Ajacied in America

As it Goes...

2011-09-25T13:09:00.000-07:00

Ajax is currently third in the Eredivisie after tying VVV Venlo and then Hammering Vitesse, Ajax met Heracles on September 10 and won 3-2. Then they took on PSV and as of late FC Twente 2-2 and 1-1 respectively (photo Ajax.nl). I'll be getting back on track with more in-depth updates soon!

First Game First Win

2011-08-08T14:55:00.000-07:00

The first full season of the Frank De Boer Era has started with a bang. Ajax picked up a nice away victory over De Graafschap. The one-time unwanted Miralem Sulejmani scored a brace in the 22nd & 62nd minutes and Derk Boerrighter & Theo Janssen also got themselves on the scoresheet in the 31st & 65th minutes respectively.

Very exciting article....

2011-07-08T06:24:00.001-07:00

The front page of the ESPN US Soccer web page today reads, "This is Ajax Country". Huh? Read the article, its incredibly inspiring and exciting stuff.

The possible affiliation with my hometown DC United would be a dream come true. The Ajax model for development is just what this country needs to start getting kids to keep playing soccer through their teen age years when they really can start to develop. It would be tremendously beneficial for both sides, for Ajax to gain a larger following in this country would give it a leg up on all but the biggest clubs in the world. And hey, maybe people would start to recognize my Ajax jersey every once in a while! And of course, there would be this...."Its like ay-yax, not a-jax like the bathroom cleaner".

Front Office Moves

2011-06-19T10:17:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-09T18:36:00.001-07:00

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

2011-06-06T14:01:00.000-07:00

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.

A few pics...

2011-05-23T20:32:00.000-07:00

Ok, so the lesson for the day is that I need a nicer camera, but here are a few of the pics that I snapped at the DC United v Ajax match. Overall it was a decent match, a decent crowd, and very cool to see the boys at RFK. I'll post more later and hopefully have time to write up a bit more.

Help Wanted

2011-05-18T13:54:00.001-07:00

The upcoming DC United friendly and the Eredivisie championship has really invigorated my love for Ajax over the past month or so. I'd like to revive this blog, but know that these days I will unfortnuately not have the time needed to be the only writer here. I'm looking for someone that might want to help out. Obviously this summer will have some down time, but i'd love to have someone write a few posts about transfers, friendlies or anything else going on in the Ajax universe. I know i had at least a few loyal readers when this thing was chugging along at full steam, hopfully I havent lost all of you in my 2 year hiatus....please let me know if you want to take a crack at this blogging thing!

2011-05-16T10:58:00.000-07:00

IN CASE YOU HAVENT SEEN THIS YET....HAHAHA STEKS!!

AJAX IS COMING!!! AJAX IS COMING!!!

2011-04-13T10:05:00.000-07:00

Wow, its hard to start writing again after taking such a long break from this blog....what can I say, shit happens. Life happens, babies happen...priorities change. Maybe this is just what I need to get start writing again, my beloved Ajax is coming to play my hometown DC United next month at RFK Stadium. I'm hoping to get some great seats and take some photos, which i will of course post here. Hopefully the game will get a great turnout, I have seen United play Chelsea and AC Milan in the past at RFK, and both matches were very well attended. More later...

2009-05-15T11:32:00.000-07:00

Man...i haven't made a post here in a long time. Why not? A few reasons...mostly lack of time, a slowly decreasing level of interest in this past season and a lack of desire to just bitch and moan in my posts about how fed up I was/am with the sorry state of Ajax football. And no, there is no correlation between my lack of posts and a similar situation going on with Matt on the Offside blog...me thinks he may have a more reasonable excuse than I do.

Congrats to AZ, they played fantastic (but boring) football all season. Hopefully they will represent the Eredivisie well next year in the Champions League along with Twente.

Fiorentia v Ajax Here

2009-02-19T11:36:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the crappy feed...its all I could find working.

Interesting video

2009-02-11T08:05:00.001-08:00

Here's an up close view of the 'pitch invasion' of Ajax supporters during a recent training session. I can't make out much of what they are saying b/c my Dutch sucks, maybe someone else can? I give Marco credit for at least spending the time to talk to these guys, who do seem rather belligerent and drunk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEJnB3a6WlA&NR=1

Ajax relegated to Big Apple Youth Soccer League

2009-02-09T07:41:00.000-08:00

A string of terrible results has forced Eredivise officials to relegate Ajax Amsterdam to one of the lower divisions of girls soccer in Burlington, Vermont. Ajax will play their first match on Sunday vs. current 3rd place side "Its a girl thang!". Said Marco van Basten, "The boys better come to play this weekend, they think they had a tough game in Arnhem...wait till they have to deal with those soccer mom supporters. I just hope we can match their intensity level".

In other news, Ryan Babel has officially been labeled the biggest disappointment in Liverpool history.

Van der Wiel gets Oranje call up

2009-02-06T08:18:00.000-08:00

Gregory Van der Wiel has been called up to the Oranje squad that is set to face Tunisia in a friendly match this coming Wednesday. Its a well deserved recognition for crafty 21 year old defender. The only other Ajacied in Bert van Marwijk's squad is Steks in goal. The full line-up is below:

Goalkeepers: Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax Amsterdam), Henk Timmer (Feyenoord)

Defenders: John Heitinga (Atletico Madrid), Joris Mathijsen (SV Hamburg), Dirk Marcellis (PSV Eindhoven), Andre Ooijer (Blackburn Rovers), Edson Braafheid (Twente Enschede), Gregory van der Wiel (Ajax Amsterdam)

Midfielders: Ibrahim Afellay (PSV Eindhoven), Mark van Bommel (Bayern Munich), Nigel de Jong (Manchester City), Rafael van der Vaart (Real Madrid), Demy de Zeeuw (AZ Alkmaar), Wesley Sneijder (Real Madrid), Stijn Schaars (AZ Alkmaar), David Mendes da Silva (AZ Alkmaar)

Forwards: Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool), Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Ryan Babel (Liverpool), Klaas Jan Huntelaar (Real Madrid), Arjen Robben (Real Madrid)

>>Update: Did anyone see Ryan Babel miss the absolute sitter of sitters this weekend vs. Portsmouth? OH MY GOD RYAN!!!

New Ernst Bouwes column

2009-02-06T06:54:00.000-08:00

For all you Ernst fans out there...here is his most recent Eredivisie article.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=615883&sec=europe&root=europe&cc=5901

Title hopes are toast

2009-02-04T06:02:00.000-08:00

Wow, what the hell has happened to Ajax? The loss in Groningen was understandable. The loss at home to Heerenveen not so understandable. Dropping points at home to Heracles is unforgivable. Yesterday's 2-2 draw looks like it will the the final nail in the coffin for Ajax's Landskampioenen hopes. Just when we all thought things were coming together for the boys with 5 straight wins and 19 goals scored, things have completely gone to shit. Ajax has pretty much handed the title to AZ, and now they are in a dogfight just to hold on to the 2nd Champions League spot. Twente plays at home to NAC this weekend, and will be in 2nd place with a win.

I have no idea what to say at this point. They could build monuments to this team's inconsistency. Before the winter break Ajax was in top form...Cvitanich was looking like an UPGRADE from KJH rather than just a replacement, and the signing of Rob Wielaert surely made Ajax's defence nearly impenetrable. Now? Ajax has to come from behind at home to secure one point against perennial whipping boy Heracles. Van Basten has to be frustrated, he just can't seem to get any team to play well and stay focused for more than 3 or 4 games at a time (Euro '08 anyone?). Is this a coaches fault? Damn right it is. There's absolutely no way you can chalk this kind of performance up to a great coaching job on the Heracles sideline or a great performance by that crappy team. Ajax just blew it. And they are about to blow their chance at Champions League football next year. Oh, and Fiorentina is going to murder us.

