Những bài viết hay về bóng đá Hà Lan & Thế giới: Bert quits !!

Ajax members council to decide : Cruyff or no Cruyff ​

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For Wednesday night an emergency members council meeting is announced at Ajax to discuss the row between the directors and the new technical platform, headed by Johan Cruyff. Both agree on a new approach of the youth academy, but are diametrically opposed on personal.
Assistent-coach and Louis van Gaal-adept Danny Blind was named as on the way out. In his column in De Telegraaf today Cruyff denied this, stating that former teammates would always take care of each other. Should platform-member Dennis Bergkamp take over as assistent-coach, than Blind would never be fired, but offered a job at Almere City FC, an Ajax-affilliate in danger of relegation to the amateurs, or Ajax Cape Town in Kaapstad.


It is of course very difficult to find the truth, when the information can only come from the two rivalling parties, but having Cruyff completely in charge at Ajax could herald a new spectacular dawn at the club, just as he transformed Barcelona. However, he prefers to live in Barcelona and will probably leave others in charge in the Arena. Ajax is not a simple football club anymore as it has a notation on the Amsterdam stock exchange and hunderds of employees. It is imaginable that the board hesitates to put complete control into the hands of someone 1500 kilometers away and to the inexperienced Wim Jonk and Dennis Bergkamp. Cruyff also has a history of quitting. It is for the council to decide on Wednesday on a future with Cruyff or with the current board.

Board of directors and supervisory board resign
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30 March 2011


The members of Ajax’ the board of directors have resigned. They announced this on Wednesday evening during a meeting with the members’ council. The full board was also present.
The members’ council convened this evening to speak about the events concerning the technical consultative group. On Thursday 24 March 2011 during a meeting between the Ajax club management and the members’ council it became clear that the board of directors should execute the advice given by Johan Cruijff et al., including the consequences for the personnel. Ajax’ board of directors is ultimately responsible for the policy and has told the members’ council that it is not prepared to waive this responsibility. The supervisory board supports the board of directors in its decision.

The members of Ajax’ board of directors, Uri Coronel (chairman), Cor van Eijden and Joop Krant, feel that the process and, in particular, continuing unrest surrounding the club, resulting from that, are extremely damaging to Ajax. By resigning they wish to live up to their responsibilities and offer the club the space and opportunity to break out of the looming impasse.

They will also resign, in stages, as members of the supervisory board. The two other members of the supervisory board, Frank Eijken and Jan Haars, shall also resign.

In concrete terms, the board of directors’ announcement means the members’ council must now go in search of successors. During the period up until the official appointment of these successors, the present members of the board of directors will stay on as club directors and as members of the supervisory board.

As stipulated in the articles of association for Ajax, the members of the board of directors are appointed by the members’ council. The appointment of new members of the supervisory board requires an (extraordinary) general meeting of shareholders.

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Executive Committee & Supervisory Board:

Uri Coronel (Chairman), Joop Krant, Cor van Eijden, Frank Eijken and Jan Haars.

Other names mentioned that are on their way out: Jan Olde Riekerink (Head of Youth) and Danny Blind (Assistant Head Coach).

Staying (for the time being, at least until the new Executive Committee & Supervisory Board have been put in place) are the Board of Directors:
Henri van der Aat , Rik van den Boog (CEO) and Jeroen Slob.

Cruijff's new 'Supertrio': Frank de Boer (Head Coach), Dennis Bergkamp (Head of Youth Academy) and Wim Jonk (Head of Scouting).

Volkskrant: Cruijff doesn't want to be 'one of them' - 31-03-2011
No one defeats demi-god Cruijff on his home ground. That is a given. But Uri Coronel, who resigned on Wednesday, painted a picture of almost Mafia like intimidation and disrespect from Cruijff’s ‘revolutionaries’, writes the Volkskrant.
After submitting his plans to Ajax Cruijff let it be known that he wouldn’t be taking a seat on the board. ‘I don’t have to be one of them’, he said. He admitted he doesn’t know how things will progress from here and denied the use of harsh, almost intimidating words. ‘But the plan has to be implemented’.
Demi-god
Coronel called Cruijff a demi-god. An icon. Coronel, along with fellow board members Joop Krant and Cor van Eijden, stepped down and is also leaving the supervisory board, in order to limit the damage to the club. The directors are staying put for now.
Chances are that the club will limp from one crisis to the next. The directors are not prepared to go along with Cruijff’s demands which include firing eight people, among whom head of training Olde Riekerink and assistant coach Danny Blind.
Coronel painted a very dark picture of Cruijff and his group who were contracted to advise the club on technical reforms, especially where the development of young talent was concerned. Cruijff wants people with ‘football savvy’ in every department of the club. The board finds his unrelenting insistence unpalatable, ethically but also financially: it would cost Ajax at least a million in severance pay.
Emotional
An emotional Coronel described how Cruijff would dictate his demands. ‘He said: if you listen to (general director) Van den Boog, you have all had it. I’ll write you into the ground.’ Cruijff is a columnist for the Telegraaf newspaper in which he unleashed the hurricane that has now blown away the board and which was considered at first to be a fresh wind.
Cruijff, who arrived late at Wednesday’s gathering, seemed surprised at Coronel’s departure. And Coronel even professed to believe him. The former chairman also quoted widely from last Thursday’s tempestuous meeting: ‘How dare you criticise our report? You either accept or go’, Cruijff and his business manager Koopmans had said. And: ‘The directors don’t decide who stays.’
Danny Blind
Coronel kept going: ‘Jan Olde Riekerink (head of training) has nothing to say about this. Give him a job at Ajax Cape Town or Almere City.’ About assistant trainer Danny Blind: ‘He is not sincere, not to be trusted, he hasn’t done any of his jobs well. He has failed.’ And: ‘Tomorrow we will have to say goodbye to eight people. And to all of the medical staff.’
Cruijff wants coach Frank de Boer and youth coaches Dennis Bergkamp and Wim Jonk to be the technical heart of the club. It may come to a members meeting in which Cruijff’s plans will be put to the vote. General director Van den Boog has already announced he will not give in to Cruijff’s hiring and firing demands.

