He's officially an Ajacied!! :headbang:

Yups. The great Ajax USA just confirmed it... ;)

http://www.ajax-usa.com/news/2005-2006/ ... -2009.html

You know, it sounds very spectacular, but I have to be honest: I do not follow Barcelona, a few weeks ago I didn't even know the guy's name and I have absolutely no idea as to whether he's any good. No clue.

But so far I think Van Geel's signings have been fantastic, and I also know that Henk ten Cate has a pretty good eye. Unlike, for example, Ronald Koeman he has a reputation for being very smart on the transfer market. That's why I have a good feeling about it anyway.

K.

Henk ten Cate knows a bit about Barca :) If he agreed on signing Gabri, then the guy must be good.

Ive known about this guy for ages, since under the Louis Van Gaal era. When Van Gaal was sacked, Gabri was coming through the youth ranks, he was doing pretty well, mainly in a right midfield position, at times at right back. The coach at the time, Serra Ferrer (I think that was his name) seemed to like Gabri so much that he put Ronald de Boer on the transfer list, indicating more games for Gabri. Unfortunatly his career has been blighted by injuries. I just hope its a new dawn of an era for both Gabri and Ajax :worshippy:

He was usually a reserve player in Barcelona and I think that it won't change in Ajax (if Davids comes). Anyway - it isn't bad transfer. We didn't pay anything for a solid player, who can play on a few positions. Let's hope that he'll make a bigger career than Juanfran.

Here Ko, do you think that Gabri looks like our friend Dave Battram - has Dave got so fed up with the standard of play he has decided to put it right himself :D

:D

Yeah. I suggest we call him Battri from now on...

K.

let's hope Gabri is not just short for Gabrich

:D

At least our TD didn't promise he couldn't fall down.

I like this signing from the stand point that this has Henk ten Cate's fingerprints all over it. He knows the player, knows his situation,i.e. limited game action, and still feels he's right for a side he's tasked with bringing back to top level.A definite gamble, yet he takes it. Ten Cate's bold if nothing else.I think Gabri will feel that HtC has shown him loyalty and will want to repay him.

I've seen Gabri play 3 times, albeit in pre-season matches against top division caliber sides...Ajax,Parma, and Chelsea... and think he's a good addition.

WELCOME GABRI. BEST OF LUCK!

Just read this is in a Dutch-language topic... An interview with Henk ten Cate. Here's what he had to say about Gabri:

"Multifunctional, that's how I would want to describe Gabri. Moreover, he's a winner that every football team can use, expecially a young side like Ajax. Of course, as I worked at Barcelona, I knew that his contract was expiring, but I'd never expected him to be interested in moving to Amsterdam with me. I decided to ask him anyway - you can always try, can't you - and he immediately reacted very enthusiastically. 'Ajax is a beautiful club with a fantastic reputation,' he said, which is quite typical for the way many foreigners feel about Ajax and Dutch football in general.

"In Barcelona I particularly attempted to keep in touch with Gabri when he was injured and in rehab. During that period I also got to know him as a person with doubts, a quiet lad unafraid to show his feelings. Last season was supposed to be the year of Barcelona's great international resurrection, but just when Gabri was very close to conquering a spot in the team he ripped his cruciate ligaments. Yet, he always remained positive and now that he's fit he can be a tremendous enrichment for the Eredivisie.

"Gabri's got a great shot: he can score a goal quite easily. He's a very all-round player. I don't think he'll immediately step forward and become the leader of the team - for that you will have to speak the language properly. But I think he can already fan the fire. If you're a young talent and you get to play with a player like Gabri... I reckon that is quite a challenge."

Nice words.

K.

Ko, Thank you for posting and translating. A great read. I look forward to watching Gabri.Perhaps a bit dysfunctional at first, what with getting to learn his teammates tendencies, be it sounds promising.And, you can't teach experience.

From what I've read in Dutch media, our man Gabri seems to be doing OK. Ten Cate is definitely satisfied with his pre-season performance. I was sceptical at his signing but I sure hope he will prove me wrong.

If I read the story right , there will be more playing time for Gabri and the rest of our midfield over the next couple weeks . What with Roger's broken toe.

The yellow card Gabri picked up against Sparta Rotterdam was his fifth of the season, which means he will be automatically suspended for one Eredivisie game. This will be the Sunday 03 December home fixture against Willem II.

K.

Am I the only one who doesn't really care for this guy? The quick yellows only did more to reenforce this. :sad:

If the whole team played like Gabri we'd be a lot better off.

Totally agreed.

He's one of those players who can play a poor game himself, but still be the 'concrete between the bricks' for the rest of the team. And he's got a great mentality. Keeps going. If everybody had the same attitude, yesterday's second half wouldn't have happened.

K.

Aah come on! His determination cost him 2 cards and made it a lot harder for the remaining 10!

Gabri is like an one-trick phoney. He runs like a madman, but when he receives the ball, he is very very poor. His 2nd yellow card was a good example. He tries to dribble out of the danger zone, loses the ball because of Gabri's terrible technique, and then in order to stop the counter attack he pull's an opponent down. Started and ended by Gabri... how poor is that?

If others had the same mentality you would create some kind of feyenoord team.

I just happened to pick this up while browsing through this topic. It was said about Gabri by ten Cate just before the season started.

I wanna hear ten Cate say that now... :X

Poor match for Gabri-but at least he has some balls-i am not giving up on him,I hope HTK runs the entire Ajax squad into the ground this morning.....

During yesterday's press conference HTC told the press that Gabri stood up in front of the whole group and apologized for his red card against Vitesse. He also invited everybody over to a restaurant and he paid dinner for the whole squad.

Now that's what I call a team player. Respect for that. Really says something about the bloke.

If some of our young Dutch 'world beaters' had some more self-reflection like that... that would surely help.

K.

Two things!

1. Gabri was bloody great against PSV.

2. He will be suspended for the next game against Heracles (accumulated yellow cards)

K.

Gabri is outstanding the last few weeks. He keeps on running, and is passing game is getting better every week.