Tag: Ziyech

by Jan

Guus Hiddink’s Oranje nightmare

He was widely considered one of the best coaches the NT ever had.  Not only that, he was internationally considered one of the go-to guys if you needed something extraordinary from the team.

His popularity in some countries (South Korea, Australia) eclipsed that of one Johan Cruyff.

Liked by literally everyone, Guus Hiddink thought two years of cruising with the Oranje cracks and then mentoring Danny Blind in the role would be a perfect end of a wonderful 40 year long career, before retiring.

But no. It turned out to be a disaster!

And the much adored fatherly coach was suddenly confronted with hateful and threatening tweets… all new to him.

And it still doesn’t sit well with him. That one strange conversation on the Nice Airport. Oranje had just won their Latvia match, 2-0 and were preparing for a nice break. Guus was on a holiday in the South of France, and Bert van Oostveen called to ask if he could drop in quickly for a meeting.

His Finest Hour?

Hiddink wasn’t aware that the KNVB director was keen to replace Hiddink way earlier in the process. After four international games, actually. Three were lost, the last of the four was away versus Iceland. When questioned about the results, Van Oostveen said he was keen to evaluate the results soon. Words that reached Johan Cruyff in his home in Barcelona, who quipped: “Why does a top coach like Hiddink have to evaluate with Van Oostveen? What does he know about football? Is Guus going to have to explain to a guy who knows Jack S**t about football? That is useless!”

But the evaluation would come anyway. The plan was to move Danny Blind one level up and get Hiddink to be a hands-off mentor to Danny. But somehow, Van Oostveen restrained himself and allowed Guus the steering wheel.

Lets take a step back. Oranje had just won bronze at the WC2014 under Van Gaal. Hiddink is announced and the KNVB claims that yes, we are happy with the results, but… we want to go back to Dutch Style Football. Hiddink at the same time expresses his concerns about the future: “I said it internally and in the media, we were going towards tough times. It was clear that bronze was amazing, but if you analyse the games you could see we had some strokes of fortune. And with some key players getting older and older, well… we would need to rebuild.”

Blind: “This is how big a loser you are!” Hiddink: “Oh yeah? Well, this is how big a loser you are!”

Hiddink has an interesting clause in his agreement with the KNVB: no matter how well he will do, in 2016, his contract ends and Danny Blind’s starts. A structure that worked for Joachim Low, but which garnered criticism from …yes… JC again. “It’s strange. We live in a high performance world. No one knows how Danny Blind and Oranje will be in two years time. No one knows which other coaches might be available. The KNVB says this worked so well for Germany. And I say: so what?”

Hiddink is trying different approaches. He started out with his favorite 4-3-3 as the KNVB instructed him to do but in the first match away versus the Italians (friendly), Hiddink quickly realises that it is not working too well. Holland loses 0-2, with 10 men after a Martins Indi red card. When Blind reports back that the Czechs will play 5-3-2 in our first qualification match for the Euros, Hiddink switches back to the system Van Gaal used in Brazil. Onze three days earlier, he said: “I refuse to use three defenders opposite one striker in qualification games!”.

Oranje loses again v Iceland. It’s 2-0 at half time and something needs  to happen. It’s not Guus who takes the word in the break to pick us his players, but Danny Blind. This is not strange, as Hiddink did say before the campaign that he would allow Danny Blind way more space than a usual assistant would get.

In those first months, Hiddink doesn’t come across as the self confident cosmopolitan we all know and love. He seems introverted, distracted, almost insecure. The players seem to notice this as well.

But in the new year, he starts to resemble his own self again. The problems were physical of nature, so we learn later. He had a massive knee operation and the after effects were severe (pain, limited movement) and his medication for this didn’t help matters. At the moment, he plays golf, tennis and even football again.

In 2015, Guus is optimistic. His knee is better, Oranje beat Latvia 6-0 and Oranje gets 4 points in total vs Turkey and Latvia (away). Oranje’s chances to get the Euro ticket are increasing. Van Oostveen is quick to comment in the media that the players needed a more loose approach, after the straight-jacket mentality of Louis van Gaal. The overall impression is that the players are more mature and autonomous now. But in the period between drill masters Van Gaal and Ronald Koeman, the discipline and motivation were not at the right level.

Wesley Sneijder looking back: “I was regularly annoyed with the ease with which players cancelled international games, for nothing. Then they had an ache in their pinky, or in their little toe and they’d declined the invite. Some players have simply stabbed Hiddink and Blind in the back. I won’t name names but they will know themselves who they are. I say: pick the players who really want to play for Oranje, even if they are so-called lesser talents.”

Hiddink now: “I can only agree. I missed the real intensity and focus with some. I was regularly angry after a bad performance, mainly because of the ease with which players processed these performances. I am ok with losing a game, but I want to see blood on your shin and sweat on your brow and snot on your shirt. And I will shield players from criticism forever. But I didn’t think they all went the distance.”

Mentor Hiddink with protege Phillip Cocu

But Oranje didn’t have the quality, apart from stalwarts Van Persie, Robben and Sneijder, in particular at the back.

Internally, Hiddink is asking for patience. He will be moulding a fighting and winning football machine, but he needs some time. And that velvet football we want, well, that will need to wait until our younger talents can join in with the game. Lets just qualify first.

But two weeks after Oranje’s Latvia win, Van Oostveen flies to Nice for a meeting. And Guus Hiddink is surprised when Van Oostveen comes into the meeting with none other than team manager Hans Jorritsma. The man who works under Hiddink. Who is supposed to be the former South Korea’s coach consiglieri. It’s not the chair of the board of directors. But the the man Guus himself recruited for the team manager’s job. The meeting is brief. And after Hiddink’s sacking, different stories emerge.

Van Oostveen at Blind’s annoucement: “We took this decision in mutual understanding. We went to discuss the future, but we ended up coming back having decided to split ways. This was a surprise for all and not an easy decision by us and the Hiddink.”

Guus Hiddink had a different story: “They didn’t come to discuss. They came with an order. They basically dumped me. Van Oostveen said I wouldn’t be on the bench come September. I was thoroughly disappointed. In 15 minutes, I was standing outside again.”

Judas Jorritsma all the way on the right.

And the former Chelsea and Real Madrid coach had big plans. When he was signed, the plan was to have him at the KNVB for multiple years. Yes, two years as NT manager and then moving into a consultants role to assist with the long term planning, focusing on the youth teams.

Hiddink now: “I need to look in the mirror as well. I was quite narcy, during this period. Yes, my knee was a cause of that, but my strained relationship with the KNVB management was also a factor. And I should not have let that impact my way of working. But I did.”

Hiddink with newcomers Cherry and Ziyech

Since that fatal meeting in Nice, Van Oostveen and Jorritsma have left through the rear exit. Blind also failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup (he was let go and Dick Advocaat had to finish that qualifications campaign). Too late for Hiddink and too late for Hakim Ziyech too. He was selected by Hiddink for the a trainingscamp to prep for Lativa. The Twente talent was excited and cancelled his holiday for the match, but he had to leave the camp after a day and a half due to an ankle injury. A month later, Guus is going home (Guus ga naar huus, etc).

The success coach would continue his world tour with jobs at Chelsea, China and Curacao, but the Oranje scar of 215 will never really heal.

Bookmark and Share
by Jan

Frenkie remains humble

Hi all, sadly no more time to write a specific post on the Austria game.

I personally think it will be a tough match for us, even without Arnautavic involved. They’re an experienced team, physically and tactically disciplined. This could wel end in a 2-2 result or something like that, I wouldn’t be surprised if we would choke on this opponent.

But, being positive as I am, I will call 3-0 for Oranje. Goals by Wijnaldum, Memphis and Malen.

Leave me your prognosis below in the comments.

And leave me some beer money while you’re at it :-). Covid hurt this blog and blogger too… You can now also decide to donate crypto. it seems to be going down anyway…

Your gift is appreciated

The AD newspaper had a nice insightful interview with Frenkie de Jong.

