’t bother me. When I am playing football, I am not thinking about any thing else. Just play ball. And if people call me about a transfer, I direct them to Ali.’

Ali: ‘A lot is happening of course. The number of agents and managers that tried to speak to Frenkie. Absurd.’

Frenkie: ‘Some people can paint beautiful pictures, haha, but I thank them all in a friendly way and direct them to Ali.”

Ali: ‘They do try to come between us. By making up shit, or tell lies. It’s sad. I don’t mind people trying to contact Frenkie, that is ok. But after he told them to talk to me, some will keep on harrassing Frenkie. That is not on and if that happens, they’ll hear from me.”

Frenkie: “I told Ali many times. We are doing this together. Wherever, whenever, we got to the top together. We are one and remain one, my friend.’

Ali: ‘Frenkie is loyal. He always was. Last year this time, we signed a new deal with Ajax and he knew: whatever happens, I will stay with Ajax for at least 1,5 season. Whatever comes.’

Frenkie: ‘I prefer to do things well, before I do things quick. I know they can go together. Last season, I made it into the first team. This season, I am the most sought after midfielder in Europe. That went really quick. But, we’ll see how it all goes.’

Frenkie orders another ice tea. “But, I want to win silverware with Ajax. This squad is so good and not just good, we are a real team you know. The bond is real. And we have demonstrated how good we are, but still haven’t won anything. We’re fighting on three fronts… Winning the CL might be hard, but we will still try and make a lasting impression. The hunger and desire is huge and the relationship between our staff and the players is top. I read and heard that people say it’s different but that is total hogwash. We are really happy with Erik ten Hag. There is literally no one that can’t work with him or deal with him. And I would have known. He’s simply put a very good coach. And when that criticism came how he was not from Amsterdam…. So what? I am not from Amsterdam! Neither is Hakim, or Tadic, or Onana… It’s so stupid. We want to make history and it will have to happen on the pitch. Go out there, play football and enjoy!”

Source: VI Pro

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by Jan

Ajax’ success and the youngsters…

Truth be told, 20 years ago we would not be ecstatic and celebrating the fact that a Dutch team would make it into the CL group stages. It’s true. We sank deep so now we are delirious with joy if Ajax beats some lesser clubs and makes it in the millionaire’s ball. And, before you know it, PSV might follow suit!

The Golden Age returns, or so it seems.

But, such is reality now. After some dry years, Ajax demonstrated a panache and arrogance and quality that does remind us all of the early days of Van Gaal’s Ajax in the early 1990s. But let’s not get carried away.

The best is yet to come.

And with more good news coming on the night of Ajax’ victory (well, a draw) in Kiev, Frenkie de Jong declared before the camera not to move away from Ajax, this season. “Well, everyone would love to play for Barcelona and I hope one day I will, but not this season. I will stay for at least one more season. This will be a very fine season indeed!”, were his words. Boom!

And it seems Hakim Ziyech, the maestro playmaker will remain an Ajax player too. Good and happy times in Amsterdam, where Marc Overmars and Erik ten Hag have constructed a winning combination.

And it was Ajax’ offensive power that appeared to be their best defense. Dinamo Kiev claimed before the game to be going at Ajax from the start. That promise only came true in the first ten minutes of the game, when the fowards of Kiev press the Ajax defense and their wide backs push up immediately to create a man-more situation.

It forces Onana to some early saves and brings a couple of corner kicks to Dynamo. But Frenkie de Jong, midfielder last night, finds the response to all this huffing and puffing. He drops between Blind and De Ligt and offers himself as an option to play out of the pressure. At the same time, full backs Wober and Mazraoui push up, forcing the two Kiev backs to cover much more ground than initially planned. And they are therefore forced to make choices. Do I stay or shall I go, as the Clash proclaimed. When the backs push up, De Ligt, in this example below, has the ability to find Mazraoui, free on the right hand side (and again playing a perfect game).

It is this pattern that brings Ajax a huge opportunity, when Schone pulls one of the backs out of position and Mazraoui can steam forward. His pass finds Donny van de Beek going in behind who plays a cross to Huntelaar. All the veteran striker needed to do was lift the ball over the goalie and he could have scored.

