16 Aug 2009: PSV - Ajax

[Orange14]

There was an article in english last season that said at youth level they scout no more than 40 miles from Amsterdam and I am beginning to realise that for first team players they never go further than 40 miles from the Arena!!

Why can't we do the same as Arsenal...a team we criticise greatly for the way that they take teenage kids, and families, from all over Europe and Africa, and them bring them up in "their new" country. Doing this allows them to get the best kids....if we only look 40 miles from the Arena, the kids could bike there every day!!!

The day we begin to deal in child trafficking in the manner of Arsenal is the day I sever ties with this club once and for all. What Arsenal do with all the under 18s they bring in verges on the criminal and I think this is one thing that Platini wants to end. For everyone that makes the first team at Aresenal there are about five who have had the false promise of football riches spoiled and don't know what to do with their lives afterwards.

You can tell that I am passionate about this issue. BTW, not sure I believe the 40 mile rule otherwise we would never have had Vemaelen, Vertonghen or Alderweireld.

[Philippe]

Let's not get carried away : it's only the third game of the season. The rebuilding process is only beginning.

[SPL]

Hi Orange .
I agree with you completely about kids at Arsenal and still believe allowing 15 year olds to move abroad is a crime.To move abroad under 18 should be outlawed.
The article did say we seldom go more than 40 /50 miles for the youth but the Belgiums you mention were from our then feeder team Germinal Beerschot Antwerp.That source has now finished .I am still proud that we have all local lads in our youth set up but I made my point to say that I do not think at senior level we should stick to 50 miles as all we seem to do is go up North to Groningen and Heerenveen.

At senior level our scouts should be looking in the Balkans and S.America. We should be spotting the likes of Sulejmani and Suarez and signing them cheaply and not once they have had a couple of years with other Dutch teams and then pay a fortune.

[Snyde]

I have just one question: What were the proposals of Cruyff?

From what I've learnt and read about the suggestions he makes to our Board and the initiatives he has recommended in scouting, setting up academies and changes in the youth system he has been nothing short of brilliant. I understand that there are tremendous differences between the capabilities of Ajax and Barca but I can't see him being poor in this regard. Either way I'm glad he devotes his time with us. You have no idea what you're missing out on.

Everyone in Ajax needs a reality check. That you still have aims about CL is laughable.

[bluedaddy19]

Hi Orange .
I agree with you completely about kids at Arsenal and still believe allowing 15 year olds to move abroad is a crime.To move abroad under 18 should be outlawed.
The article did say we seldom go more than 40 /50 miles for the youth but the Belgiums you mention were from our then feeder team Germinal Beerschot Antwerp.That source has now finished .I am still proud that we have all local lads in our youth set up but I made my point to say that I do not think at senior level we should stick to 50 miles as all we seem to do is go up North to Groningen and Heerenveen.

At senior level our scouts should be looking in the Balkans and S.America. We should be spotting the likes of Sulejmani and Suarez and signing them cheaply and not once they have had a couple of years with other Dutch teams and then pay a fortune.

i definitely agree on suarez, who was always going to be a monster, anyone could see that from his youth uruguay NT work

but lets remember that ours is a delicate balance of producing near homegrown players and buying really special young foreigners like chivu and zlatan in a team that is usually quite young overall - we also used to scout africa fairly well, but until enoh this waned for a while

the fact is, we need to really do well plucking the odd special player out of places a touch off the beaten path like the USA, mexico, uruguay, czech rep., serbia and russia, all of whom play youth intl. styles that would blend in well here

they arent bad scouts, theyve just been a bit lazy and/or overruled by wrongheaded managers too many times

now is exactly the time to strike on players like elm and suchy before everyone is at the door, we need to get back to our roots and stop looking to veterans pick-ups that aren't AN ALWAYS SOLID CENTER BACK!!!!

ah yes, another winning ajax tradition, the hard-nosed foreign center back that allows us to run wild in attack...

[Orange14]

Didn't want to waste space quoting, but I pretty much agree with what BlueDaddy says. Regarding a good young center back, we have one right here on DC United. Dejan Jakovic is Canadian and plays the center defender in our 3-5-2 (which he is left hung out to dry often enough as we really need a 4 man back). He was signed with Red Star Belgrade for a time but a coaching change left him on the bench. He's a solid defender and would fit in at Ajax. Been getting starts on the Canadian NT. Stands 1.88 meters. We have a history of developing good talent here and have moved a number of players over to Europe. One of our defenders Ryan Nelsen starts in the English Premier League. There you have it; a good choice for Ajax to shore up its defense and I won't even charge a scouting fee!!!

