❌❌❌Rebuilding AJAX❌❌❌

Two tough losses there. Losing to PSV after changing to a back 5. Fans could be furious about this. The other one, I get why the manager calls for patience and to judge the club from its current situation and all that. But it still sounds a bit off to talk Ajax down and talk about a potential draw with Twente to be a good result.

But on the other hand, perhaps it's not far from my own career with Brøndby, also talking my own club down a bit, even though they should be on top considering the club size, history, fanbase and all that...

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@JustinCase0110 wrote:

When building something great and solid, a good start is always to become difficult to play and score against. So 0-0 vs Feyenoord is - as you also put it - a massive improvement. 

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I echo this. Irl some fans find them boring, but sometimes when your for example away at a better team coming away with a clean sheet is great, scoring is a bonus 

Unfortunate to see the 4-1 defeat against PSV tho. May be an expectation these days, but not by that kind of scoreline. 

Quite low down the table, but has been some tough fixtures in there. Only 5 games in so time to kick start the season form

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@Danimal5981 wrote:

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Ajax IRL gave the answer. Brobbey is the number one striker. Weghorst and Akpom enter together, with Weghorst as target man and Akpom as the mobile striker around him. But this article reflects very much the state of the real Ajax: we miss some dynamics around our striker. Apart from Gaaei nobody can cross well, apart from Klaassen nobody can link up forward play, we essentially play without wingers and the club hasn't got much money...

So @JustinCase0110 and @thurlow885 - yes, the current state of affairs at Ajax is that we need to fight for European tickets, but only that because a league title is a bridge too far.

Even though the transfer market was already closed, Ajax have managed to sign Davy Klaassen. The midfielder was without a club after his one year contract at Italian side Internazionale ran out. It is the third time Klaassen begins a stint at his home club. After his debut at Ajax in November 2011 it took Klaassen 42 seconds to score his maiden goal against NEC. Klaassen remained at Ajax until the end of the 2016-17 season, after Ajax lost the UEFA Europa League final to Jose Mourinho's Manchester United.

He then spent a year at Everton, then two seasons at Werder Bremen. In October 2020 which was the belated beginning of the new 2020-21 season due to the COVID pandemic, he returned to Ajax for four seasons. He spent three of those mostly as a rotation player, before moving last summer on a one year deal to Internazionale. With Klaassen joining the ranks, Ajax are complete and the definitive kit numbers are known:

1. -
2. Devyne Rensch (NED 21, RB/CB/LB)
3. Anton Gaaei (DEN 21, RWB/RM)
4. Jorrel Hato (NED 18, CB/LB/DM)
5. Owen Wijndal (NED 24, LWB/LM)
6. Jordan Henderson (ENG 34, DM/CM)
7. -
8. Kenneth Taylor (NED 22, CM/CAM)
9. Brian Brobbey (NED 22, ST)
10. Chuba Akpom (ENG/NGA 28, CA/ST)
11. Mika Godts (BEL 19, LW/CAM)
12. Jay Gorter (NED 24, GK)
13. Ahmetcan Kaplan (TUR 21, CB)
14. eternally reserved for Johan Cruijff
15. Youri Baas (NED 21, LB/CB)
16. Sivert Mannsverk (NOR 22, DM/CM)
17. -
18. Davy Klaassen (NED 31, CM/CAM)
19. Julian Rijkhoff (NED 19, ST)
20. Bertrand Traoré (BFA 29, RW)
21. Branco van den Boomen (NED 29, CM)
22. Remko Pasveer (NED 40, GK)
23. Steven Berghuis (NED 32, RW/CAM)
24. Daniel Rugani (ITA 30, CB)
25. Wout Weghorst (NED 32, ST)
26. -
27. Amourricho van Axel Dongen (NED 19, LW)
28. Kian Fitz-Jim (NED 21, CM)
29. Christian Rasmussen (DEN 21, RW)
30. Gastón Ávila (ARG 23, CB/LB)
31. -
32. -
33. Benjamin Tahirovic (BiH 21, DM)
34. eternally reserved for Abdelhak Nouri
35. -
36. Dies Janse (NED 18, CB/LB)
37. Josip Sutalo (HRV 24, CB)
38. Kristian Hlynsson (ICL 20, CAM/RW)
39. -
40. Diant Ramaj (KOS 23, GK)

I like that you  are struggling with results, makes the career much more realistic to follow. Fans will need to learn patience and hopefully this is the manager that will bring the Ajax way back. The transfers are a good step, bringing back players who have the Ajax DNA. 

On a personal note, I was sad to see Bergwijn leave. I thought he was a good player but making a move for the money made sense and is pretty common now.

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@LABoog4 wrote:

On a personal note, I was sad to see Bergwijn leave. I thought he was a good player but making a move for the money made sense and is pretty common now.

