Ajax Amsterdam - trying to win with youth

During my years of playing FM I've usually stick to my favorite club - Ajax. Mostly because of attractive football they play and of cours huge potential and talent of the team. However, long term saves in FM tend to become too easy, because human intelligence usually beats AI in long term team building. Therefore I've set myself certain restrictions in my save:

1) Don't buy anyone. It means I have to rely to talent that comes from my own youth system, not picking cheap talents and building a superior team. Taking young players with all their strenghts and weaknesses and trying to fit them to my tactics is an essential challenge. Developing them - training, tutoring, loaning out etc. takes time and dedication, but is rewarding as well. Only exception to this rule are youngsters from feeder clubs (e.g. Ajax CT).

2) Sell good players - since 90's Ajax have been a selling club, and it still is. It is a springboard for young players to better leagues, bigger money and winning titles. My philosophy is not to keep hold of a player when large enough bid comes in. I'll just sell him and pick another youngster to fill his place. I've defindet that rule as if bid is at least £8-10m I have to sell.

These two rules make scouting network pretty much obsolete and, of course, transfer windows rather boring, but they have positives too. I've found that in FM results are often down to good tactical understanding, team spirit and dressing room atmosphere. Keeping the same team over several years can give you advantage, especially in the beginning of new season when competitors struggle with team blending and trying to fit new players to their system.

So, let's go back to July 2012 and see where this story starts this time.

For Ajax employ my regular tactics that was described as 4-1-2-2-1 in FM12, but FM13 suggests it would be 4-3-3.

Friendlies in July went so-so. Won against Bastia and Lyon. Lost against Troyes and Bolton. Made 0-0 draw against ManU (I'm fairly pleased with that particular result).

I loaned out several youth players (Sporkslede, Lukoki, van der Hart, Denswil etc.).

Then it was a first serious encounter - against PSV in Dutch Super Cup match. After changing mindgame comments with Dick Advocaat, it was a moment of truth to find out where exactly we were in the beginning of the season. Tim Matavz scored in 26', but Moisander equalized after corner (goal on his debut!) and it went all the way to penalties. Shoot-out was nervous, but we won 6-5 and Ajax got the first trophy of my era. Positive start at least.

I have pretty much regular team in my mind. Only downside is Alderweireld's transfer request - to be honest he deserves better challenge than Eredivisie.

GK: Vermeer, Cillessen

DR: van Rhijn, Ligeon

DC: Alderweireld, Veltman

DC: Moisander, Denswil

DL: Blind, Dijks, Boilesen (injured)

DMC: Poulsen, Boccara

MCs: de Jong, Serero

MCa: Eriksen, Schone, Andersen

AMR: Suleijmani, Hoesen

AML: Babel, Boerrigter, Sana

ST: Sigdorsson, Fischer

Eredivisie started well, winning 4 of the first 4 league matches and I was equally happy to see that PSV has lost some valuable points. Feyenoord, Groningen and Heerenveen have started well though.

ADO Den Haag - Ajax 0:1 (Danny Hoesen) - one chance, one goal, drab match

Ajax - Vitesse Arnhem 2:1 (Ryan Babel, Christian Eriksen pen.) - we conceded first, but lucky penalty was awarded in 80' and that gave us a valuable win. Still too much errors and team hasn't adjusted to my tactics very well

Ajax - FC Zwolle 1:0 (Lasse Schöne) - very very poor game. We didn't create enough chances and Schöne's goal was rather a result of plucky challenge than smooth attacking play. Very disappointing despite the 3 points. It should have been easier.

Ajax - FC Groningen 2:0 (38. Ryan Babel, 68. Christian Eriksen). Groningen have started well and Bacuna has been superb, but we did excellently to nullify him and took a confident win. The first win that was supported by equally good performance. Eriksen's goal was excellent DFK.

I've had some poor injuries already and it's obvious that they are way worse than in FM12. Injuries for several months seem to be now rule rather than exception. Sigdorsson, Vermeer, Suleijmani, Eriksen are or have been injured already and it's worrying.

Alderweireld wanted to leave and requested transfer. I finally sold him to Galatasaray for £8m in the end of August. It's a big blow to my ambitions and he's tough to replace, but Joel Veltman has to step up now.

CL groups were drawn and we got Salzburg, Man City and Barcelona. Seriously?! We can only compete for 3rd place now and probably should set our sight to Europa League right away.

Board confidence page gives me some criticism because of less than attractive football played. True, it hasn't been too smooth or dominant against domestic teams, but it is expected in the beginning of the first season in charge. At least I've got the results needed to claim 1st position in the table.

Looking forward to this Draakon, I was a lurker in the Ajax thread for FM12 and always enjoyed your updates. One thing I would query is your selling rule - I understand the sporting.historical principles behind it, but if you do turn the club into a consistent European challenger with plenty of money in the bank, will you become a little more flexible? Either way, good luck - it's a tough CL group but a good league start, hopefully you can get the better of PSV and the new money of Vitesse.

15.09 - NAC Breda - Ajax 0:3 (20. Thulani Serero, 76. Miralem Suleijmani, 86. Lasse Schöne) - We created fewer chances, but execution was top class. Sigdorsson was injured, so Viktor Fischer was played up front and of course he too picked up a knock - twisted ankle, which leaves him sidelined for 5-6 weeks.

18.09 - Red Bull Salzburg - Ajax 2:2 (Champions League Group Stage) (25. Lasse Schöne, 90.+2 Derk Boerrigter) - we were better team, but not lethal enough. Things turned sour in 2nd half, but Boerrigter's excellent free kick in injury time saved us a point.

23.09 - Ajax - Roda JC Kerkrade 2:0 (9. Siem de Jong, 12. Daley Blind). Good start to the game, we were up 2-0 very quickly, but then both Ryan Babel (torn calf muscle) and Siem de Jong (bruised thigh) got injured and there went my creativity. Babel gave both assists. Roda played better 2nd half, but couldn't capitalize. Babel's injury leaves him sidelined for 5 months and that's a real blow...