Ajax frustrated in Groningen

2009-01-26T07:03:00.000-08:00

OK, first of all let me apologize for not writing anything recently. Living in DC during the Obama inauguration, and a period of freezing temperatures combined with general laziness and an awful internet connection has proved to be too much for me to write anything. I've been a bad Ajax fan and I admit it, I haven't seen a match in a long time, mostly b/c of said internet problems, but still inexcusable!

So Sunday's match was not a great one apparently. The red card party continued, even van Basten was sent off. I always like to see coaches getting fired up though. Ajax now sit 6 points behind AZ with a tough match at Heerenveen coming up on Saturday. AZ is stronger than a lot of people (including myself) expected them to be. After starting off the season with two questionable losses (3-0 to ADO?!?) , Louis van Gaal's boys stormed to the top of the standings and have not been beaten since. As nice as it is to see the wide open Eredivisie standings this year with PSV a full 15 points off the pace, everybody expected to see Ajax fill the void and play the way that AZ is playing right now. Saturday's match is a must-win, with AZ playing 13th place Sparta, an Ajax loss will most likely mean falling 9 points off the pace, which might as well be Mt. Everest at this point of the season. Not to mention a damn good team from Enschede that sits just one point back of Ajax!

Ajax sign Wielaert

2009-01-13T10:56:00.001-08:00

Ajax and FC Twente have agreed to terms on the transfer of 30 year old Tukkers captain Rob Wielaert to the ArenA until at least June 2011. This is a great signing that will add even more stability and depth to a back line that has only given up 1 goal in the last 4 Eredivise matches and just now seems to be playing well. To me this exemplifies how Danny Blind is becoming one of the better talent managers in the Eredivisie. Blind has managed to pull together one hell of a lineup with enough depth at almost every level to overcome a myriad of injuries this year and stay near the top of the Eredivisie.
Its back to the Eredivisie grind for the boys this weekend after a few days in Portugal that included a 3-2 friendly loss to Stuttgart (that, according to more than one Ajax player would have been a win if not for numerous off-sides calls). Ajax gets the 2nd half of this years campaign kicked off in Nijmegen on Sunday...hopefully Wielaert's first match in an Ajax uniform?

Kanu rumour alive again?

2009-01-05T12:20:00.000-08:00

Ok..ok..not the most credible source, but my news ticker picked up this story from African news website This Day:

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=132285

The "Kanu returning to his roots" transfer rumour has been floating around for years now, and never seems to get very far, but I did actually see this posted on a few other news sites as well, so maybe there is some merit to it? Sounds like a pretty cool deal to me, a tall striker (6' 5" to be exact) is always helpful, something that Ajax is clearly lacking right now.

Side Note: I watched the Liverpool FA Cup match this weekend and Ryan Babel looked AWFUL...the guy has zero confidence. The announcers were even making fun of him. Ryan, its time to move on...

South American connection

2008-12-29T18:49:00.000-08:00

We may have found something here...it makes perfect sense...Suarez and Cvitanich...duh! On a day that Ajax said goodbye to its former #1 striker with fireworks and speeches, it was the two young South American stars that stole the show and created some fireworks of their own. The Argentinian and Uruguayan combined to score all 3 goals (all scored by Dario) Sunday at the Arena. What a day it was for Cvitanich, when the pressure of replacing a player like KJH must have felt stronger than ever. He showed the ArenA crowd that perhaps Danny Blind was right when he stated that Ajax already had KJH's replacement. Luis Suarez had a huge match as well, and showed that not only is he really great at flopping in the box and dribbling circles around people, he can also play the role of set up man, assisting on all 3 goals. Ajax are the hottest team in the Eredivise right now, which is great...hopefully the winter break won't slow down the momentum they have built up. The boys have 2 weeks off until they travel to Portugal for a friendly with Bundesliga #10 VfB Stuttgart. Stay focused guys.

Happy New Year!

Goal differential padded in Doetinchem

2008-12-23T10:02:00.000-08:00

Wow, 6-0.....I remember when scorelines like this used to be the norm rather than a once in a while occurrence. We all know how important the goal differential can be at the end of the season, and Sunday's win over De Graafschap definitely helped pad that crucial statistic. One match left before the 3 week winter break, Den Haag at home on Sunday. AZ plays at home to NEC, certainly not a automatic win for them, which means that Ajax could finish up the first half of the season tied for first place. PSV and Twente play each other this weekend, which means one or both of those two teams will fall further off the pace as well.

So whats the impression of van Basten's first half of the season? Not too bad in my opinion. He has managed to get most of the new players acclimated to playing with each other, and has manged to brush off the departure of the teams most visible and dominant player with little more than a shrug. Not only are the big off season transfer players starting to play well (Sulejmani, Cvitanich), but unheralded newcomers like Eyong Enoh and 'unwanted' players like Leonardo are playing well and have made major contributions at critical moments this season. And all of this has taken place while Ajax has gone through one of the most injury plagued seasons in a long time. Not everything has been perfect, (bad losses at Heerenveen, Tilburg, and Volendam...), but the team has always managed to bounce back pretty well from each loss. Hell, Ajax is even doing well in Europe, which is much more than I can say for our friends at PSV or Feyenoord. Speaking of Feyenoord, as much as like to watch them suffer, its scary to think how quickly and easily this all seems to be happening to them. I ALMOST feel bad for them, but not quite. Same goes for PSV, especially with their awful European performances. I always root for the Eredivise in Europe, and things are not looking good. Ajax, Twente and NEC need to continue to play well in the UEFA Cup, or pretty soon the Holland is going to start to fall behind smaller countries/leagues like the Portuguese Liga and Greek Super League in not only peoples minds but more importantly, the UEFA coefficient.

Well, I hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday, and I hope I get the away jersey I asked for this year :)

Cheers!

Its Fiorentina

2008-12-19T05:48:00.000-08:00

Ajax discovered their UEFA Cup fate today, they have been paired with Fiorentina, the current #5 in Seria A. A progression to the round of 16 would bring a matchup with the Marseille/Twente winner. I don't know a much of Fiorentina other than Adrian Mutu's brilliance, but I'll assume that they play typical Italian football...our forwards will have to play their hearts out to score any goals against them. Ajax has not fared well against Italian competition recently, hopefully they can reverse this trend. UEFA Cup play resumes on Feb 18-19.

NEC are through!

2008-12-18T13:37:00.000-08:00

You can't help but be a little bit happy for NEC Nijmegen, who beat Udinese 2-0 tonight and

made it throught to the knock-out stages of the UEFA Cup. The little team that has always been in Vitesse's shadow has made history...good for the Eredivisie and great for them!

Bring on the CL dropout...

2008-12-18T08:42:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, I did not get a chance to watch the NAC match on Sunday, but the result looked very impressive, even with NAC's recent struggles. I did get a chance to watch yesterday's final group stage match vs Slavia Prague, a rather meaningless game that Ajax managed to sleepwalk through and earn one point. A team that had yet to score a single goal in the group stages somehow managed to put 2 into Vermeer's nets by halftime, and only a very questionable injury time penalty (created by Suarez, shocker) saved a point for Ajax. I'm not sure why this team historically has given Ajax such a hard time, but I'm real glad this game did not carry more meaning for either team.
Not much to say about this game actually, Daley Blind made his European debut and played a good half of football, and Vurnon Anita played 90 minutes. That's about it. Ajax now waits for Friday's knockout stage draw where the will be paired with one of the following teams:

Werder Bremen, Aalborg, Girodins Bordeaux, Olympique Marseille, Shakhtar Donetsk, Fiorentina, Dynamo Kiev or Zenit St. Petersburg

All good teams, but certainly nothing to be extremely worried about, although I'm sure van Basten would prefer not to have to travel to Kiev or St. Petersburg.