Cruyff-plan in a nutshell
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Cruyff's plan is to overhaul the Ajax youth academy completely and return to basics with more ex-pro's in the coaching staff, just as he did at Barcelona. Cruyff is seen as the inspirator of the current tiki-taka-generation, which is maybe the best in football the world has ever seen.
There is a difference between Barcelona and Ajax, though. For young talents Barca is the ultimate dream, like the Olympic Games. For most it is the zenith of their career. Leaving Barca is a step down. At Ajax, the situation is different. In the last 15 years since the Bosman-arrest the club has been a stepping stone. From Davids to Sneijder and Stekelenburg, all see Ajax as a great way to showcase their talents with an eye on a big international career. Ajax is a selling club and as they play in a comparatively small league, that will never change. So if there are any winners from the current Ajax-revolution, it is the Dutch national team and the big Champions League mastodonts. They'll pick these talents right from under Cruyff's

The entourage of Johan Cruyff
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The battle at the Amsterdam Arena is now rapidly spinning out of control. Started as discussion about the renovation of the youth academy, Ajax is now the subject of a mediawar between two major newspapers and a groundwar between Cruyff-ians and anti-Cruyffians with the Van Gaalisti somewhere stuck in the middle. And it is ugly. Last night chairman Uri Coronel published some of the threats he received from the Cruyff-camp if he should not give in. "If you support the directors, you are done for. I'll write you down.' and 'When you don't co-operate, the network will side against you." are quotes that Coronel made public at a press conference last night. Sounds like The Godfather.
Since the seventies Cruyff has three influential friends in the media. Jaap de Groot (newspaper Telegraaf), Johan Derksen (magazine Voetbal International) and Frits Barend (RTL-tv) have formed his powerful entourage. If you are really paranoid you could think that Cruyff has been so cunning to pick these croonies, but it is more likely that this trio has found their intimacy with him very useful in their career. In recent decades they have formed the mouthpieces of Cruyff. The three of them definitely have the platform and are unscrupulous enough to execute the aforementioned threads. They have already lead the current revolution. Their opponent is the Rotterdam-based Algemeen Dagblad, which is bringing up Cruyff's checkered past as they are a supporter of the board or what is left of it. Should Cruyff lose, than De Telegraaf lose too and the AD will take over. Scoops from Ajax are commercially very interesting.
Meanwhile at the club, youth trainers Dennis Bergkamp and Wim Jonk belong to the Cruyff-camp which has announced to discharge several of their collegues, some on the spot. Danny Blind has been branded a turncoat and a failure by Cruyff and has to finish the season with Frank de Boer, who is very much in the middle of Cruyff's plans. De Boer has already stated that he has Blind in very high regard. Blind however is a Van Gaalist as is the medical staff, who are also on the brink. The atmosphere at training complex De Toekomst must be hell at the moment.

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David Endt Employees in every department of the Ajax-company are wondering whether there will be a place for them after the revolution. Apparently even the aimable press officer David Endt could be on his way out. Endt can be seen as the canary in the coalmine. If he has to go at Ajax, football leaves with him and the bullies take over.


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Dutch legend Cruyff causes Ajax schism
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The Ajax board of directors has tendered its resignation after becoming concerned with the working relationship with club hero Johan Cruyff.

Johan Cruyff is regarded as the greatest Dutch player of all time​

Cruyff, 63, won eight Eredivisie titles and three European Cups with Ajax as a player over two spells, before also coaching the club to the 1987 European Cup Winners' Cup crown.
The Netherlands legend returned to the club in an advisory capacity in February and met with the club's board last week and advised them organisational and personnel changes were needed if the Amsterdammers were to return to their former glories.
But the board of directors and chief executive Rik van den Boog , were not willing to implement all of his suggestions.
Chairman Uri Coronel revealed on Wednesday that he and two other directors will remain at the club until replacements are found, before claiming "Cruyff is more important than us".
Cornonel added: "This process, especially the continuing unrest around the club, is extraordinarily damaging for Ajax. We are not bigger than Ajax, Johan Cruyff is not just anyone. He's a demi-god here, or maybe a whole god."
Cruyff has made several controversial recommendations to the board but his proposals have led to an impasse, which could see an extraordinary general meeting called that would see his ideas rejected or approved in their entirety.
Coronel claimed at the news conference Cruyff had wanted to get rid of eight Ajax employees.
"Firing of personnel with an ongoing contract has serious financial consequences,'' he said. "Five of the eight staff members have ongoing contracts, which are already equivalent to over one million euros.''
According to reports, Cruyff also called for head coach Frank de Boer to be given a greater responsibility in the running of the club and wanted former players like Dennis Bergkamp and Wim Jonk to be given roles.
Cruyff was quoted as telling television station AT5: "It's never good for a club when the board resign.''
Ajax currently lie in third place in the Eredivisie table and were knocked out in the last 16 of the Europa League by Spartak Moscow.