26.09 - Lienden - Ajax (Dutch Cup 2nd round) 1:4 - (9. and 61. Lasse Schöne, 17. Abdelmalek el Hasnaoui, 56. Lucas Andersen) - a must win game against minnows. Important fixture against PSV was coming up, so youngsters and reserves got their chance to impress. Some succeeded (el Hasnaoui's goal on his debut!), some less so (Dijks' foul gave away a penalty and gave Lienden a goal), but otherwise relaxed game.

30.09 - Ajax - PSV 0:0 - very important game and very tight. PSV got more shots, but we had 2 half-chances (whereas they created none), but both defenses prevailed this time. There it showed that against good defense I miss my injured creative force. de Jong, Eriksen, Sigdorsson, Fischer, Babel... all out. Andersen is talented, but young, Hoesen and Sana are talented, but not on the level of Babel and Suleijmani. And Schöne is still not a natural striker, although he has scored some goals this season and because he's the best option I have he has played 2 last games up front.

So, first 10 games of my reign in Ajax have passed and I've started undefeated. However, next game is an European fixture against Barcelona and something tells me this streak is going to end...

Good luck with this. I tried the same thing with my Sunderland team on FM10, it took a while for us to be competitive at the highest level (13 seasons, to be exact), but in the end I won everything but a league title with them.

I've played similarly in previous FM games. Usually I have won CL at least once in 6-7 years time. In FM12 my best achievement was reaching to semis, partly because I was more strict with this "no transfers" policy (in earlier versions I bought perhaps 2-3 players over 5-6 years) and partly because I feel that AI squad building ability was vastly improved in FM12 and it was very difficult to compete against a horde of young and cheap regen prodigies.

01.10 - Ajax - FC Barcelona (Champions League Group Stage) 2:1 (45.+2 Schöne, 47. Suleijmani - 81. Lionel Messi)

Magnificent performance against Barca. I opted some young players and rested first team players to give them some rest after PSV game. van Rhijn and Moisander were replaced by Dijks and Ligeon in defense. Boccara played in midfield with Sana in unusual MC spot.

Our counter attack tactics worked well and we kept tight defense until stupid cross pass from Busquets in defense was intercepted by Schöne who coolly made it 1-0. Just after the break, Sulejmani got a crack and fired from tight angle. We got another chance from counter, but Schöne hit the post and substitute Boerrigter then smashed his free kick against crossbar from good position. Although we couldn't kept Messi at bay for full 90 minutes, we grabbed unbelievable victory in front of home fans and I'm pretty sure there were some happy faces both on the stands and in board room.

6.10 - Willem II Tilburg - Ajax 0:3 (ED) - 19. Lasse Schöne, 50. Derk Boerrigter, 90. Siem de Jong - confident win in away game. Boerrigter have replaced Babel well and once again showed his excellent free kick abilities with a goal.

21.10 - VVV Venlo - Ajax 0:0 (ED) - after international break and return of some of my injured attacking players I tried to return to my initial squad and it didn't went well. Fischer wasn't as good in ST position as Schöne had been and overall our attacking game lacked its usual creativity. Dull and goalless draw agains VVV that we should beat easily.

24.10 - Ajax - Manchester City 2:1 (CL Group Stage) - 45.+2. pen. Lasse Schöne, 90.+2 Derk Boerrigter - 45. Sergio Agüero - another uphill task that somehow went our way in the end. I tried the same counter-attacking tactics that brought success against Barcelona. We kept tight until the end of the half, but then there was a mess in front of our goal, ball bounced from post and Agüero was in the right place to make it 0-1. I was especially disappointed because we conceded in the end of the half. But then in 2 minutes, yet before the whistle it was a doubtful penalty (2nd of the season to our benefit) and Schöne equalized. 1-1 was a good result and I was able to boost morale in dressing room. 2nd half was exciting play from both sides - ManCity piling on the pressure and we trying to exploit any chances to counter. I was already happy with a point when long pass found Boerrigter on the run and he smashed home the injury time winner. Magnificent win once again and I can't really believe that we've won both European giants at home. Away games will be more difficult though.

28.10 - Ajax - AZ Alkmaar 3:0 (ED) - 18. Miralem Suleijmani, 56. and 90.+2 Derk Boerrigter - AZ have had a poor season so far and they're just in 16th position. Actually, their manager was sacked after this game, but their poor form and lack of confidence helped me a lot. Altidore got 2 ccc-s in the game, but missed both. We scored from half-chances. Boerrigter's goals were both trademark shots. First one from DFK and second in injury time.

30.10 - Almere City - Ajax 0:1 (Dutch Cup 3rd round) - 106. Viktor Fischer - I'm not happy with a win, bu because I had only 2 days between matches I had to use a lot of youngsters and substitute players. Creativity was poor and although we dominated the game it took extra time to break through. Fischer scored his first goal of the season.

Eredivisie after 10 games:

1. Ajax 26

2. FC Groningen 20

3. Feyenoord 20

4. Vitesse 18

5. PSV 16

.........

9. FC Twente 14 (9 games played)

........

17. AZ Alkmaar 7

Ajax best scorers (all competitions): Schöne 8, Boerrigter 5, Suleijmani 2

Ajax best assists: Serero 7, de Jong 5, Suleijmani 3, Babel 3

Babel is out for at least 3 more months and Dijks will be back perhaps in Christmas time, but otherwise my squad is back to fitness. Concern is Sigdorsson who hasn't scored in his 6 appearances so far and Christian Poulsen who has managed to earn two red cards in a row - both in AZ and Almere games - so he'll skip now one league game and one cup game. Luckily both reds came in the end of the game and didn't affect final result, but still he should cut back on fouls.