For someone who is usually showered with superlatives and compliments, he hardly uses them himself. More to the contrary. When you start paying attention it becomes comical, even. In this particular interview, which took an hour, he used words like “not bad” and “pretty ok” around 12 times. The only time he uses the word “amazing” is when he mentions Messi.

We’re halfway the interview, talking about his role in this Dutch Netherlands team at these Euros. “If I can reach my usual level, I have a fair chance to get minutes,”. He says it with conviction. As if this is not the best and most popular Dutch player of the moment. And it’s not a false modesty. He is like this. Calm, balanced and analytical. He’s self conscious but also highly self critical. He finds it easy to put things into perspective, as a result, the hysteria surrounding him doesn’t really affect him.

He’s got a smile almost plastered on his face, but it’s not like he’s without tribulations. It appears as if he floats through life, but the people who know him well will tell you this is definitely not the case. Frenkie was convinced of his talent and ambitions when he was still quite young. “We watched the World Cup 2014 at home, with friends and family. And from a certain age, I felt…yes, I want that. And I always felt that one day, I would be at a big tournament. I was 12 years old and had the complete conviction.”

Frenkie is a modest kid, grew up in the small town of Arkel. A normal, fun of the mill family. Dad is parking guard in Delft and his little brother plays there with the local amateurs. Parking guard is probably the exact opposite of the position Frenkie has in life. “But my dad loves his job. He’s a lot in the outside open air, riding his bike and he knows a lot of people in Delft. He’s not the guy who will fine you, he’ll probably talk to you to get you to change your behaviour.”

Frenkie’s journey to his first big tournament was relatively long. The missing of the World Cup 2018 happened just before his break through in Oranje. And when Koeman’s Oranje qualified for the 2020 Euros, it got postponed with a full year due to Corona.

“I don’t feel young anymore. I am not a rookie anymore, you know. But playing your first tournament is super special. I’m enjoying and I talked about it with the lads that were at the 2014 World Cup. And it has started to really sink in, now the domestic leagues have finished. The commercials on telly, the orange jerseys, I love it. As long as I don’t have to be in one.”

While many of this colleagues opted for a week holiday in Dubai or Ibiza, De Jong went home to Arkel to recharge his batteries. “I didn’t feel tired. We didn’t perform well in the last part of the season with Barca, but it wasn’t fatigue. We simply had to beat Granada at home and take the lead in the Liga. We had a good spell before that game. And then the draw against Levante and the belief seeped out of the team. It was mainly mental. As if we kept on chasing our tail.”

You gave yourself a 6,5 for the season in the newspaper Trouw, after your first season. What is the grade for this one?

“No, hahaha, it was a 6 actually. I don’t know for this season. I my personal performances were better than last season, but we missed the title, we got kicked out of the CL pretty early and despite the national cup, we had a mediocre if not bad season. When you play at Barca, you want more. The season itself wasn’t dramatic, we had a fantastic comeback and played some good stuff, but at the end of the day: not good enough.”

So, that means one point more?

“I would say, half a point.”

But your personal stats went up, like Koeman wanted from you?

“When Koeman came in, I had a talk about my role in the team. And he was clear: he wanted me to be more offensive and add to the team’s goal tally. He kept on saying: you’re a big money signing, you need to start making the difference, you need to take responsibility. He put more pressure on me and I loved it.”

Under Koeman, he did play on several positions. He played in the holding role, he played a number of games as centre back and the final part of the season more and more in the attacking mid role. He made quite an impression in that position.

“I do like scoring goals, but it depends on your role for the team. At Ajax and initially at Barca I played in the holding role. You are the first station in the build up and you determine pace, and direction, you try to start the engine. When you’re a more offensive mid, you are station 2, in a way. You are higher up the pitch, and you aim to be decisive, with a dribble, or a through ball… I played well in that role, I had my best games in that position. And in the Cup Final (Copa del Rey) it was probably very visible, with a goal and two assists.”

“I prefer the midfielders role, either holding or forward. I prefer not to play too far back, as you are more a lock on the door than a real playmaker. And playing in the #10 role is also not my preference as you are more in a sort of waiting mode, waiting for the players behind you to find you. I prefer to be more involved, hence my preference for midfield. The ball is there most often. I basically want to have the ball, hahahaha.”

He assimilated into Barcelona life with ease it seems. The city, the magnitude of the club, the media, the players group… it all went smooth. As if it was normal that a kid from Arkel played in the Bluegrana jersey. Where Donny van de Beek, Steven Bergwijn, Hakim Ziyech and before them Memphis Depay had serious issues settling in another country and club.

“The ideal moment to go abroad is different for everyone. You can’t say “you need 150 Eredivisie games before you go”. I think it’s different per player. Some are ready when 18, others are ready when they’re 27. I did feel more settled the second season, I think that is actually quite normal. Barca paid something like 80 million for me, and that puts a lot of pressure and expectations on you, but I will remain who I am. They bought me for how I played at Ajax so that is how I’ll play here. I won’t become a different person.”

How is it now in your second season along side Messi? Does your relationship change, now you’re there a bit longer?

“I met him first when we had a friendly against Arsenal. He came later due to the Copa America. I shook his hand, I am not sure if he mentioned his name. Not that he had to, hahaha. I told him my name. But Messi… I am still humbled to play with him. He is so amazingly good. He has so much status. And you can understand, when I have the ball and I can play the ball to Messi or to another player, well… if they’re both in a good position, I’ll pick Messi. Isn’t that the best thing to do?”

How was it to see him blossom again this season?

“I think he’s very happy at Barca. I hope he stays, he’s so important for us. In the dressing room we act as per normal with one another, but I don’t ask him about his future, or app him to ask him to stay. That is up to him. When I was 12 years old, he already was the best of the world. He won the Ballon D’Or, right? And now I play with him :-). That is just amazing. And I realise it every day that I play with him now.”

The Spanish media are now also very focused on Frenkie. “It’s extreme, it’s 12 times worse or more intense in Spain. There are tv programs on football that literally broadcast 24/7. And they sometimes just make it up, you know?”

The Dutch football fans will have their eyes set on Frenkie de Jong, but the expectations aren’t that high. Frenkie gets that: “If you do go to a tournament, you need to go to win it. Otherwise, why go? But you need to be realistic too: France – to name one – is favorite I think. Look at that squad! And there are about 8 nations that can win it and I think we are part of that eight. We’ll need to focus on every game as they come and not talk about the title now. Let’s earn that privilege.”

 

Bookmark and Share
by Jan

Daley best player of the Season

Well my friends… the season is over. The Dutch Federation and government will not allow the season to be finished. There will be no events or gatherings until Sept 1. Which means next season will start on Sept 1, not sooner.

This results in massive headaches, I’m sure. Tomorrow, the KNVB will present their plan, how to determine the title winner, which clubs will be relegated, which clubs will play European, etc etc.

The German competition (and others) will probably continue, mainly due to the TV funds they need. Fox in The Netherlands have paid all the clubs, so there is no financial loss (apart from ticket sales), whereas in Germany and other nations, the TV money is only going to be paid if the season is finalised. Hence the plans to finish seasons without fans on the stands.

It’s a disappointing end of this exciting season.

This is the best eleven of the Eredivisie, according to the AD Sports newspaper….

Keeper: André Onana (Ajax)

Onana the invincible. The weird antics from his early days at Ajax are over. His panther like reflexes are still there. His best save? He did really well stopping a certain goal by ADO striker Michiel Kramer, with his foot.

Right back: Denzel Dumfries (PSV)

The fact that Dumfries is the top scorer behind Donyell Malen says enough. He is the perfect captain of this PSV: intelligent, funny and down-to-Earth. Always hardworking, even if he is not the most skilled player, and scoring goals and assists.

Right central defender: Sebastian Holmén (Willem II)

The Swedish international could be the twin brother of Angelino, who would have been in this team last season, as left back at PSV. This Holmen is a real defender though, and was key for Willem II’s success this season.

