New Players for Ajax

[Over Pasanens Head]

Yeah, I just read the VI story as well. Onyewu is just the type of player we need, I just wish we could have signed him over the last 2 years. The VI article states we're in competition with Portsmouth, Parma, Palermo and Fenerbahçe for him.

Is this the same Van Damme that was on our books (from wiki)?

Onyewu has dealt with racism during his time in Europe, even having been punched and shouted at by racist fans while playing for Standard.[5] The most well-publicized incident occured in the 2008–09 Championship playoff when Anderlecht defender Jelle Van Damme, according to Onyewu, repeatedly called him a "dirty ape",[6] even after Onyewu relayed the information to the referees.[7] Van Damme denied the accusations following the match, even claiming that Onyewu had called him a "dirty Flemish".[6] Approximately two weeks later, on June 2, 2009, it was announced by Onyewu's lawyer that he was suing Van Damme in an effort to end on-field racism in European football.[8]

[Venezuelan Ajacied]

yep thats him...good old Jelle van Damme....he played left back along with John O'brien in the Koeman days....by the way can JOB give Gooch a call ??? Maybe convince him to sign with us ??? >Damn having Onyewu aborad would be awsome

[bluedaddy19]

Yeah, I just read the VI story as well. Onyewu is just the type of player we need, I just wish we could have signed him over the last 2 years. The VI article states we're in competition with Portsmouth, Parma, Palermo and Fenerbahçe for him.

also fulham and at least a few others, reports linking him to genoa have popped up now

[Blind3]

I think Ajax is probably his best bet for a starting position. The other clubs, save possibly for Fenerbahce, seem to me to be deeper .

[orange goblin]

According to an interview by general director Rik van den Boog, the targets to buy are just a defender and a midfielder.
mmm. don't know. for the defender I obviously agree: the names made are ivan obradovic and oguchi oniewu, maybe both of them 'cause the last one is a free agent. for the midfielder I am not sure it's so important: we have vertonghen that should play there with gabri, enoh, lindgren and aissati also in the struggle for a spot. anyway, some reports suggest an argentinian name, Sebastián Prediger from Colon Santa Fè.
more than a midfielder, I would have loved a striker. bodul seems great and cvita maybe has to show his qualities, sulejmani maybe could also play in his hereenveen-days position, but I feel not so comfortable with this attack.
what a shame.

[bryan]

We need a very good goalkeeper, a very good defender, another very good defender (preferably one that goes well with the first one) and a very, very good defensive midfielder.

[bluedaddy19]

We need a very good goalkeeper

i'm sorry, but i just don't get this recurring theme... we have 2 nice young, valuable keepers to choose from

[jamie]

I can understand Brian's point of view about needing a new goalkeeper. Both goalkeepers might be young and have potential however they have not always been very dependable up until now. What would be nice would be to have a goalkeeper which actually grabs points for us. (like Gomez did for PSV).

[bluedaddy19]

I can understand Brian's point of view about needing a new goalkeeper. Both goalkeepers might be young and have potential however they have not always been very dependable up until now. What would be nice would be to have a goalkeeper which actually grabs points for us. (like Gomez did for PSV).

i don't understand it at all, he has some sort of anti-stek fixation

and not only has stek grabbed a great many points for us (and vermeer a few too), but he is 2 years younger than gomes

to look back at the last few seasons and complain about goalkeeping seems ridiculous, it's been just about the least of our problems from an overall standpoint

[bryan]

Steks and Vermeer do make the odd spectacular save, I'll give you that. Usually to cover their own asses after they miss the ball at a corner or just don't bother trying to catch it, or after they were caught out of position, or didn't set up their wall right, or kicked the ball straight to the oppositon. And the Dutch press, who wouldn't know a good goalkeeper if it bit them in the arse, will laud them for these spectacular saves.

What we need is a boring goalkeeper who does boring things right. To put it this way: Let's not talk about getting a goalkeeper that will win us points... let's get one who doesn't give them away.

If Steks was so good then Oranje wouldn't be continually begging the almost 39 year old Van der Sar to come back.

[Ajaxfanuk]

Vennegoor is a free agent, I know he's a Phillips but we could try him on the cheap for a bit perhaps?

[aveslacker]

We need a very good goalkeeper, a very good defender, another very good defender (preferably one that goes well with the first one) and a very, very good defensive midfielder.

In my opinion more than anything else we need to learn to play as a team. To fight for the shirt. To never forget that our club is legendary and each time they step on the pitch players have responsibility to honor and respect the legends of the club (and indeed, of world soccer) by playing - and winning - with flair, heart and a touch of arrogance.

We can buy whatever players we want, but we're probably already the most talented team in the eredivisie on a player-by-player basis already. We keep finishing behind teams that are less talented than us because we're not a team, just a collection of mercenaries who think that everything should come to them because they're Ajax. Fuck that.

I would gladly not make any moves in the transfer market if I knew that our manager was going to get every ounce of talent and sweat out of the players we have. Because then we'd win the eredivisie, and if we didn't it wouldn't be for lack of heart.

[bluedaddy19]

a quick FYI, and this is no rumor talk, giving you the real deal here: we are one of 4 teams that are in serious talks with onyewu, with 2 in serie a and 1 in la liga

fingers crossed everybody!!!

oalkeeper that will win us points... let's get one who doesn't give them away.

