Skip to main content

The AJAX Model



DATE: 26th Nov 2013
STAGE: Champions League Group Stage (Match day 5)
RESULT: Ajax 2-1 Barcelona
For Ajax fans, this was a memorable victory. For Barca fans, this was the first blip of their amazing season so far. For football purists, this was the Old School beating the New ones. Amazingly, both teams started with 7 home grown players in the starting line-up. Though much has already been said about the famed ‘La Masia’ academy of Barcelona, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that they would retrace their roots back to the famous Ajax model.

The fine academy of Ajax called ‘DE TOEKOMST’ or ‘THE FUTURE’ was built to facilitate the basic goal of the club to bring through at least 3 players into the first team every two years, anything less than that would be seen as a failure for the club. Ever since the advent of the ‘Total Football’ concept under the great Dutch manager Rinus Michels, the club has been going forward with this ideology and the adoption of the single philosophy which is taught to every player in the academy at an early age makes Ajax stand out in world football.

 The academy consists of 25 coaches guiding about 200 students within age groups ranging from 7-19 years. The preferred coaches at the academy are mostly former players with the experience of playing at the highest level, who can be trusted to stay true to the Ajax philosophy. The academy seeks to provide the right foundation for young talents with skills in ball control, dribbling, technique and basic footballing intelligence by gaining new recruits through local test stages like ‘Talentdagen’ from within 50 km area of Amsterdam. They are further assisted by about 50 scouts working all over Netherlands and 5 more scouts patrolling across Europe(mostly nearby countries like Denmark and Belgium) to recruit the latest talents.

"We are not capable of spending large amounts of money on players, which means that you have to develop them yourself".
-Danny Blind (former Ajax player & ex-assistant manager)

So now the million dollar question that arises is that ‘What makes the Ajax Academy so successful?’ Perhaps it is alternative training methods employed where players are made to play in positions other than their favored ones in accordance to their Total Football philosophy. This allows a youngster to understand the game from the perspective of their team-mates and helps to build the team chemistry. A full back is made to play on their preferred side of midfield to gain the experience of what the man ahead of them will be facing or they can be deployed as wingers to assess the situations they’ll be in when they make those overlapping runs from the back. It’s a simple yet an effective philosophy, where the focus is more on the technical aspect of the game rather than the power play. From a young age, players are taught to be confident with the ball at their feet. Specialist coaches are there to help players improve every aspect of their play, whether it is dribbling or fitness in general. Every aspect of the player’s game is honed to provide all round development along with a sense of discipline. The academy also instills a sense of attitude and respect as evident from the World class talents who have graduated from De Toekomst.



Johan Cryuff is possibly the most famous of the footballers to have come through the ranks at Ajax having mastered the Total Football concept and is credited for introducing a similar philosophy at Barcelona, a key aspect in all their recent conquests. Other famous graduates like Marco Van Basten, Frank Rijkaard and Dennis Bergkamp, Clarence Seedorf, Patrick Kluivert, Frank De Boer, Wesley Sneijder have all had an eventful playing career. One thing that stands common among all these greats is their exceptional awareness and vision which has helped them to be successful managers as well after hanging their boots. The brilliant work done by De Boer as the current Ajax head coach, assisted by Bergkamp is applauded by all and the recent appointment of Seedorf as the gaffer at Milan provides support to the very notion.

In recent times, Ajax have had to deal with the departure of their star academy graduates like Gregory
Van Der Weil(PSG), Jan Vertonghen and Cristian Eriksen (Tottenham) who left to play in tougher leagues and for teams who can provide larger pay-checks. Yet Ajax continues to be competitive at the European scene and dazzle with their attacking football on display as Manchester City found out last season. Arsenal and Barcelona can also lay claim to be excellent centers of youth development but Ajax are a relatively smaller club playing in a weaker league with a much lesser budget at their disposal, the fact they produce such talents regularly is impressive. The current roster of Daley Blind, Ricardo VanRhijn, Seim De Jong and others will look to emulate the success of their predecessors and restore Ajax to the pinnacle of European football.