03.11.2012 - Ajax - Heracles Almelo (ED) - 3:1 (1. and 46. Derk Boerrigter, 38. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson - 37. Everton) - solid win against smaller Heracles club, although I'm not particularly pleased with the goal we conceded.

06.11.2012 - Manchester City - Ajax (ECC Group Stage) - 4:2 (4. Micah Richards, 23. Yaya Toure, 60. David Silva, 63. Sandro - 29. Joel Veltman, 81. Derk Boerrigter) - it was an uphill task, but we tried our best and I feel we put in a plucky performance. Veltman scored his first goal for Ajax in this match. However, we didn't really stand a chance after Toure's goal. It was a terrible game for Niklas Moisander who made a mistake after mistake and he could be considered responsible for 2 of Manchester City's goals. Fans felt 'devastated' because of that loss and I'm disappointed in fans - if you score 2 goals in away turf against ManCity, it shows some spirit and needs to be recognized...

10.11.2012 - Ajax - NEC Nijmegen (ED) - 3:1 (14. and 59. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson, 82. Niklas Moisander - 8. Danny van de Meiracker) - we let them score first, but equalized quickly and 2nd half belonged fully to Ajax. I'm pleased that Sigdorsson has started to score quickly after recovering his injury

18.11.2012 - RKC Waalwijk - Ajax (ED) - 0:1 (30.Christian Eriksen) - we didn't create enough chances and of course RKC was parking a tank and their defense was difficult to break. I tried Eriksen in different roles (MC attack, Advanced playmaker attack) and his shot finally secured us 3 points. I expected more goals, to be honest.

21.11.2012 - Ajax - FC Red Bull Salzburg (ECC Group Stage) 3:1 (14., 16., and 85. Lasse Schöne - 36. Jonathan Soriano) - Because of tight schedule I had to rotate some players. Sigdorsson was rested and Schöne returned as ST and celebrated that with a hat-trick. 5-6 weeks ago I had trouble because most of my attacking players were injured, now it's difficult to pick a squad because everybody play so well and are able to find the net. It was a must win game for us if we wanted to qualify to knockout stages. We did win and because Barca beat Manchester City at the same time, we were 4 points clear of the English club with one game to go so we could celebrate that we progressed from tough group against 2 of such giants.

24.11.2012 - Feyenoord Rotterdam - Ajax (ED) 3:3 (9. Sekou Cisse, 11. Joris Mathijsen, 44. Graziano Pelle - 20. Derk Boerrigter, 31. and 72. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson) - we started really poorly, giving them 2 ccc-s in first 11 minutes and they scored on both occasion. But we came back and for 31th minute it was 2:2. I was really pleased that players didn't let their spirit drop and fought back. In 34' Suleijmani had a chance to take a lead, but his penalty was saved by Feyenoord's keeper and we conceded another just before half-time. Sigdorsson eaqualized in 2nd half and we shared a point with Feyenoord. Feyenoord is in 2nd place at the moment and away draw is OK result for me. Game itself was very even too and neither side deserved to lose. But this penalty leaves a bitter taste...

28.11.2012 - Ajax - FC Twente (ED) 2:1 (14. Niklas Moisander, 35. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson - 51. pen. Dusan Tadic) - important win against strong opponents. Our goals in 1st half came perhaps against the run of game, Twente managed to gain more possession and attack, but Moisander's header from corner gave us a lead and Sigdorsson used his chance well. 2nd hald was better controlled from our side and despite that conceded penalty we took confident 2:1 win.

So, in conclusion, pretty successful month for Ajax. No major injuries. I extended contracts of Suleijmani and Babel, but nothing else to report.

Eredivisie table 30.11.2012

1. Ajax 39 (15 games played)

2. PSV 31

3. Feyenoord 31

4. Vitesse 26

5. Groningen 26

6. FC Twente 24 (14 games)

........

14. AZ Alkmaar 15

........

16. RKC Waalwijk 11

17. ADO Den Haag 10

18. VVV Venlo 4

Ajax best goalscorers: Schöne 11, Boerrigter 9, Sigdorsson 6

Ajax best assists: Serero 8, de Jong 7, Hoesen 4, Andersen 4

01.12.2012 - sc Heerenveen - Ajax (ED) 0:2 - 83. Lucas Andersen, 90.+1 Ruben Ligeon - we took our time, but finally goals came from players who haven't scored yet this season. We weren't creative enough in attacking phase.

04.12.2012 - FC Barcelona - Ajax (ECC Group Stage) 2:0 - 30. Lionel Messi, 83. Cesc Fabregas - although this game didn't change anything I was pleased to concede only 2 goals. To be honest, it was more one-sided than scoreline indicates. Barca created 5 ccc-s, but finishing let them down in many occasions.

07.12.2012 - Ajax - ADO Den Haag (ED) 2:1 - 24. Derk Boerrigter, 48. Miralem Suleijmani - 75. Charlton Vicento. Good game from my team until the lapse of concentration which resulted conceding a goal. Boerrigter was MoM once again and I'm also pleased that Suleijmani scored. It's been a while since his last goal.

12.12.2012 - Ajax - FC Utrecht (ED) 2:1 - 9. Siem de Jong, 77. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson - 82. Jan Wuytens - again we dominated the game but couldn't turn it to goals as I would have liked. Utrecht's goal came from free kick, although we played well in defense overall. We still have room for improvement.

15.12.2012 - FC Zwolle - Ajax (ED) 1:1 - 27. Wiljan Pluim - 19. Viktor Fischer - because of schedule I had to give few players some rest and I was confident my youngsters could beat Zwolle. It started well when Fischer scored magnificent goal after running past 3 defenders (his first league goal for Ajax), but Zwolle equalized. The game was marred by injuries (Boccara, Ligeon) and I didn't have much options to change things with substitutions. Disappointing draw. At least Feyenoord and PSV lost some points too.