Interesting news out of Liverpool...

2008-12-09T06:05:00.000-08:00

Well this would be a surprise. Soccernet reported this morning that Ryan Babel is so fed up with his lack of playing time at Liverpool that he has been trying to convince the Merseyside brass to send him BACK to the ArenA on loan to kick start his career. Of course I'm biased, but this sounds like a great idea for the kid, not to mention a great idea for Ajax! Who needs KJH?!? Of course Liverpool does not really want to lose a talent like Ryan, so this probably will never happen, but man would I love to see him play in Amsterdam again. What a great talent he is, and it sucks that he's rotting on the bench up in England. I'll be following this story closely...

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=600607&sec=england&cc=5901

Looks wierd doesn't it?

2008-12-04T14:19:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I'm finding it hard to look at this picture too. KJH was unveiled today at the Bernabeu, where he will try to put some life into the struggling title hopes of the Madrid team. I guess we should all be happy for him, right? He's a class act and deserves a chance to win at the highest level. Besides, it will be really cool to watch Madrid if Huntelaar shows up next to Sneijder, Robin and van der Vaart.

Whats next for Ajax? According to Danny Blind, not much. His comments on the matter? "We have already signed Klaas Jan's successor". Whats this, a new signing already? No, unfortunately Danny was just referring to Dario Cvitanich, a player that honestly has a lot of potential, but has yet to show much for all the hype. Think about it though...sure KJH is a special player and was by far the biggest offensive threat that Ajax has had for years, but how much of an impact has he really had recently? When the transfer rumors started flying around last year, Huntelaar just seemed to slip into a funk that he only partially came out of this season before injuring his ankle. Suarez has picked up a lot of slack, the previously "unwanted" Leonardo has scored goals at crucial moments this season and I can totally see Miralem Sulejmani returning to the form that attracted Ajax to him last year. I ain't sweatin it!

What a surprising win in Hamburg last week, tough to loose points at home to Utrecht though. Today's UEFA Cup results did see Ajax through to the knockout stages, taking a lot of pressure out of the last group stage match against Slavia Prague. The knockout round includes the top 3 teams from each group and 8 Champions League drop-outs. 32 teams...that's a long way to go to reach Istanbul.

Ernst Bouwes/Hamburg

2008-11-26T07:18:00.000-08:00

Being raised on SportsCenter and everything ESPN, I tend to frequent the ESPN Soccernet for news, scores and some pretty decent articles. One of my favorite writers is Eredivise columnist Ernst Bouwes. His columns are one of the few places on this site where the Dutch game is discussed in much detail, but his writings are very insightful into the history and current state of Dutch football. Here is a link to his most recent post on the current state of the Dutch youth academies:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=595933&sec=europe&root=europe&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos2&cc=5901

Tough loss in Alkmaar last weekend, I did not get a chance to see the match, but in general I'm not TOO worried about a loss there. AZ is a strong team and I see them being in the championship race down the stretch. Is this loss a disappointment following the PSV win? Sure it is, but this match was never seen as an easy win, and Ajax probably would have been happy to leave with just a point. That being said, I hope this loss does not lead to more instability with this team, especially with the critical UEFA Cup match coming up this week in Hamburg. The Martin Jol's team currently sit in 5th place in the Bundesliga and are coming off a 2-1 win over a struggling Werder Bremen team. They have won 6 out of 7 home matches this year and will be a difficult match up for our boys.

Side note: Former Ajacied midfielder Nigel de Jong has been ruled out until the new year and will miss this match.

Huge win

2008-11-16T17:55:00.000-08:00

On a day of remembrance for the great Sjaak Wolfs, Ajax took a tremendous step forward today in their quest to regain the Eredivise title. After an awful pre-season, a weak showing in the Amsterdam Tournament, an opening week loss at Willem II and a thrashing at Heerenveen, there were some serious questions being asked about Marco Van Basten's team at mid-September. No less than six straight league wins later, and coming off a convincing win over the 4 time Landskampioen from Eindhoven, Ajax is in first place and is finally starting to show that they were worth all of the pre-season hype. Forget what happened in Volendam last week...this team sure seems like it has. The return of Enoh (starting XI) and Sulejmani (61st minute sub) from the injured list was the shot in the arm that Ajax needed to gain only its second Arena win ever against a PSV side that is having one of its worst string of results in years. This may have been the weakest PSV side that Ajax has ever faced at the ArenA...they look like a broken team with little confidence and a lot of problems. Thats always good news here. There are 3 or 4 really strong teams in the Eredivise this year, but PSV is not one of them. An interesting lineup was on the field for Ajax today, with 3 of the players deemed "dispensable" at the beginning of the season (Rommedahl, Kennedy, and Leonardo) seeing significant and productive playing time. Will van Basten hold steady with some of the changes he made today, particularly Enoh starting in Gabri's place? Based on the former Ajax Cape Town player's rock steady performance today (and Gabri's good play coming off the bench), that might be a safe bet. The kid is good.

We are all so used to paying attention to the point difference between Ajax and PSV, hoping they drop points here and there, and that Ajax can take advantage. I feel those days may temporarily be over. I'm going to officially write off PSV from this year's Eredivise title race. You heard it here first. What do I see now when I look at the standings? Level on points with NAC, two points up on Groningen and AZ. I don't want to even look at PSV anymore, they are toast...have fun down there with Feyenoord.

On a side note, anybody know why PSV NEVER changes their away kits?

Sjaak Wolfs 1931-2008

2008-11-14T11:59:00.001-08:00

A reader has notified us that the legendary Sjaak Wolfs passed away today at the age of 76. If you don't know much about Sjaak or his long history with the club, I would highly recommend taking a few minutes to read this article written by Menno Pot a few years ago.

http://www.ajax-usa.com/desk/an-ode-to-sjakie.html

Rained out

2008-11-13T08:43:00.000-08:00

Injuries, injuries, injuries...I can't remember a time when Ajax was hit so hard by injuries as they are right now. As much as it feels like a crutch (no pun intended), you really can blame yesterday's KNVB Beker loss in Volendam to the fact that van Basten just can't field a good team right now. The list of players is not only long but significant as well: Steks, Mitchell Donald, Ismail Aissati, Dennis Gentenaar, van der Heijden, Dario Cvitanich, Jeffery Sarpong, Miralem Sulejmani and now KJH are all sidelined. Throw in an groin injury for Urby and it spelled out a tough job for van Basten's team against the Eredivise cellar dwellers. 18 year old Marvin Zeegelaar made his Ajax-1 debut up front and had a respectable game, Evander Sno played well and Suarez was his usual self, but you could tell things were just not going to work out well with this rag tag group up front. A Leonardo for Sno substitution in the second half looked promising but failed to produce any goals.
While it definitely sucks to bow out of a competition like this so early and to a lowly team like Volendam, I'm sure deep down van Basten isn't too worried about it. The Beker was probably 3rd on the list of Ajax priorities at this point, behind an Eredivise title and a good UEFA Cup showing. The time and energy that this will free up may help the recovery of some the injured players, and will allow the team to focus on their more loftier goals for the year. Next up, a crucial Eredivise home match vs PSV this Sunday and a week from then another tough game in Alkmaar. The subs need to step it up!