Left central defender: Daley Blind (Ajax)

Blind doesn’t want to be on the foreground and may have been in the news a bit negatively after his heart issues. He gets better and better every season and was the best Eredivisie player by a mile before his heart problems. With his special weapon, the forward pass.

Left back: Owen Wijndal (AZ)

He might have been the surprise for some, in the surprise team of the season, but experts have seen him coming and this lad should be mentioned in the same breath as Boadu and Stengs as gems.

Right mid: Joey Veerman (sc Heerenveen)

Veerman is a player who seemed to remain a talent all his life. The Volendam born and raised player blossomed under coach Wim Jonk and demonstrates his quality at Heerenveen now. He sees opening and passes no one else sees and created the most chances in the Eredivisie (even ahead of Berghuis and Ziyech). Feyenoord is courting the youngster.

Attacking mid: Hakim Ziyech (Ajax)

The most exciting player in the Eredivisie. Whether coming from the right wing, or playing as playmaker on “10”. We have seen the last of him this season, the wizard is off to Stamford Bridge to impress the English football fans.

Left mid: Orkun Kökçü (Feyenoord)

Every season top talents come into the fold, but only a small percentage will reach the top. IT seems Kokcu is one of them. He’s only 18 years old, but a modern playmaker. Not your classic static number 10 but an alrounder, who works, tackles, makes dirty yards and reads the game well. Arsenal is whispered to prepare an offer.

Right winger: Steven Berghuis (Feyenoord)

Probably the only attacking player to compete with Ziyech as the most exciting player. The Feyenoord captain has tremendous stats this season, but he can be as inconsistent as his personality. Once he manages his sudden bursts of aggression, he can be a key player for Oranje and for coach Dick Advocaat’s aim to win the title next season with Feyenoord.

Striker: Donyell Malen (PSV)

Deserves his selection based on his first half. The super quick PSV forward hasn’t kicked a ball in 2020. Still, he is only 4 goals behind top scorers Berghuis and Cyriel Dessers.

Left winger: Chidera Ejuke (sc Heerenveen)

This dribble king of Heerenveen tends to have blinders on at times, but seeing him play is an adventure in itself. This unpolished diamond gives colour to the Eredivisie. Lets hope he stays another season.

Coach: Dick Advocaat (Feyenoord)

There are people who believe the impact of a coach is limited. These people should look at Feyenoord before and after Dick. With Advocaat, hope and self belief returned to De Kuip

Bookmark and Share
by Jan

The Big Erik ten Hag Interview

In the past, we had the Big Interview series and had prominent football icons like Johan Cruyff, Louis van Gaal, Guus Hiddink and Bert van Marwijk, among others. Time to add Erik ten Hag to that list. I truly believe he is a world class coach and he deserves this interview here. Thanks to VI Pro.

Ajax is the best of the country again. Finally!

“All compliments were nice and just as well. But we knew we needed silverware. And with the double, the first since 2002, we finally rewarded ourselves with something tangible. In top sports, its about winning! This is the crown on a tremendous season.”

How much does this mean to you?

“A lot! Firstly, it’s hard to win the title in The Netherlands. Look at PSV. They won basically everything. And they could focus on the title fully, which we couldn’t. But in May, we were still fighting on three fronts. It was all about PSV and Ajax and we couldn’t slip up. If you look at the points PSV won, they normally would have the title. And for me as a coach, it’s a milestone isn’t it? I am proud of the players, the staff, everyone. It’s the success of the collective and our challenge will now only get bigger.”

And also in the manner Ajax likes: dominant and attractive football…

“That is partly why we are proud and happy. It’s not just winning. It’s winning beautifully. And people will talk about this team in 20 years time I think. That is partly why we do this. And it needs to lead to titles.”

Who had expected this last year?

“Also in our darkest days, I knew I could get this team to play at this level. I was convinced of it. But that the players would be this good and the team would develop as it idid, I didn’t expect that. I don’t think anyone expected this.”

A year ago, your VI interview sounded bitter. There was disappointment in Amsterdam.

“Well it was a tough season. The pain of Nouri’s situation was huge. Is huge! That placed a wet and cold and heavy blanket on everyone. Everyone loves that kid and this had a tremendous impact. And it was tough to turn that around. We did win games and we played ok, but we didn’t win a trophie. But I saw that our management was building something amazing in the background. Marc Overmars, Edwin van der Sar, Henk Veldmate and Said Ouaali were performing magic and when negativity was at its peak, we kept on believing in our vision. I believe in staying true to your vision. I despise opportunistic behaviour.”

Last summer was the big turnaround, working on a new team?

“Well that started much earlier. In March 2018, I was in Southampton with Marc Overmars to talk to Dusan Tadic. My analysis about last season was clear. We lacked balance in the squad, in that important age group of what I call the middle category. Players with experience, but also with desire. We didn’t have any. Well, Tagliafico but he was a new signing too, basically. And Nico is a born winner, a fighter and so important with his mentality. We had to make steps in mental strength and this is how our blueprint for a new season started.”

Ajax needed to make a step, which is why Overmars signed you, correct?

“Something had to happen but it’s not easy in Amsterdam. There is a vibe of “we know it all” here. And they did linger too long in the historic successes. Football has developed and Peter Bosz as an example, was successful in making changes. But…he still left. There was too much resistance and that culture needed shaking up. Which is why Alfred Schreuder and I were brought in. We were coaching from outside of the club and that always brings resistance. And that is ok, but I always felt support from the key people in the club. By the way, my mission wasn’t merely “make Ajax champions”, my mission was also to make Ajax Europe prof. To introduce modern elements of the game. After 1,5 years we won the double and made it to the semis of the CL. That is just great.”

You did break with the old 4-3-3 system?

“But I wasn’t the first to do this. I do remember that Adriaanse got a lot of flak when he started fiddling with the house style, but the qualities of the players determine the system, not the other way around. And it’s not even about systems. It’s about what you do in possession, when you lose possession and in those turn around moments. And you need to be able to change that up.”

This season, the so-called Double 6 was the solution?

“Well like I said, the players’ qualities determine how you play. Take Frenkie de Jong. We have really been looking to find ways to use his skills in the best manner. Where can he play best, for the team and to showcase his talent. Everyone was screaming: Frenkie is the biggest talent, etc etc. Well yes. But, where? In midfield? Ok, but which role? His quality is that he makes the forwards perform better. He is a wanderer, an adventurer, he’s always on the move, like a shark. With the ball, often, but also without the ball. So if you put him on 6, he’s away too often. But you need to give him freedom, otherwise you can’t the best out of him. It wasn’t an easy puzzle, so I dediced to play with two number 6s and only one attacking mid. And in this way, we can also dominate the half space, and force opponents to choose. So on the first day of pre-season, that is how we started. And we started without Frenkie, by the way, as he wasn’t fit at the start of the pre-season.”

Did you plan for him and Donny van de Beek to be the two 6s?

“Yes, this goes to show that plans are just plans, the reality needs to want it as well, haha. And in reality, Donny is also a player who likes to be on the move. For both Donny and Frenkie it is a strength. So Lasse fulfilled the role perfectly! And Lasse wouldn’t be the ideal #6 by himself. He really needs a dynamic player with him and they have a click now. Denmark also plays with a double 6 and Lasse does really well for them to.”

And then there was Hakim Ziyech…

“Yes, last summer we were convinced Justin Kluivert would stay and Hakim would leave. And it became an interesting jigsaw, yet again. We had Lasse and Frenkie for the 6 role and I had Tadic, Neres, Ziyech and Donny for the other midfield role… But these seasons are long and we knew we needed all players. The competition was huge and then sometimes a player is benched who feels he should play. It’s part of playing in the top. Lacazette, Lukaku, Gabriel Jesus, Gareth Bale, Dybala, they all spend time on the bench. But the fun thing is, all the players (Donny, Neres, Hakim, Tadic) can look back on a tremendous season! And all this humbug was created mainly by people outside of the club. Internally, we never really had any issues. We never were distracted and we demonstrated that we had a squad of first team players… Everyone played their part: Huntelaar, Dolberg, Veltman and also the youngsters.”