18.12.2012 - De Graafschap - Ajax (Dutch Cup 4th round) 1:0 - 23. Nenad Sreckovic - that's it... all gunpowder an energy was lost, difficult schedule, big matches and fatigue caught us up at last. De Graafschap had a half chance and they score, but we couldn't answer despite trying everything. It seems to be a common thing as all big clubs dropped out in 4th round, but I'm still disappointed to finish cup season like that. I expected more from some players and let it know after the game.

26.12.2012 - Ajax - Vitesse Arnhem (ED) 1:0 - 43. Derk Boerrigter - another dull game (still not able to fulfill board promise and play attracktive football). We played magnificently in defense and limited Vitesse to only 1 shot (tbh, it could be because Bony was out with injury). We created no more than 1 chance ourselves and Boerrigter finished great cross from Suleijmani just before half time. So the year ends in positive notes.

January is more promising in terms of fitness - injured players (Boccara, Babel, Dijks) have returned and I have full squad in my disposal, except for Serero who is away in ACN.

Eredivisie in January

1. Ajax 52 (20 games played)

2. FC Twente 42

3. PSV 41

4. Feyenoord 36

5. FC Groningen 36

6. Vitesse 30

.....................

16. RKC Waalwijk 15

17. ADO Den Haag 11

18. VVV Venlo 7

Feyenoord have lost some momentum and Twente has picked up good form and they've won 6 games in a row (in fact, all games after we defeated them in the end of November).

Ajax best scorers: Boerrigter 11, Schöne 11, Sigdorsson 7, Suleijmani 4

Ajax best assists: de Jong 8, Serero 8, Hoesen 5

Your running away with the title

Your running away with the title

Yes, I'm pretty safe at the moment and that's why I'm especially disappointed with this cup loss - I could have lost a league game and still going for double.

CL season will probably end in the 1st knockout round - we were drawn against ManU. But anyway I didn't have any hope to progress from group, so knockout stages are bonus anyway.

Other teams have already lost some players via free transfers in coming Summer - Douglas is leaving Twente for Dortmund, Bruno Martins Indi goes from Feyenoord to Hannover. Losing such players for free must cause some damage.

Transfer window passed quietly and we played 2 games:

23.01.2013 - Ajax - NAC Breda (ED) 2:0 - 69. Miralem Suleijmani, 79. Christian Eriksen - NAC defended well until Gudelj received red card in 59'. After that we were able to break through.

26.01.2013 - FC Groningen - Ajax (ED) 1:2 - 36. David Teixeira - 39. pen. Miralem Suleijmani, 72. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson - to be honest we were very lucky and Groningen deserved to win, but they wasted 2 ccc-s and gave away cheap penalty (handball from corner). Fortune favors the strong, but I'm disappointed with performance, also because we had pretty much the best team possible - Babel returned from long injury break.

Eredivisie

1. Ajax 58

2. PSV 47

3. FC Twente 46

4. FC Groningen 39

5. Feyenoord 36

6. Vitesse 34

....................

16. RKC Waalwijk 15

17. VVV Venlo 13

18. ADO Den Haag 11

International break went well and many of my players broke through to Holland NT. Daley Blind earned his first cap against Scotland. Bad news was de Jong's injury in the same game and he's 4 weeks out.

10.02.2013 Roda JC Kerkrade - Ajax (ED) 1:2 - 75. Sanharib Malki - 29. Joel Veltman, 56. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson - Roda is just above relegation zone this season and despite conceded goal we were better side in this match. Bad news was Blind's injury (broken arm) that keeps him sidelined for 2 months. I would need him against ManU in CL. Another bad news is Poulsen's 2nd red card of the season. Straight one this time, for needless violent tackle in opposite side of the pitch. We won this game without him, but he's now suspended for next 3 games.

13.02.2013 Ajax - Manchester United (ECC 1st knockout round) 3:1 - 47. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson, 71. Viktor Fischer, 78. pen. Lasse Schöne - 83. Wayne Rooney - we tried to keep defense tight and succeeded in 1st half. Mitchell Dijks replaced injured Blind as a left back and did superbly, getting MoM for his performance. Our job became a lot easier when Johnny Evans received straight red card for deliberate handball in our box. After the break we managed to cut through United defense and score 3 goals, last 2 of them after mistakes by Rafael. I hoped to finish without giving ManU valuable away goal, but it was not to happen and we couldn't keep Rooney at bay for 90 minutes. Excellent result for us, but chances to progress are still 50-50 at most.

16.02.2013 Ajax - Willem II Tilburg (ED) 5:0 - 15. Derk Boerrigter, 19. and 45.+4 Kolbeinn Sigdorsson, 70. and 78. Lucas Andersen - I think this is the first game this season when we turned our possession and better quality to goals. Very confidnent performance.

22.02.2013 PSV - Ajax (ED) 2:2 - 74. and 86. Jürgen Locadia - 56. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson, 73. pen. Miralem Suleijmani - we started cautiously and after boring 1st half it was Sigdorsson who scored first goal and later earned us a penalty that Suleijmani converted to 2-0 lead. But then PSV's substitute Locadia changed their pace of attack and scored twice to save a point. PSV is lying on 2nd place well behind us in the table and so draw wasn't particularly bad result, but I'm disappointed that we wasted our 2-0 lead against rivals.

27.02.2013 AZ Alkmaar - Ajax (ED) 0:1 - 89. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson - AZ tried hard and got their chance in 42' when referee gave them a penalty after Moisander's foul. It seemed like a harsh decision and replay indicated it was a dive, but fortunately Vermeer made a superb save to turn away Elm's spot kick. After AZ's corner near the end of the game it was Sigdorsson who went for a counter and finished his 60 meters run with a beautiful goal to steal 3 points from AZ.

Eredivisie

1. Ajax 68 (26 games played)

2. PSV 58 (27)

3. FC Twente 53

4. FC Groningen 46

5. Vitesse 44

6. Feyenoord 41

..............

