Ajax is back, for now. It’s only the Europa League, but the famed Dutch club has a chance to win its first European title since it won the Champions League in 1995. (It finished second in 1996.)
Ajax reached the final despite losing the second leg of its semifinal series to Lyon, 3-1. The 4-1 win in Amsterdam was just enough of a cushion to send it into the final against ManchesterUnited.
What is remarkable about Ajax is its youth, similar to the 1995 team.
The goalscorer when Ajax beat AC Milan, 1-0, in 1995 was 18-year-old PatrickKluivert. Kluivert’s 18-year-old son, Justin, plays on the current Ajax
In 1995, Nwankwo Kanu and Clarence Seedorf were 19. A bunch of other players werein their early 20s.
Starters against Lyon on Thursday included 17-year-old Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt, 19-year Danish forward Kasper Dolberg, 20-year-old Colombiandefender Davinson Sanchez, 21-year-old Cameroonian keeper Andre Onana and 21-year-old Burkinabe forward Bertrand Traore.
Whether Ajax wins or loses May 24 inStockholm, the real test for the Amsterdam club will come over the summer when it tries to keep the team together. Over the last two decades, it has produced plenty of great players — LuisSuarez, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Wesley Sneijder, Christian Eriksen — but it has been unable to keep them in the Bosman era that began after the 1995 title.
Anotherconnection to the 1995 team is keeper Edwin Van der Sar, now a front-office executive at the club.
“We want to make Ajax more financially more stable and are looking to close thegap on the European front,” he told Reuters in a telephone interview. “We are not reaching the 600-700 million[euro] budget that the top clubs in Europe are making mainly through sponsoring, TV revenue in their country and revenues from the Champions League. We want to do it differently, by focusing onquality and maintaining the best players.”
Easier said than done.
Ajax cannot be financially stable unless they sell the players like cattle it’s the only viable source of income. With the money earned from Europa and the sale of your cattles you can purchase already established players for less like what MLS does. This game has been played out before many times.
TD, Ajax is financially is no financially sound due to the Cruyff ‘revolution’ that began a few years ago. The knock on Ajax was that they can never compete anymore in European Cup level because of that. Well they are wrong and the prove is in the putting. Cruyff’s revolution is to develop the youth like they did in the old days according to the Cruyff recipe. Watch the new upcoming star “Kluivert’. Yes ,they will sell a couple of players to make money but the youth system is alive again.
TD,I meant Ajax is financially sound. I don’t know about this”auto-spell’ check. I got a few choice words for this guy who invented it….
Understood– do you honestly think that a club like Ajax can become big with only young players ? Or they will only have a Cinderella story and go so far but never get to the trophy ? Or do they have to pump growth hormones and other muscles aminos into more young Messis and Ronaldos to make it work ? There has never been a young modern day team to win any of the European trophies and Ajax will not be the first by beating Manchester United..
TD. No, Ajax never became big with young players but they have always had a good mixture between young and old. But Ajax also has never become big buying big,major players for they don’t have the money and the tax structure there takes a big chunk. Ajax is following Cruyff’s suggestions and it is paying off.
Frank, Cruyff was one of the best that ever did it but he was no financial analyst. Yes you can develop kids but how does Ajax get to the level of Barcelona and Manchester United ? The name Ajax is just as synonymous with teams like Barcelona and Manchester United but Ajax has taken a different direction when it comes to building and expanding its name brand. Taxes are roughly the same across the Euro from 45% to 54% so not sure that’s coming into play.. to me it’s all about getting the big trophies like the Champions League continuously or at least being competitive and that comes with a big €€€ cost. The formula is simple get some franchise players, grow the young talent, sell the young talent and buy more talent.. nothing else will work.
Td, have you noticed Barcelona’s and Man Utd decline and have you noticed also how much fewer home grown players Man Utd and Barcelona now have on the field. Ajax hasn’t done much since ’95. It has been going downhill as far as producing talent that is why Cruyff took over. Ajax will never be like Barcelona or Man Utd, for the very fact they are also a small country of 16million so therefore they can never with the salaries players receive of bigger countries. Cruyff might not be a financial analyst but he has Brought Ajax back on financial footing.With all that money earned what has Barcelona really bought besides Neymar. Cruyff wasn’t happy with the direction of Barcelona and look what is happening to Man Utd. I don’t even bother watching ManUtd games and I haven’t even taped a Barcelona for 2years now for I think they are awful, and I have just about every Barcelona game since 2004I don’t really about Championship trophies but good soccer of which I think very few teams in the world play….
I was hoping somewhere we can get the Leicester of the European Champions League. The thing about Barcelona and Manchester is they can go out and buy the best players when the team is bad but other teams are subjected to losing their good players reapidly. Juventus has shown what the power of money can do even when they are sent to a 2nd division team and lose all their good players except 5.
TD, that is true, it is easy if you have the money. That is why a club that never had money had to develop their own talent, but they did it also in a smart way for they set the standard in how soccer should be played of which Barcelona, Bayern, Spanish National team followed the Ajax trent of thinking. That is why Barcelona likewise set up a good youth system following what Ajax has done. Money talks but lets face it, but look at how much Manchester United has spend on players in the past 3 seasons but the soccer they play is unwatchable for my standards and it doesn’t even look like Man Utd ball. Look at Barcelona and see what they bought , two french defenders who I think are worthless. No Neymar is the only good buy ,but that kind of buy didn’t take any brains. It is good to have money but you have to know how to buy. Check out ESPN 3, and watch Ajax-Schalke that played a couple of weeks ago, also watch Ajax-Lyon . This Ajax team is the youngest team average age 22. Then look at the Schalke and Lyon squad who look like real out there….
It’s like the top teams have a strangle hold on the competitions and UEFA rules encourages it. Its good to see an even playing ground instead of the same teams winning over and over again. It gets boring after a while.
yup. It seems like Barca is losing it shine. I suppose Juventus could win the CL. It has been a strange year.
TIP #5. WHEN YOU PLAY AGAINST A FAST COUNTERATTACKING TEAM, THEN MAKE SURE WHEN TAKING A CORNER, THE CROSS SHOULD BE AN ‘OUTSWINGER” NOT AN “INSWINGER”. THE REASON IS THAT AN “INSWINGER” FORCES THE ATTACKERS TO COMMIT FURTHER FORWARDS IN TO THE GOAL AND THEREBY PLACING THE ATTACKERS IN AN OFF-BALANCE POSITION AND MAKING IT EASIER FOR THE DEFENDING TEAM TO RUSH BY THE ATTACKERS ON ATTACK. WITH AN ‘OUTSWINGER” ,THE BALL COMES OUT TO MEET THE ATTACKERS WHO ARE FIRMLY PLANTED IN THEIR STANCE TO HEAD THE BALL.