A second tactic Ajax used was the third-man tactics. Whenever De Ligt or Blind play the forward pass or dribble into midfield, Van de Beek or Huntelaar will make themselves available. Once played in, they will bounce the ball straight into the feet of a team mate on his way to the opponent goal. This is how the penalty situation is manifested. Blind plays a fast ball into Van de Beek, who passes direct to Tadic. Wober is completely free on the left and his cross is turned into a corner.

Ziyech to take, De Ligt to attack, were it not for a Kiev player pulling Mathijs to ground clearly visible for all to see. No VAR needed.

Sadly, Tadic hits the post.

Time again Ajax finds the free man and the Amsterdam team pushes Kiev back to their own half. And as Kiev needs to take more risks, Ajax can also counter attack, allowing for loads of good opportunities. It’s actually a miracle that the end result was 0-0. And it’s not just the lack of good finishing, left back Wober had many opportunities to give a good final pass, but failed to do so. The centre back clearly had to get used to his new role, replacing the suspended Tagliafico.

Despite the misses, Ajax reached the group stages in style. Defending without the ball is still a bit of a chore for the Sons of Gods but in possession, Ajax is simply breathtaking at times. The holy trinity of De Jong, De Ligt and Blind made sure Ajax had the balance to keep the ball ticking along. With Tadic and Ziyech as the creative playmakers, it seems this youthful Ajax side gets the opportunity to prove they can do this at top level as well.

One of the key players for Ajax, is 19 year old captain Mathijs de Ligt. What a tremendous surge into the lime light for the youngster. Every top club in Europe wants his signature. And he’s one of the few players to be very consistent, both in Oranje and in Ajax.

It was more than half a year ago, when De Ligt received the band.

“It was weird. I remember it well. I was asked to see the coach in his office. I thought he wanted to give me some more instructions for the Heerenveen game. But he said I would be his captain. A big surprise. I love challenges and this was a challenge and something to be proud of. It felt weird, that first match, but now, I’m used to it.”

So he is now the leader in the team?

“Oh no, not at all. All the Ajax players have a tendency to coach and to be present. And we have some experienced players, like Huntelaar, Schone, Blind and Tadic. They are real leaders and very present verbally. I play like always, but as I’m playing at the back, I naturally can spot more and see more and use this to coach, but all the players at Ajax have this. I did talk a lot in the youth teams as well, and it’s a selfish thing. The better my midfielders handle situations, the easier for me, hahaha.”

De Ligt wasn’t always a defender though.

“I played most of my games in midfield. I think my football skills were built there. I loved playing as a midfielder. But in the B junior team, coach Peereboom pulled me a line back. I remember being off it a bit. Why? I love midfield? And he explained his reasons. The physicality needed at the back. I did notice my body changing and I started to enjoy playing centrally at the back. My technical skills helped me a lot. Ajax also worked and works on the mental side a lot. I think all over Holland, youth development is great, but I do believe Ajax is just a tad ahead with the mental side of things. You know how Ajax debutants often score a goal? I think it has to do with the preparation. You’re drilled to believe that performing is all that matters. So when you finally make it into the first team, you’re fully poised to make a difference.”

De Ligt was being guided by ex Ajax defender Barry Hulshoff but he made the change to uber agent Mino Raiola. And everyone believed De Ligt would be on his way to a big club.

“No that is not how it works with me. I am still with Barry. He coaches me and guides me more on the football-side of things. But Raiola has other strengths. But my dad is super important too. I need a good mix of people and I’m not focusing on leaving Ajax per se. I’m still young and with players like Tadic and Blind coming in and Ziyech staying, I don’t see why I would have to leave the club now? The signings have given me some peace and quiet. The level at training now is sensational. And, dont forget, I can want to leave all I want, but Ajax plays a role in it too. I want to reach the top, the highest I can, but I have time. It’s more important that I get to play football. And now, we made it into the CL so that is really cool. The podium we all long for.”