Will Cruyff's velvet revolution at Ajax end in glory or turmoil?
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Dutch football blogger Mohamed Moallim looks back at the past of Ajax hero Johann Cruyff to decipher whether his latest return to Amsterdam is likely to end in tears of anguish or joy...

In the space of little over a week the velvet revolution led by Johan Cruyff and his cohorts was in danger of turning into a reign of terror, with Cruyff assuming the Maximilien Robespierre role.

Last Wednesday the Ajax supervisory board, appointed as a result of an internal investigation conducted the last time the Amsterdam club were as deeply embroiled in crisis back in 2008, resigned. Club Chairman Uri Coronel cited the ongoing turmoil at the club as the reason for their departure, and reasoned that Cruyff’s god-like status at the club had made it impossible for them to win the hearts and minds of the vastly disgruntled fans, despite attempting what Cruyff labelled had a smear campaign.

At first it seemed as though the rumblings behind the scenes could affect the players on the pitch, chants of ‘Johan’ grew throughout the home game against Heracles on Sunday as the home team struggled to break down their opponents.

The tetchy atmosphere was quelled in the 58th minute when a fortunate Oleguer goal broke the deadlock before Siem de Jong’s quickly added his eight of the season. By that stage, Ajax looked settled and grabbed a third from Araz Özbiliz, his first for the club. The heralded the impressive début of Danish teenager Nicolai Boilesen - playing at left-back coming on for the injured Daley Blind, although a centre-back by trade. He gave a virtuoso performance that could see him as a permanent fixture in the not-too-distant future.

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Cruyff, for all his greatness, is no stranger to turmoil at the club. As a young player was often at loggerheads with his more experienced team mates, sometimes lambasting them for something as simple as losing possession. He also famously went against the power-brokers at Ajax and won more player freedom at the club, demanding full-time contracts at a time when players were no more than semi-pros.
However in 1973, after 10 successful years, Cruyff left the club in somewhat unceremonious circumstances - even today nobody knows the full truth behind his departure, although it is widely speculated to be at least partly down to him losing the captaincy. Despite his great presence on the field of play and the artistry and imagination that captivated his audiences, Cruyff had a contradictory side.
A winner by any definition, Cruyff insisted on the highest of standards from his team mates, although he did at times seem to have difficulty owning up to his own shortcomings. Whenever he lost possession, it wasn’t his fault - it would be the player who passed the ball. If his pass to a team mate didn’t reach its target then it would be that team mate who was to blame.
After eight years split across spells at four clubs in Spain and the United States, Cruyff returned to Ajax in 1981, although not before handing out a piece of unwanted advice from the stands to then boss Leo Beenhakker.
Cruyff was in the stands for a match against FC Twente, and ambled down to the dug-out to lectured the manager on where exactly he was going wrong and how to correct it. And, as if this wasn’t unhelpful enough, it was caught live by national television cameras.
Ajax, who at the time was losing 3-1, managed to turn things around on the basis of Cruyff’s advice - winning the game 5-3. Beenhakker was humiliated, what should have been his finest moment was overshadowed (highlights below).
Beenhakker later muttered that he “should have socked Jopie (Cruyff‘s nickname in his homeland) on the jaw then and there. Live on telly. The smug little b*st*rd….”

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Despite being in the twilight of his career, there was still time for another falling out with the club he loved. After three successful years back in Amsterdam, it was time to negotiate a new contract.
The board, at the time lead by chairman Ton Harmsen, were reluctant to match Cruyff’s demands. They reasoned that Cruyff wasn’t getting any younger and wouldn’t be value for money - this no doubt dismayed the player and in an act that could best be described as typically Cruyff, he signed for fierce rivals Feyenoord, proving the Ajax board wrong by helping secure a league and cup double for the Rotterdam club.
But, true to form, Cruyff soon reconciled with Ajax, taking over as coach in 1985, with the Dutch FA turning a blind eye to his lack of qualifications.
In the first three seasons in the dugout, Ajax won two Dutch Cups and a Cup Winners’ Cup in 1987, but things quickly took a turn for the worse. First a training ground bust-up with Frank Rijkaard, who later vowed to never play under the coach again.
The straw that broke them camel’s back came when the board sold captain Marco van Basten to AC Milan, Cruyff putting it politely blew a gasket and that was that, his last official position at Ajax ended, he moved to FC Barcelona where he gained unparalleled success, but his story with Ajax didn’t stop here.
As Louis van Gaal began to put Ajax back on the map in the mid 1990’s, an irrational and personal vendetta from Cruyff towards Van Gaal began to surface. Some say it was down to jealousy, speculating that the legendary No.14 felt he didn’t enjoy the same support from the boardroom as Van Gaal during his own tenure in the dugout.
This feud continued when Van Gaal became coach at Barcelona, with Cruyff often be overcritical of his compatriot’s coaching methods when talking to the press - something Van Gaal has yet to forgive him for to this day. But it didn’t just stop at Van Gaal – Cruyff would continue to pick away at a string of Ajax coaches over the next decade, including Morten Olsen and Co Adriaanse.
The patern had finally looked like ending in 2008, when Marco van Basten, one of Cruyff’s disciples, signed to become coach after leaving the national team (a role the Dutch FA gave after persuading by Cruyff).

