Geplaatst: vr okt 05, 2007 11:17 pm
I've had some time to think about this, and here's what I think.
In the short term, it doesn't matter if we keep ten Cate or not. We may win the league, we may not. Changing managers won't fix the problems Ajax faces right now.
The reality is that Ajax is not a big club. Chelsea, ManU, Milan, Real, Barca and Inter are big clubs. Ajax is not at this point a club on that level. We don't have the finances that those clubs have, and we never will.
So if Ajax is to be successful in achieving domestic and European glory, Ajax has to be smarter than other clubs.
If you will bear with me for a moment, I'd like to use analogies from a few different American sports. The sports themselves aren't important, but the examples provide applications that are relevant.
The NFL has a salary cap that limits the amount of money teams can spend. Since teams' expenditures are limited there is a great amount of parity, competition is fierce, and there are usually several teams vying for the playoffs towards season's end. Nonetheless, there are a few teams that are consistently bad, and a few teams that are consistently good.
The consistently good teams, such as the New England Patriots, aren't good because they outspend the rest of the teams (obviously, since there is a salary cap). They are good for other reasons. I think it boils down to three core reasons:
--Good coaching. The Patriots' coach is a master motivator, a master tactician, and a master of the psychological warfare necessary to be successful. (To be fair, he has also been caught cheating recently, but the infraction he committed weren't sufficient enough to change the fact that he's a great coach.)
--Smart acquisitions. In an environment where no team can charge in and buy a team of all-stars a la Chelsea or Real Madrid, NFL backroom staffs have to buy smart. They have to find value, i.e. quality players at the right price. No one has been better at it than the Patriots.
--Culture of winning. This one is pretty obvious. If you were a good player who wanted to win a championship, would you be willing to earn a little less to play for an organization that valued you and won? When Dennis Rodman joined the Chicago Bulls, people thought that he would bring the organization down (he was a major headcase). But the club's culture of winning, led by the likes of Phil Jackson, Scotty Pippen and -- of course -- Michael Jordan, influenced him. The net result was that the Bulls won a shitload of titles.
The other example that I'd like to bring up, with apologies to Dubbel, is the Oakland A's of baseball's American League. Oakland is routinely among the best teams in baseball even though its payroll is never among the league's highest. For example, in 2002 the A's won 103 games with a $43 million payroll. The same year, the Yankees won 103 games with a payroll of $126 million.
The reason? The A's general manager is a pro at finding undervalued players. He is able to find the right players for the team at the right price. If he signs a player who doesn't perform, it's not that big of a loss, since a) he didn't pay that much for him, and b) there are plenty of other players that can make up the slack.
So, what's all this got to do with Ajax?
It should be pretty obvious where I'm going here. In order to win consistently in Holland and Europe, Ajax should accept that they aren't Real or ManU. They should plan accordingly. That means that they should (in no particular order):
1) Hire the right coach. It doesn't have to be Jol, Mourinho or any big name. In fact, given the approach I'm outlining for Ajax, it should be someone who is not likely to be a big name, but has the right vision for the club, knows how to motivate, has tactical nous, and hates to lose. If Ajax are going to rehaul their organization, they should do it in the context of a partnership between coaching staff and front-office staff. This means no mercenary coaches like Mourinho or Hiddink. It means a coach who, while perhaps lesser-known, will buy into the program for a long commitment and who, working in close partnership with the suits, sets the club in the right direction (from the youth system on up) and continues with the club for a while.
I have no idea who this person is.
2) Buy smart. To augment the youth players that must be the backbone of the team, Ajax has to buy the right players, and shouldn't pay too much for them. The whole world should be Ajax's scouting grounds. Considering the tens of thousands who play this game, there will always be value signings available. Ajax need to have good scouts and smart money men who know value when they see it. These players should understand that when they are signed by Ajax, it generally isn't for a year or two -- it is for three or more years. They should understand that Ajax play a certain way, and they should be expected to play in that style. It goes without saying that Ajax shouldn't be scouting strikers (Rosenberg, Sonck) who are best suited to a 442 if that's not the style in which Ajax play.
3) Strengthen the culture of winning. Vince Lombardi famously said that "Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing." Ajax should have a huge edge in this department, after all, the Champions League trophy is permanently on display at the ArenA. But they don't, because they've fallen into the trap, just like West Indies cricket has, of expecting opponents to quake in their boots when they take to the pitch. Swagger has replaced skill instead of being a product of it. From the youth system on up, and with every purchase Ajax make, the culture of winning with style should be ingrained in the club. Ajax should be bold, never scared, and if taking the bold choice sometimes results in an unexpected loss, but leads to great glory, then so be it. The fans can understand results that don't go the clubs way as long as the players don't play scared and fight for every inch of the pitch. They can't when the club capitulates weakly time after time.
Can it be done? I don't know. But I'd like to think that most fans would be willing to put up with a few seasons of moderate success if a) the team gave their all every time, and b) it was obvious that the team was progressing towards its goals and would ultimately achieve them.
