Former Ajax Players

[Kowalczyk]

It's a fascinating case, this... I still don't really know what to think.

De Jong's foul on Xabi Alonso in the World Cup final was hideous. Absolutely disgusting. He should have been sent off for it, no doubt about it. Van Marwijk (or the KNVB) could have banned him for a few games immediately after the final: "We can't tolerate an Oranje player Kung-Fu kicking an opponent in the chest."

But they didn't, De Jong was called up for a few (relatively minor) qualifiers, in which he kept perfectly calm: he seemed to play with the handbrakes on. He was very aware of what the world thought of him at that point.

And now they ban him after all, for a foul committed in the uniform of his club, in the English league, and it wasn't really a Kung-Fu kick in the chest, was it? I feel extremely sorry for Ben Arfa, but De Jong did not look like he wanted to break someone's leg. I honestly think that this was an unfortunate accident, more than anything else.

As much as I agree that Nigel de Jong should do some serious thinking, Van Marwijk's decision just doesn't add up, for some reason. No matter how long I study the maths behind it, it just doesn't make sense to me.

This is typical KNVB. So mediocre... They lack a moral compass of their own, so they always go by the moral compass of others. They could have banned De Jong after the World Cup final, but they didn't. Then everybody got angry with De Jong: the international press, the Dutch people, the Dutch press. And now, after this incident, the feel like they have to make a statement.

They're afraid. Afraid of what the world might think.

Nigel de Jong must calm down, don't get me wrong, but somehow I feel he's the victim of KNVB hypocrisy here.

K.

[SPL]

And the dirtiest player to wear an Oranje shirt at the WC does not get any sort of ban , well he is the manager's son in law

[gordonvandekamp]

I make of it pretty much what Ko said above. The KNVB did this because of the perception people have after de Jong making so many bad challenges (the latest, World Cup Kung Fu, Stuart Holden before that, and I believe another bad one for Man City last year although I can't recall at the moment who it was against). That and Oranje shouldn't have trouble in these qualifiers without de Jong in the squad.

It's to appease public perception (of de Jong and of Oranje being dirty from the World Cup final) at the moment. As SPL said, if it was about getting dirty players out of the squad, van Bommel should be first.

I don't think de Jong is a malicious or dirty player, but he can be reckless and that's what caused these big injuries. They weren't really bad tackles (apart from the kung-fu kick), so much as really hard tackles that were unfortunate in how they turned out.

He'll be called back up (if he's still in form) for more important qualifiers and the Euros in a few years.

[ZoefdeHaas]

Why so sympathetic towards Nigel Ko?
He's a good player but lately he's been taking it too far, I agree with this "ban". Before the World Cup, who would have replaced De Jong? V.Marwijk had limited options in the defensive midfielder position who was experienced as De Jong. It would have been foolish to drop such a player before the tournament. After the World Cup, Nigel seemed to tone down and it was fine but now he's back on to aggressive play. Since it's only 2010, V.Marwijk has the luxury to try out new players for his position unlike just before the World Cup. I don;t want to see Holland playing like they did during the World Cup again, nor should anyone. It was sad, bad football. If De Jong is shown some discipline, maybe the team can loose its aggressive label.
V.Marwijk's style of play is something else, but we won't talk about it.

[ofey]

In other news, Albert Luque who we pawned off to Malaga was involved in Malaga's only goal in their 1-4 loss to Real Madrid.

His corner led to their goal.

Good to see he's contributing elsewhere... .

[Philippe]

Does anyone know wich number was on Richard Witschge's shirt in 1998 ? Was it 8 ?

[ofey]

Does anyone know wich number was on Richard Witschge's shirt in 1998 ? Was it 8 ?

During his first spell coming through, there were no fixed numbers and players did get 1->11 and he was known to have played at left midfield, left wing and even at anchor man. He was given the 8 jersey on his return.

Ajax have attempted to maintain the same numbering system which isn't quite the same as usual numbers, they are:

9 center forward
11-10-7 left winger - shadow striker - right winger
8-6 left and right central midfielders
4 anchor man
5-2 left and right defenders
3 Sweeper
1 Glk

Although Ajax very rarely play this system any longer but they do attempt to keep this numbering system still which is why the left back still wears number 5 as opposed to 3 at most other teams for e.g.

[Kowalczyk]

Remarkable: the new head-coach of Vitesse is Ferrer, the ex-Barcelona defender. And Ferre's assistant is... good old Stanley Menzo, who resigned at Cambuur Leeuwarden today to make the move to Arnhem.

K.