Awkward but worth it

2008-11-11T05:57:00.000-08:00

I've never had any desire to personally meet any of my personal heroes or celebrities that I admire. Not only do I think it would sort of 'ruin the magic', but I know I'll have absolutely nothing to say to them and look like a complete moron. I guess this explains my reaction when I got on the elevator to my honeymoon suite and realized that I was standing right next to Edgar Davids! Actually it was more like my lack of reaction, because I completely froze in place and didn't say anything or look at him. We both went up one floor, I got out first, started walking to my room, and noticed that he was following me! Edgar Davids was staying 2 doors down from my room! Holy crap! The rest of the day I cursed myself for not talking to him or getting a picture, (also for taking my Ajax jersey off 10 minutes prior), and walked around with my camera all day hoping that I would run into him again. Sure enough, the very next day I was in the hotel lobby when I saw him walking towards me. I could barely whisper his name to get his attention and ask if I could take a picture and blah blah blah I love Ajax and am a huge fan. You can kind of tell from his expression that he wasn't exactly thrilled, and honestly I don't remember him saying anything besides maybe a grunt or two, so it was a little awkward, but I'm glad I did it. It was an unexpected encounter that lasted about 15 seconds, but I'll never forget it.

Back to reality

2008-11-10T11:12:00.000-08:00

Just got back from my honeymoon last night, thanks for all of your kind comments. Seven nights in Curacao is something that I would definitely recommend to anyone. I hope to write more tonight, but for now I can say that I did have a very interesting Ajacied encounter at the Curacao Marriott Beach Resort where we stayed. Anyone care to guess who? More to come later...

Syd is not dead...

2008-10-27T10:13:00.000-07:00

Sorry i havent been posting recently (if anyone actually reads this blog), I'm getting married this weekend and just have not had time to 1) watch Ajax or 2) write about Ajax.

I'll be rested and ready and back in action in a few weeks though!

Hup Ajax!

Ajax to face Hamburg, Villa

2008-10-07T05:54:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I'm going to pull a Sarah Palin here and choose not to comment on the Heerenveen match, but rather I'd like to talk about the UEFA Cup. The cup draw was this morning and Ajax have been placed in Group F along with Hamburg, Slavia Prague, Aston Villa and Slovakian side MSK Zilina. All in all, its a tougher draw for Ajax than at first glance, Hamburg was one of less intimidating Pot 1 teams that Ajax could have been grouped with, but a quick glace at the Bundesliga table shows them sitting on top. Aston Villa, also not exactly an intimidating English side, but they currently sit in fifth place, level on points with Arsenal. And then there is our old nemesis Slavia Prague, and the mystery team MSK Zilina. Its tough to say how I feel about this draw, I think if Ajax had performed a little better last weekend and could show a little more consistency I'd feel more confident, but confidence is hard to find these days for Ajax fans. The injury bug has started to hit the team pretty hard, Marco is fuming mad about the way his team is playing, and there are some big games coming up that Ajax has to find a way to win. Next up, a #1 vs #10 Eredivisie match up on Saturday...unfortunately Groningen is in first and Ajax is tenth.

Now its down to 40

2008-10-03T10:12:00.001-07:00

Ajax' convincing 2-0 win over an extremely lame FK Borac yesterday has propelled them into the final 40 (yes 40) teams in the UEFA Cup group stage. This match was never really in doubt as Ajax completely dominated possession and shots on goal, although it took an absolute cracker from Jeffery Sarpong in the 71st minute to open the scoring. A 6-0 scoreline would have been more representative of this match, which once again highlights the finishing issues this team seems to have. I wouldn't chalk up that many missed opportunities from this match to the Borac keeper, we just simply couldn't put it in the net. There was plenty of reason to be optimistic though, Ajax played well, there were no major injuries (although there is some bad news out today about Steks), and Ajax can now wait to see who they are paired with when the groups are announced on Tuesday. Ajax has been placed in a seeding pot (and therefore will not be grouped with) the following teams : Stuttgart, Olympiacos, Deportivo, Club Brugge, Spartak Moskva, PSG, and Heerenveen. Of course, big names still lurk out there, teams like Milan, Sevilla, Valencia, and Schalke could all be possible group mates.
Next up, a tough match at Heerenveen on Sunday. Hopefully I'll get a chance to see this one...

Watch Feyenoord, Ajax UEFA Cup here

2008-10-02T10:06:00.001-07:00

Convincing 3 - 0 win over Vitesse

2008-10-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm hoping that my credibility won't totally be in shambles after writing this, but once again I did not get to see the match this weekend. To be fair, I am getting married in exactly 30 days, so I'm kinda up to my neck in wedding planning on the weekends. Jan has a good match report here. Next up, hopefully a quick and injury free home UEFA win over Borac on Thursday. Further ahead, tough Eredivisie matches at Heerenveen on Sunday and then at home to current top of the table Groningen.

2 - 0 Cup Win

2008-09-26T08:16:00.001-07:00

I finally had time to watch an Ajax match yesterday, and the KNVB Cup match against Utrecht turned out to be a good one to watch. Ajax dominated this match from the start and should have won by much more than the 2 - 0 final score.

A half empty (but still rather boisterous) ArenA crowd watched a masterful Ajax attack continuously bombard the Utrecht goal, but young Michel Vorm kept his side in the game until the last 20 minutes. A rarely tested Ajax back line looked solid, with excellent games turned in by Urby and new boy Eyong Enoh in particular. Van Basten praised his new midfielder, who impressed in a substitute role against Feyenoord and played the full 90 yesterday in place of Evander Sno. But the player that impressed ME the most yesterday was man of the match Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan winger was all over the pitch, shedding defenders, finding open space, creating a penalty shot and then scoring a beautiful goal from an impossible angle just a minute after KJH had missed the aforementioned PK. Suarez then layed a perfect pass off to KJH in the 87th minute that Klaas easily converted to seal the victory.

Ajax played well and looked like the well oiled machine they are supposed to against a Utrecht team that really never showed up to play. The one bonehead play of the day was an awful clearance/pass/whatever is was by Steks early in the first half that basically gave an Utrecht player the ball with about 20 yards of open space between him and the goal. Thankfully Urby was there to clean up his mess.

Lucky penatly saves a point for Rotterdammers

2008-09-22T13:04:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to see the match, so I can't write much of a report, but I did see some highlights and overall it seemed to be a very entertaining match that Ajax probably should have won but shouldn't be too disappointed with a point. Here are just a few of the pics that the guys at Ajaxfotside.nl (always worth checking out for a fan's perspective on the match) have posted. Good news: PSV lost to AZ, dropping their first points of the year. Bad news: reports today say that Miralem Sulejmani could be sidelined for up to six weeks with a hamstring injury. Interesting news: Eyong Enoh got his first taste of playing time in the 75th minute. Not sure how he played, anyone care to comment on this? Bottom line: Feyenoord has not beaten Ajax since February 2006.

Winner winner...chicken dinner

2008-09-19T06:44:00.001-07:00

UEFA CUP First Round

Borac Cacak 1 - 4 Ajax

Great win. More to come later.

Highlights here (for now):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vv3Ii88PaTY

One small step forward

2008-09-15T17:51:00.000-07:00

This is a HUGE week for Ajax. With the opening round UEFA Cup match in Serbia on Thursday and the Klassieker in Rotterdam on Sunday, and after an opening weekend shock loss at Willem II, Sunday's home match vs Roda JC was one of the most crucial early season games that Ajax has played in a long time. If the past few Eredivisie campaigns have shown us anything, its that you gotta win the games you are supposed to. Ajax was supposed to win in Tilburg. Strike one. I hate to use a baseball reference, but honestly if they had lost this game to Roda, a game that they 'should' win, it would have a been a huge swing and miss for strike two. Can you really hope to be landskampioenen after strike 3? Probably not.
Ajax actually played well on Sunday, not exactly inspired, but well enough to get a deserved win. Roda hardly created any chances and rarely tested Steks in goal, which honestly I would attribute more to their lack of imagination and effort than to anything the Ajax defense did. I am starting to worry about Oleguer's foot speed, he looked like me out there a few times. The guy is slow. Urby, Vermaelen and Van der Wiel were solid, but again, not really tested.
Evander Sno is exciting to watch. Scary sometimes, but exciting. And he's got a very lively shot that I hope he pulls out more often. As for the rest of the midfield and forwards, it was a game to forget. KJH was even pulled in the 80th minute after a lackluster performance and missing numerous opportunities to end his five match scoreless streak. For some reason Leonardo started the match, and really looked uncomfortable out there. On one hand I felt bad for the guy, but his removal and replacement was overdue when Suarez came on in the 59th minute.
It took a well placed header by a wide open (i mean WIDE open) Vermaelen to put Ajax ahead just ten minutes after the half.
All in all, it was a deserved 3 points. Hopefully the trip to Serbia won't turn out like some recent matches vs Eastern European competition (see Slavia Prague, Dinamo Zagreb), and hopefully Ajax won't return to Amsterdam with their collective tails between their legs before the trip to Rotterdam.