And Tadic as central striker!?

“That worked so well versus Bayern. Just perfect. And he kept on developing. Dusan is such an amazing player. He can play on either wing, on the #10 spot but I never thought he’d be my #9, hahaha.”

That must be a bummer for Dolberg. Is he on his way out now?

“Certainly not. Kasper is tremendously skilled, but he has not had a single injury free pre-season. And it is so hard for a player to not be able to have a solid pre-season. Dolberg is a fighter and we still saw some brilliance of him this season, didn’t we?”

But he is not your primary striker? He is not a starter?

“But no one is, in my book. And I told them this. There is a hierarchy, yes, but whether you’re 19 or 29, you play when you’re the best for the position. And Kasper is still young, this is all part of his development. And Klaas Jan as well, he could think “I’m the #3 striker, I’ll relax a bit” but he is as hungry and keen as when he was 23… I think, because I didn’t know him back then. But we extended Klaas Jan’s deal, because he’s crucial for us as well.”

Also important, the interchange between coach and players improved this season.

“I think that started last season already, but this season we did get a boost. When Keizer and Bergkamp left, that was a shock for some. Earlier in the season, the team had to deal with what happened to Nouri, and this season, we came back from a well deserved break and we started fresh. And don’t forget, players like Blind and Tadic do something to a squad when they come in. And Matthijs became my skipper. Cool as a cucumber, very mature, a real leader. And a good communicator. Dusan is my vice captain. A tremendous duo.”

Which other players are your strongholders in the squad?

“Definitely Daley. Not a big talker, not the extraverted leader, but the tactician of the squad. My right hand man on the pitch. He sees everything just quicker than any of the other player and he always makes the right decision. I use him as my extension and he only needs three words to know what I want. Klaas Jan is important with his experience and Andre Onana as well. That is rare, that I mention a striker and a goalie. Usually they’re quite individualistic. But they are people persons. They manage, they talk and coach. And then there is Lasse Schone. Lasse is control personified. He’s relaxed, calm and collected. A wonderful guy. A technician pur sang, but also a sober team player. Very intelligent player and everyone here loves him. He can hang with the teenagers and he can mingle with the board, you know?”

And Frenkie and Ziyech as the leaders on the pitch?

“Exactly! Frenkie is so important as a player. He became our conductor on the pitch, he determines the rhythm of the team. He takes care of the yield of the attacks, finds team mates, opens up spaces and then Hakim… The classic individualist, in the good sense of the word. You need him to make the difference and at times you need him in the team structure too. He can see the team cohesion and he sees the bigger picture. Whenever resistance is at its highest, Ziyech shines. We have many players who can create but in the final third, no one is as  good as Hakim.”

How do you operate with these players?

“We find each other when need be. Blind, De Ligt, Tadic, I will always keep them in the loop. And then we have different team talks, in difference combinations. We look at things from multiple perspectives. Tactics, group dynamics, agreements we make on and off the pitch, you name it.”

Can you name an example?

“Well, before the Groningen away game, I decided to go a day early and spend a night in a hotel close to Groningen. When we played Vitesse a week later, the players came forward and said they would appreciate that again. Leaving a day early and staying in a hotel, like we do with European games. One of the key aspects of coaching, is listening. Verbally and non-verbally. My task is to find out: what makes my players perform best? Within the boundaries we put on them as a club, we are open for the preferences of the players. I do this with my staff as well.”

Last season, your analysis was hard and critical. What is your current view of what needs to improve?

“Good ain’t good enough. We need to get better. Push boundaries. In July, we start at level zero again. Trophies are all in the cabinet and we need to start again. We do have a good foundation, but on the first day, we have zero points, like all other teams. We need to try and keep the quality of the squad at this level and if possible improve it. We signed Razvan Marin, a player with tremendous dynamics in his game. Our speed up front is another aspect we need to improve. Neres is quick, and Dolberg too but Kasper is playing in the axis and doesn’t have the space to run into, usually.”

With Frenkie, De Ligt and potentially Ziyech leaving, you will need to build a new team.

“Yes that is what might happen. We are prepared. But there will also be surprises, you can’t stop that. But Ziyech was expected to leave last summer and stayed, so who knows. He might not leave…”

Do you fear an exodus?

“I don’t fear it, but we need to plan for the worst. If you ask me, who do you fear for when he leaves, I have to say Tadic. What a season and what a tremendous yield we got from him. We have the commitment of Onana, Tagliafico and Mazraoui that they’ll stay. That is a good sign.”

How will you deal with the players who leave?

“Replacing Matthijs de Ligt is the biggest challenge. We have some options in mind. We signed Marin for Frenkie de Jong. But both De Ligt and De Jong are special and can’t just be replaced. This applies to Ziyech as well. Neres can play from the right but he’s a different type of player. Hakim is a real playmaker and we’ll probably need to go and find one if he leaves.. Or, can we find him in our youth system? We are mapping all of this now.”

Martin Odegaard was the ideal replacement for Ziyech?

“But even him, who is probably gone to Spain, he can’t just replace Ziyech. He too is different. We will see what happens and probably need some time to solve the new jigsaw.”

Quincy Promes is coming from Sevilla. That is a similar coup as signing Tadic and Blind.

“Yes, I think we are becoming more and more interesting also for big name players in his age category. Our image has gotten a boost and players will enjoy playing the sort of football we play.”

Your image got a boost too. The media are now lining up to smother you with compliments. What does this do to you.

“During the season, not so much. Simply no time for that. All energy and focus goes to the team and the process. I do enjoy successes, but briefly. It’s not who I am. I want to stay sharp. Some people start to believe in the stories about themselves and I try to remain realistic. In media, some people painted me as a loser, last season. This season, I saw in some media the word “legend”. I have to laugh about both. It’s ridiculous. I do monitor the messages in the media for the impact it can have on the team. Good or bad, it will reach me and the dressing room and then I need to manage it. Simple.”

Always: control control control…

“That is the job. I need to know what stimuli people get and need and what they’re influenced by. And where new people show up, new ideas are coming in too and people started to get scared. In Amsterdam, there is also the superiority. The “We are Ajax!” mantra. I see the benefits of this, don’t get me wrong, but I also see the danger. We introduced a modern approach and it worked. The performances on the pitch are crucial in this. Through the successes, people started to buy into it.”

How long will you be coach here?

“Who knows. I have the intention to stay, and to be honest: I haven’t thought about leaving at all. My contract is extended and I have no intention of leaving but you know how it is in football. I do have to stay critical about the circumstances in my job. The available funds, the vision and values, you name it.”

What is a realistic expectation for next season?

“We want to be part of the group stage in Europe. Even if it’s the Europa League. We all want to be playing Champions League football but it is not an automatic thing anymore. We are still a Dutch club. Domestically, we need to play for the title. Full stop. The resistance in Holland is not good enough. We are so much better than the rest, with PSV. And in that battle you can’t afford a single misstep. We want to build an attractive team, play offensive football and win matches. But playing for three prizes in May, that is unique and you can’t expect that to happen again, just like that.”

Bookmark and Share
by Jan

Courageous brilliant Ajax crumbles under pressure

Well, I REALLY needed to take a day extra before writing this… It was such a rollercoaster with all these amazing emotions floating through the body… From sheer exuberance (first half) to fear, horror, terror, disbelief in the second half and complete and utter shock at the final whistle.

What.The.F.Happened?

What was I watching?

How was this possible. Was Tottenham so amazing? Were they so good? Did we just see another English club smashing it, like Wijnaldum Liverpool smashed Barca?

You know what? NO!

Ajax didn’t lose against Spurs. They lost against Ajax. Ajax was Ajax toughest opponent.

And the boys who became men suddenly looked like boys again.

I was distraught. I was disappointed. And I was angry.

