Anthony Obodai

[Kowalczyk]

The second player for whom we need a thread immediately is Anthony Obodai. Not because he's making that much of an impact right now (not at all, actually), but because he's been banned from the team for the time being. Ronald Koeman's explanation: "He's been late for training far too frequently in recent weeks. One can oversleep every once in a while, but not as often as Anthony."

Hmmm... New alarm clock?

The first game Anthony Obodai will play on Amsterdam soil will actually be a game against Ajax: next Wednesday, Ajax vs Ghana (national team) at De Toekomst.

[Blind3]

:sleepey: Obodai is only part of the problem.Sounds like his new alarm clock needs an attitude adjustment button. Sad tales, especially after he showed promise at the end of last year and earlier this season. Sleepy, pack your bags.Schiphol will be busy in the off-season.

[Kowalczyk]

Here's an interesting one...

Anthony Obodai is one of the players without a future at Ajax. He may be sold and Obodai has said that he would like to stay in Holland and move to an Eredivisie club. One of the first to contact his agent was Heracles Almelo. Obodai turned them down (and here's the point) because he doesn't want to play his home games on artificial turf!

Now, this is only a small incident, but it is actually a very serious thing to think about. So far the UEFA 'pilot clubs' to play on artificial turf are relatively small clubs: Heracles, some modest Scottish side, etc.

But what about the big ones? What if the first big club opts for artificial turf? Let's say: Real Madrid or something... Perhaps, if a player can choose between Juventus and Real Madrid, he'll go for Juve because of Real's 'plastic shit'. And what about Ajax...? We've always been seriously following the developments because we've had (and, to a lesser extent, still have) problems with the grass at the ArenA.

This is something to consider. Even if the stuff is near perfect (or totally perfect): if the players don't dig the stuff (no matter if their opinion is based on facts or not) artificial grass will never 'grow' in the world of top football, if you know what I mean.

Any thoughts?

K.

[ZoefdeHaas]

I thought he was released on a free already

[aveslacker]

Nothing is finer than a freshly cut pitch, with the lines crisply mowed. It doesn't matter what the sport is: soccer, cricket, baseball, whatever. There is just something special about it -- it is like a stage in which the drama of sport is played out. I think many people will always appreciate that, even at a subconscious level, much in the same way that many people appreciate opening a newspaper and reading it over a cup of coffee, or in the metro, or on the toilet, as opposed to reading news online.

The first major stadium in the US to use artificial turf was my hometown Houston Astrodome, back in the 70s. At the time, it was thought to be advanced and the way forward (grass wouldn't grow there -- this was well before retractable roof stadia). To this day, many people call artificial turf "astroturf" because of the stadium. But guess what? The turf sucked. Players were always getting injured on it, particularly the dreaded "turf toe."

Nowadays, pretty much every American stadium is built with natural turf, not because it is cheaper, but because it is more aesthetic and more traditional (i.e. better). Also, many older stadia have replaced the artificial turf with natural turf.

Why FIFA wants to push artificial turf is beyond me. There is the occasional waterlogged pitch (last years Rosenborg-PSV tilt comes to mind), but generally, it isn't a problem.

And I have a huge thing against artificial turf, even the "advanced" next generation stuff, because I blame it for my knee injury (well, that and the fact that I'm an out-of-shape geezer).

So, for practical and "spiritual" reasons, I think artificial turf should be, uhm, turfed out of the game. :xyxthumbs:

[Venezuelan Ajacied]

I guess were going to have another "high risk" match aded to the calender :pukey: .

[Kowalczyk]

According to today's Rotterdams Dagblad Sparta Rotterdam have reached an agreement with Ajax on the transfer of Obodai. However, the Sparta and the player himself do not agree on the terms of his contract just yet. To be continued, I'm sure.

K.

[Wie kent Cees de Wolf nog]

Will Ajax be selling Obodai, or is it a rental construction?

[SPL]

Hopefully we will sell. If he is talking terms with Sparta it shouldn't be a loan as most loans end up with Ajax paying part of the wages( correct me if I am wrong)

PS. On the subject of loans my old friend Quanseh is still with Heracles. Is he still out on loan for what will surely be a world record 4th year??

[343]

Hopefully we will sell. If he is talking terms with Sparta it shouldn't be a loan as most loans end up with Ajax paying part of the wages( correct me if I am wrong)

PS. On the subject of loans my old friend Quanseh is still with Heracles. Is he still out on loan for what will surely be a world record 4th year??

Yeah, he is out on loan again. After that he is free to go. At last!

[Kowalczyk]

According to Hugo Borst of Studio Voetbal on Dutch TV Obodai will choose tomorrow (Monday) between the two options he has, namely Sparta Rotterdam and Luton Town...

K.

[Kowalczyk]

Obodai's gone. Good for him, not much of a disaster for Ajax, I would say. Here's the news report:

http://www.ajax-usa.com/news/2005-2006/ ... bodai.html

This thread will now be closed down. If you have anything to say about this transfer, please post it in the Players Leaving Ajax thread:

http://www.ajaxtalk.nl/portal/viewtopic.php?t=4622

K.