16. RKC Waalwijk 21

17. ADO Den Haag 18

18. VVV Venlo 13

Ajax best scorers: Sigdorsson 14, Boerrigter 12, Schöne 12, Suleijmani 7

Ajax best assists: Serero 10, de Jong 8, Boerrigter 6

Very nice read so far. I'm enjoying the easy layout of your seasons ongoings. It's an interesting challenge you have set yourself. Ajax of course renowned for there homegrown talent so will be easier to fast track your new young guns into the first team without the threat of oversea transfer dealings. Might even make them better players. If I could hassle you for extra information like; transfer window updates from home and abroad, stat increases of your younger players etc. Anything to help me see how your whole game is shaping up.

Anyways keep up the good work.

I'll try to give transfer window updates next time around. Season is ending soon so perhaps I'll try to give some screenshots of youngsters. I have a pretty thin defensive line, so Dijks and Ligeon have played a lot of games. Veltman has had to step up after Alderweireld left. Boccara have almost took over DMC position from Poulsen. Andersen and Fischer look very promising too.

From players out on loan Mickey van der Hart has had the best season so far, he's claimed first choice GK spot for Roda and has played over 20 games and improved significantly as a player.

Looking good so far. League looking easy, hopefully you can get a decent result at Old Trafford.

02.03.2013 - Ajax - VVV Venlo (ED) 3:1 - 44. and 77. Tobias Sana, 54. Lasse Schöne - 86. Ricky van Haaren - I tried to rotate before Old Trafford game and Tobias Sana rewarded my trust with 2 goals. Vermeer, Suleijmani, Sigdorsson, Eriksen, Babel were rested, but still comfortable 3:1 win.

05.03.2013 - Manchester United - Ajax (ECC 1st knockout round) 6:1 (aggr. 7:4) - 17. Shinji Kagawa, 29., 43. 90.+1 and 90.+4 Robin van Persie, 83. Javier Hernandez - 74. Danny Hoesen - well... I have to admit that ManU proved the point that night and we were confirmed we are not top 8 material yet. Van Persie was out in the first match, but now he returned to punish us with 4 goals and made a lot of difference in that game. We struggled to get our counters going and were 3-0 down at half time. Hoesen's goal equalized aggregate score, but soon Hernandez made it 4-1. We could have settled with that, but I wasn't ready to give up, so we kept trying to score until van Persie finished the job in injury time. Harsh, because we went to Manchester with high hopes, but fair, as ManU was easily the better team.

09.03.2013 - Heracles Almelo - Ajax (ED) 0:3 - 76. Thulani Serero, 85. Christian Eriksen, 87. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson - we bounced back from ManU game with away win in the league. Although it took some time, we scored 3 goals in last 15 minutes and morale in dressing room started to imporve again.

16.03.2013 - NEC Nijmegen - Ajax (ED) 1:3 - 83. Danny van de Meiracken - 43. and 45. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson, 56. Niklas Moisander - easy win in the league. We could have scored more. van de Meiracken scored once as he did in previous game against NEC. This time, the blame was on Vermeer. While Mitchell Dijks was injured in Heracles' game, Joel Veltman came off against NEC with fractured arm. Fortunately Nicolai Boilesen is back in full fitness and played his first game after long injury break.

31.03.2013 - Ajax - RKC Waalwijk (ED) 3:0 - 3. Miralem Suleijmani, 75. Siem de Jong, 83. Danzell Gravenberch - international break didn't pass without troubles, as Sigdorsson and van Rhijn returned with injuries. We needed a win against RKC to win the title and we managed to do that easily. de Jong returned from injury break to score a goal and Danzell Gravenberch was given his first chance to impress - and he did exactly that by scoring on his debut. With this win we secured the title with 4 games to go.

Other news - new intake of youth players came in and it looks promising especially in defense. Not so much attackers or wingers. Jasper Cillessen came to me, concerned, asking for more first team football. I could promise him that easily because we have full 4 games to play that don't decide anything, but of course, he's not a bad goalkeeper either. So far he's played 11 games with average 7.04 rating which is better than Vermeer's 6.96, but keep in mind that Vermeer has played against tough teams and in most continental games, so it's not so easy to judge fairly, who's better. But I see that dividing playing time between GK-s could become problem next season too.

Eredivisie

1. Ajax 80 (30 games played)

2. PSV 65

3. FC Twente 63

4. FC Groningen 50

...............

16. RKC Waalwijk 25

17. ADO Den Haag 21

18. VVV Venlo 14

Ajax best scorers: Sigdorsson 17, Schöne 13, Boerrigter 12, Suleijmani 8

Ajax best assists: Serero 13, de Jong 8, Eriksen 7, Boerrigter 6

05.04.2013 - Ajax - Feyenoord Rotterdam (ED) 4:1 - 2. and 74. pen. Miralem Suleijmani, 29. Christian Eriksen, 44. Ryan Babel - 51. Graziano Pelle - after winning the title there's no better way to celebrate than demolishing Feyenoord in front of our own fans. Trio of Eriksen-Suleijmani-Babel were unstoppable and did whatever they pleased on the pitch. Only Moisander's injury (torn hamstring, 3 months) added some darker tones to this day

12.04.2013 - FC Twente - Ajax (ED) 2:0 - 21. Dusan Tadic, 74. Dmitry Bulykin - first defeat in the league in whole season. Twente have a great team and all their players were fit, but that's no excuse. They were better than us and we looked tired and lacklustre.

21.04.2013 - Ajax - sc Heerenveen (ED) 2:1 - 32. and 86. Siem de Jong - 45. Alfred Finnbogason - de Jong showed his leadership and experience to get a win in this game. We had a lot of troubles in defensive line. In addition to numerous injuries, Blind was suspended for this game after his 5th yellow card. So defensive line was: van Rhijn - Poulsen - van Koesveld - Kuipers. van Koesveld and Kuipers made their debuts for first team and can be proud for their performance. Bas Kuipers especially impressed as DL.