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by Jan

Ajax and PSV on the up and up

Main pic: Ziyech and Tadic brothers from different mothers

The Dutch football fan has gone through a lot these last years. Drama in Europe, disaster with the national team, Ziyech going for Morocco and even Amrabat preferring the country of his parents.

How things can change.

Now, with Ronald Koeman and a plethora of young talents on the up and up for the national team, we an all feel positive again. De Ligt, Van de Beek, Bergwijn, Hateboer, Promes, Memphis… And now Frenkie de Jong is part of the prelim squad.

And although Ziyech is a bad loss, Sophyan Amrabat might not be so much. The young midfielder has issues at Feyenoord, he doesn’t handle a bench role well and feels misled and is on his way out.

With Feyenoord, we do have one more reason why Dutch fans should feel aggrieved. Four trophies in three years might look ok, but the Stadium club is losing ground (and sympathy) fast, with some lacklustre performances since winning the title.

Amrabat in Feyenoord’s jersey

Yes, they won the national cup last season, but they also finished 4th in the league with a huge gap between them and PSV. And yes, they won the Cruyff Shield this season but not with amazing football so much.

When playing Trencin from Slovakia (with a budget comparable to Sparta), the former champions were outclassed. After the home game (yes, they created 28 chances and scored 1, but ended the game 1-1) they received the scorn of the nation, as they all said “we are proud of what we did today” in the camera, without a blush on their face. Youngsters like Berghuis and veterans like Van Persie. “Yes we are out of Europe but this performance allows us something to build on”. What??

Creating 28 opportunities is good, but only scoring one is simply horrific! Taking an opportunity is also a quality!

Feyenoord also lost their first competition match and now finally was able to get a win, at home, vs lowly Excelsior. And even though the final result was 3-0, it wasn’t a clear cut win. The third goal came really late and Excelsior created too many chances (on super hit on the post) for comfort.

Robin and Feyenoord still stumbling vs Excelsior

But Feyenoord doesn’t look like a team with a lot of confidence and the vibe doesn’t appear too positive. Amrabat has demanded a transfer as he’s sick of playing second fiddle. The former Utrecht midfielder was praised last season when he made his move to Feyenoord (a 4 mio euro deal) but while he was told Clasie would not come to Rotterdam and El Ahmadi’s spot was his, Clasie was signed anyway and the not-yet-fit Southampton loanie was not only offered a starting spot, but was also made vice captain! Amrabat had enough. Today, his move to Club Brugge was made public (for 2,5 mio euros…).

Another player who was brought in with lots of expectations was former club kid JP Boetius. Brought in from the cold (FC Basel) and now side-tracked after refusing to train (some weeks back) and now for collecting a stupid red card. Coach van Bronckhorst has enough of Boetius and he too is allowed to move away. The third potential player leaving is Tonny Vilhena. He is high on the list of several French and German clubs and when the price is right, Feyenoord will most likely let him go.

Another tough season ahead for Feyenoord? Focusing on the national cup again?

The two teams most likely to battle for the title, Ajax and PSV, are well on their way to make it to the Champions League.

So, how good is it to dream a bit about two Dutch clubs making it into the Champions League?

Ironically, this is the first time the Dutch champs need to qualify to get in, and many people feared we might end up with zero reps in the CL, but with PSV doing good business vs BATE and Ajax winning at home vs Kiev, we might have two!

Wild man Van Bommel preaching restrain

Both clubs went in with the confidence they needed. PSV in an away game, only 3 days after a league match. But they did ever so well. BATE seemed to start much more aggressive as expected and got ahead in the game. It took some time for PSV to wake up, it seemed. To match the level of aggression and energy, but from a football perspective, PSV outclassed BATE. BATE could have had the 2-0 but failed to capitalise. Luuk de Jong tried to trick the ref for a pen but the PSV captain got rewarded with a yellow card for diving. Not much later, PSV did get that penalty for a hands ball. Pereiro scored a solid 1-1.