[rjf1]

Let's not get carried away : it's only the third game of the season. The rebuilding process is only beginning.

What rebuilding process? Nothing got rebuilt. The defects from last season are still the defects of this season. If I could see a glimmer of a rebuilding process I would be willing to be patient and let time do its work. That's what I was hoping to see this year -- all through the summer and down to today there wasn't even the start of a rebuilding process.

[aveslacker]

I'm not angry anymore, because this has been going on for years. It's so predictable.

Exactly how I feel. In fact, it's almost comical watching the team keep trying to ram down the same proverbial brick wall.

As they say, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results.

[Philippe]

Although our defense looked terrible, we were very close to a win (crossbar ’68 and penalty on Suarez ’72) . So there are reasons to be optimistic.

[aveslacker]

Although our defense looked terrible, we were very close to a win (crossbar ’68 and penalty on Suarez ’72) . So there are reasons to be optimistic.

Good point. We need to improve a ton, almost exclusively on the defensive end, in order to make a run at the eredivisie.

I just wonder if we will.

[gordonvandekamp]

Although our defense looked terrible, we were very close to a win (crossbar ’68 and penalty on Suarez ’72) . So there are reasons to be optimistic.

I agree somewhat, and also with not getting ahead of ourselves, it is only 3 weeks into the league.

However, it is worrying (although what a lot of us expected), that nothing has really been done to improve the squad. A few different players in different positions, but the squad as a whole still seems to have the same gaping problems as the last few years.

We've never had a problem scoring goals, and I don't think we will. It's conceding cheap ones that could have been prevented that is losing us games and the league year after year. I think this game was a good example of that.

We could have won, but it we didn't give up 4 goals (3 of them pretty cheap and should have been stopped), we wouldn't be wondering about what if and what could have happened. We should have won this one 1-3.

I had some hopes going into the season, but I don't think there is any way we will win the league this year with Wielaert and Alderweireld at the center of defense. They continually get turned by attackers and can't clear a cross most of the time if they are even back and in position. We'll still score the most goals in the league this year, we'll just end up conceding more than about 4 other teams and that will be it again for another year.

You'd just think by now someone who is in a position to do something at the club would realize this and do it, but I guess that is expecting too much. I think this game was a good example of what's wrong with the club and what needs to get fixed. Unfortunately, it's too late for this year.

[aveslacker]

Unfortunately, it's too late for this year.

Now that's hyperbole. We are only three games in after all.

[gordonvandekamp]

Unfortunately, it's too late for this year.

Now that's hyperbole. We are only three games in after all.

Maybe a bit of hyperbole, out of frustration that I see the same problems we've had the last 3 years at least and nothing, again, has been done to address them. PSV was the first real test of the year for this squad, and they exploited our weaknesses pretty bad. Unless we sign a real quality defender who can step right in and make a difference, it is too late. We spent another summer not fixing the problems and not seemingly preparing for the season. It's been the same for the last few seasons, what makes you think it's going to change this season?

I think our defense may actually be worse this season and concede more goals with Vermaelen gone. That could change with a good defender, but I don't see that signing coming as it hasn't happened yet.

We've scored the most goals in the league the last 3 seasons, but we haven't won the league. The best we've done in those 3 years, is concede the 3rd fewest goals in the league, and that was three years ago. The last two years, we gave up the 6th and 5th fewest in the league.

I honestly don't know how we expect to win the league if we give up more goals than clubs like Groningen, NEC, and NAC. It isn't going to matter how many we score when that's the case.

Yeah I know we're only 3 games in, but is there anything that's happened this season that makes you think it's going to end differently than the last 3?

[aveslacker]

You raise valid points and I agree with most (if not all) of them. But writing off the entire season after three games is not a wise move, imo. Look at where AZ was last year at this stage.

There's still plenty of time to fix these problems. Of course, there's also no guarantee that they'll be fixed.

[Philippe]

Trainer Martin Jol werd tegen PSV in zijn mening gesterkt dat de Amsterdammers dringend behoefte hebben aan een spits en centrale verdediger.

The Philips game has confirmed Jol in his opinion : we need a striker and a central defender.
100 % agree.

[acab]

All of us can tell the same thing since Huntelaar was sold. Why just now? I hope is not too late

[Cedric]

Why just now?

Because the media report it now... (again? I mean, it's not new)