In the short term, it doesn't matter if we keep ten Cate or not. We may win the league, we may not. Changing managers won't fix the problems Ajax faces right now.
The reality is that Ajax is not a big club. Chelsea, ManU, Milan, Real, Barca and Inter are big clubs. Ajax is not at this point a club on that level. We don't have the finances that those clubs have, and we never will.
So if Ajax is to be successful in achieving domestic and European glory, Ajax has to be smarter than other clubs.
If you will bear with me for a moment, I'd like to use analogies from a few different American sports. The sports themselves aren't important, but the examples provide applications that are relevant.
The NFL has a salary cap that limits the amount of money teams can spend. Since teams' expenditures are limited there is a great amount of parity, competition is fierce, and there are usually several teams vying for the playoffs towards season's end. Nonetheless, there are a few teams that are consistently bad, and a few teams that are consistently good.
The consistently good teams, such as the New England Patriots, aren't good because they outspend the rest of the teams (obviously, since there is a salary cap). They are good for other reasons. I think it boils down to three core reasons:
--Good coaching. The Patriots' coach is a master motivator, a master tactician, and a master of the psychological warfare necessary to be successful. (To be fair, he has also been caught cheating recently, but the infraction he committed weren't sufficient enough to change the fact that he's a great coach.)
--Smart acquisitions. In an environment where no team can charge in and buy a team of all-stars a la Chelsea or Real Madrid, NFL backroom staffs have to buy smart. They have to find value, i.e. quality players at the right price. No one has been better at it than the Patriots.
--Culture of winning. This one is pretty obvious. If you were a good player who wanted to win a championship, would you be willing to earn a little less to play for an organization that valued you and won? When Dennis Rodman joined the Chicago Bulls, people thought that he would bring the organization down (he was a major headcase). But the club's culture of winning, led by the likes of Phil Jackson, Scotty Pippen and -- of course -- Michael Jordan, influenced him. The net result was that the Bulls won a shitload of titles.
The other example that I'd like to bring up, with apologies to Dubbel, is the Oakland A's of baseball's American League. Oakland is routinely among the best teams in baseball even though its payroll is never among the league's highest. For example, in 2002 the A's won 103 games with a $43 million payroll. The same year, the Yankees won 103 games with a payroll of $126 million.
The reason? The A's general manager is a pro at finding undervalued players. He is able to find the right players for the team at the right price. If he signs a player who doesn't perform, it's not that big of a loss, since a) he didn't pay that much for him, and b) there are plenty of other players that can make up the slack.
So, what's all this got to do with Ajax?
It should be pretty obvious where I'm going here. In order to win consistently in Holland and Europe, Ajax should accept that they aren't Real or ManU. They should plan accordingly. That means that they should (in no particular order):
1) Hire the right coach. It doesn't have to be Jol, Mourinho or any big name. In fact, given the approach I'm outlining for Ajax, it should be someone who is not likely to be a big name, but has the right vision for the club, knows how to motivate, has tactical nous, and hates to lose. If Ajax are going to rehaul their organization, they should do it in the context of a partnership between coaching staff and front-office staff. This means no mercenary coaches like Mourinho or Hiddink. It means a coach who, while perhaps lesser-known, will buy into the program for a long commitment and who, working in close partnership with the suits, sets the club in the right direction (from the youth system on up) and continues with the club for a while.
I have no idea who this person is.
2) Buy smart. To augment the youth players that must be the backbone of the team, Ajax has to buy the right players, and shouldn't pay too much for them. The whole world should be Ajax's scouting grounds. Considering the tens of thousands who play this game, there will always be value signings available. Ajax need to have good scouts and smart money men who know value when they see it. These players should understand that when they are signed by Ajax, it generally isn't for a year or two -- it is for three or more years. They should understand that Ajax play a certain way, and they should be expected to play in that style. It goes without saying that Ajax shouldn't be scouting strikers (Rosenberg, Sonck) who are best suited to a 442 if that's not the style in which Ajax play.
3) Strengthen the culture of winning. Vince Lombardi famously said that "Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing." Ajax should have a huge edge in this department, after all, the Champions League trophy is permanently on display at the ArenA. But they don't, because they've fallen into the trap, just like West Indies cricket has, of expecting opponents to quake in their boots when they take to the pitch. Swagger has replaced skill instead of being a product of it. From the youth system on up, and with every purchase Ajax make, the culture of winning with style should be ingrained in the club. Ajax should be bold, never scared, and if taking the bold choice sometimes results in an unexpected loss, but leads to great glory, then so be it. The fans can understand results that don't go the clubs way as long as the players don't play scared and fight for every inch of the pitch. They can't when the club capitulates weakly time after time.
Can it be done? I don't know. But I'd like to think that most fans would be willing to put up with a few seasons of moderate success if a) the team gave their all every time, and b) it was obvious that the team was progressing towards its goals and would ultimately achieve them.