[Orange14]

Nice story on Rafael van der Vaart in today's New York Times: http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/1 ... art&st=cse He talks about the Ajax youth system and the disappointment that the team is not doing better these days.

[Pablo.V]

A great ajacied has finished his international carrier at the age of 39(respect)
..Jari Litmanen played his last game for Finland. The game finished with the score
Finland 8-0 San Marino and Litmanen scored a penalty.

[Orange14]

A great ajacied has finished his international carrier at the age of 39(respect)
..Jari Litmanen played his last game for Finland. The game finished with the score
Finland 8-0 San Marino and Litmanen scored a penalty.

You know he could probably step into our midfield and do a decent job.

[souras84]

A great ajacied has finished his international carrier at the age of 39(respect)
..Jari Litmanen played his last game for Finland. The game finished with the score
Finland 8-0 San Marino and Litmanen scored a penalty.

You know he could probably step into our midfield and do a decent job.

the bad thing is that you are right

[ofey]

An excerpt from the goal.com article: Ryan Babel reveals he was stopped from doing extra training sessions at Liverpool:

"In Ajax we were staying for 1 or 2 hrs longer on the pitch by ourselfs .. That was a amazing time .. With Huntelaar / Sneijder / Edgar Davids / Kenneth Perez / Emanuelson," the Liverpool player concluded.

I wonder how many of them do that now... .
Emmanuelson's display against Real was terrible! I suspect he doesn't do this anymore. I can't believe he'd want to leave Ajax. All the rest of the players would do well to remain for they wouldn't get into any of the big teams if they moved. Babel being a case in point.

[kezme44]

heitinga wants to come back to ajax

[Orange14]

heitinga wants to come back to ajax

Is he injured? I watched the Everton match yesterday and he was not even on the substitute's bench. I know they have been playing him more in the midfield than in central defense. There was also a rumor that Van Gaal wants him at Bayern. Weird that a player who starts for the Dutch NT (2nd or 3rd best squad in the world depending on who you read) can't even play for his club.

[kezme44]

here's the article. if my dutch is correct, he wants to be back in 5 years, maybe sooner. don't see a future for him at everton. he should try to move to germany and could do well with wolfsburg, hamburg or a team of that caliber

http://www.fcupdate.nl/voetbalnieuws/16 ... naar-ajax/

[aveslacker]

Cliff notes:
-He wants to come back to Ajax within the next five years maybe sooner;
-He wants to come back before he gets to old to contribute;
-The new course that Ajax is on makes him very enthusiastic (about the club);
-Now that Frank De Boer is at the helm, Ajax is the title favorite;
-De Boer made his mark as an assistant with Oranje over the last 2.5 years;
-It's not a coincidence that since De Boer took over, Ajax have had two clean sheets;
-De Boer knows how to organize a defense and he gives the youth a chance;
-Heitinga has been playing in defensive midfield but prefers to play in central defense.

All in all, a pretty nice little read.

[ajaxusa]

Want to see a really nice goal by our old pal Wesley Sonck?

Watch this

[Rooie]

Three of our legends together

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ogy66uyshM

[kezme44]

looks like babel might be going to hoffenheim to replace ba who is on his way to stoke. think babel would do well in germany

[cdnajaxfan]

Speaking of Everton, they have apparently accepted a bid for Steven Pienaar. Rumor is Spurs were leading the race over Inter and Atletico if you can believe that. Guess he wants to join up with vdv again pretty badly. He was going to go to Chelsea but talks over Personal Terms broke down. They got 2 bids for him after the Chelsea deal fell through and accepted one.

[The Purple Cow Again]

That kind of makes sense since they moved VdV to a more central roll, but really WHL is awash with attacking midfielders at the moment, I'm not sure how many starts he's going to get - he might be better off at Inter. Ideally, he could do really well at Liverpool, though of course there's no way the Toffees would sell him across the city.

Great goal there from Comrade Sonck, I always had a soft spot for him, I always suspected that he didn't get a fair crack of the whip at Ajax.

[cdnajaxfan]

Apparently this transfer is not very straight forward. Spurs may still have a chance if they increase their bid and claim that they can talk to his reps. However the bid that Everton accepted was from Chelsea but his reps are having trouble agreeing terms with them. Kind of a strange saga.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528, ... 34,00.html

[rjf1]

FWIW, I read on ESPN Soccernet that Chelsea came in with a higher bid, but he favors Spurs because he thinks the chances of playing time are better there.

[The Purple Cow Again]

Ryan Babel to Hoffenheim for €5 million, is the story on S.S.N.