Not at Moura. Not at Pochetino. I was angry at Tadic. At Ziyech. At Ten Hag. Schone and Onana.

What on Earth were they thinking???

I will not give you a clear match report or anything. Forget about that.

Ok, I will. But briefly. Open Game. End to End. Ajax on the counter, Tadic forcing a corner. Great block (and terrible defending Spurs) and De Ligt heads 1-0. Great.

Spurs pushing probing shooting etc but another break got Ziyech in position. Magnificent left foot. Magnificent goal: 2-0.

Second half, yadda yadda Llorente yadda yadda long balls yadda yadda route 1 yadda yadda fight football.

So in the second half, Ajax has free kick. Blind and De Ligt move up. The rest defence looks vulnerable. Ball is turnaround, long ball is passed on to Moura. Schone doesn’t have the speed. Onana decides to stay in his goal. Easy goal. 2-1

Hmm… Was it really necessary to push so many players forward? For a free kick with a bad angle to get a real goal scoring opportunity?

Ajax is rattled and 2 mins later, their whole defence is split apart, with two Spurs players free in the 6 yard box. Onana saves miraculously but Schone decides to kick the ball away from Onana’s hands, giving Moura another opportunity. The Brazilian has 5 (!!) deft touches in the box before he buries it. WHAT? 2-2

And then: Ajax starts to play again, and Ziyech gets opportunities, Tadic too. But to no avail.

So with 2 minutes on the clock in extra time. 2 minutes! TWO!! Tadic decides to go for glory and the top corner. Curling it in. But the ball is wide and high. Lloris bring the ball back into the field and with a hail mary, the ball ends up with the Brazilian yet again. De Ligt is wrong footed and out of balance, he can’t block the shot. Tagliafico should have put his body on the line but stayed on his fee: 2-3.

End.Of.Story. End.of.Dream. What a bloody waste, what a missed opportunity.

Even when Ajax mourns the loss, their positioning is still great!

And YES: of course, reaching the semis was great. And yes, we all love these guys. And yes, they entertained us to the hilt. And yes, De Ligt, Ziyech, Neres, Van de Beek, Mazraoui, they will all get fat deals somewhere and some stage. Sure.

But they could and should have reached the finals and they can only blame themselves.

Erik ten Hag might have done better. Experienced Tadic and Blind should have managed the game better. Ziyech should have scored. Onana should have raced out of his area with that first Spurs goal. All true. But at the end of the day, Ajax gave it away.

And now, Ajax has two league games to win. And they will have to win them, otherwise their season – despite the national cup – will be a big disappointment in terms of silverware.

Sadly, this Ajax will not win a Champions League anytime soon. It’s likely that De Ligt and De Jong and Ziyech will leave. I do have faith in Eijting, I think he is a great player. He will take Frenkie’s spot I think, but there will not a second De Ligt of course.

Thanks for the memories Ajax, but really… you did end up breaking our hearts…

Bookmark and Share
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.

Bookmark and Share
by Jan

Ten Hag’s Ajax and how they do it

There are a couple of amazing stories in football, developing in front of our eyes… There’s Oranje’s revival under Koeman, with a spot in the Nation League’s finals… There’s Liverpool’s surge to the top, with two Dutchies as key players… Atalanta’s story is like a fairytale too, and FC Twente – relegated within 10 years of winning the title in Holland – reports back for duty in the Eredivisie next season!

But it’s Ajax that deserves the biggest boldest font.

Here is VI Pro’s analysis on how Ajax and its coach Erik ten Hag think, work and approach the game.

The initial commentary on Ten Hag’s appointment by the Dutch media was all focused on what we can now see as trivialities. His raspy voice, his East Holland dialect, his longwinded sentences and his headstrong approach to people and football in general were the subject of all we had to say about him.

But Ten Hag ignored that all but just worked. And he worked hard and diligently, with a strong technical staff, with amongst others Alfred Schreuder, Richard Witschge and Aron Winter.

Game Principles

Ten Hag works on the basis of his principles. The foundations of the game, if you will. For his: “It’s all about patterns, and we train these. We want to offer certainties to the players. Patterns they can fall back on. And we can add more and more and become ever so flexible in how we play. We call it “automatisms”, patterns that allow players to think and act really quickly. It’s like improv in theatre. You can only improvise if you know the script by heart… And in our case, Ajax is all about attacking, playing dominant and attractive.”

These principles are non-negotiable for Ten Hag. He is flexible in the system, flexible in which players he uses. But he’s not where it his principles are concerned.

In general, Ten Hag plays a 4-2-3-1 but uses different players in different situations. There is the CL line up, with two controlling mids and Tadic as the false striker.

In the less demanding Eredivisie games, he uses Dolberg or Huntelaar as a true #9 and uses Van de Beek as holding mid, with freedom to penetrate. Usually Tadic and / or Ziyech combine the #10 role behind the forward.

Pass map Ajax vs Juve at home: Tadic as false striker with the wingers Ziyech and Neres moving inside, creating space for the full backs.

Pass map Ajax vs Emmen away: a more offensive right back, allowing Neres to play inside. Van de Beek close to Huntelaar. Tagliafico a tad more back as Tadic occupies the left flank.

Pass map Ajax vs Fortuna at home: Van de Beek playing as controlling mid, but penetrating when possible. Dolberg as central striker with Ziyech in the #10 role.

Ten Hag’s principles:

  1. Create an extra man in midfield

Create a man more situation, and the first ball always played forward. That was one of the first things Ten Hag demanded, in his first training sessions. In Ten Hag’s first half season, he used Frenkie de Jong as central defender, moving forward into midfield. Now, with Daley Blind in the that role, De Jong can play from midfield. It’s also the drifting wide players (Ziyech or Neres or Tadic) who come in to create a man more in midfield. Ten Hag always wants to dominate the midfield.

2. Changing positions

Ten Hag demands a lot of changes in positions. He doesn’t want to see the predictable positioning that come from the “system thinkers”. With the dynamic players like De Jong, Van de Beek, Ziyech and Neres, there is always a player on the move, which results in other players taking over the roles or covering the spaces.

3. Don’t over-use the width of the pitch

It’s second nature for Ajax players: once one of the backs or wide players comes inside, the other moves outside and vice versa. In the times of Van Gaal (1995), the wingers were supposed to have the white on their boots, from the chalk lines. In Ten Hag’s system, not so much. When Tadic moves to the left line, it’s Tagliafico bombing forward on the underlap. Ziyech and Mazraoui enjoy a similar partnership. The opponent is constantly in doubt: do I follow the winger, or do I stay and wait for the back to run into my zone?

4. Always make runs and play passes forward and in behind

Ten Hag sighs deep in 2017, when interviewed about the state of Dutch football: “There is no country in the world where central defenders pass the ball to each other this often…”. And statistically, in those days, Ajax was the champion of square passing (under Frank de Boer). Ball possession should not be the objective, Ten Hag said in his first presentation to the media, for Ajax. Possession is a means to an end.

5. Make sure the rest defence is always organised

A term made popular within Ajax by Erik ten Hag. Rest defence. It is all about being aware constantly that at any given moment the ball could be overturned and lost. Players should always be aware of that potentially happening and being ready, positionally, to take care of these situations. Ajax always wants 4 players behind the ball, at any time. Whenever Onana has the ball, three defenders will form the last line with one controlling player in front of them, allowing Onana options to work the ball from the back to midfield.

6. Immediate pressure on the ball

Gegenpressing, a German term (meaning: counter pressing) brought to Holland by Schreuder (Hoffenheim) and Ten Hag (Bayern Munich) from their days in the Bundesliga. Defending the counter is key in getting results. Ajax has almot perfected this and have used it to great success in the Champions League as well. Ajax is now capable of playing on the half of the opponent and get a result against the best teams in the world.