05.05.2013 - FC Utrecht - Ajax (ED) 0:2 - 17. pen. Miralem Suleijmani, 23. Christian Eriksen - it was a very even game, but we scored 2 goals early in the game and defensive line put in excellent performance to keep Utrecht at bay despite being under heavy pressure for long periods.

Eredivisie

1. Ajax 89

2. PSV 72

3. FC Twente 72

4. Fc Groningen 56

5. Feyenoord 53

Relegated: VVV Venlo and ADO Den Haag.

Promoted: FC Den Bosch and Excelsior

Ajax's Best Goalscorers: Sigdorsson 17, Schöne 13, Boerrigter 12, Suleijmani 11

Best Assists: Serero 13

Awards

Top Goalscorer: Graziano Pelle (Feyenoord)

Golden Boot: Leandro Bacuna (FC Groningen)

Young Player of the Year: Christian Eriksen (Ajax)

Manager's Manager of the Year: Robert Maaskant (FC Groningen)

Goalkeeper of the Year: Kenneth Vermeer (Ajax)

Dutch Cup Final

FC Utrecht - Vitesse 0:1

Champions League Final

Chelsea - Real Madrid 2:0

Nothing to report much about transfers. From returning loan players I try to find a place in first team for Eyong Enoh, Jody Lukoki and Stefano Denswil. Meanwhile I've already sent out several youngsters on loan for the next season.

I didn't offer new contracts for Castillion, Toivomäki, Chiel Kramer and Mike Busse, they were released. I also sold Xandro Schenk to FC Eindhoven for £50k.

Remarkable transfers in June 2013

Leroy Fer from FC Twente to Liverpool (£10,5m)

Magnus Wolff Eikrem from Molde to PSV (£2,9m)

Douglas from FC Twente to Dortmund (free)

Filip Djuricic from sc Heerenveen to SLB (£5,25m)

Marko Veijnovic from Heracles to 1860 München (free)

Bruno Martins Indi from Feyenoord to Hannover (free)

Femi Aijlore from FC Groningen to Düsseldorf (free)

In friendlies we were unimpressive, but as I tested a lot of young players I didn't turn too much attention to results.

27.07.2013 - Ajax - Vitesse Arnhem (DSC) 3:1 - 14. and 76. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson, 46. Christian Eriksen - 22. Wilfried Bony - Vitesse looks good on paper, but their weakness is defense and we tried to put them under pressure right from the start of the game. And we succeeded. In addition to 3 goals, we hit goal frames for another 4 times and looked impressive enough. My board have also recognized me lately for playing attacking football.

Players out on loan: Marinkovic, Lukoki, Gravenberch, Enoh, de Bondt, van der Hart, Sporkslede, Klaassen, Keskin, de Sa, Lazic, Kuipers, van Koesveld, Bijl, Leeuwenburgh, Anderson

So, the team that I can face the new season with:

GK: Vermeer, Cillessen

DR: van Rhijn, Ligeon

DRC: Veltman, Koppers

DLC: Moisander, Denswil

DL: Blind, Boilesen, Dijks,

DMC: Boccara, Poulsen

MCL: de Jong, Serero, Schöne

MCR: Eriksen, Andersen

AMR: Suleijmani, Hoesen

AML: Boerrigter, Babel, Sana

ST: Sigdorsson, Fisher

03.08.2013 - Ajax - RKC Waalwijk (ED) - 3:0 - 7. and 36. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson, 18. Miralem Suleijmani - first league encounter was relatively easy one. Sigdorsson continued his good scoring form with 2 goals against minnows RKC

17.08.2013 - Ajax - Roda JC Kerkrade (ED) - 3:0 - 18. and 24. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson, 74. Siem de Jong - again two goals from Icelandic striker and we didn't give Roda much chance

21.08.2013 - Willem II Tilburg - Ajax (ED) - 1:3 - 53. Malcolm Esajas - 3. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson, 37. Miralem Suleijmani, 84. Derk Boerrigter - away matches are always tricky, even against clubs like Willem II. Sigdorsson continued scoring. Suleijmani missed his penalty in 37. minute, but was himself the first one to react and score from rebound. We conceded our first goal when central defenders left Esajas unmarked and he scored good header from excellent cross, but Boerrigter finished off the game and Willem II with his excellent strike.

24.08.2013 - NAC Breda - Ajax (ED) - 81. Derk Boerrigter, 85. Thulani Serero, 90.+1 Viktor Fischer - we controlled the game and had some good chances, but couldn't break through until 80 minutes had passed. Then finally Boerrigter seized defenders' mistake to give us advantage and Breda's resistance finally gave up.

So far, so good. I have to say that fixture list has been favourable to us. To start new season against smaller clubs gives excellent chance to gain confidence and work on goal difference and that's why we're on the top of the table again. Attacking play and goalscoring have been excellent so far and I can't complain against defense either. Key players are fit and healthy and I'm optimistic looking ahead.

Champions league groups were drawn and we got FC Barcelona (AGAIN!), Juventus and FK Austria Wien. Juventus is not perhaps the team I did expect from 3rd seed list, but going against Barca 2 seasons in a row is extremely bad luck. Again I'm hoping the best, but expecting the worst from European season.

Interesting transfers in Eredivisie in August:

Leonard Kweuke from Arsenal to FC Twente (£4,8m)

Erik Falkenburg from AZ to Feyenoord (£1,7m)

Lerin Duarte from Heracles to Brugge (£3,6m)

14.09.2013 - Ajax - FC Groningen (ED) 4:0 - 6., 31. and 60. Christian Eriksen, 7. Derk Boerrigter - we really demolished Groningen in front of our home fans. Game was virtually over after half an hour and Christian Eriksen capped his superb performance with hat-trick. Very, very impressive play from the whole team.