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It's not so much that Stevie wanted to leave, it's that Ajax really needed the money: Ajax are so far deep in financial trouble that for every transfer only ca. 1/4 can be reinvested, not just transfer fees but most of all salaries. So, the €21,000,000,- transfer of Bergwijn frees up a bit over five million free to spend; roughly put, it creates the possibility to spend ca. € 4,000,000 on a player whom you then can offer ca. 20k p/week salary.

To put that in contrast: when buying Bergwijn (in 2022, €31m), Bassey (in 2022, €23m), Haller (in 2021, €22,5m), Sutalo (in 2023, €20,5m), or Neres (in 2017, €17,5m) and offer them salaries between 40k and 80k, while now having max. four million free on a player and being forced to downsize your salary structure to an average of 20k per player, then you understand what situation Ajax are currently in.

Of course, playing Champions League would make a huge difference in terms of budget, but therein lies the problem. If you don't qualify for Champions League once or twice, suddenly you're in a downward spiral.

It's actually a pretty tough draw, as I see it. Three of the last four are against teams that are currently better than Ajax. So you need to make the most of the first four games. If you fail to win these, or at least the majority of them, I predict things to be very difficult in the final four.

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@JustinCase0110 wrote:

It's actually a pretty tough draw, as I see it. Three of the last four are against teams that are currently better than Ajax. So you need to make the most of the first four games. If you fail to win these, or at least the majority of them, I predict things to be very difficult in the final four.

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Indeed, I'm hoping for good points on the board out of the first four games and later a result in Ireland. Fortunately for Ajax, we play Besiktas, Lazio and Spurs at home, so if we win one, or draw two of those, I'd see that as a class performance.

Good to get a late signing in. Looking at the squad we still a least have a good young selection of players which can help going forward and possibly financially if they prove their worth in sells. Hopefully Europa sorted before come up against Tottenham. Don't wanna be needing something from that game. whilst the first half of ties overall is easier best not get complacent either.

Matches 2.3.4 and 7 look like must wins. Like mentioned already, the back half will be difficult so hopefully you start strong. 

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@Danimal5981 wrote:

we play Besiktas, Lazio and Spurs at home, so if we win one, or draw two of those, I'd see that as a class performance.

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Indeed. Just saw that Lazio and Spurs are the bookmakers' top two favourites for the competition IRL. Unlucky to play them both, I suppose.

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@LABoog4 wrote:
We shouldn’t talk about Spurs playing Ajax in Europe here. This is a safe space, no need to bring up bad memories…

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Indeed, that 2019 game still hurts - even more, now that they've finally cancelled the away goal rule. If only it was applicable back then, already....

2 wins from 2 and phenomenal result against GA Eagles. Will surely fill with confidence with upcoming hand against The Turkish side.

You have to love when a change in formation suddenly produces instant results. Especially, when you change the attack and then score 6 goals in a match. Hopefully the momentum goes into Thursday, a win will be huge for Europe.

It's typical, I always fiddle around with tactics in the beginning to see what works best and even though I want it to be a form of 4-3-3, in practice the tactics with an uneven number of defenders at the back (three or five) and a triangle up front (two strikers backed by a number 10) work best for me: so, in this system Henderson sinks in between the central defenders while the wing backs push up (which makes Gaaei more useful than Rensch). Up front, it's suddenly a luxury problem having three capable strikers and essentially five players who can play behind the strikers.

However, not playing 4-3-3 at Ajax is like putting pineapple on pizza for Italians <figure of speech>

Pineapple on pizza?! No need for foul language, my friend 😄 Surely you don't need to be Italian to recognize what an abomination that is.

However, you're right about a 4-3-1-2 formation being a strange look for an Ajax side. It's funny, cause it's pretty similar to what I've done myself in my last two games. First it was a half time switch to a 4-1-3-2, and after that a full 90 with a 4-1-2-1-2 narrow.

Whilst a formation with a front two may not reflect the typical Ajax formation, I suppose a 6-0 win in the Eredivisie does reflect a typical peak Ajax result.

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@JustinCase0110 wrote:

Whilst a formation with a front two may not reflect the typical Ajax formation, I suppose a 6-0 win in the Eredivisie does reflect a typical peak Ajax result.

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it would, if peak Ajax indeed would still be typical... Lately, things having been swinging at all. 

IRL Farioli has brought stability, just by sticking to a clear vision: that has stabilized our defence somewhat, but overall Ajax are still playing quite weak. And it reflects in the game too; I think against the more modest team I'll get my results but I still haven't played AZ and NEC - that would be a real indicator where we stand in the Eredivisie.

In Europe however, not a good start...

What would the fans do IRL if Ajax brought in a manager who was defensive and played 5-3-2 or something similar? Would it be an instant rejection or wait to see what results happen? 

For the career, bad start to Europe. A better side and it looked like a tight game but came up short.