Article by Michael HalepasLast weekend I was fortunate enough to enjoy a cultural break to Amsterdam. One of the excursions that I was most looking forward to was a trip to the Amsterdam Arena to watch a Eredivisie clash between Ajax and RKC Waalwijk.
Both the ease with which fans can make their way to the stadium (public transport links as well as a car park underneath the stadium) and the impressive pedestrianised complex that greets fans when they arrive makes you feel like England is 20 years behind the times.
The stadium is tidy and well maintained and we were lucky to nab decent seats. Two things that strike you about the interior of the stadium are the atmosphere and the standard of football. Firstly, while the fans are all in good spirits there is a real difference with English football matches. Whereas we are used to fans singing and creating an atmosphere in all corners of the stadium, over in Amsterdam the noisy fans were to be located in a single block.
Turning to the standard of football on show – Eredivisie football is not quite at the standard of Premier League football. Had Ajax’s opponents been promoted to the Premier League this season, you wonder if they’d manage to get any points at all.
As for Ajax themselves, with Frank de Boer and Dennis Bergkamp in charge we were curious to see how the team went about its business on the pitch. The starting XI was fairly young but overall seemed well drilled. The game might have been a bore draw but Ajax showed discipline in sticking to their instructions.
There were definitely some parallels between the Ajax style of play and AVB’s. Patience, possession and a lack of goals were the most noticeable. Regarding the latter feature of the game, we got the feeling that ordinarily Ajax might have smashed 3 or 4 in against a team of RKC’s standard. Clearly we picked a bad night for goals.
Ajax certainly put on a team performance and it now makes sense how Jan Vertonghen and Christian Eriksen have slotted into the team with minimal adjustment period required. Not only have they joined Spurs from a club that plays in a somewhat similar style but Ajax clearly have a factory conveyor belt which churns out technically able young footballers.
Watching this game as a Spurs fan a number of performances stuck out and AVB might want to consider running his eye over a few players.
Spurs have a slight problem at left-back position at present. Jan Vertonghen is a top left-back but prefers playing at centre-back. Danny Rose has shown potential and willing but Kyle Naughton is not to be trusted. I’m not suggesting that Kyle is a dishonest person; rather that he is not of a good enough quality to be a reliable full-back. Putting to one side the fact that he is still young and has a lot to learn, he switches off, is too light weight, my left foot is better than his and he is error prone.
Ajax started the game with Nicolai Boilesen at left-back/wing-back. Boilesen is a 21 year old Dane. Naturally left footed, looks to link up with his midfielders. Defensively, while I would like to have seen him against better opposition, you’d say his performance was sound. Going forward he looked to link up with his winger a lot and get forward. He can beat a player and once he gets into that final third he is eager to cross balls into the box with his left.
It’s not surprising to know that other Premier League clubs have had a look at him already. Boilesen looks like he has potential and his attitude was impressive in the game. Given his nationality I’m assuming that Christian Eriksen might be better placed to help AVB with a scouting assessment of this player than me.
A name that really stands out is that of man of the match – Daley Blind. If the name sounds familiar that’ll be because of his famous, footballer father. Blind is a 23 year old who started the game sitting in front of the centre-halves but slotted in between them whenever the need arose. The setup looked similar to how Spurs play but not identical.
Where Sandro might start in the same position for us he isn’t ever asked to slot in as sweeper when the full-backs push forward. It was very interesting to watch this feature of Ajax’s play however and Blind looked very comfortable in that system. Overall, Ajax looked a well oiled team at the back but Blind was rightfully awarded the honour of man of the match.
He looks quite solid but what was most impressive was how composed he was on the ball. Throughout the match he seemed calm and a lot of the play went through him as though he was a deep-lying quarter back. He knows how to tackle and how to cause a nuisance for lanky strikers much taller than him. His passing accuracy is very good and he teamed up very well with his centre-backs to help cut out passes and make life difficult for the opposition attackers.
You got the feeling that Blind’s teammates were happy to have him playing on their team. Given the amount of passes that made their way to his feet you get the impression that they trust him. Sort of the opposite to Adebayor.
If AVB ever wanted to move to having a defensive midfielder who slots back and forth into the sweeper role, he could do with taking a look at Daley Blind.
Given Spurs’ current woes up front I couldn’t help but notice the single striker Ajax were playing with (told you the setup up was similar to Spurs!). Kolbein Sigthorsson is a 23 year old Icelandic forward. He doesn’t look the world class panacea that we are looking for up front but I would like to know Gylfi’s thoughts on him. Sigthorsson is over 6’ tall, solid, decent in the air and puts himself about. Regardless of the lack of goals, he looked sharp and hungry for goals. He caused the RKC defenders a lot more problems than Jermain Defoe ever does when he is leading the line in domestic matches. Just saying.
So, while the Eredivisie has a lot of catching up to do and the match itself didn’t produce any goals, there are a number of positives to be taken: The more of a football education a player has enjoyed at Ajax, the better for his future employers. Also, AVB could do worse than casting his eye over one or two of the current Ajax squad, especially if he’s looking for players used to playing a similar style of football to his. Lastly, that Amsterdam is a great city!
COYS!
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