This weekend

Ok, so its been a while since I've done any work on this page, mainly b/c I've been busy as hell now that the XM/Sirius merger is finally complete (hell yeah!). We do have an action packed weekend coming up. Friday is the the Ajax - Cardiff City friendly and then on Sunday Ajax has another friendly vs. Sunderland. I always love it when Ajax plays English sides, mainly because I think the English just love Ajax and love Dutch players and teams. Hopefully see a good showing from some/all of the new players.

New away shirt

My first impression? Looks like a training jersey to me. Very uninspired looking. Oh well.

Thoughts?

New blood

So, the new season is on the horizon and the Eredivisie is set to welcome back the 'Other Oranje' FC Volendam and our good friends ADO Den Haag. Jim and Menno from Ajax-USA have thankfully maintained the Eredivisie Teams section of their wonderful website, follow the links below to learn all you'd ever want to know about either of these two teams and their histories.

http://www.ajax-usa.com/teams/fc-volendam.html

http://www.ajax-usa.com/teams/ado-den-haag.html

Oleguer In

Ajax and Barcelona have agreed to a €3m transfer fee for the Catalan defender, he is traveling to Amsterdam and should sign in a day or two.

Barca raid?

Ok, so maybe I should have given Danny and Marco the benefit of the doubt when it came to the progress they had made this off season in signing a defender. The Algemeen Dagblad reported today that Danny Blind has traveled to Barcelona to hopefully complete the transfer of possibly two of the Spanish giants defenders to the ArenA. The main target seems to be Oleguer Presas i Renom ("Oleguer"), the 28 year old Catalan native, left wing political activist and fixture in Frank Rijkaard's starting eleven last year. Oleguer's anti-government, radical Catalan political moves have almost overshadowed his moves on the pitch at times, but the fact remains that this guy is a solid player and would be a HUGE boost to our back line.

Also on Blind's agenda may be an attempt get Henrique to come to Amsterdam on loan. Ajax had originally been in the race to sign the former Palmeiras defender, who eventually choose to move to Barca instead. Probably not a candidate for a starting position in next year's Barca team, most people think that being loaned out somewhere else would be best for his development at this point.

So, definitely good news on the transfer front, and with the signing of Aissati merely a formality at this point, it could be a very very good week for Ajax and our prospects for next season. Whats not so good? A 5-2 win over VV Noordwijk yesterday. Goals from Sarpong, Leonardo (thanks, now please leave), Luque (you are still here?), van der Heijden and Suarez.

AD link here:

http://www.sportwereld.nl/voetbal/clubdossiers/ajax/2462131/Weifelende_verdediging_bij_Ajax.html?pageNavType=all#reactie

A broader spectrum...

This blog has always been focused 100% on Ajax, the Eredivise, and Oranje. But there are so many other reasons to love the Netherlands. From time to time I may start throwing in random non-voetbal related posts about the Netherlands, and Amsterdam in particular, because my love affair with Ajax doesn't only exist within the confines of the ArenA. My experiences there have made Holland feel like a home away from home, and I think I'd enjoy writing a post here and there about some of my favorite things that make Holland what it is.
Tot ziens...

Deal struck for Aissati?

Reports are coming out this morning that Ajax and PSV have actually agreed to terms on the transfer of 19 year old midfielder Ismail Aissati. I know rumours were flying around about this transfer but I really never though this would actually happen. Transfers between the big 3 in Holland have been few and far between recently (besides Perez), especially when it comes to young up and coming talents like Aissati. As exciting of a prospect as this deal may be, its getting very close to the start of the season and Marco STILL has not brought in any help for the back line and anyone that says that Aissati will be a defensive midfielder is on crack. So will this year's Ajax end up being a carbon copy of the Euro 08 Oranje squad? A beautiful attack with a questionable back line? That's a scary thought. To make things worse, it looks like Henrique, the one defender that van Basten seems to be showing a lot of interest in is very close to signing a large deal with Barca, who may then loan him out to Bayer Leverkusen.

Great Video

Wow, this is a really cool video on Dutch forwards, old and new. Check it out, but skip the first 30 seconds...

http://www.blinkx.com/video/the-power-of-dutch-forwards/qk_dDAXFtglkEipft7rQaw

Ajax sign Sulejmani

Ajax and Heerenveen have finally agreed to terms for the transfer of Miralem Sulejmani, Marco Van Basten's main transfer target this off season. After months of rumors and typical back and forth maneuvering between the two clubs, an Eredivisie record fee of 16.25 million euros has finally been agreed on to bring the 19 year old Serb striker to the ArenA for four years. This will once again add fuel to the constant talk of KJH leaving the club, but regardless of Klaas' future, this is a very exciting signing for Ajax. Sulejmani is one tough little SOB, and he'll bring a sort of Edgar Davids-esque bulldog mentality to the forward position that Ajax has not seen in a long time. This signing may be the end of any Ajax interest in Russian striker/Russian Premier League top scorer/Oranje killer Roman Pavlyuchenko, which has been rumored recently. So its looking like we will be pretty solid up front next year, now how about that back line Marco?

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=763880

http://www.ajax.nl/web/show/id=154417/contentid=66811

Wouldn't one of these look better?

What the hell were they thinking?

Well...at least the wait is over

So the new home jerseys are out today, and I gotta say I'm a bit disappointed. I didn't realize how much I'd miss the ABN-AMRO logo, this new Aegon lettering just looks really odd to me. And the patch just looks so out of place doesn't it? I dunno, hopefully I'll get used to it eventually but my first impression is YUK! At least there is no collar or V-neck, both of which I can't stand. Adidas will unveil the away shirt on July 25th.