Shortly later it was announced Cruyff would be returning to the club as technical director in the wake of the departure of the previous board. Cruyff said shortly after “Nobody has ever – and I mean ever – said, ‘You fix it’.”
“They don’t dare ask. Because if I have to do it, I will fix it, but I’ll do it in a way many people won’t like. That’s why they keep me at arm’s length.”
However things turned sooner even sooner than was expected, when a month later Cruyff pulled out of the proposed return citing “professional difference of opinion” between him and Van Basten, who complained that Cruyff’s plans were “going too fast.”
And now, fast forward to 2011, when it seemed a brave new world would be ushered in, many are wondering if it’s yet more uncertain times.
When now he is expected to be a unifying force he’s already become the opposite. His admission that he wouldn’t assume an official role has left many fans questioning his inability to place himself in a position of responsibility for the club that he clearly loves.

Instead he’d rather stay on as an advisor to Wim Jonk, Dennis Bergkamp and Frank de Boer. His plan is for all three to get actively involved in training youth players, focusing more on their individual skills than on team play at the early stages of their development.
His plan will see Bergkamp become head of the youth academy (De Toekomst), Jonk head of scouting and De Boer remaining as first team coach. "It's clear what has to happen," he said after leaving the meeting last Wednesday. "We are ready."

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His legacy of embracing the club’s philosophy and as a pioneer of the brand of football with which Ajax became synonymous means it’s hard for the club to say no to him – despite his disruptive past.
After all, the groundwork he laid at Barcelona didn’t leave the Catalan club on too bad a footing...

Jamie Lawrence: 'The way they train coaches at Ajax is different'
Ajax's Jamie Lawrence left England for the Netherlands as a 16-year-old to improve his football education
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Jamie Lawrence spent time with Arsenal and QPR before moving to Haarlem and then Ajax in the Netherlands.

"I've been at Ajax now for two seasons. I had been with Arsenal in their under-9s until under‑11s, then I moved to QPR where I was in the under-14 age group. But I left because the standard of coaching at QPR was terrible, I was hardly tired after sessions and it was not enjoyable at all, though I have heard since that they changed all this.
I came over to Holland three years ago and joined HFC Haarlem [then a professional club], which is just outside Amsterdam. My dad, Steve, did some research and then emailed a few clubs and Haarlem were the club that wrote back.

I went over in the summer that I turned 16 and halfway through the following season Haarlem said Ajax were interested. There was a coach from Ajax who was helping out at Haarlem so at the end of my first year there he took me over for a trial, and then I joined.
The way they train their coaches at Ajax is different. I'd grown up in England and seen Arsenal and Dennis Bergkamp. When I went to Ajax he was just starting coaching and they put him in charge of my team for my first game. I was sat in the changing room and the coach walked in and said: 'Guys, here's your trainer for the day.' I looked up as he walked in and I could not believe it. But for all the rest of the team it was just normal, they knew him.

The main difference between how I am coached in Holland and how I was coached in England is that here they focus on possession and they want the centre-backs to play out from the back and control the game. Also, they look to develop all the technical sides of your game – the emphasis is on what you are good at but they also work on technique, and your passing. In England this is less so, I suppose because it's more of a physical game.

This season I've now fully recovered from injury and played my first 90 minutes two weeks ago which went well. I was recently with Tottenham as part of a young team that competed at a tournament. That was a great experience. As I had just come back from injury it was about me getting a few games under my belt and for them to see how I work and for me to see how they work.I was up at Spurs Lodge [the training ground] and they were actually talking to me about how they have adopted the 4-3-3 style that the Dutch teams play and they are now trying to implement the Dutch style into the club."

Double chance for Ajax and Twente
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Never before in the history of the Eredivisie has the fixture list computer churned out a final matchday programme containing such compelling encounters.

Siem de Jong will come up against his brother Luuk on two fronts at the end of the season​

That Feyenoord and NEC meet in De Kuip in a direct battle for tenth place, and possibly ninth, only delights those directly involved. The excitement mounts when you know that Vitesse and Excelsior meet to decide who will continue their season in the relegation play-offs. Excelsior need to win with a whopping four-goal margin in the Gelredome to jump over their opponents, although De Graafschap, level with Vitesse but with a worse goal difference, could add to the suspense if they cannot take a point at home against VVV Venlo, who are already in the play-offs themselves.
Whatever the relegation hurly-burly in the east of Holland comes to, it will always fade in comparison to the Rumble in the Amsterdam ArenA between Ajax and FC Twente, where the winner takes the title, no strings attached. The visitors can even settle for a draw, being one point up at present. Lurking in the shadows are PSV, who have no chance of winning the championship but will take second place with a win away at FC Groningen. That is a very important spot indeed as it guarantees a place in August's qualifying rounds for the Champions League. The loser of the weekend in two weeks' time ends up in the Europa League.

Key to this situation is PSV's superior goal difference, with a win propelling them over FC Twente should they lose, and over Ajax should the two leading clubs draw. Both of the teams playing in Amsterdam will therefore keep an anxious eye on the scoreboard to check on PSV's quest in Groningen, where the home team need a win to stay in contention for a direct Europa League spot. Therefore, it won't be plain sailing for PSV up north, even more as the club have alarmingly lost form in recent weeks. They desperately need to perform, if only to secure much-needed Champions League income next season.

