New Players for Ajax

[ajaxcolombia]

That is the only reason I see to go after Janssen, hurting Twente's chances to compete. However, I can't see where he could contribute. We already have De Zeuww and Eriksen to play as offensive midfielders, and he is of no help playing a defensive role. Why pay too much money for a player who would be a substitute in a current state? Ajax right now must worry about replacing Vertonghen, who franly is a little bit irreplaceble for me, if only for his role as in making title celebrations so amusing!!

[ofey]

Wishful thinking on my part but I wish Vertonghen would stay 1 more year (thereby signing a year's extension).
Man United are playing slut atm and tossing up between a number of keepers, so steks could be left with nowhere to go and we get 1 year at Europe with a good Ajax side.
Those are the only 2 who can walk into a EPL or La Liga or Serie A side and get a first 11 place.
All the rest despite being Champions will go the way of Babel, Emmanuelson and Maduro.

Siem de Jong will also struggle if he moves elsewhere.

I would really like to see the club make Chivu, Escude and Maxwell good decent offers. If they say no then so be it but we must try to bring these boys back

[afcajax73]

i really dont think that we should be signing any of our old lads, except for maybe raffie vd vaart, he says he wants champions league football.. well come on home lad!

[Duke]

Ajax more or less confirmed that they're after four players at the moment.

1. Derk Boerrigter (RKC Waalwijk, left footed forward)
Almost a done deal, fee reportedly 600,000 euros.

2. Theo Janssen (FC Twente, left footed playmaker/midfielder)
Limited transfer fee of 3M euros, Frank de Boer confirmed his interest, agent says there are more options, but according to media reports Janssen wants to move to Ajax.

3. Kolbeinn Sigthursson (AZ, striker)
Players wants to move to Ajax and Ajax only, AZ an Ajax still negotiating, AZ want 5M, Ajax initially offered 2M, but have (reportedly) now offered 3.5 or even 4M.

4. Thulani Serero (Ajax Cape Town, offensive midfielder/'shadow striker')
According to many reports this is a done deal already, but no confirmation from Ajax as yet.

Frank de Boer has been quoted saying that he will have no further wishes if these four can be signed up. This will, of course, change if others leave (for example Stekelenburg, Van der Wiel, Vertonghen or even El Hamdaoui: there are some Galatasaray rumours).

K.

Mats Rits is another sining, coming from Germinal Beerschot Antwerpen. He is 17 and supposedly one of the greatest Belgian talents.

[Manneken Pis]

Mats Rits is another sining, coming from Germinal Beerschot Antwerpen. He is 17 and supposedly one of the greatest Belgian talents.

What I hear from the locals is;
- Rits is a high potential player.
- His temperament is a bit of a question mark.
- Broke into the first team very early, and some say it went to his head.

But he's young and joining a bigger club that handels a lot of high potential young players is probably the best place for his development.

[bryan]

They seriously don't think we need another defender. There's something in the water over at the Arena...

[aveslacker]

Do we really need Janssen? That guy is a twat.

[souras84]

Not needing a defender make me think that:

1) They think no one is leaving

2) Silva is staying to provide Right Back cover

3) I can't think of anything else... Maybe a couple of youngster ready for a defensive career?

Any thoughts?

[SPL]

Depends on whether V dWiel and Vertonghen stay or not .
Hard to judge who is ready as Kappelhof and Burnet ,both Jong Ajax regulars have gone ,Koppers barely out the youth.Toivomaki seemed to be stuck on the Jong subs bench and V Rhijn's future is still unclear. Not sure Ligeon and Denswil from the A1 are ready for the senior squad yet although Boilesen went from the A1 to the first team .

One thing for sure we do have a lot of midfielders with Rits,Serero and Janssen all likely to join.

