New Players for Ajax

[Venezuelan Ajacied]

Hey anybody have news on our new left back ? rumors ? gossip? whatever?

[Ayman]

hi its nice to see that there is an Ajax fan all the way in venezuela.
ummmm Blind said we need another left back he wants Micheal Jansen, he can tempt Micheal Jansen, but we need to pay £££ to Vitesse Arnhem and do you think that A*s hole Van Eijden would do such a thing?

[ZoefdeHaas]

Jansen signed a new contract with Vitesse, I doubt he'll leave.

[Kowalczyk]

According to Voetbal International Ajax are interested in landing young AZ defender Ron Vlaar, who also played with Holland U-20. Tottenham Hotspur are also interested, reportedly, but Ajax's advantage would be the fact that technical director Martin van Geel (formerly of AZ, remember?) knows exactly how much money Vlaar makes (not much, as he's still on a youth contract) - and how much he wants. AZ offered him a contract renewal, but Vlaar turned it down.

If we can sign this guy up for a reasonable fee I definitely think we should do it. He's a better (tougher, more ruthless) version of Johnny Heitinga. He's got exactly what Johnny lacks. A great young player. Get Vlaar, sell Heitinga, is what I say.

With Escudé, Grygera, Maduro, Vlaar and Vermaelen as back-up we will be alright as far as the central defense positions are concerned.

K.

[LouisXIV & co]

Get Vlaar, sell Heitinga, is what I say.

Hoho, not so fast young man. What I think from Ronnie is exactly the same as I thought from Johnny two years ago. Heitinga is a good player potentially but suffered from an injury and (just like all Ajax players) from Koeman as his coach. Everyone played poor last season, and since we should give everybode a new chance, we also should give Johnny this chance. He learned soccer from Blind in the youth, so it wouldn't surprise me, if Blind wil get him going again.

Nevertheless we should try to buy Vlaar. He might be better than Heitinga, but you'll never know how he developpes (how much games have we seen him play???). At least we should have them both and we'll see and find out.

But selling Heitinga...no. The best will play. And then we decide after a year.

LXIV

[carcajou]

Get Vlaar, sell Heitinga, is what I say.

Hoho, not so fast young man

HOHO, now who's yo daddy ??

;) :D

[Venezuelan Ajacied]

Vlaar would be a very good buy, saw him play for the U-20 in the last game they played, even scored a goal. The only problem i have is that he played in central defence(correct me if im wrong). As of now we are packed at central defence. We need a classic left defender with ofensive capabilities who can make good pushes forward and good centering feeds.

On the other matter i bilieve Heitinga must stay, he is very polifacetic and might end up being Trabelsi's replacement a couple of years from now.

Vlaar is not a bad choice i just have my doubts

[Kowalczyk]

Hoho, not so fast young man. What I think from Ronnie is exactly the same as I thought from Johnny two years ago.

I see one crucial difference: Ronnie Vlaar is tough. He's a big ruthless bloke. Johnny Heitinga is not - and never will be.

I know about his injuries and about the impact The Talent Exterminator (Koeman) had on his development. He plays well every once in a while and I'm sure Blind can push his percentage of good games up a notch.

But I've seen him in action for about three years now and I simply don't believe in his qualities as a defender. He makes too many mistakes, can't stay focused on his man for 90 minutes straight and simply isn't mean enough to be a defender. These are big, serious problems for a defender - and I don't think these things will improve. You can improve a youngster as a player (make him play more good games), but you can't make a KILLER out of someone who isn't.

I think Vlaar is a killer. He will make it. Heitinga won't. And it would be too simple to blame Koeman and the injuries (cool band name, by the way: Koeman & The Injuries).

K.

[vagegast]

I like Heitinga better as a defensive midfielder, I don't feel he's the central defender-type at all.

[peter]

(cool band name, by the way: Koeman & The Injuries).

Probably a one hit wonder. :xyxthumbs:

Heitinga was famous for his great long pass, but we haven't seen it last year. He is too weak for being a central defender, and it seems that he cannot focus during a whole game. He makes silly mistakes, and has several 'frank de boertjes'. For that, he cannot fulfil a central role, but he did OK as a back. Defensive midfielder is an option, but on that position we have Maduro. There will be no room for him as a first squad member if you ask me. In every position (RB, CB, DM) we have better options. It is sad to say, but I believe Heitinga will be no more than a fringe player within Ajax.

[Ayman]

Stop slagging off Heitinga ok, the guy has the determination to bounce back and he will do that to prove his critics wrong, Ive seen him at his best, and he can reignite that motivation for top form. As for Vloor he is the type of defender that is ideal for Heitinga to play along side with. but is Vloor right footed, left footed or both?

[GangstaRiB]

Stop slagging off Heitinga ok, the guy has the determination to bounce back and he will do that to prove his critics wrong, Ive seen him at his best, and he can reignite that motivation for top form. As for Vloor he is the type of defender that is ideal for Heitinga to play along side with. but is Vloor right footed, left footed or both?

It is Vlaar, not Vloor. I think that Heitinga and Vlaar are more or less the same kind of players, whereas Vlaar already has shown lots more talent. After Heitinga's injury he is a bit scared, so it seems. His long pass was a trade mark of him, but the last few Holland matches he was the poorest on the field in terms of passing.

It think that Heitinga is not good enough for the absolute top, but the press already praised every step he did on the field, so to speak. Always the same story with young Ajax-talents. The press writes the most fantastic stories and everybody believes it, including the player himself. Only a few players can withstand this sort of worshipping: De Jong and Van der Vaart.