Meanwhile in Amsterdam, the title is at stake. No one can interfere, just like in a cup final, which strangely enough will also played by Ajax and FC Twente before the conclusion of the league campaign, giving Netherlands its own little Clasico series.
History counts for nothing in such tense affairs, especially when you remember that the last cup final between these teams was played before most of the current gladiators were born. In 1979, Ajax and FC Twente drew 1-1 after extra-time. Twente dominated large parts of the game until an own goal by Wim Meutstege put them in front. Then Ajax came back to score the equaliser, ensuring a replay just four days before a league weekend in which Ajax were hoping to secure the title.
It proved not to be a problem. FC Twente easily succumbed in the second game with a 3-0 defeat, while Ajax only needed a point at home against AZ '67 after an away win at lowly Volendam in the Pentecost weekend. Thanks to a late equaliser by Ray Clarke, Ajax took the Double, and they ended the season with another meeting with FC Twente in Stadium De Meer: a memorable 8-1 as it is still the biggest away defeat in FC Twente's history.

This season the teams have met twice. In the Johan Cruyff Schaal, the Dutch version of the English Community Shield, in early August, FC Twente successfully defended an early lead given to them by Luuk de Jong, while the first league encounter in Enschede ended in a 2-2 draw. Since that game Ajax have lost Luis Suarez and Urby Emanuelson, while Maarten Stekelenburg is injured and Mounir El Hamdaoui, of whom much was expected, has scored only twice in the league since October.
In fact, Ajax are stumbling to the end of the season, yet still find themselves in a good position to take the title as their rivals have slipped up as well. Unusually, Ajax are not represented in the higher echelons of the top-scorers list. El Hamdaoui has failed to adequately replace Luis Suarez, Frank de Boer regularly puts Siem de Jong up front but he tends to track back in midfield and as Miralem Sulejmani and talented Christian Eriksen roam around there as well, it can be more crowded around the penalty box than in. Still, they do manage to score more than they concede and Sulejmani is slowly returning to the form that made him a €16 million purchase from Heerenveen in 2008.
With goalkeeper Stekelenburg out injured for the rest of the season, Ajax looked down and out at the start of April but Kenneth Vermeer has proved to be a worthy replacement. His miraculous saves in recent away games against NEC and Heerenveen have kept the club in contention. If his luck runs out, Ajax could be in for a hiding to nothing against FC Twente.

Theo Janssen has been the catalyst behind FC Twente's title challenge

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Ajax's opponents are tired after a long season and would have been out of the title race by now if it was not for Theo Janssen. The burly midfielder is going from strength to strength at the moment, pushed on by his wish to sign a lucrative deal abroad. He has scored four goals against Ajax and PSV already this season while pulling the strings in midfield. Twente's chances of silverware will hinge on the influence of Janssen on both games.
An interesting subplot to these decisive encounters is the De Jong brothers, Siem and Luuk, who face each other on the pitch. Ajax's Siem has two years' Eredivisie experience over his brother, but Twente's Luuk won the title last year. Both play in the No. 10 position and are capable of snatching a sneaky goal. My guess is that there is not much between them so Ajax win the cup, while FC Twente take the title, or the other way around.

Cruyff Plans a Total Revolution
Ajax Amsterdam's legendary former player is determined to make the club a dynasty again


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AMSTERDAM—It's easy to forget that when it comes to European football dynasties, Ajax Amsterdam can hold its own with almost anyone.
The 111-year-old club's record of four European Cups is bettered by only AC Milan, Real Madrid and Liverpool, while its 29 domestic championships comfortably outstrips Manchester United, Bayern Munich or Barcelona.
During its most successful period in the 1970s, when the club won the European Cup three times in a row, Ajax was the most stylish and effective team around thanks to a dazzling style of play known as Total Football.

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Ajax players celebrate scoring in a league match in April, but the team that was once the best in Europe is now not even the best in the Netherlands.

"Ajax is something special," says Sjaak Swart, a former Ajax winger and a member of the three-time European champions. "It's about technique, attacking football, pace and it's attractive for the fans."
But lately, it's been anything but. Ajax hasn't won the Eredivisie championship for six years and hasn't lifted the European Cup since 1995. This season, the club was humbled in the Champions League group stage and exited the Europa League at the hands of Spartak Moscow.
As Ajax prepares to play host to FC Twente on Sunday in a game that will decide the Dutch championship, there is a growing feeling that this club, which was once the best in the world, isn't even the best team in the Netherlands. Ajax lost the Dutch Cup final to Twente last Sunday and trails the reigning champion by a point heading into the final round of matches.
In short, Ajax is a club in decline and one man has had enough.