7. Get back in the organisation immediately after a failed pressure moment

This “Gegenpress” is not just a matter of hunting the opponent until you get the ball, but also having a plan for when it fails. Ajax now will have a number of players behind the ball who will defend and control zonally. The players will force the opponent towards a certain side of the pitch, to make the angles for passing harder and the next gegenpress easier. This more passive approach will decrease Ajax’ chance of winning the ball back, but at the same time in also decreases the chances for the opponent to create anything against Ajax.

8. Lure the opponent to the flanks

Ten Hag doesn’t want to meddle to much in the axis of the pitch. He doesn’t want De Jong, Schone or De Ligt to move away from that area by stepping out. He wants to keep that intact, which means the team will force the opponent to go towards the flanks. The wingers do this to move inward, which opens up the passing options to the flanks for the opponent. Once the pass comes, Ajax locks the opponent in, like a horde of wolves would with prey. In this way Ajax can put max pressure on the opponent without being very vulnerable themselves.

9. Keep the spaces limited

Ten Hag wanted to increase Ajax’ defensive certainty. Controlling the distances between players, keeping it minimal, is key in this. Ajax does this on their own half of the pitch, but also on the opponent’s half. Blind and De Ligt are often positioned on the opponent’s half to block their progress. Throw-ins are recognised moments for Ajax to have a lot of players around the ball to put pressure on the ball as much as possible.

10. Defend the space

Ten Hag uses zonal marking vs man to man marking. He teaches his players to defend the space, instead of following opponents. In his first months at Ajax, he uses the 4-1-4-1 system, but this season it’s more a 4-2-3-1. The distance between the lines can not be more than 10 meters.

11. Immediately play the ball towards the goal

Who analyses the goals Ajax scored this season will see heaps of goals that will qualify as counter-attacking goals. Situation where Ajax pounces straight after re-possessing the ball. This is not a coincidence. Ten Hag works on recognising the moments where the opponent is most vulnerable. And with Frenkie de Jong in midfield, Ajax now has a player who sees the way forward quicker than anyone and has the ability to execute.

Attacking

Ajax has a tremendous number of goals again this season and key in this was Ten Hag’s willingness to adapt his ideas and approach to the qualities of the players available. With Daley Blind coming in the club, Frenkie could move forward to midfield, and Lasse Schone now has the job to protect the defence when Frenkie is exploring his free role.

This last summer it seemed Hakim Ziyech would make a move to a bigger competition. Zakaria Labyad and / or Dusan Tadic would be in line to take Ziyech’s role in midfield. Ten Hag has made the decision to play with the “point forward” in midfield, vs the “point backwards”… Usually, Ajax plays with one holding player sitting in front of the defence, and with two midfielders playing more high up the pitch ( the point backwards). Ten Hag now uses the opposite system. Two holding mids, with freedom to roam and penetrate (De Jong, Van de Beek) and with one more forward playing “#10” midfielder (the point forward system). Ten Hag: “Whatever you do or however you call it, once we build up and our central defenders move up, we will need to be playing and positioning in tiers if you like… You get more than 3 lines (defence, midfield, attack). We need dynamics and more variable implementations. These are the patterns I was talking about.”

But as Ziyech didn’t leave, he was able to use the system and use Ziyech as a wide play maker coming in from the right side of the pitch. Not unlike Messi plays at times, or Dyballa or Bernardo Silva. Starting wide and drifting inside.

One of the key aspects of this is, that Ziyech now is found when he is facing the opponent’s goal and it’s no coincidence that the former Heerenveen player is having a super season. In the past, Ziyech played deeper as a real playmaker and when he had a tough match, he would drop deeper to still get the ball and play the risky pass from deeper, allowing for much more dangerous loss of possession.

Now, in Ajax’ current system, Ziyech is allowed to take the risks, much higher up the pitch.

Another piece of the puzzle clicks in in those early Champions League matches: after Tete’s exit, Ajax invests in a Danish and a Spanish option for right back, but its former playmaker and question mark Noussair Mazraoui that grabs his chance as right back. He’s vulnerable defensively, but in offensive patterns he has proven his worth. His tactical discipline make him a typical Ten Hag player. And due to his perfect partnership with Ziyech, there has never been a discussion about the right back spot ever since.

Ziyech and Tadic both have a free role in the team. And the rest of the team will need to make that possible. “Both Dusan and Hakim are at their best when they can play freely and on intuition. So they are allowed to do this, and from the wings,” as Ten Hag explains it.

The full backs have a key role in this. They need to keep the width where needed and always have the outball to at least one side. Tagliafico and Mazraoui execute this perfectly.

It does mean that Schone and Frenkie de Jong have less adventurous roles, but for Ten Hag, the attack starts with Onana, and it helps to have a playmaker-type defender in your last line (Frenkie, Daley). And all three players – De Ligt, Blind or De Jong – have the perfect build up pass available once they’re played free in midfield. Frenkie de Jong in particular has the smarts to remain unpredictable.

Juventus coach Allegri thought he had a solution for Frenkie. “As he moves to their left – our right – I decided to use Bernardeschi to counter and press De Jong. But within minutes, De Jong recognised it and moved to the right side of the pitch, thereby forcing one of our attackers to pick him up. Every attack of Ajax starts with De Jong!”.

Ajax plays Dutch Total Football with a scent of Bundesliga dna. When Ten Hag worked at Bayern, he witnessed Pep Guardiola in the video suite, analysing the opponents to find the perfect moment to stop an opponent’s counter attack. And right hand man Alfred Schreuder did the same with Nagelsmann at Hoffenheim.

These turn-around moments have always been key for Ajax. Even back in the 70s, with Michels / Cruyff’s total football and in 2016/17 under Peter Bosz in the Europe League.

Defence

Erik ten Hag also added some gutsy defensive approaches to the team. He has the courage to have Ajax defend far from their own goal. Not a lot of opponents have the ability to play from under that press. In the Eredivisie, hardly any team knows how to deal with the positioning play of Ajax. The wingers move inside a bit, to cut out some passing lines and when the opponent tries the long ball, Mathijs de Ligt will control the situation and deal with it, Virgil van Dijk-style.

This image shows how Ajax deals with opponents who do have the courage and ability to play under pressure. Ajax forces the ball to the side, three players will attack the player with the ball, blocking his passing lines.

The only way to deal with this is to use the long ball to find space on the other side of the pitch. Feyenoord beat Ajax 6-2 in Rotterdam and used left back Calvin Verdonk to explore that space. Real Madrid was also able to use that weakness in Ajax’ tactics. Ajax did concede more goals than PSV, in the Eredivisie. Partly the result from the tactics Ten Hag uses, but also something Ten Hag will further focus on to perfect.

The Turnaround

When asked what Ten Hag will need to work on more in the coming season, his response: “The turnaround. In today’s football, that is key. And also, what do we do, once we get the ball? In the past, I felt Ajax would cherish ball possession once they got it back. And relaxed a tad. I want my team to immediately use that situation to take advantage of the lack of organisation with the opponent. With Utrecht, we were the top team in the stat “% goals within 4 passes after repossessing the ball”. Ajax was half way the table. But those are the perfect moments to score, particularly for a team like Ajax, which plays a lot vs parked buses. When the opponent is organised well, and their rest defence is good, sure…keep possession. But otherwise you’ll need to hurt the opponent.”

In the Champions League, Ajax demonstrates this vs Juve and Real Madrid. Neres goal at home against Juventus? He took the ball off a defender and ran in a straight line to the goal. Against Madrid, the five goal were scored after respectively 2, 1, 3, 1 and zero passes in the run up to the goals. When Ajax gets the ball from the opponent, they will take the shortest route to the goal.

Bookmark and Share
by Jan

Ajax’ Delight with Ajax’ De Ligt

I have to admit, I truely don’t know where to start… This blog is a Dutch National Team blog, and your humble blogger is a Feyenoord fan, but I am drooling with glee when watching this Ajax play. And I am not alone in it. The whole world watches and the whole world seems delighted to see what they can do!

Johan will be resting in his final resting place with a grand smile on his face…

You probably know all the stats better than me… It’s been 22 years since Ajax last was in a CL semis finals. It has been a long time since Ajax beat Juve, etc etc.