17.09.2013 - Ajax - Juventus (ECC Group Stage) - 0:0 - it was a difficult encounter and neither of the teams could break through. Juventus perhaps had the best chances from set pieces, but goalless draw was a fair result and I can be fairly satisfied with both effort and a point in the table.

21.09.2013 - FC Zwolle - Ajax (ED) 0:2 - 20. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson, 41. pen. Miralem Suleijmani - last game against Juve was still in our feet and it showed. It took a lot of time to get us going and Sigdorsson finally was the man to find the net. Zwolle had an excellent chance to equalize when Blind conceded a penalty, but Stef Nijlan blazed his spot kick over. 2 minutes later Sigdorsson was tripped in 6 yard box and Suleijmani put away the penalty and the game. Finally, this game did not end without casualties, because Sigdorsson suffered a knock in the last minute and is now out for 4-5 weeks with pulled hamstring.

25.09.2013 - Ajax - Fortuna Sittard (Dutch Cup 2nd round) 5:1 - 22. Stefano Denswil, 57. Ryan Babel, 65. Danny Hoesen, 81. Lucas Andersen, 85. Dejan Meleg - 73. Glodi Wato - after two difficult games I let my 1st team players a day off and few youngsters got his chance. Denswil rewarded my trust with a goal in his debut match. 2nd half was our attacking show and substitute Dejan Meleg also left his mark to his debut game with a goal. Unfortunately we couldn't continue our streak without conceding, but still a solid win and I'm pleased that substitute players showed such a good form. Ryan Babel got to play as a lone striker and wasn't perhaps most impressive, but still got to scoresheet.

28.09.2013 - Ajax - Feyenoord Rotterdam (ED) 2:0 - 1. Derk Boerrigter, 56. Ryan Babel - my team was well rested before this rival clash and we had a fantastic start when Boerrigter scored just after 21 seconds were played. After that the game was well under our control, but 2nd goal came only in 2nd half when Veltman's long ball found Babel, who broke offside trap and sprinted to 1-1 against GK. Easy goal and I'm now a lot more confident about him leading the attacking line. Otherwise it was a fierce battle in midfield for possession and so Boerrigter and Suleijmani left the game with smaller injuries, so both are out for 3 weeks. It's a significant loss especially because I have to face Barca in Nou Camp in just after 4 days.

Eredivisie

1. Ajax 21 (7 games)

2. FC Twente 16

3. sc Heerenveen 14

4. PSV Eidnhoven 13

5. Feyenoord 11

6. AZ Alkmaar 10

So far, so good. Domestic season has started with 7 straight wins and we've already managed to put some space between us and other competitors.

Ajax best goalscorers: Sigdorsson 8, Boerrigter 4, Eriksen 4

Ajax best assists: Eriksen 4, Sigdorsson 3, Suleijmani 3, de Jong 3, Boerrigter 3

02.10.2013 - FC Barcelona - Ajax (ECC Group Stage) 4:0 - 20. David Villa, 31. Andres Iniesta, 34. Gerard Pique, 53. Lionel Messi - OK, I knew we're going to lose in Camp Nou, but the manner of defeat was humiliating. Not a single shot from our team to Barca's goal. Fans were rightly disappointed and I used some strong language in press conference after game. The only single moment that made me smile was when Messi dived in the box and ref awarded penalty, but Vermeer denied Messi's spot kick. Otherwise we didn't show any character and determination. Things definitely had to improve if we want to qualify from this group.

05.10.2013 - PSV Eindhoven - Ajax (ED) - 1:1 - 20. Dries Mertens - 44. Christian Eriksen - another major encounter in quick succession. Away game against PSV is perhaps the single most difficult game of domestic season. To be honest, we were poor there as well and were more than lucky to get away with a draw. We gifted 4 ccc-s to PSV, but they managed to score only once, whereas we used our only chance well. Attacking play was disappointing and we couldn't keep the ball in midfield. Ryan Babel was completely invisible on the pitch (although it was him who gave assist to Eriksen's goal). Boccara got himself set off after 2 yellow cards and we battled last 15 minutes with 10 men.

19.10.2013 - NEC Nijmegen - Ajax (ED) - 0:2 - 23. Danny Hoesen, 85. Viktor Fischer - things started to look up again after international break. NEC isn't a bad team, they are moving towards safe mid-table finish and didn't give up easily in home game, but we managed to get 3 points and give ourselves some confidence back. I dropped Babel for this game and used Schöne as lone striker (same as last season).

23.10.2013 - Ajax - FK Austria Wien (ECC Group Stage) 2:0 - 22. and 39. Ryan Babel - Babel was back in line-up and deserved it with 2 goals, but real stars were our fullbacks. While wingers were well marked by defenders, deep crossing worked as a charm and both Dijks' and Ligeon's crosses found Babel behind defensive line to score both goals. Austria Wien team must be cursing their bad luck to end up in a group with Barca, Juve and Ajax. Nothing positive so far for them.

26.10.2013 - Ajax - FC Utrecht (ED) 2:1 - 25. Daley Blind, 53. Siem de Jong - 42. Jacob Mulenga - rival match at home turned out to be a real battle. Daley Blind scored a rare goal and despite we let Utrecht equalize after de Jong's mistake in corner situation, de Jong himself made it up by scoring a winner. To tell the truth, our defending of set pieces should be a lot better. We're short team and usually most vulnerable against corners and free kicks. Definitely the area to concentrate on while choosing training focus in the future.

29.10.2013 - IJsselmeervogels - Ajax (Dutch Cup 3rd round) 0:2 - 2. Ryan Babel, 73. Lasse Schöne - I rotated some players, but we should have scored a few more goals. IJsselmeervogels deployed sensible tactics and tried to keep possession as much as possible and our pressing to win it back didn't work as well as I'd have liked. But win is a win and since quick opening goal I didn't doubt we're going to progress.