[acab]

Depends on whether V dWiel and Vertonghen stay or not .
Hard to judge who is ready as Kappelhof and Burnet ,both Jong Ajax regulars have gone ,Koppers barely out the youth.Toivomaki seemed to be stuck on the Jong subs bench and V Rhijn's future is still unclear. Not sure Ligeon and Denswil from the A1 are ready for the senior squad yet although Boilesen went from the A1 to the first team .

One thing for sure we do have a lot of midfielders with Rips,Serro and Janssen all likely to join.

You all forgot Clayton Daniels from Ajax CT. De Boer said he want him for another trial in the summer. I think he'll take him aswell. With Ooijer staing, do you thin we really need another defender IF Jan stays too? Me not.
And what about Janssen? A dream player for me. DeZeeuw can paly back, like he did in AZ. Just imagine Eriksen and Janssen palying together

[Orange14]

This whole Janssen deal is now starting to stink like three day old fish that has been left out on the counter. I'm seeing some reports (nothing solid yet) that Ajax had contact with him last week and there is now a dust up between him and the Twente chairman. If Ajax had ANY contact with him prior to the match I put that down as a big black mark for this club. I know that there is an unsavory side to football but contacting the top player on an opposing match about a possible transfer prior to the biggest match of the year is not right. I still do not think we need an almost 30 year old player with dodgy knees and a questionable work ethic for this club. It leaves a sour taste in my mouth when we are trying to build something good here. The only players of that age we should bring in are those out of contract. €3 M is a waste of money. Plus, what kind of message does this send to Sneijder and the others who have fought for places and progressed through the youth system.

[ajaxcolombia]

What he said!

[acab]

Pah, i don't think you sould trust such kakkerlaken/envy enschede rumours. He scored agains us in the ArenA, hasn't he? And what about the cup final? I'm starting to think you allways tray to put some tar in the honey. Jansen was teh best player in Eredivisie, i just can't imagine why you don't want him at Ajax.
And don't forget - we need longer bench. What if Erikes or De Zeeuw get injured? then what? And what about his "wicked left foot"? For Christ's sake, he WON 6-9 points for fct ONLY with this "wicked" foot. Who's taking the free kicks now, when Suares and Urby left? Vertongen? It's not allways matter of power. And if Jan leavs?

[Orange14]

And don't forget - we need longer bench. What if Erikes or De Zeeuw get injured? then what? And what about his "wicked left foot"? For Christ's sake, he WON 6-9 points for fct ONLY with this "wicked" foot. Who's taking the free kicks now, when Suares and Urby left? Vertongen? It's not allways matter of power. And if Jan leavs?

Eriksen was taking as many free kicks as Vertonghen down the stretch. I agree that Janssen has a wicked left foot but the rest of this game is wanting in my mind. He had an outstanding season because he was going to seek the big payday at the end of this season. I would rather see us spend money on van Wolfswinkel who clearly fills a void on this team.

[ajaxcolombia]

Taking into account the analysis made by zonalmarking about sunday's match, Janssen can be effective playing as deep lying creative midfielder, similar to what Pirlo did at Milan I'm guessing. I can't testify to that as the only times I actually watched Janssen play, besides goal highlights, was when he played against Ajaxand I don't have an eye for such tactical intricancies. However, taking that into account, it surely could be an option having Janssen playing that role for us, specially if you consider the possibility of not having Vertonghen playing the sweeper role. We could use a midfielder that can fill the void of not having Vertoghen develop play in our first half.

[aveslacker]

Taking into account the analysis made by zonalmarking about sunday's match, Janssen can be effective playing as deep lying creative midfielder, similar to what Pirlo did at Milan I'm guessing. I can't testify to that as the only times I actually watched Janssen play, besides goal highlights, was when he played against Ajaxand I don't have an eye for such tactical intricancies. However, taking that into account, it surely could be an option having Janssen playing that role for us, specially if you consider the possibility of not having Vertonghen playing the sweeper role. We could use a midfielder that can fill the void of not having Vertoghen develop play in our first half.