And back in the day, teams were only allowed to have 3 foreign players!! So any team was forced to have domestic talent in their team, and could only shop for 3 starting spots.

Today, Man City, Real Madrid, Juve, Bayern, they could technically buy all the best players from anywhere and present them as the “local team”. And still, Ajax manages to do what they do on a meagre budget (compared to the big boys) and with 6 home grown players in their line up (De Ligt, Frenkie, Donny, Mazraoui, Veltman, Blind)…

It is just mindblowing!

And I didn’t write a post on the home match vs Juve (I did plan to do so, but life is getting in the way at the moment…moving house, flu attacks, internet dramas, work, etc)…

I was quite positive about Ajax’ chances coming into the game, like I was vs Real Madrid. But my positivity quickly evaporated when I saw how Ajax started!!

They were completely off their game. They were overwhelmed with the tremendous tenacity Juve demonstrated, and some of them clearly were suffering from tension in the body, with balls bouncing off feet, passes not arriving and even Mr Cool (Frenkie) dribbling senselessly into cul-de-sacs…

Onana got it wrong early (Can pressing onto him) and with Mazraoui having to be subbed and then C Ronaldo’s goal after 20 minutes and the disarray in Ajax’ defence (De Ligt bumping Veltman out of the way), I truly thought our national pride was imploding like never before.

(From L) Ajax’s Dutch defender Daley Blind, Ajax’s Brazilian forward David Neres, Ajax’s Danish midfielder Lasse Schone, Ajax’s Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt (Rear), Ajax’s Dutch defender Joel Veltman and Ajax’s Dutch midfielder Donny van de Beek celebrate with fans defeating Juventus in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg football match Juventus vs Ajax Amsterdam on April 16, 2019 at the Juventus stadium in Turin. (Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP) (Photo credit should read MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images)

Mazraoui is not a defender. He was developed as playmaker in the Ajax youth and as a result is quite comfortable on the left and right of the pitch. Just like Daley Sinkgraven is a midfielder, originally, and Daley hadn’t played a proper match for months on end. Oops.

But… something happened.

I think Ten Hag / Schreuder made some positional changes in the midfield (telling Frenkie and Lasse to guard the back four with a double 6 system (two controlling mids) and pushing Veltman and Mazraoui/Sinkgraven high up on the pitch, to allow Onana/De Ligt/Blind an outlet…

I also believe Juve felt they could take their foot of the gas a bit, leading 1-0.

And I believe Ajax started to play with mentality of “well…we’re out of the competition now, so lets just play for it”…

And magic happened!

A mishit by Ziyech ended up at Van de Beek’s feet and he didn’t lash out like he sometimes does, he simply passed the ball in the goal.

That will have rattled Juve and when Ajax reached the half time break, 1-1, I was getting the feeling that they’d be best positioned to progress. Because conceding another goal wouldn’t change much for Ajax and their game plan.

Alternatively, if Ajax would score the 1-2, Juve would have to score two goals! Those sortathings will get in the players’ heads…

And Ten Hag managed to settle the players’ nerves in the half time break and the second half was all Ajax!

The telling thing for Ajax being their composure on the ball when playing out from defence, finding the right pass, the right run…never hitting it upstream blindly, always with an idea, a though.

And boy, what a chances Ajax got to truly humiliate the Old Lady and score not 1, 2 or 3 but 4 or 5 goals!

1-4 would not have been an outrageous end score. Neres missed a sitter (use your right foot!!), some decision making didn’t end up going well, Schone was unlucky with a dipping free kick and a half volley later on in the game, etc etc…

Ajax even managed a really flowing one touch attack over the right wing, with some composed passing by De Jong, Ziyech, Tadic, sadly not resulting in a super dooper world class goal!

Captain De Ligt was at fault with CR7’s goal, one could say. So the skipper stepped up and paid Juve back after more than an hour’s play.

The corner was kicked by Schone, De Ligt timed well, jumped high and slammed the ball into the corner, in between two Italian defenders. That is a feat for any player, but for a 19 year old kid, it is just incredible.

Ziyech, outstanding in Ajax’ campaign but a tad off his game now even managed a superb goal, curling the ball into the far corner… this would have settled matters but the Moroccan playmaker was 1 toe offside, apparently and the goal was disallowed…

There were some shaky last minutes with Juve pushing for a miracle and when Daley Blind – another Man of The Match performance – seemingly handled the ball in the final minutes, a gasp was audible from the Ajax camp.

But one specific camera angle showed the VAR that the ball didn’t actually hit his arm, but bounced of his chest/core and therefore: no penalty and Ajax was confident it had done the job!

The joy and celebrative eruption was completely warranted, after the game, with a somewhat overweight Marc Overmars performing a class – albeit static – belly slide in front of the fans…

All Ajax players and staff members after the game were in agreement that “yes, Ajax should have scored more goals and taken the opportunities and all that” but the euphoria won vs the criticism of Ajax’ lack of effectiveness…

“Now, we need to get our head in the game again, because next Saturday, it’s FC Groningen!”

Some conclusions:

  • Ajax will be robbed blind this summer, even Ten Hag will be hunted (Schreuder is on his way to become head coach at Wolfsburg)
  • Van de Beek deserves a starting spot in Oranje
  • De Ligt will be the most expensive defender this coming summer (100+ million)
  • Ajax will win this CL
  • Overmars should not do belly flops and ruin the pitch of the opponent

 

Cinematic highlights both games…

Bookmark and Share
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.”

Bookmark and Share
by Jan

New Season: Ajax

With the World Cup behind us, we’re going to look ahead to the new season. Focus on the top 3, initially and some of the upcoming talents in Holland and abroad (Dutch talents, obviously).

NOTE: I started this post way before the first CL match vs Sturm Graz and ended up finishing it after the match…

Ajax won, 2-0. Good game. Ziyech in top form. Huntelaar should have scored. And Ten Hag was actually happy to be able to say: “We played good today, and we can actually play much better even!”.

Was good to see Daley Blind make his come-back with the crowd loudly chanting the “Daley is Coming Home” anthem…

Anyway, the new season….

Starting at Ajax, which made a bold statement this transfer window and is probably not finished with it even. Some will say the Velvet Revolution of JC has ended and is buried now. I don’t think so. I think Cruyff’s statement were misunderstood.

Yes, he said “use ex-players in management, like at Bayern” but that doesn’t mean any combination of ex-players will work… Clearly Jonk did an amazing job at Ajax, but clashed with Bergkamp, just like Peter Bosz and eventually Marc Overmars did. Get the right guys in, and it will work. He also said “use Academy talents” but JC never said “use them exclusively”. A misunderstanding. His beloved Barca, the role model now for Ajax, doesn’t just use Academy talents. Rakitic, Jordy Alba, Suarez, Neymar, Cillesen, Dembele, all players signed for a serious fee. Not developed at Barca, but making the Barca squad stronger and better balanced.

It seems Overmars and Van der Sar have finally convinced the Board of Ajax that – after 4 years without a trophy (only a respectable EL final spot), it is time to spend some money from the savings account on some real improvements on the pitch. Sure, Ajax spend 30mio euros or more on a new Academy complex, money well spent. But with the likes of Kluivert and very likely Ziyech leaving, better players were needed to bring Ajax ahead of Feyenoord and PSV again.

And with the signing of two EPL players in Tadic and Daley Blind, Ajax gave a strong signal. They also got once-upon-a-time talent Labyad to Amsterdam (developed at PSV and back in the Dutch top after a detour via Portugal, Vitesse and FC Utrecht) and youthful prospect Per Schuurs.

And if indeed Frenkie de Jong and De Ligt would go, Ajax will keep on shopping for sure. I think both De Jong and De Ligt will have to cost at least 30 mio euros each and I’m also sure Overmars will have a list of replacements ready.

Ajax means business again! They said goodbye to Bergkamp protege Marcel Keizer (and Bergkamp himself) and placed their faith in the hands of Guardiola adept Erik ten Hag.