"This isn't Ajax anymore," said Johan Cruyff, the club's greatest player, in a weekly column in De Telegraaf newspaper following Ajax's Champions League defeat to Real Madrid last November.
This outburst was hardly the first piece of criticism from Cruyff, the most illustrious player in the club's storied history and a notoriously critical judge of current Ajax teams. But the timing of this latest barb, combined with an increasing sense that the club has done a lousy job of honoring the tra***ions of the past, led to a period of infighting that remains unresolved.
Martin Jol, the head coach, left the club shortly afterwards, while the club's chief executive and supervisory board resigned last month amid a row over Cruyff's plans to restructure the club's youth academy.
Cruyff declined to be interviewed for this article, but is expected to oversee a complete overhaul of the club, installing former Ajax stars such as Dennis Bergkamp and Wim Jonk as assistant coaches and initiating a shake-up of the famed youth system, which once produced some of Europe's finest players but has failed to do so of late.
"It's about bringing together a team of people that can work together and can present the Ajax style of playing and the Ajax culture," says Swart.
As the pioneer of the pinball-passing gameplan currently practiced by the world's best club team, FC Barcelona, there is reason to believe Cruyff can help restore some former glories to his boyhood club.

Ajax's decline surely has something to do with a bunch of high-priced failures in the transfer market, a failure to develop young talent and chronic instability in the dugout—Frank de Boer, the current head coach, is the club's seventh manager in the past five years.
"This has been a period in which Ajax didn't make use of the talent in its youth academy and focused on buying players too much," said Swart.
But even when Cruyff's is installed in the club's board, which is expected next month, some fans, coaches and former players fear changes to the European football landscape in the last two decades mean Ajax will never return to the top of the European game.
For starters, the financial disparity between clubs from Europe's big five leagues—England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France—and the rest has grown significantly since Ajax's last Champions League success in 1995 following an explosion in the value of TV rights.
In 2010, Ajax made just over €5 million ($8.2 million) from the sale of its broadcast rights, while Real Madrid made €161 million. Even Tottenham Hotspur earned €53 million in 2010, which helps to explain why Rafael Van der Vaart, a graduate of the Ajax academy, can be seen playing for Spurs in the Champions League these days.

In ad***ion, Ajax has struggled to adapt to the new world order imposed on European football by the so-called Bosman ruling, a landmark legal case named after small-time Belgian midfielder Jean-Marc Bosman which ruled that footballers had the same rights as other workers in the European Union, including the right to free agency at the end of contracts and the right to work for any employer.
Until then, most football leagues had quotas on the number of non-nationals each team could sign or field. "In the past we had about eight local players and three foreign players," says Swart. "That's completely changed."
Free agency, or the threat of it, facilitated the movement of players, while the removal of national quotas made foreign players more desirable for Europe's biggest teams. In 1996, Edgar Davids became the first major star to switch clubs using the Bosman ruling when he left Ajax for AC Milan. Patrick Kluivert, the team's star striker, followed a year later.
Within four years of Ajax winning the European Cup in 1995, every member of the starting lineup had left. It's a situation the club is still struggling to come to terms with. "These days, you start a team, but if after three years your younger players leave, you can never build a team," said De Boer, the Ajax head coach. "That's our problem."
Still, many in this city are optimistic that with Cruyff's input and a return to Ajax's tra***ional values of developing homegrown talent, the club can mend its reputation—starting with Sunday's game against Twente.

"If we stick to the Ajax philosophy and give youth players a chance to play in the first team, and depending on a talented generation, certainly things are possible," De Boer said explaining he still has the ambition to win national and international trophies with Ajax. "You most certainly keep believing in your dreams, and we certainly do."

Ajax 3-1 Twente: Ajax win title in last day drama
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May 16, 2011

The starting line-ups​

Ajax needed to win to clinch the title, Twente needed just a draw – but Frank de Boer’s side emerged victorious.
The Ajax manager named an unchanged 4-3-3 side from the one that beat Herenveen in their last league game.
Michel Preud’Homme’s selection was also unchanged from the previous weekend’s 4-0 thrashing of Willem II in their last Eredivisie outing.
Ajax were the better side on the day – calmer in possession, better at pressing, able to create more goalscoring opportunities. This was not an especially tactical game, but in the few tactical points of interest, Ajax were superior.

Formations
Both sides played a lone striker formation – indeed, both had a de Jong brother as that lone striker – but there was a big difference in the two shapes. Ajax played a classic 4-3-3 – two wingers hugging the touchline and forcing the Twente back four to spread wide across the pitch.
Twente, despite often looking like a 4-3-3 themselves this season, were more of a 4-2-3-1 – the wide players were inside-forwards rather than wingers when they attacked, but they dropped back level with the two deeper central midfielders when out of position, leaving Theo Janssen as the closest player to Luuk de Jong.

Patterns
The start of the game was frantic – both sides look to close down the opposition quickly, but after around ten minutes, Twente retreated into their 4-4-1-1 shape without the ball, whilst Ajax continued to press, winning the ball back quickly and launching direct breaks. The difference in mentality without the ball was probably because of the different needs from the game – Ajax were happy
When Twente did try and press from their 4-4-1-1 shape, Ajax got around it intelligently, by dropping Vurnon Anita into the defence, switching to a back three and pushing their full-backs up the pitch. This allowed them to retain possession at the back easily, and the advancing full-backs pushed Twente’s wide players back into defensive positions.
The other interesting defence/midfield feature of Ajax’s play was how much of an attacking threat Jan Vertonghen was. He sent a couple of excellent crossfield balls over to Miralem Sulejmani on the left wing, who attacked Twente’s left-back Bart Buysse at speed, and also carried the ball forward into midfield himself, particularly when Janssen had moved forward, and Vertonghen could create a 3 v 2 situation in the centre of midfield.