The problem with that is that Janssen doesn't really defend, so we have to keep someone like Anita or De Zeeuw back there as well, potentially leaving Eriksen alone in a more forward role.

I'm sure Frank could find a role for him on the team, but at the end of the dayI think we could use reinforcements elsewhere. We have a lot of good midfielders (Anita, Eriksen, De Zeeuw, Lodeiro - unless we've given up on him - Enoh and Lindgren) and, while Janssen would be an improvement, I think for our money we could see more improvement at other positions, especially striker.

[Over Pasanens Head]

What we should be looking for are players that will be able to take the next step up to European football. The crowd we have here already have proved that they are good enough (by a whisker) to win the shield.

[ajaxcolombia]

Of course I agree, I was just trying to argument what could Janssen bring to the table, but of course I believe we have different priorities. We should not just try to go all out "galacticos" and buy the most hyped player, but actually make an objective evaluation in terms of needs and possible tactical roles we need to fill. Also, we must take into account what players form our youth can play the roles we need to build a team first. Basicallly what I'm saying is that spending should be done with a cold cold head. Urgency calls for a striker to play center forward. De Jong latest performance actually have shown he can do a good job, at least that's my opinion, But we need depth to compete in europe, that's way sigthorsonn could be of great help.

[acab]

Yeah, i see 100 specialist here, better than De Boer! Well, i trust De Boer (obviously, all of you - don't) and when he says he need Jansen, so this is the case! Remember who gave you the third star. Stop bitching for Christ's sake! We just became champions!

[ajaxcolombia]

Wow! What's that about? As Ajax fans, everybody in this board has a lot of respect for De Boer, even if he had not win the championship, his contribution as player for this team is enough to be an ajax legend forever. And yes, this championship is probably the best thing that has happened to me in years, as simple as that! However, part of the fun of following a team is to have a space to comment and debate what the team will do next and that's what we are doing, not disrespecting De Boer's decisions.

[Blind3]

I'm in favor of a fair priced move for Theo Janssen. I like his passion . I also like that , in a game where dead ball situations play a bigger role than ever before , he has something of a pedigree with his left peg. If Frank de Boer and company can channel his passion, he can be a real asset. In Frank I trust ... and that was before 15 May.

[rjf1]

I'm in favor of a fair priced move for Theo Janssen. I like his passion . I also like that , in a game where dead ball situations play a bigger role than ever before , he has something of a pedigree with his left peg. If Frank de Boer and company can channel his passion, he can be a real asset. In Frank I trust ... and that was before 15 May.

That 'fire in the belly' aspect that Janssen can bring is an element that Ajax has lacked for a long time, and has held it back from being a dominant force over the last number of years -- so, I am in favor of a move for him, too. If not him, then someone else who will bring that quality to the team.

[aveslacker]

What we should be looking for are players that will be able to take the next step up to European football. The crowd we have here already have proved that they are good enough (by a whisker) to win the shield.

Not me. I would like to see us stick with the youth and focus on winning the league every year. I don't really care about European play anymore.

Well, that's not exactly true. I will be happy if we do well in Europe. But we can have a very good team for the Eredivisie and play Ajax football without going far in European competition. I'd be fine with that.

[acab]

Great article in AD for + and - Jansen in Ajax http://www.ad.nl/ad/nl/1443/FC-Twente/a ... niet.dhtml

[rjf1]

What we should be looking for are players that will be able to take the next step up to European football. The crowd we have here already have proved that they are good enough (by a whisker) to win the shield.

Not me. I would like to see us stick with the youth and focus on winning the league every year. I don't really care about European play anymore.

Well, that's not exactly true. I will be happy if we do well in Europe. But we can have a very good team for the Eredivisie and play Ajax football without going far in European competition. I'd be fine with that.

Youth, alone, will not bring success -- at least not on a regular basis. I agree that the primary focus should be on bringing our youth players through, but you have to add in a few seasoned hands to bring calmness and stability into the mix. All you need to do is look at a team like Arsenal to get the picture.