If Steks was so good then Oranje wouldn't be continually begging the almost 39 year old Van der Sar to come back.

hmmm... you don't think that has anything to do with how freakishly good van der sar still is?

[Over Pasanens Head]

We need a very good goalkeeper, a very good defender, another very good defender (preferably one that goes well with the first one) and a very, very good defensive midfielder.

In my opinion more than anything else we need to learn to play as a team. To fight for the shirt. To never forget that our club is legendary and each time they step on the pitch players have responsibility to honor and respect the legends of the club (and indeed, of world soccer) by playing - and winning - with flair, heart and a touch of arrogance.

00% agree with your post Aveslacker - you have hit the nail firmly on the head.

[Neefkens]

We need a very good goalkeeper, a very good defender, another very good defender (preferably one that goes well with the first one) and a very, very good defensive midfielder.

In my opinion more than anything else we need to learn to play as a team. To fight for the shirt. To never forget that our club is legendary and each time they step on the pitch players have responsibility to honor and respect the legends of the club (and indeed, of world soccer) by playing - and winning - with flair, heart and a touch of arrogance.

00% agree with your post Aveslacker - you have hit the nail firmly on the head.

Do we miss an 1 here?

[DanK]

We need a very good goalkeeper, a very good defender, another very good defender (preferably one that goes well with the first one) and a very, very good defensive midfielder.

In my opinion more than anything else we need to learn to play as a team. To fight for the shirt. To never forget that our club is legendary and each time they step on the pitch players have responsibility to honor and respect the legends of the club (and indeed, of world soccer) by playing - and winning - with flair, heart and a touch of arrogance.

We can buy whatever players we want, but we're probably already the most talented team in the eredivisie on a player-by-player basis already. We keep finishing behind teams that are less talented than us because we're not a team, just a collection of mercenaries who think that everything should come to them because they're Ajax. Fuck that.

I would gladly not make any moves in the transfer market if I knew that our manager was going to get every ounce of talent and sweat out of the players we have. Because then we'd win the eredivisie, and if we didn't it wouldn't be for lack of heart.

BINGO!

[bluedaddy19]

spanish daily marca, clearly having gone insane, says we are talking with valencia about joaquin

also, argentine reports insist we are beating udinese to colon MF sebastian prediger

[Blind3]

First and foremost , couldn't agree more with the points Aveslacker laid out. Second, Can we trade Valencia Luque ? Joaquin is a pretty good RW . Third, we clearly need another mf to compete with the fourteen or so we already have, he said sarcastically.

[SPL]

Well put Aveslacker.

Is this Argentinian a defensive midfielder or an attacking one??

[Venezuelan Ajacied]

he a defensive midfielder...he wears number "5" in Colon...he does have some ofensive upside...kind of like Mascherano...then again if we dont offload some of our midfielders i just cant see the reasoning behind this....

[bryan]

Joaquin would be Albert Luque take II.

Was once very good, but has since gone downhill.

[Over Pasanens Head]

00% agree with your post Aveslacker - you have hit the nail firmly on the head.

Do we miss an 1 here?

Yes 100% correct Neefkens.

[bluedaddy19]

he a defensive midfielder...he wears number "5" in Colon...he does have some ofensive upside...kind of like Mascherano...then again if we dont offload some of our midfielders i just cant see the reasoning behind this....

i can only pray sno is leaving

besides i wouldnt bet against seeing some 442 this season

[martinkohout]

We need a very good goalkeeper, a very good defender, another very good defender (preferably one that goes well with the first one) and a very, very good defensive midfielder.

In my opinion more than anything else we need to learn to play as a team. To fight for the shirt. To never forget that our club is legendary and each time they step on the pitch players have responsibility to honor and respect the legends of the club (and indeed, of world soccer) by playing - and winning - with flair, heart and a touch of arrogance.

We can buy whatever players we want, but we're probably already the most talented team in the eredivisie on a player-by-player basis already. We keep finishing behind teams that are less talented than us because we're not a team, just a collection of mercenaries who think that everything should come to them because they're Ajax. Fuck that.

I would gladly not make any moves in the transfer market if I knew that our manager was going to get every ounce of talent and sweat out of the players we have. Because then we'd win the eredivisie, and if we didn't it wouldn't be for lack of heart.

Amen, brother! Couldn't agree more. Though I have to say I fear that, in today's climate, expecting players to "fight for the shirt" and "honor and respect the legends of the club (and, indeed, of world soccer)" may be a bit of a stretch. Sigh. Or am I just too old and cynical?

hmmm... you don't think that has anything to do with how freakishly good van der sar still is?

Agreed; van der Sar is an all-timer in anyone's book. Taking a back seat to him, even at almost 39, is hardly a condemnation of Steks' - or anyone else's - abilities. With all due respect, I don't think goalie should be high on the club's list of things to change.

[bryan]

No big team has come knocking for Stekelenburg yet, despite four full seasons under the posts for Ajax. Perhaps the scouts of Europe aren't too impressed. He also has a bad attitude... just look at how he threw his toys out of the pram when he got dropped.

If he wasn't an Ajax youth product he wouldn't have gotten as many chances as he did.

But we can agree to disagree on this one, I don't want to talk about it anymore.