Diagonal balls and width
Width was essentially the key factor in this game, and there were plenty of long, accurate diagonal passes played across the pitch to the wide players.
Twente could have gone ahead very early on when Bryan Ruiz got on the end of Nicolai Boilesen’s deep cross to the far post, whilst their best chance in the second half came when Nacer Chadli’s ball from the left was nearly converted by the onrushing Denny Lanzaat. Almost all their moves involved one of the wide players, and generally involved playing the ball across the pitch at some point in the move, rather than focusing on one flank.

Ajax looked to hit those long diagonals to the flanks as well, but their threat from the wide areas was increased because of the attacking presence of the full-backs. Whereas Twente’s full-backs were pressed quickly by Ajax’s wingers, not allowing them to get forward, the tendency for Chadli and Ruiz to drop back into deep positions meant that Gregory van der Wiel and Boilesen could get forward to cross.
That proved crucial, because van der Wiel’s right-wing crosses produced Ajax’s first two goals. Siem de Jong converted the first one at the far post, whilst Landzaat nodded into his own net after half time to make it 2-0.
Janssen’s excellent long-range strike put Twente back in it at 2-1, and then came substitutions. De Boer went defensive by bringing on the energetic Eyong Enoh to play a narrow right-sided midfield role, whilst Preud-Homme threw on another striker, Marc Janko.
That was probably the obvious move as Twente went to an all-out-attack 4-2-4ish system, but it rather conceded the midfield ground and Ajax capitalised, especially with Enoh on to provide another body in that zone. Christian Eriksen had a quiet game but provided a clever pass for Siem de Jong to score his second, and Ajax’s third.
De Boer went defensive late on. He replaced Boilesen with Daley Blind, perhaps for (slightly) more experience, and then Andre Ooijer replaced Lorenzo Ebecilio as Ajax basically just threw on as many defensive players as possible. Twente chucked the ball into the box but never looked like getting back in the game, and it was Ajax celebrating at the final whistle.

Conclusion
Pressing was a factor throughout this game – Ajax did it very well throughout, whilst Twente were keener to sit back. That set the overall pattern, but the most important individual factor was van der Wiel scampering down the right flank to provide two assists.
Overall, Ajax were simply better all over the pitch. They passed the ball beautifully and their combination play in midfield was very impressive. The use of Anita dropping back and Vertonghen coming forward gave their attacks flui***y, even from very deep, and whilst Twente had their chances, Ajax were on top for most of the contest.

Two more Special Ones: Preud’homme and De Boer
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May 19th, 2011

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Two massive games ( cup final and title match) with two new coaches ( for Holland new) on the bench. Preud’homme ( protege of De Mos and Mourinho) vs De Boer ( protege of Cruyff and Van Gaal). Two thoroughbreds.
Let’s first focus on MIchel Preud’homme a bit. We all know he was an annoyingly good goal keeper in his days. Darn, in 1994 he didn’t want to play ball with us, remember? The insular goalie became a success coach. And Twente is just another chapter, after Preud’homme’s winning teams at Standard Luik and AA Gent in Belgium.
What’s his recipe?
One could see it in the cup final, against Ajax. A draw in regular time so we went into to extension. And Ajax walked straight into the trap. Twente delays the pace. Becomes static. It invites Ajax to believe Twente has had it. It’s what Preud’homme calls the “The Static Phase”. Every game has one. Particularly if you want it to be there. No matter how frantic a game starts. And where ever Preud’homme works, he’ll find a player with a great kicking technique and he’ll work with him. On setpieces, on corner kicks. Defour at Standard, Azofeifa at AA Gent and now Theo Janssen. And Preud’homme will always have great headers up front. Onyewu, Luuk de Jong, Bryan Ruiz and Janko are typical Preud’homme attackers, in that sense. Preud’homme has turned the set piece into an art form.
FC Twente plays like AA Gent played.
When Preud’homme had his beer late at night in Milan, the night before the CL game versus Inter, he got a call on his mobile. The former Benfica goalie checked the number: Spain. That must be his buddy Jose Mourinho. Preud’homme was formed by two illustrious coaches: Aad de Mos ( tactically) and Jose Mourinho ( man management).
Preud’homme retired in Portugal. Benfica was his last club and actually his first in football management. He accepted the technical director role and one of his first decisions was to sign a young and inexperienced Portuguese coach: Jose Mourinho. Ask him why and he won’t be able to tell you. “I don’t know, but Jose had that something…”. And like the Special One, Preud’homme knows you don’t need the ball to win a football match. Pressing and the destructive turn-around are more holy to him than the Bible. The set piece is a form of art and work ethos is the foundation. Everything is allowed, in order to win, until the referee ( or the chair man) says “stop”.
What happened in De Kuip, in the Cup final? Ajax led, 2-0. Preud’homme came to stand in his technical area. He talked a bit with the fourth official. And he coached his lads. And some form of grit went through the coach’ body.
And what happened on the pitch? Douglas gets bitten by a wasp and collects a yellow and suddenly starts to chase his colleague Toby Alderweireld across the pitch. Pre-determined. Intimidation. A tactical move. Douglas is the ring leader. And the whole team responded. Just like Brama’s goal was a typical Preud’homme / Mourinho goal. Vertical football. From nothing suddenly an acceleration straight to the goal. Was Ajax simply not good enough in defending? Or were they simply overwhelmed after having been put to sleep?
And Twente has the rebel players as well. A lad who knows what winning ugly means. Mourinho has them. Preud’homme has him. Theo Janssen is Twente’s Tijl Uilenspiegel.

