General Football Discussion

[Orange14]

PSV vs Sparta Rotterdam, first half, PSV are crap, how the hell are they above Ajax in the league

They just win every match and again another 1-0 win. Championship race is over unless they get a lot of injuries.

Sooner or later they will go through a bad patch, 2 losses next two games, means they would be only 4 points ahead

I'm not sure Ajax can beat AZ.

[SPL]

We still have to go to Az so by Christmas we could be 12 or 13 points off the top . PSV are getting some 1-0 wins but are scoring goals ,they may be lucky and not good but Fword are rubbish and so are Ajax under the shower running the club(into the ground)

[Ayman]

If things don't improve by January, does this pave the way for Erik ten Hag from Utrecht? If so, I think it would be great, he has experience working at Bayern Munich's youth team, he has a good record there.

[Orange14]

If things don't improve by January, does this pave the way for Erik ten Hag from Utrecht? If so, I think it would be great, he has experience working at Bayern Munich's youth team, he has a good record there.

I doubt they will switch trainers in mid-season.

[Tom_]

Tell that to Peter Bosz!

I don’t know how much switching the trainer would help anyway, it’s more a squad issue IMO.

[Ayman]

Horrible but we can't complain.

"From next season, only one club qualifies for the Champions League and they will need to go through qualifying rounds. Also from 2019, the KNVB Cup winner no longer automatically qualifies for the Europa League and will need to go through two qualifying rounds."

[SPL]

Actually there will still be 2 Dutch teams in CL in 2019/2020 ,check Uefa Coiffiecients top 15 have 2 teams and we are 13th and will be in the top 15 by the end of this season and thats what counts for 2019/2020.Both to qualify but champions will get the likes of Latvian champs in their qualifiers.

It does seem crazy that Ajax are not in Europe, 10 points off PSV and yet all the big rich clubs still want our players.

There will still be more foreign scouts on a Saturday at de Toekomst than at almost any other club's youth training .

We just need an experienced coach in charge, an utter disgrace where we are at present. With all our money we should dominate Dutch football and be the Bayern Munich of Holland.

PS today's rant over!! I am off to watch my local side Worthing in level 7 of the English pyramid.Not a hugh fan but its 5 mins walk away usually get 500 plus there and half decent footy. Ok they are bottom but are improving!!!!

[Orange14]

European football doesn't matter to me for the most part. UEFA is corrupt and all the action that they are taking in the name of financial fair play is just window dressing. I was reading yesterday that both Milan and PSG are now under investigation. Milan have a Chinese owner who has lied about his assets and PSG broke the bank to buy Neymar and Mbappe. English teams get so much television money that makes it hard for almost any other teams in Europe to compete against them. All five CL teams are moving forward and Arsenal are likely to win the EL this season.

I think we will look at last season's run by Ajax to the EL championship as the last one for Dutch football unless something changes which is not likely.

[Ayman]

European football doesn't matter to me for the most part. UEFA is corrupt and all the action that they are taking in the name of financial fair play is just window dressing. I was reading yesterday that both Milan and PSG are now under investigation. Milan have a Chinese owner who has lied about his assets and PSG broke the bank to buy Neymar and Mbappe. English teams get so much television money that makes it hard for almost any other teams in Europe to compete against them. All five CL teams are moving forward and Arsenal are likely to win the EL this season.

I think we will look at last season's run by Ajax to the EL championship as the last one for Dutch football unless something changes which is not likely.

To be honest, the main reason why Ajax are in such a mess, is because of the elites e.g. Bergkamp, Van der Sar, Overmars etc. They have this sense of entitlement, that they can dictate policies at Ajax at will because of their celebrity status. If Ajax could just 'drain the swamp', and get good people in, people with their feet on the ground, e.g. Jordi Cruyff (to replace Overmars) I would be happy, because he is so humble, for heavens sake, he went from a TD to a coach at Tel Aviv. That shows his passion for the game, and not for the $$$ and not for the power!

[SPL]

Bosz sacked at Dortmund. Some fans will call for him back but no way ,he walked out on us and left us in a mess.

Someone still needs to take over and sort us out.

[Tomy14]

Bosz sacked at Dortmund. Some fans will call for him back but no way ,he walked out on us and left us in a mess.

Someone still needs to take over and sort us out.

He walked out because of Bergkamp and Spijkerman. He had told Van Der Saar that he would prefer to bring his own people to replace them because of the many disagreements they had. He was told from Van Der Saar that Ajax is happy with both Bergkamp and Spijkerman. After the offer from Dortmund came he gave them an ultimatum by saying either me or them, the rest you know yourself with Ajax letting him go and appointing Keizer for the good job he did for Ajax 1. I say bring him back and give him time to get everything right again. This season is already over so he has plenty of time to get us back on track. Knowing Ajax though and people who rule the club (Bergkamp and Van Der Saar) i see them making another mistake by promoting Reizinger because of his success with Ajax 1.

[Cruijff]

Bosz sacked at Dortmund. Some fans will call for him back but no way ,he walked out on us and left us in a mess.

Someone still needs to take over and sort us out.

He walked out because of Bergkamp and Spijkerman. He had told Van Der Saar that he would prefer to bring his own people to replace them because of the many disagreements they had.