2008-09-10T11:14:00.001-07:00

SI is not my normal source for news, but this is a well written article about the current state of the Eredivisie. Yes, I'm feeling very un-inspired to write much these days. I am hoping to see an improved Oranje showing today, especially after loosing to the Socceroos last weekend in Eindhoven(yikes). Nice goal Klaas, nice back pass Johnny.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/world_soccer/09/10/dutch.soccer/index.html

Eredivise Standings

2008-09-03T13:59:00.001-07:00

I didnt get to see the match last weekend, but it obviously was not a good result. Matt has a good write up as usual here. Naturally PSV is starting off right where they left off last season and we are 3 points back already. Super.
But, its one game. PSV will loose more games this year than they did last year, and Ajax will get better. I'm trying to rise above all the negativity that this loss is creating, and to maintain a reasonable perspective on the season as a whole.
Serenity now.
Hey, at least it finally looks like KJH is staying put.

Ajax face FK Borac in UEFA Cup

2008-08-29T05:47:00.000-07:00

Ajax have been paired with Serbian Superliga side FK Borac in the first round of the UEFA Cup. The first leg will take place at the ArenA on September 18th, and the return leg in Cacak on October 2nd. Borac defeated Bulgarian side Lokomotiv Sofia to get to this stage.

What do I know about this team? Well, not much honestly, but my research this morning has come up with the following. Last season Borac finished fourth in the Serbian SuperLiga (formerly known as the MeridianSuperLiga) which is currently ranked 21st in the UEFA national league rankings, behind the Austrian Bundesliga, Norwegian Premier League and Danish Superliga, but ahead of the Swedish Allsvenskan. The one team that you may have heard of from this league is Partizan Belgrade. Borac is already 2 games into their season, drawing both matches. I have no idea what brand of football they play, but I'm going to assume that it will be very similar to what we faced last season in Zagreb and Prague. Marco doesn't have to win the UEFA Cup this year, but he definitely needs to be able to field a team that can roll over a club like this. Ajax needs to regain the swagger they once had, and crushing inferior competition like this is part of that process. Show no mercy!

I need some coffee.

Game Feed?

2008-08-28T14:09:00.000-07:00

Anyone have a good link for the game on Saturday? I don't see anything listed on my go-to site http://www3.myp2p.eu/competition.php?&competitionid=&part=sports&discipline=football&allowedDays=7

I'm hoping they have it here?
http://www.sbs6.nl/web/show/id=136046/langid=43

Please respond is you found something else.

Define "Big"

2008-08-26T08:01:00.001-07:00

I just thought this was some interesting Eredivisie news...could it be Kluivert/Davids?

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/overseas/holland/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=international_feed/08/08/26/SOCCER_Ned-Vitesse_Arnhem.html&TEAMHD=holland

Sno returns to Ajax

2008-08-21T12:32:00.000-07:00

Ajax.nl is reporting that Ajax have signed 21 year old Celtic midfielder and former Ajax youth player Evander Sno to a 3 year deal. Sno recently played with Oranje in Beijing, receiving a red card in the first match vs. Nigeria and starting in the 2-1 loss to Argentina. He played 49 matches in all for Celtic, but failed to live up to high expectations after his transfer from NAC in 2006. My first impression when I saw this story was that he was going to come on in a defensive midfield role, but his comments today make me wonder where he is going to end up playing, “I want a place in the midfield, either in the holding role or trying to move forwards." Yeah, good luck with that....so, who knows what impact this signing will have, but I would say that I am not a big fan of Ajax signing players that "couldn't cut it" at other clubs. Does this mean the end of Ajax' interest in Robbie Wielaert? Hopefully not, but I would be a bit surprised if that did end up working out based on how badly Steve McLaren seem to want to keep him.

A little frustrated?

2008-08-18T17:58:00.000-07:00

After being completely out of the loop for the past week, my first foray back into Ajax news this weekend was a glance at the fotoverslag from the Murcia friendly on ajax.nl. This picture told me all I needed to know. Two losses to two of the biggest clubs in Europe in the Amsterdam Tournament, although a bit disappointing, were not really anything to be upset about. A 2-1 loss at a second division Spanish side that most people have never heard of...well again, this picture says it all. It was a "terrible performance" according to van Basten, and the frustration isn't limited to the coaching staff. KJH classified the game as "something to worry about". Fans seem frustrated as well based on what I've been reading on the message boards. Its obvious that Ajax still needs that additional defender that they have been chasing for the past few weeks, and the new additions may not have completely gelled with the rest of the squad yet. Ajax opens the Eredivisie season with what hopefully will be an easy away victory over Willem II this weekend but then get two weeks to prepare for Roda at home and then the Klassieker at De Kuip a week after that. An stumble out of the gate or a loss in Rotterdam would make people really start to worry. Ajax has yet to really impress, so a good showing in Tilburg will be critical to the team's confidence level heading into the more difficult games in September. I have a feeling that the may be a season of parity in the Eredivisie, and we may witness another close race down to the wire, so every point will count, as will every goal.

Cardiff City Vs AFC Ajax Highlights

2008-08-15T20:29:00.003-07:00

2008-08-07T12:50:00.001-07:00

Posts have been scarce around here recently, hopefully I'll have time to do more writing in the next few weeks. I didn't get a chance to follow the UK friendlies last weekend, but the results looked respectful and Matt's write-ups on the Offside are encouraging (nice job defense!). I did find this low-res highlight video from the Cardiff match that's actually worth checking out. Things are getting cranked up to a new level this weekend with the start of the Amsterdam Tournament. Games with Arsenal on Friday and Inter on Saturday will certainly prove to be a stern test for this revamped Ajax team. This tournament's unusual points-scoring system rewards an attacking style of voetbal and will definitely shed more light on how improved the Ajax back line really is. Hopefully we'll at least do better than Feyenoord did in their Jubilee Tournament :) The game is available on myP2p ( http://www3.myp2p.eu/broadcast.php?matchid=16124&part=sports )

This weekend

2008-07-31T12:47:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-25T07:25:00.000-07:00

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

Thoughts?

New blood

2008-07-23T08:01:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-22T06:05:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-07-20T08:36:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-07-18T13:55:00.001-07:00

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?

2008-07-17T09:50:00.001-07:00

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

2008-07-09T07:15:00.001-07:00

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

2008-07-05T06:20:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-07-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

What the hell were they thinking?

Well...at least the wait is over

2008-07-01T05:47:00.000-07:00

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.

Heits replacement found?

2008-06-26T07:07:00.000-07:00

A few sites are reporting that Ajax has offered Palmeiras of Brazil 8 million Euros for their 21 year old defender Zagueiro Henrique. He doesn't seem to have much experience, but has made enough of an impression in the few games that he has played to attract interest from both Ajax and Barca.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=551073&cc=5901

I havent been able to find much info on the guy, so if you see something please pass it on...

Amsterdam Tournament

2008-06-23T12:36:00.000-07:00

I may or may not eventually post something about the Russia match, but honestly I don't really feel up to it. Its just way to depressing to have to think about it again, I'd rather just forget it and move on.