PSV was the stronger team in the second half but failed to put a big gap between themselves and BATE. Luuk de Jong played a tough match and he missed a clear cut chance, but Lozano demonstrated his class with a very cool curler. Hleb’s equaliser was the result of a Zoet howler. A highly embarrassing move by the experienced PSV goalie. The ball fell in front of him. A BATE forward appeared to lunge in but was too far away. Still, Zoet clearly afraid for his teeth decided to push the ball girly-style, right on the instep of Aleksandr Hleb: 2-2. Not Zoet’s strongest move.

Everyone expected that to be the final score, as the equaliser came with mere minutes to play, but in the first attack after that goal, Angelino attacked yet again on the left flank and his gifted left foot delivered a peach of a cross. Sub Donyell Malen had just come on and he sprinted inbetween the two centre backs and headed home the winner.

Donyell Malen scoring the winner, his first senior goal

A just reward for Van Bommel’s men (and boys) although PSV could have won with a bigger margin.

I personally also found the dive by both De Jong and Lozano (second half) worrying. In particular captain De Jong… He was on on goal, but he lacked the confidence to actually go for his chances and decided to try and trick the ref. A bit of a disgrace. Zoet’s howler is also something I would be very worried about. A goalie can make a mistake. Why not? But to so obviously decide to not throw your body on the line and to bump the ball like a girl back into the field. Whoa…

Mark van Bommel was realistic: “I said before the game, this BATE is not an easy opponent. We were clearly too impressed in the first stage. That can happen, but I am particularly happy with the way we turned that around. We conceded first and seemed a bit out of whack but we fought ourselves back into the match. We should have scored the 1-3 at 1-2. We needed to put daylight between us and now this is typical, what happened: we didn’t score, but they did. I was already at peace with 2-2 and was delighted to see that my players wanted more of the game in those last minutes. I’m happy. Although I also know we aren’t there yet.”

Ajax had a similar sort of match, in terms of vulnerability in combination with excellent play on the ball. With some key differences: Ajax played at home and Ajax got the first goal. Donny van de Beek was punished a couple of times by Ten Hag for poor performances and seemed to have lost his starting spot. With Neres injured, Van de Beek was considered the best replacement due to his runs in behind.

And it was a beautiful passage of play that got the ball in the box right in the stride of the young midfielder who scored the first goal and demonstrated his joy on the pitch as if Ajax won the Champions League.

Ten Hag telling Blind to speed it up a bit

Ajax had a wonderful start but couldn’t score the second. Somehow, Dynamo got back into the game and exposed Ajax’ vulnerability at the back. With set pieces, Ajax uses a mix of zonal and man marking and got it horribly wrong. Schone and De Jong cover the zone at the first post and the rest of the team marks their man. But when De Ligt was blocked by an opponent, Kiev got a free header. Onana was able to parry the ball but Mazraoui was ball watching and his direct opponent got a tap in.

Still, Ajax was in charge. They kept on going, led by a combi of Ziyech and Tadic on fire. Ten Hag had instructed the team to play wide via the full backs, so Tadics and Ziyech can tuck in, with De Jong and Schone on hand in midfield to guard the balance of the team. This resulted in that first goal and Ziyech’s second goal was a bit lucky (deflection) but was also due to Ziyech desire to get the ball before the opponent could react: 2-1. Left back Tagliafico had the third assist on Tadic, who’s crafty flick resulted in the 3-1. After that, Ajax had two balls on the woodwork (header Huntelaar and shot Ziyech) and could and should have scored more.

However, Ajax’s also demonstrated vulnerability in their defense, with Blind and Schone not the quickest and Frenkie de Jong – no matter how good on the ball – lacking the energy and ruthlessness you’d expect from a holding midfielder in challenges.

Still some work to be done for Ten Hag, but the 3-1 is a perfect foundation for the team’s return. “I think we saw a wonderful game. Good spectacle, high paced and we created a lot of opportunities. We could have scored 6 today and maybe should have. But Dynamo also demonstrated to be of good quality. We aren’t there yet. I particularly liked the interplay between the team and the fans, it was almost a perfect night.”

Donny van de Beek was given a standing ovation when he was subbed in the last minute. Ten Hag: “Yes, I did that to demonstrate to Donny that I love him and I rate him high. The fact that he doesn’t always start has nothing to do with that. He’s important for the team and one of my key players.”

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