According to two of the players who were quite important for Ajax last season, Onana and Sanchez, not true.
They stated that in early June Peter Bosz called the team together and pushed the team that they should keep the complete squad together...

A week later the trainer seemed to be the first one who left.

[rjf1]

Doesn't matter who the trainer is -- as soon as we develop a player good enough to have an important impact, the board will shop him to the highest bidder. The best trainer in the world cannot build an effective team when the guiding philosophy of the board is to develop players in order to sell them for a big profit rather than keep them in order to build a winning team.

[Ayman]

Doesn't matter who the trainer is -- as soon as we develop a player good enough to have an important impact, the board will shop him to the highest bidder. The best trainer in the world cannot build an effective team when the guiding philosophy of the board is to develop players in order to sell them for a big profit rather than keep them in order to build a winning team.

Since around the early 90s thats always been the case, young players leaving when they do well at Ajax, Bryan Roy, Wim Jonk, Bergkamp, Seedorf, Kluivert etc etc

[Orange14]

Once the Bosman ruling went through power moved from management to the players. Outside of about six clubs in Europe, no team is able to keep outstanding players. Within the Dutch league all teams have to sell to remain economically viable as there is not the great cache of television money that some of the other teams/leagues have. Had Ajax qualified for CL this year, it is likely that Sanchez would have stayed with the club.

[SPL]

I rarely watch EPL and today watched 2nd half of WBA and Arsenal . Very moderate and boring.EPL leaves me cold.

Last week my eldest son gave me a No 14 Cruijff Orange shirt . Never actually had one before and only 43 years late.
Thanks to that mans genius and total football I fell in love with Ajax.If Ajax went out of business tomorrow I would not watch anyone else.

Hup Ajax

[Cruijff]

Good t-shirt SPL. But the username Orange14 has already been taken.

I rarely watch EPL and today watched 2nd half of WBA and Arsenal . Very moderate and boring.EPL leaves me cold.

Jep the level of football in these games is often very mediocre.
Related to the amount of money they've put in their team(s) it is a disgrace what sh*te they bring on the pitch.

[Orange14]

I rarely watch EPL and today watched 2nd half of WBA and Arsenal . Very moderate and boring.EPL leaves me cold.

Unfortunately we in the US don't have many options. Not much other than a couple of German, Italian, and Spanish matches are on via my cable TV. Even the Spanish games are largely limited to Barcelona and Madrid. This time of the year, I have EPL matches almost every day. While a lot of EPL teams do play quite boring football I do enjoy watching ManCity and Liverpool play as both seem to have an attacking purpose to their football. I watched a little of ManU the other day and it made me realize how bad a trainer Mourinho is. I'm still disappointed that Ajax didn't put him under the knife in the Europa League finals last season.

[SPL]

I have just watched Brighton and Bournemouth drew 2-2. Entertaining good old fashioned type of footy not sure I would say there was any quality on the field and not 1 player from these 2 sides would get into Ajax side.

Agree Man City and LIverpool do play attacking football. Mourinho getting serious stick from the press and fans.His boring football is dreadful. I predict he will go at the end of the season.

[Cruijff]

I watched a little of ManU the other day and it made me realize how bad a trainer Mourinho is. I'm still disappointed that Ajax didn't put him under the knife in the Europa League finals last season.

With just a bit of different tactics or just two changes in the line-up they should have been beaten.

As Tete should have been in the line-up for sure you could have easily come with a winning team for that game by benching Joël Veltman and Amin Younes.

[Ayman]

I watched a little of ManU the other day and it made me realize how bad a trainer Mourinho is. I'm still disappointed that Ajax didn't put him under the knife in the Europa League finals last season.

With just a bit of different tactics or just two changes in the line-up they should have been beaten.

As Tete should have been in the line-up for sure you could have easily come with a winning team for that game by benching Joël Veltman and Amin Younes.

You can thank the wonderful Pete Bosz for that.

[Cruijff]

You can thank the wonderful Pete Bosz for that.

Yup.
By some Peter Bosz has been made to some sort of football professor, but he made several tactical mistakes.

He was lucky with an easy draw in the KNVB Beker and then trying another formation at a home game against Willem II. Would he have drawed for example FC Twente of Feyenoord, he did not dare to experimentate and it could have happened that the Ajax fans were forced to continue watching guys like Gudelj as a regular starter in the line-up.


A Dutch tv interviewer went to Dortmund a couple months ago with some questions. About Ajax, about Dortmund. Then he got the question "how about the 5-seconds-rule over here?" Bosz gave quite an arrogant reaction:
"Haha, now in Dortmund I call it the 4-seconds-rule. Because I've got much better players over here."

After that interview Peter Bosz did not win even one game anymore in 11 matches with Dortmund.

[Orange14]

Here is a good column by Rory Smith of the New York Times about the big gap in talent within the English league and how the tactics end up being too defensive by the minnow teams: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/02/spor ... front&_r=0

[Cruijff]

Here is a good column by Rory Smith of the New York Times about the big gap in talent within the English league and how the tactics end up being too defensive by the minnow teams: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/02/spor ... front&_r=0

Jup, it is very true.
These are the sort of causes that if a country like England will continue on this basis teams like Iceland will not only kick your ass incidently but you will go down as losers in every 4-years and 2-years football cyclus.

[Ayman]

Ajax rank third out of all European football clubs in the list of most YouTube views in december.