There is a bit of news on the Ajax front, Ajax.nl is saying that the new kits should be avialable on July 1. Woo hoo.

http://www.ajax.nl/web/show/id=154417/contentid=66779

Also, the lineup for this year's Amsterdam Tournament is up as well, with Sevilla, Inter and Arsenal being invited to the ArenA. Ajax will play Inter and Arsenal, but not Sevilla.

http://english.ajax.nl/web/show/id=154814/contentid=66669

A walk in the park

2008-06-18T10:51:00.000-07:00

Unbelievable. Beautiful. Dominant. Those would be the 3 words I'd use to describe Orjange's ascension from Euro 2008 'favorites' (along with 5 or six other nations), to actual FAVORITES. I'd love to hear if anyone can ever remember a display like this from a Dutch team, and I'm not only talking about goals and wins, but the absolute beauty that they are injecting into this tournament. Seriously, what the hell is going on with these guys. What has happened? Why are they playing SO much better than they were in qualifying? Is the formation change from the good ol' 4-3-3 to this magical new 4-2-3-1 the main reason? I think that has to be the answer, they LOOK like a completely different team out there. I think v.Nistelrooy's recent comments sum it up pretty well: "There's more movement, it's less predictable for our opponents and we are less position-bound. We've got our duties, but have more liberty to make moves up front and that's more difficult to defend against." It sure does Ruud, nobody seems to be able to defend against the new and improved Oranje offensive onslaught. And the best part is that the entire team seems to be getting in on it. Everyone is playing well and seven different players have scored goals at this point.
But I am worried. I'm worried that we will be shocked by either Sweden or Russia in the knockout stages, or my worst fear, that we will end up losing to Italy in a semi-final rematch (damn you Mutu!). Its almost like things are going TOO good at this point...like its just a set up for a colossal failure.
Anywho, its was good to see Klaas get a goal yesterday, and all 3 Ajacied (well, recent Ajacied) played reasonably well. Steks only had to make one save, but looked solid back there, and Heits had some deer in the headlights moments but overall played well.
I'm hoping for Russia.

2008-06-16T11:15:00.000-07:00

Always look on the bright side of life...

2008-06-10T06:26:00.000-07:00

WOW. What a game! What a result! What a performance! HAHA!!!! YES! Greatest football match I've ever seen! Who could have imagined a 3-0 Oranje victory over the Italians!?! Who would have thought that the Dutch supporters would be chanting "Always look on the bright side of life" to the departing Azzuri fans in the dying minutes of the game?!? After 5 completely listless and boring matches leading up to this one, and with a 0-0 result from the France/Romania game, I was truly expecting both of these teams to play very conservatively, with neither wanting to risk ending up at the bottom of the table. Within 10 minutes of the start, it was obvious that the Dutch had something else in mind. Never in my life have I seen midfield play like the masterpiece that van der Vaart and Sneijder delivered, and the much maligned back line looked awesome.
The first goal? UEFA has come out this morning and stated that the officials interpreted the rules correctly and made the right call, so what else can you say about it? Would it have mattered if Ruud was called off? I doubt it. Holland was well organized, motivated, and clinical in every aspect of the game. This honestly reminded me of the US/England game a few weeks ago. Much like the US in that game, yesterday the Italians seemed confused and couldnt come up with the touch needed to string together more than 1 or 2 passes. Maybe Cannavaro's absence impacted their play, maybe they just underestimated the Dutch, maybe they just aren't that good.
The second goal was just perfectly sublime. What can you say about it, it will go down with van Basten's '88 volley as one of the best ever. What makes it a better goal to me is that it was the result of an absolutely perfect counter attack. You could just see van Bronkhorst after he cleared that shot off the line, he was screaming for the ball...he had so much space in front of him...and the pass to him was perfectly laid out for him to run on to. When he sent his cross over in Kuyt's direction I really didn't think Dirk would be able to do anything with it, but his soft header to Sneijder was right where it needed to be, and the man of the match's finish made my jaw drop. A great goal, but a 2-0 lead still just didn't seem like enough. I was happy, but still worried. The second half saw the Dutch back on their heels for long periods of time, but the surprise back line of van Bronkhorst, Mathijsen, Ooijer and Boulahrouz (no Heits?) stood strong with help from Engelaar and De Jong. I thought Engelaar in particular played excellent, as did the one guy that I was worried about the most, Mathijsen, who had the pleasure of marking Toni for most of the night. The second half did see some chances for Toni and the Azzuri, but Gio's goal off another perfect counter attack with about 10 minutes left put the game away and ensured Italian embarrassment.
This may be a beginning of an the end for the old dinosaurs of European soccer. The decade long domination by the Italians and French may have finally come to an end, and we are all going to benefit from it. The Dutch reminded the world what exciting football can look like. Hopefully the days of plodding along, playing boring defensive football, and scoring one goal and then sitting on it are over. The Azzuri are naturally getting absolutely killed in the Italian press today. They have some major problems to deal with, as does France, who looked totally worthless yesterday against a pesky Romanian team. Things are looking good for Holland, and a +3 goal differential doesn't hurt. Its only the first round of games, but the Dutch look to be the class of the tournament at this point. But can they keep it up?...that's what I'm going to keep wondering until the match against the French on Friday....the 13th.

Exodus

2008-06-05T11:14:00.001-07:00

As much as I hate to see Eredivisie talent leave for other leagues, I must admit to feeling a twinge of happiness when I read the following article....

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=724651

It seems that the Eindhovians may be losing another player that has played an integral part in their success over the past few years. With Gomes pretty much gone (although stories have been going around recently about new PSV boss Hubb Stevens trying to convince him to stay), the loss of Farfan would definitely be a blow to their attempt at a 5 - peat. Granted, he only had 8 goals last season, but his pace and free-kick abilities have always impressed me and I will not be sad to see him leave.

The Worst Football Dives Ever -- Ham Actors

2008-06-04T06:15:00.001-07:00

Ok, slow news time...but some of these are fucking hilarious!

There is a bit of news actually, Ajax has told Luque, Leonardo, Edgar Manucharyan, Nicole Mitea and Robert Schilder that they are free to leave the club. The one name on here that surprises me is Leonardo, and you have to feel for him. He was a great player at NAC before coming to Ajax and started off well in Amsterdam as well, but that awful ACL injury that he suffered last year seems has proven too much to come back from. Hopefully he'll find some playing time elsewhere, he's only 25. As for Luque...probably some of the worst money Ajax has ever spent. Good riddance.

Bummer

2008-05-31T20:38:00.000-07:00

Ryan Babel picked up an a rather serious ankle injury in today's Oranje training session and has been ruled out for the entire Euro 08 campaign. As much as this must suck for Ryan, it looks like he may have not been destined for a lot of playing time even if he was healthy. Marco van Basten quickly named defender Khalid Boulahrouz as his replacement, which leads me to believe that a) he thinks he has a plethora of talent already up front and he doesn't consider Babel a significant loss and b) he obviously does not have confidence in that back line. Its just bad timing for the kid regardless. I really think he could have made a difference with his pace and the power he can put behind the ball.

http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=718434

2008-05-29T10:56:00.000-07:00

Not much to report these days, apart from Chelsea apparently firing Henk ten Cate...

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=540754&cc=5901

In other news, Ajax.nl recently posted a rather boring list of pre-season friendlies. Hopefully some more interesting Amsterdam Tournament opponents will be named soon?

Saturday 19 July: Noordwijk - Ajax (Noordwijk, 3 p.m.)

Tuesday 22 July: Germanicus - Ajax (Coevorden, 7.30 p.m.)

Thursday 24 July: Excelsior ’31 - Ajax (Rijssen, 7.30 p.m.)

Saturday 26 July: Team Jaap Stam - Ajax (Zwolle, 8.30 p.m.)