[Feest]

Only a few players can withstand this sort of worshipping: and Van der Vaart.

I don't think so. :nooo:

[bluedaddy19]

US under 20 midfielder benny feilhaber was in amsterdam today, naturally AJAX would not tell me anything - my personal opinion from what i did gather out of the media directors: both us and psv are interested in him - hamburg has alrady made an offer and he has also reportedly visited bayer leverkusen, hertha berlin, espanyol, real betis and 'gladbach - i'm sure some of you saw him play at the WYC recently, he was easily the best US player in the tournament - if you did not, he is a box to box player, very cool directing traffic with some nice playmaking abilities and very good at using his body to maintain possession

[Kowalczyk]

Check this report from England's The Sunday Mirror:

SPURS ARE SET TO MISS OUT ON RON

By Duncan Wright

TOTTENHAM could fail in their effort to sign rising Dutch defender Ron Vlaar - because of the man they missed out on appointing as their new director of football. Spurs had been lining up a £4million bid for the AZ Alkmaar ace but Vlaar is now being touted to join Ajax, who have just appointed Martin van Geel as their new football director.

Tottenham were interested in appointing Van Geel as the replacement for Chelsea-bound Frank Arnesen but lost out to Ajax. Now Van Geel, who had been director of football at Alkmaar for three years, wants to go back to his former club to sign Vlaar. The 20-year-old is regarded as a future international in Holland.

Sounds good to me!

K.

[bluedaddy19]

The 20-year-old is regarded as a future international in Holland.

further proof that the general football media in england doesn't know so much about leagues other than their own

[WP_Legend]

well it's true isn't it... he allready has been called up but he doesn't have a cap yet... so he's a future international!

[Kowalczyk]

Which doesn't mean that Bluedaddy's statement is wrong as such, tho...

K.

[The Purple Cow]

If Ajax are still looking for a top-class left back, they are going to have to move fast.


http://www.welt.de/data/2005/07/04/740838.html

[Michael_B]

Last I heard is he signed a deal with Marseille...

[bluedaddy19]

well it's true isn't it... he allready has been called up but he doesn't have a cap yet... so he's a future international!

oops, my bad :X

i could have sworn he got into one, but he has only dressed twice

[Venezuelan Ajacied]

[quote="The Purple Cow"]If Ajax are still looking for a top-class left back, they are going to have to move fast.


http://www.welt.de/data/2005/07/04/740838.html[/quote]

Yeah alright but ahhhhhhh translation please?????????

[Ayman]

What I cant understand is that why dont talented players from lesser clubs, sign for Ajax, I mean Im so proud to be an Ajax fan, supported them for 9 years, entering my tenth year as an ajax fan, so obviously I got high hopes for this season. The likes of Micheal Jansen who signed an extension with Vitesse Arnhem, when he can improve as a player, playing for Ajax. Denny Landzaat, whom in my opinion would be beneficiary if Ajax sign him, although he is too expensive, but vastly experienced. Ajax is his roots, he is 29, hey I heard Fiorentina are linked with him, they narrowly escaped relegation, isnt that a step backwards in his career if he signs for the Viola. Now Martin van Geel is our director, ok fair enough he wants to engineer a move for Ron Vlaar, which Im all for that, can anyone tell me for the umpteenth time is he left footed or right footed? Also because I feel that Trabelsi (greedy mercenary) should go to F.C. Porto, and Valencia not meeting the price that AZ require for Jan Kromkamp, why cant Ajax make an effort to sign the guy, even on a 3 year contract. I am really interested in how Ajax perform this season, although nervous cause we might have some tough oppositions in the qualifying stage for the champions league, but if we want to compete with the best then we need quality players, ok fair enough Ajax is not the type to spend big money on big players, cause hey! Who would want to play in the dutch league, its not as good as the premiership or La Liga (better then boring Serie A though). I know you guys think Im daft but I have my own dreams about Ajax like every other Ajacoid, maybe mine doesn't coincide with yours.

[Kowalczyk]

What I cant understand is that why dont talented players from lesser clubs, sign for Ajax.

A few reasons for that...

1. If a player has a contract, his club always has the right to simply not talk. Only players who are out of contract can decide for themselves if they want to move on or not. Even if Juventus wanted a Fortuna Sittard player: if he's on a deal until 2008, Fortuna can always say "Sorry, we're keeping him."

2. AZ are a special case: they finished 4th and were two seconds away from the UEFA Cup final. As a result, the transfer fees for their players have gone through the roof.

3. After a number of seasons in the Eredivisie, Dutch players tend to prefer a move to a smaller club in a big league over a move to the biggest club in the same league. A guy like Denny Landzaat is a good example: he's almost 30, he knows that this is the moment to make a big move to England or Spain. It's now or never. That's why his agent is lobbying abroad on his behalf... and not in Amsterdam. In this phase of their careers many Dutch players would rather move to Middlesbrough or Malaga than to Ajax, simply because the leagues they're in.

4. Many players are a little bit afraid of the Ajax culture: Ajax is a hard club to play for. More media attention than for any other club, a demanding crowd than can be merciless if the team fails to live up to the expectations, stiff competition and the club can be a snakepit if things don't go well. Many people in The Netherlands believe that PSV is a friendly, provincial club where people are nice to each other, whereas Ajax is an urban jungle, where only the fittest ones survive and there's always the risk of getting stabbed in the back.

Oh yeah: Vlaar is a right-footer.

K.

[Kowalczyk]

Martin van Geel has said in the press that Ajax are not after Ron Vlaar... (for what it's worth... of course he said that).

K.