The former FC Utrecht coach about last season.

How do you judge your first 4 months at Ajax?

Well, I think the overall sentiment is not that great. But I rather not judge myself publically, that is the job of Ajax’ management. We are not happy, as we didn’t win the title. Full stop. Ajax wants to win the title, always. So if you don’t reach that goal, it’s not good enough. It’s that simple. We were also kicked out of Europe and the national cup pretty early on, so it was not a great season. But, it wasn’t all bad. We do need to be nuanced about our judgement.

What nuances?

Well, the tragedy with Nouri has been underrated. This is not something you shake off in 3 months. And when I signed on, Kasper Dolberg got seriously injured. Huntelaar missed a number of games too, and then we lost Frenkie de Jong, Sinkgraven, Viergever and Cerny as well. To mention some positives: we created the most oppportunities, but we failed to finish them off. We allowed the least opportunities to the opponent and we conceded the least goals. These are important building blocks moving forward. We created 30 big chances more than PSV, for instance. Our effectiveness was a problem. A killer in the box like Huntelaar missed more chances in this last season than all seasons before, figuratively speaking.

But excuses don’t count

They’re not excuses. Without the injured players, we should have won these matches too, but if you do analyse where you stand, you’ll have to mention these things.

The PSV away game was crucial.

Indeed. We were 7 points behind. We could have turned it around there, I’m convinced. We played for the win, playing 1 v 1 at the back. We had 3 major chances in the early stage of the game, but didn’t score. PSV got a chance, they scored. We were chasing the game after that and couldn’t get the goal. But, apart from Utrecht away and PSV away, we won every match. Sadly, so did PSV.”

Was that the Champions’ gen?

Yes, you saw it with Feyenoord last season as well. PSV could play with their fixed team most matches. Their list of injuries was minimal. And we lacked that bit of luck. We hit post and bar most times last season. Don’t get me wrong, PSV won the title rightfully and deservedly, but it was much closer than it seems. We did not have a terrible season. We got to 79 points. That is normally enough to win the title. The last four times Ajax won the title, they collected less points.”

Some people say you have too many tactical chores and tasks for the players.

It all starts with you, the coach, getting to know the make up of the players. Their characters and personalities are leading. And it takes time before you have that insight. And you, the coach, need to adept to that. What is it the group needs, how do you reach the individual players. I think I did well in the past, offering players the tools they need to shine. Just think about Marko Arnautovic, Eljero Elia, Quincy Promes, Zakaria Labyad, Nacer Barazite, Yassin Ayoub, Deniz Türüç…all creative players who excelled under my guidance. Hakik Ziyech the second season half, was tremendous. Neres played his part.

What aspects do you want to see improvements?

All Ajax players ooze talent. But where it comes down to physical strength, mental strength and tactical intelligence, we need to improve and develop. That is where we lose games, in particular against stronger teams. At times we lack a sense of urgency to win games. Or to recognise danger. Take that first PSV goal, against us. It took one throw in and we’re opened up. And it happened 3 days before that match on training as well! And it happened in the finals of the Europa League vs Man United! It’s not a new thing. And it needs to be dealt with. And against Man United, it was our throw in!! It’s also experience I suppose, which is why we need to buy experience. Talent alone is not enough.

Where do you think Dutch football and thus also Ajax, needs to make big steps?

The so-called turnaround moments. In international football, that is the key moment, more and more. Not just defensively, also in terms of “what do we do when we win the ball back?”. At Ajax it is usually “winning the ball back, and keeping possession”. But I want to see them take the advantage of the game being open. Play the killer pass, make the killer run, right when the opponent is out of balance. When I left FC Utrecht, they were leader of the team scoring a goal within 4 passes after re-possessing the ball. Ajax was somewhere in the mid range. That needs to chance, as those are the moments where you can take full advantage. There is not football nation where the ball goes as often from central defender to central defender. Possession is the goal, it seems. And we need to practice and train to change that around.

Ajax has started qualification campaigns for the Champions League early almost every season but never qualifies because the squad is still in development. That will need to change.

“Well, we started well. We signed Labyad early, we have Tadic and Blind. I think we paid a lot for Blind and he might have been less expensive later in the transfer window, but we want to be as strong as possible come the CL qualification game. We can’t have players being signed by other clubs in mid July and Ajax still trying to find replacements. I want to be able to work with the squad as soon as possible. This World Cup isn’t helping of course, but we’re not the only ones who have that problem”

Are you happy to be able to start the new season from the start, instead of taking over mid-way?

Yes of course. Last season was a difficult one for the club. The focus this season will be on winning, on trophies and results. And to entertain the fans. When you missed winning trophies for four seasons, it’s too long a time. No debate.

Dujan Tadic is quite a signing for Ajax. The 30 year old Serbian artist was signed as a replacement for Hakim Ziyech. But, for all we know, they both might be playing in the same team, that wouldn’t be too bad… Neres, Huntelaar, Tadic up front, Ziyech, De Jong and Van de Beek in midfield… Wow.  The former Groningen and Twente player was always a target for Ajax. And vice versa.

Tadic grew up with family members telling him about the great 1974 Oranje, and stories about Cruyff, Neeskens, Krol and Rep. And young Dujan always wanted to don the Ajax jersey.

When Southampton came kocking some 4 seasons back, Frank de Boer wanted to sign the forward but the then-Ajax board put their foot down. No big money signings!

Now, with Ajax’ kitty filled to the max, Overmars and Van der Sar are allowed to spend. Hence the come-back of Daley Blind and the finally the signing of Tadic.

Tadic: “This is a dream come true for me. Some people have romantic ideas around Barcelona, or Liverpool… For me, it was always Ajax. This is one of the biggest clubs on the planet. I’m proud to finally be here.”

And Daley Blind… he’s now the most expensive signing for Ajax ever. The homeboy who started at a young age at Ajax and almost was written off when he struggled to be recognised for the first team is coming home from Man United. There was interest from other EPL teams, from Spain, Italy, but Daley was never about the money, the fame and fortune.

Daley: “I had options, but none of them were really concrete. It was still early of course, but I had my wishes… Playing every week, playing in a style that suits me, with a coach that thinks about football like I do, in a city/country that appeals to me… and when Ajax came I realised that Ajax would tick all the boxes. I actually look forward to being close to friends and family. So when Ajax wanted to do business I decided to go for it. It feels 100% right.”

But you could have gone to another big club in Europe?

Daley: “Maybe yes, but there is always uncertainty about your position, and there is the language, the cultural changes… I am ready to start a family and I also want to be fully in the picture for the national team, so… this is the logical thing to do. And don’t worry, I am only 28 years old, in the prime of my career so I come back to Ajax to win trophies, to play Champions League football… Not to start thinking about retirement, hahaha.”

Marc Overmars, Ajax has changed tactics? Decided to go for quality, no matter the price tag?

“Well, we always go for quality, but yes, in the past we were more patient, wanted to use the talents more, but if you look at the results in the last seasons, it didn’t pay off well enough. Not winning the title is always an option, when you have clubs like PSV and Feyenoord in your league, but never qualifying for the Champions League via the pre-qualifying games… that hurts. And it takes experience and smarts for those games. Talent is not enough. The mix needs to be right. This time, we had some good options on our radar, and we were able to sign them.”

Tadic was brought in for Ziyech, but he is still in Amsterdam.

“Well yes, but don’t make a mistake: if Hakim doesn’t leave this summer, we’ll be very happy. I can see Tadic and Ziyech in one team, why not? Hakim wants to move only if the total picture is good for him. If the ideal club doesn’t present itself, he’ll probably stay. And why not?”

Is Ajax done buying now?

“Depends. The transfer window is still open for a while, there is interest for Frenkie de Jong of course, for De Ligt, and Ziyech might find his ideal new club, so who knows. We just wanna make sure we are ready for the Champions League now and strong enough to sustain us through the season to win the title. It’s been too long now, we need to win silverware.”

Bookmark and Share