Sunday 3 August: Sunderland - Ajax (Sunderland, 3.30 p.m. local time)

Sunday 17 August: Real Murcia - Ajax (Murcia, time to be confirmed)

2008-05-29T09:16:00.001-07:00

If you care to watch today's Oranje match vs Denmark...I hear Steks may be in goal?

http://www3.myp2p.eu/broadcast.php?matchid=12879&part=sports

20 years later?

2008-05-23T05:55:00.000-07:00

With the Eredivisie season mercifully coming to an end last week, its time to turn our attention to what could be a very exciting summer for the men in Oranje. Am I looking at this schedule correctly? Is the Italy match really only 2 weeks away? Guess I'd better start looking for my oranje pigtails.

So its been 20 years since Holland won their only European Cup in those sweet wallpaper-esque shirts. Van Basten was the top scorer with 5 goals (including 3 against England in the group stages), a 2-1 win over hosts West Germany eased a bit of the pain felt after the '74 WC final, and a convincing 2-0 win over the Soviets (yes, that's how long ago it was), finally gave the Netherlands the respect they deserved. Since then, things have been...well, not so great. Despite being regarded as one of the greatest footballing nations in the world, the Dutch have also managed to be labeled one of the biggest disappointments as well.

Ok, enough of the history lesson.

In a sign of the times, with Heitinga gone and Hunetlaar pretty much out the door, Steks could end up being the only true Ajacied on Van Basten's final roster. And he's on the bench! Ouch. The team does look good though, and its nice to see some old familiar names like Melchiot and Van Bronkhorst still in the mix with the younger generation of players that dominates the roster these days. Whatever the final line up looks like, they are going to have a tough time getting out of Group C. Italy of course is always a scary team to play, but the team that worries me the most is the Romanians, a team that Holland could only muster a 0-1-1 record against in qualifying. I wouldn't be surprised to see France at the bottom of this group. If Oranje manages to get by the group stages, they would be pared with either the winner or runner up of Group D, which includes Sweden, Spain, Greece and Russia, all of which are beatable teams.

One thing is for sure, the last thing I want to see is for Holland to end up last in that group with Van Basten headed to 'rescue' Ajax.

Jolly Green Giant!!

2008-05-22T10:18:00.000-07:00

I really could have cared less who won that game yesterday, but it was really cool to the former Ajacied and current Oranje keeper come through in the clutch like that. When you look back at the 37 year old's PK track record (loosing in 95-96 with Ajax in the CL final and twice with the national side), its especially nice to see him do well in that situation. Today he is being called a hero, and honestly I can't really disagree. None of the other United players really deserve that title after the putrid second half and extra- time performance they put in and Var der Sar made a couple of brilliant saves during the match to limit Chelsea to one goal. And your heart just has to go out to poor John Terry, that is just the peak of suckdom.

Is it pathetic that I got a little giddy when the ESPN announcers mentioned Ajax when they were talking about Seedorf and Van der Sar? Its is isn't it....I have problems...

Shocker

2008-05-20T08:10:00.001-07:00

News flash...Edgar David's second tour of duty with Ajax has come to an end. The 35 year old midfielder has left the team as expected in a mutual agreement with the club. Davids denies any link between him leaving and the arrival of Marco van Basten as head coach, but there seems to be a lack of any other substantial justification for the move. Why would this self proclaimed "Ajax Man" want to end his career anywhere else? Seems a bit sad to me, much like Clarence Seedorf's decision not to join the Oranje squad for the European Championships this year and the decades long feud between the members of Pink Floyd that still haunts me to this day. Why can't grown men just get along?

Oh, and in the "who cares" department, Ajax has decided not to extend the contract of seldom seen Ghanian defender Sammy Kufour.

The aftermath...failure or blessing?

2008-05-19T08:10:00.000-07:00

The play-offs are finally over, Ajax fizzled out with a lackluster performance yesterday and have been relegated to the UEFA cup despite holding 2nd place in the Eredivsie this year. We all saw it or have read about it at this point, and the game wasn't really much to write about, so I'll keep my comments about the game to a minimum. There were numerous hard fouls by Twente, subsequent missed opportunities on free kicks by Ajax, questionable substitutions by Koster, and in the end a very disappointing but rather predictable end to a very long season. FC Twente is a good team, lets hope they can keep their momentum going through the Champions League and make an impact for the Eredivisie's sake.

This brings up the question of how bad this loss really is for Ajax. Sure, the CL means a ton of money coming your way and the possibility of playing some of Europe's best clubs, but looking at the status of Ajax right now and thinking about how this team is going to look in the fall, is another early exit from the CL really worth it? Is the UEFA cup a better situation for a team with an ego that you can only describe as "fragile" at this point and that will most likely only be worse off in a few months? But then again, as a fan of a proud team with a tradition like Ajax, shouldn't we always want them to strive to win at the highest level of competition? Is thinking about this situation in practical terms like this a way of just giving up and a sign that we have just lost hope? Personally, I would have rather seen an Ajax victory yesterday so I wouldn't even be having these toughts at all. I want them in the CL, and I want them to be able to do what they did back in '02-'03 with a team that really wasn't any better than today's team. I want Eredivisie championships to be the norm, not a just a possibility. My worst fear is that this team is going to go through the same turmoil that Feyenoord has gone through over the past few years. Hopefully van Basten can turn the tide, and a decent showing in the UEFA cup will bring back the confidence that this team needs to get things rolling again.

Fuck de Play-offs

Too bad, so sad.

2008-05-14T17:24:00.000-07:00

I feel like I've been saying this after every season, but a chink in PSV's armour may have just appeared. One of the best keepers the Eredivisie has seen in a long time seems to have pretty much cut all ties with the Eindhoven side. Rarely does a keeper play such a large part in a team's success as Gomes has done, especially this year in the Champions League and UEFA Cup. The tall, lanky keeper seems like he's made of rubber sometimes, and as goofy as he may look he's pure dynamite in the net. I think its safe to say that the other 17 teams in the Eredivisie are not too upset about this development. If you can't get excited about the players that Ajax is signing, you can at least get excited about PSV loosing players right?

New Section: Oranje News

2008-05-13T10:26:00.001-07:00

Just FYI, I've added a new news feed to this page (bottom right) to keep it up to date with the latest news on the Dutch national team. And I'm going to try to improve these feeds to keep them from pulling irrelevant or old news stories (if i see PSV win the Dutch title again I'm going to puke).

It comes down to this...

2008-05-12T19:22:00.000-07:00

One more game left...a 2-1 deficit to make up at home...and a week to think about it. Champions League or UEFA Cup, whats it going to be boys? I didn't get a chance to watch the game, but the highlights made it look like a relatively even match other than the extremely harsh penalty decision on Vertonghen, and the 8 yellow cards dished out by Haverkort tells me it was a hard fought match. Luckily none of the 4 cards given to the Amsterdammers will keep anyone out of the game on Sunday. It was definitely good to see Steks, Suarez and Davids all back in the starting lineup, especially Suarez, who scored the lone Ajax goal after speculation last week that he may not be fit to play.

Twente seems to have our number this year, something that must be in the minds of the Ajax camp as they prepare for Sunday's game. How do they reverse the trend? An obvious key would be to get KJH to start playing better in what could be his last game as an Ajacied. I see a goal for him on Sunday playing a crucial role in an Ajax victory, but I think the winner is going to come from someone totally random....say a corner headed in by Silva (love that guy), or a loose ball in the box put in by Gabri. A 1-0 win would do it, but I sure don't want to be sweating out the last 10 minutes on Sunday with only that advantage. That begs the question of how aggressive will Ajax be? Will they just go for that one goal and then sit back? Hope not. Ah, the nerves are setting in already.

Why Ajax?