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Just before the extra 30 minutes Preud’homme walked up to his playmaker and smacked him hard on the shoulder. That was enough.
The good news in all this, is that everytime Mourinho wins something, he leaves. Porto, Inter…. Preud’homme? Same story. He left Standard after the title. He left Gent after the Cup. Preud’homme wants to be loved so he can improve himself. Because Special Ones don’t stand still. Twente’s chair man Munsterman is a warned man.
But like with Mourinho, Preud’homme is no magician. Mourinho doesn’t win everything and neither does Preud’homme. Ajax learned from the national cup final and decided to not fall asleep in the title match.
Supported by 50,000+ fans, the Ajax team relentlessly hunted Twente down. With top football played by Vernon Anita and Jan Vertonghen in particular. Ajax was humiliated and Frank de Boer doesn’t like that. Preud’homme won against Frank in 1994 and in the home venue of Ajax’ biggest rival ( De Kuip).


But as Johan Cruyff demands it: Ajax is boss at home, always.
( Thanks to the AD)
In the meantime, in Amsterdam:

Ajax legend Piet Keizer resigned as technical committee member AND gave his honorary membership back to Ajax, on the basis of the treatment he received by the Ajax board. But: “Johan’s plans are ok, but he wants too much too soon. I think De Boer, Bergkamp and Jonk could be wonderful for the club, but they’re young and inexperienced.”
Ajax is in serious talks with Theo Janssen. It’s a public secret that Munsterman wants Janssen out and Frank de Boer and the Tattoo Theo have had their first – good – talk. Janssen wants to go to Ajax ( doesn’t like to go abroad) and he wants to play CL football. Someone suggested Theo demands a smoking room at the Arena.
Johan Cruyff: “For the club to win the title like this, while all this mayhem is on is a testament to the strength of our club. It’s not happy times and still we are able to do this. It only goes to show what potential we have!”
Theo Janssen has informed Bert van Marwijk that he’ll skip the South America trip with Oranje. He needs knee surgery and will do this after his dealings with Ajax. He also thinks the plane trip for South America without a smoke is too long.
Ajax has signed Belgium super talent, the 17 year old Mats Rits.
Frank de Boer has announced that he won’t stop the 26 year old El Hamdaoui if he wants to move clubs.
Ajax supporters have damaged the Van Gogh museum during the title celebrations at the rate of 75.000 euros. The city council will claim this money back via the supporters’ club.
There is currently a run on Ajax’ season tickets. The fans still love the club and with the Summer now available for Cruyff and Co. to make some changes, the fans love it.

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Frank de Boer’s career hasn’t even really started yet ( he replaced Jol this winter), the fans already believe De Boer is a legend and his name is mentioned in the same sentence as Hiddink, Cruyff and Van Gaal. De Boer: “I don’t always see eye to eye with Cruyff.”
Last year, the two discussed the ideal game plan in a 4-3-3 system. The key debating point was the number 10, or the shadow striker. Cruyff doesn’t believe in that role and wants the central striker to be the playmaker ( Barcelona style with Messi and Oranje 1974 style with…eh…Cruyff), while Frank de Boer had his biggest successes with Ajax and Litmanen in that role.
De Boer: “Cruyff can very eloquently explain why he thinks this. And I got enthusiastic and tried it out in the A1 juniors and it worked. It’s offers new options.”
In Ajax’ style, the central midfielder is an attacking player, in Cruyff’s mind ( and Barca’s model) the central midfielder is a holding player. De Boer: “It means you can play with two midfielders with depth and penetration. It gives more options, in particular if your central striker will move around. This is how Oranje operated under Van Marwijk as well and Arsenal plays like this too, of course. There is more variance and you can use the space to “go into it” instead of already being there….”
De Boer doesn’t buy everything JC says. “Listen, I worked in the youth department of Ajax for 4,5 year, every day, and it’s not that bad there, honestly. I also had problems with Peter Boeve assessing the contributions of Danny Blind! Come on! Blind was our skipper when we won our last CL and he scored the winning goal in our World Cup match. Peter Boeve was a work horse in a less successful Ajax and quit coaching after a short lived career. Do we need him to assess Blind? That got my blood to boiling point, I’m sorry.”
De Boer also uses Van Gaal methods to prepare his players. Van Gaal works with visualisation. “I told the players to take time off in their prep and play the game in their heads. Take a positive scenario and see yourself win the title. See yourself give the assist, score the goal or blocking that shot… I also told them that this game result was the differentiator between a mediocre player and a top player. You can get your name in the history books. This is why you worked so hard from when you were 12 years old. For this game.”
De Boer: “Take Nicolai Boilesen. In the cup final, he choked. He physically was impaired by stress. He was able to give that experience a spot and was ready for the home game. I could have replaced him. I didn’t. He was ready. Boilesen made a huge leap.”
“And I told my team: We are Ajax! This is our home. We are the boss on the pitch. We will bitchslap them across the pitch. We will play with the character, history and jersey of the Ajax jersey. Worn by Keizer, Cruyff, Swart, Neeskens, Krol, Lerby, Kieft, Van Basten, Rijkaard, Bergkamp, Litmanen, Overmars, Stam, Davids, Seedorf. Make them proud. And they did. They delivered under pressure and that is what big teams do.”

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