Front Office Moves

As the quiet off-season continues for Ajax, one of the more potentially eventful happenings are taking place. Five new board of directors are taking over Ajax in an attempt to once again regain their lofty place in European Football. This stems from previous conflicts within the board and Ajax's most famous Alum Johann Cruyff, on how the legendary club should be run.

From the style of play, to how to bring up young Ajax academy players to the first team, Cruyff in previous times has lost these types of battles with the previous leadership of the board. From the issues of having attacking football ally Louis Van Gaal, the coach who led Ajax to their last titles in Europe, The UEFA Cup in 1992 and the UEFA Champions League Title in 1995— forced out as technical director in favor of Then coach Ronald Koeman in 2005 as they clashed in ideas about the Ajax 'Style'. Also losing out in a similar battle with then coach and former protege Marco Van Basten over the same thing when Basten was coach in 2008. It seems like now Cruyff has gained the upper hand as Ajax's attempts to get pragmatic may have worked for the short term but hasn't gotten them very far.

"The planned AFC Ajax member council meeting took place on Monday evening (June 7, 2011) in the Amsterdam ArenA,'' read a club statement.

"During the meeting, the member council agreed with the nomination committee's proposal to place five candidates on the list for appointment for the board of AFC Ajax NV.

"The recommended candidate commissioners are Steven ten Have (probable chairman), Paul Romer, Marjan Olfers, Edgar Davids and Johan Cruyff. These last three enjoy the special trust of the AFC Ajax association.''

Edgar Davids, an integral part of that 1995 Champions League winning team also stands out here as one of the key players of the last era of Ajax's European dominance.

The accepting of the new board members by shareholders should be a formality at a general meeting in August.

New Blood

As you may have noticed, we have a new writer here at AIA, Mr. Joe Bailey. Joe has been a loyal reader pretty much since this blog was created and I am very excited to have him around to help out.

I have to share my excitement in the Janssen signing, his bulldog mentality is definitely something that Ajax has been lacking ever since Edgar Davids finished his second stint at the club. And I literally had to look away every time he took a free kick during that last match of the season.

Here a few additional photos I took during the DC United friendly. Damn it my camera sucks.

Theo Janssen Signs for Ajax

The 29 year old 2010/2011 Dutch Footballer of the year has signed with Ajax. Born in Arnhem in 1981, Theo Janssen became a stalwart with FC Twente for three years- scoring 20 goals in all competitions this past season and winning the Eredivisie title in 2010.

He's a tough, combative central midfielder who can score goals. Something that Ajax feels they need. I'm sure players like Anita & De Jong would welcome his addition. For Ajax fans like me who get tired of seeing my team get pushed around (for the most part) in the Champions League, Theo is a welcome addition. I'm glad that he wanted to be with Ajax, although having watched the Championship game between Ajax & Twente— I would've never known it.

Theo's skill and toughness brings some other talented midfielders to mind: Hatem Trabelsi, Edgar Davids, Richard Witschge & others. It will be interesting to see how the Ajax midfield will measure up against the big teams of Europe in the coming season.