2008-05-08T08:58:00.001-07:00

Being an Ajax fan in the U.S. is unique experience. Not only are we fans of a sport that ridiculed and unaccepted by most of the general population here, but on top of that, we love a team from Holland of all places ?!? Sure, Ajax is the biggest and most historically popular team in Holland, but I live in Washington DC, a large and culturally diverse city, and I can count the number of Ajax jerseys that I've seen in the four years that I've lived here on one hand! As a matter of fact, I'll be sporting my 07/08 away jersey at the DC United game tonight, and I'll bet I'm the only person at RFK wearing Ajax colors (look for me on ESPN, 7:30 EST, maybe I'll promote this site by streaking with the website written on my bum).

So whats our deal? Why the hell do we love this team? Does the uniqueness of being an Ajax fan just add to our passion for the team? Is it the history that we love? The style of play? Is it Wamberto? Whatever it is, if you read all the English Ajax sites, blogs and message boards out there, you know that there is a small group of hardcore Ajacied living in the U.S. and other places that could hang with the best F-Side supporters out there.

My own personal story is simple, I visited Amsterdam about 7 years ago and basically fell in love with Holland and everything Dutch. I remember when I returned, I happened to randomly tune in to Fox Sports World and recognized the red and white of Ajax immediately. As tough as it was to sit through a game narrated by Christian Miles, I was hooked immediately and watched every game that year. Since then I've attended a few games at the ArenA, and Ajax has become my favorite team in any sport, more or less replacing the typical American sports that I used to follow. Ik ben Ajacied!

If anyone is actually reading this blog, I've love to hear your thoughts/stories of being an Ajax fan in the U.S. (or anywhere outside of Holland)!

Huntelaar to stay?

2008-05-08T06:53:00.001-07:00

Reports are flying around this morning about KJH's comments in an interview that he did with Ajax Life magazine this week. The Eredivisie leading scorer had some interesting things to say about the possibility of working with new Ajax coaches Marco van Basten and Dennis Bergkamp... "As a striker, I’d like to work with the crème de la crème, two former stars from whom I could learn a lot. It is a possibility and that prospect could certainly influence my decision". Also adding to the growing fervor are comments made by Ajax managing director Henri van der Aat, who stated that negotiations with the striker are "proceeding in harmony" and that Ajax was prepared to offer KJH the chance to leave them for a reasonable fee in the summer of 2009 if he stayed another year at the ArenA. Now...any Ajax fan with a memory span of more than 10 months will remember seeing this type of situation before with Wesley Sneijder and its probably nothing more than a negotiation gimmick to get more money out of one of the big clubs, but hey, it would be awesome if he stayed.

Hoogtepunten Ajax - sc Heerenveen

2008-05-06T12:23:00.001-07:00

Ajax cruised into the Champions League final with a seemingly effortless win over Heerenveen yesterday. A red-hot FC Twente team awaits in Saturday's first leg of the finals. Twente have shown that they they can play with (and beat) anyone in the Eredivise this year, and an 8-1 aggregate victory over a good NAC team in the first round scares the crap out of me. I did not see either of the games in this matchup, so I'm not sure if it was a case of Twente playing well or NAC just playing like crap? 8-1 is an impressive result either way.

The Ajax victory yesterday wasn't without incident, with both Suarez and Stekelenburg having to be subbed out due to injuries, with Suarez' appearing to be rather severe. If Suarez is not available on Saturday, Ajax can be thankful that they got such a good game out of 19 year old Jeffery Sarpong yesterday. Sarpong looked a bit shaky in the first 44 minutes, but his penalty kick win before the half, his assist on Dennis Rommedahl's goal and a well played 2nd half should give the team a boost if Suarez isn't available. Would Koster put Rommedahl in the starting 11 if this is the case?

Adrie Koster...a job well done?

2008-05-04T18:49:00.000-07:00

Before he was appointed interim manager back in October of last year, Adrie Koster was best known for managing RKC when they were relegated last season. Obviously that's not exactly the way you want to be remembered. After Henk ten Cate's departure, few people knew what to expect from him and an Ajax team that had just stunk up the Champions League and made an even worse impression when dumped into the UEFA cup. These were by far the darkest days I can remember in my 7 or so years of being an Ajax fan. As welcome as Henk ten Cate's departure may have been, Koster's appointment didn't exactly inspire thoughts of winning the Eredivise this year or even qualifying for a spot in next year's Champions League. Ajax escaped with a lucky draw in Nijmegen in Koster's first game, and it looked like the misery was going to continue with Koster at the helm. Eight days later, a loss at Utrecht could have turned Ajax's downward spiral into a free fall, but a 68th minute goal from Huntelaar held up and the new coach had his first win with Ajax. Over the next few months of the season, there were a few questionable losses/draws (1-2 at a Excelsior and 2-2 at Venlo come to mind), but for the most part, Ajax seemed to be playing well, or at least better than they were under ten Cate. A crushing 3-0 win at home over Feyenoord highlighted a season that, for all its ups and downs, could end up with a spot in the Champions League next year after all. In my opinion, not a bad job by Mr. Koster, and I'm glad to see that he is going back to coach at de Toekomst next year.

De Superfriezen...

2008-05-04T18:01:00.000-07:00

I mean seriously, I LIKE Heerenveen. I think they are a fun team to watch, they always have great young players, and damn it if they dont have one of the coolest jerseys I've ever seen. So I can't help but feel a little bad for them about most likely loosing to Ajax in the play-offs for a third year in a row. Sure, its a bit premature to be talking like this, especially since Ajax only has a one goal advantage at this point. But you'd be hard pressed to find someone that really thinks that Ajax is going to blow this one at home given the way things have gone the past two years, Sulejmani's continued absence, and a lack of many other scoring options for Heerenveen at the ArenA tomorrow.

Miralem Sulejmani to be Ajacied?

2008-04-29T13:34:00.001-07:00

I've seen this kid play a few times, he's got some wonderful skills, seems to be a great finisher, and what I like the most is that he's strong and doesnt go down at the slightest touch like Suarez does. And he's 19!!!

2008-04-25T13:47:00.001-07:00

Looks like these guys are finally getting their wish. This whole thing just makes me pine for the days when we used to get 3 Champions League spots. It'd be so nice to see one of the 3 or 4 other quality teams in the Eredivisie (NAC, Heerenveen, Twente...) get to play the big boys. The question is, what does the Eredivise have to accomplish to make this happen? Well a little research into that very question yielded some calculations that I really don't feel like messing with at 4:30 on a Friday, but I thinks its safe to say that the '01/'02 Feyenoord UEFA Cup win doesn't do squat for us anymore. What the chart below DOES tell us is that we all need to root against anything Portuguese, Romanian or Russian.

All of this includes national team performance, so yes, you should give a little cheer if Ronaldo picks up a ACL injury against Barca next week or if our old buddy Cristian Chivu suddenly decides to retire so he can follow his dream of becoming a painter...

Regarding Johnny's Departure...

2008-04-24T10:01:00.000-07:00

I have to say that as painful as it is to see a player of this caliber leave the team, it is nice to see that they guy is geniunely upset about having to leave the ArenA. He deserves all the opportunity in the world to go to a big club like Atletico, and I will of course follow that team now that he is playing with them (as I do with all of our departed players), its just nice to read articles like the one on Goal.com.

Darío Cvitanich

2008-04-22T12:18:00.001-07:00

Looks like Ajax has signed 23 yr old Dario Cvitanich from Argentinian club Banfield...could this be a possible back-up plan in case Huntelaar ends up leaving? Lets hope he at least has a bigger impact and lasts longer than Rosales did.

VDV??

2008-04-21T19:19:00.000-07:00

Anyone notice our old buddy Raffy VDV at the match this weekend?? Anyone else find that a bit odd? Maybe my memory is a bit fuzzy, but I though that guy pretty much demanded to be moved and left on not-so-great terms a few years ago...?