Author:

Gaurav Mishra

follow me on twitter  - @GM_Barca


Please,
Follow us on twitter: https://twitter.com/tbegame 

Or Like our Facebook Page:  https://www.facebook.com/footytbegame

Or mail us at tbegame@gmail.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Player Focus: Kevin Strootman - A Midfield Enforcer

Add caption It would not be wrong to say that the fate and the key to success of any team is often decided by its midfield. A midfielder performs the most pivotal task of linking the defence and the attack of his team. We often easily recognize the scintillating skill of wingers, playmakers and deadly goal machines but one must not forget to appreciate the most complex job performed by midfielders. A great midfielder is probably the biggest asset for any team and one player in modern football who certainly looks destined to greatness by mastering this supreme role is Kevin Strootman. Kevin Strootman began his professional footballing career with the Netherlands’ oldest professional football club, Sparta Rotterdam, as a genuine box-to-box midfielder and has continued to develop on this trait. The energetic Dutchman is one of the most effective players in world football when it comes to the art of tackling, winning possession and intercepting the passes. In 2012-13 Europa Leagu

Arsene : On his own terms.

                                    ‘His performance levels consistently for 20 years have been unbelievable. And you’d have to say, I do go along the line of, “Be careful what you wish for”                 It seems nigh on incredible to me that the most outspoken, forthright defence of Arsene Wenger, has come from possibly a man who played much of his football engaged in a bitter, rancorous duel with Wenger's creation : modern­-day Arsenal.              Gary Neville was frequently described, bluntly, as being a player rather short on talent in his formative years, a fact that he too recognized. His response to this was single­minded and determined : graft. Years of effort that dovetailed in a glittering career, trophy­-laden at Old Trafford with his boyhood club Manchester United. As such, a decade after the Invincibles took away the collective breath of every fan fortunate enough to watch English football, these very characteristics espoused by Neville seem to

Manuel Pellegrini; Tactical Genius

Manuel Pellegrini took over from Roberto Mancini only a season after the Italian managed to win the Premier League title ahead of local rivals Manchester United. An unsuccessful 2012-13 season saw the blue side of Manchester lose their title to Sir Alex Fergusson, knocked out from the Champions League group stages and also lose the FA cup final to Roberto Martinez’s Wigan Athletic owing to a late Ben Watson header. It seemed the investment put into the club and the return was not something the owners appreciated and it seemed inevitable that Mancini would make way. Manuel Pellegrini played his entire career at Chilean side Universidad De Chile. He retired early at the age of 33 as he believed his skill at Civil Engineering would be essential in rebuilding after the earthquakes that had just taken place.  After managerial stints in Chile and Argentina, Pellegrini was recruited by the yellow submarine. He led them to their record 3rd and 2nd place finishes in the

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro : He Who Must Be Named.

His time has come. "I don’t want to talk about the Golden Ball, I just do what I do out on the pitch; the decision is not up to me." -Cristiano Ronaldo The FIFA Ballon d’Or award has become a tad monotonous over the last 5 years or so, as it has effectively been reduced to a personal tussle between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The last 4 years have seen Messi clinch the trophy with Ronaldo just falling short.   Mere statistics will tell us that Ronaldo has conjured majestic performances in these last four years, deserving to be called the Best in the world but it pales in comparison to Messi’s out-of-the-world performances combined with the continued success of the footballing juggernaut called FC Barcelona. Fans of the former Manchester United winger have become so disgruntled with this trend that rumours of a conspiracy against Ronaldo have often been propagated. Two Of A Kind 2013 has provided us with a sudden shift in the balance of power. Me

From MAZACAR to WIZACAR

Remember the season of 2011-12 when Chelsea FC won the UEFA Champions League? Many impeached Chelsea’s defensive strategy. They accused Chelsea of ‘Parking the Bus’. What Chelsea exactly did was they occupied almost all defensive space by letting the opposition have possession and then countered as fast as possible without committing too many men forward. Some may call it ‘Parking the Bus’ but it worked unlike AC Milan who failed miserably. The Scenario changed when Chelsea signed Oscar from Internacional and Eden Hazard from Lille. These signings brought a drastic change in Chelsea’s playing style under Roberto Di Matteo. Chelsea’s attitude changed from defensive to attacking. The mid-field trio MAta-haZAard-osCAR had been life saving substantially after Drogba’s exit and signing of Torres being a flop. They provided young and fresh legs with quality play making resulting into an influential mid-field partnership. Chelsea scored 147 goals, their best ever in 2012-13.