So, despite some injuries (Veltman, Poulsen, Serero, Suleijmani, Boerrigter, Sigdorsson all missed some or most games during October) we managed to keep our good form in the league going and managed to leave some space between us and competitors already in Autumn.

Eredivisie

1. Ajax 28 (10 games)

2. FC Twente 21 (11)

3. PSV 21 (11)

4. AZ Alkmaar 18 (11)

5. sc Heerenveen 18 (11)

6. FC Groningen 18 (11)

7. FC Utrect 17 (11)

.................

10. Feyenoord 13 (11)

Ajax best scorers: Sigdorsson 8, Eriksen 5, Babel 5

Ajax best assists: Eriksen 6, Boerrigter 4

Few interesting developements have happened in managerial level. Firstly, Feyenoord's manager Christoph Daum was sacked after poor 0-2 defeat against RKC in 11th matchday. Rightly so - Feyenoord is most underachieving big club at the moment, although season is still young.

Then Robert Maaskant (Groningen manager) expressed his interest in Feyenoord job which obviously stirred up some disappointing reactions from Groningen board.

At the same time FC Twente's Steve McClaren expressed his interest in Newcastle's job which recently opened up, causing fans to react angrily. Few days later McClaren did join Newcastle, leaving one of my main rivals in trouble. Let's see how FC Twente works their way out of this and who will take on the challenge. Holland's assistant manager Danny Blind has expressed his interest in Twente's job - he would be worthy opponent.

very unlucky with the draws in europe, but going pretty well domestically

05.11.2013 - FK Austria Wien - Ajax (ECC Group Stage) 0:4 - 17. Siem de Jong, 22. Markus Suttner o.g., 38. Christian Eriksen, 57. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson - solid away win against group outsider and I'm happy we managed to work on our goal difference too.

08.11.2013 - AZ Alkmaar - Ajax (ED) 2:1 - 29. Viktor Elm, 64. Ruud Boymans - 25. Christian Eriksen - first domestic defeat in a long period. AZ team were fit and healthy whereas we missed some key players. Kenneth Vermeer was personally responsible for 2nd goal - his throw was intercepted by Boymans. I'm not saying AZ didn't deserve to win - they were better team on the pitch. But we could have walked away with a draw.

23.11.2013 - Vitesse Arnhem - Ajax (ED) 0:1 - 89. Siem de Jong - after international break it was again a difficult encounter in away game. We had better chances through the game, but we missed the edge in front of goal until de Jong did what was necessary in the end of the game. Hard fought victory, but we deserved it this time.

27.11.2013 - Juventus - Ajax (ECC Group Stage) 1:0 - 56. Fernando Llorente - Key game to our European season, we needed to win to progress from group, but couldn't keep clean sheet. Performance itself wasn't too bad, but Juventus is still better team than us. Sadly, it means we have to settle with 3rd place and European League.

30.11.2013 - Ajax - FC Twente (ED) 3:2 - 11. Christian Poulsen, 71. Viktor Fischer, 85. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson - 8. Leonard Kweuke, 73. Luc Castaignos - FC Twente is another team next to PSV who are actually better than us, at least on paper. And our defeat to them in the end of last season proved it too. This time we were able to win a thrilling encounter, although it required injuring their key players (Carlos Sanchez and Dusan Tadic), but I don't mind . Key players to victory were Poulsen (who scored his 1st ever league goal for Ajax) and substitute Fischer, who scored 2nd goal and laid up the 3rd one.

You can tell each season that there are games where the fate of the title is going to be decided and these narrow wins against Vitesse and Twente are definitely the ones this season.

Eredivisie

1. Ajax 34 (13 games)

2. PSV 30 (14)

3. AZ Alkmaar 24 (13)

4. FC Utrecht 23 (13)

5. sc Heerenveen 22 (13)

6. FC Twente 22 (14)

.......................

16. FC Den Bosch 12 (14)

17. Willem II Tilburg 8 (14)

18. Heracles Almelo 7 (12)

Ajax best goalscorers: Sigdorsson 10, Eriksen 7, Babel 5

Ajax best assists: Eriksen 7, Sigdorsson 5

04.12.2013 - Ajax - Heracles Almelo (ED) 4:1 - 1. and 47. Christian Eriksen, 4. pen Kolbeinn Sigdorsson, 57. Danny Hoesen - 34. Marcel Ritzmeier - Heracles has lost several key players during Summer transfer window (Vejinovic, Gouriye, Duarte) and haven't been able to find replacements. It shows in results - they should be in safe mid-table position, but instead are sitting in relegation zone. Despite conceding one goal, this game was in our control after 4 first minutes.

07.12.2013 - sc Heerenveen - Ajax (ED) 1:1 - 83. Sven Kums - 6. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson - it turned out to be tightly contested battle. Our quick goal put Heerenveen under pressure, but we let them equalize late in the game and I'm not happy with that. We weren't able to create as much chances as I would've liked; both teams only had 6 attempts. But I have to give Heerenveen credit - they didn't give up until the end.

10.12.2013 - Ajax - FC Barcelona (ECC Group Stage) 0:0 - I rotated some players and played with tactics, opting Babel in front instead of Sigdorsson and Andersen came in for Eriksen. Chances of qualification were already lost, but we put up excellent performance against Barca and to be honest, we should've won this game, but neither Fischer or substitute Sigdorsson couldn't finish their CCC. Still a good way to finish group games. Barca and Juve progress, as we became 3rd with 8 points. FK Austria Wien lost all games with 1-20 goal difference.

14.12.2013 - Ajax - Excelsior (ED) 4:0 - 27. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson, 39. Thulani Serero, 83. Dejan Meleg, 90. Tobias Sana - easy game against minnows, but not without losses. Both Suleijmani and Boerrigter got injured and while the Serb is back in couple of weeks, Boerrigter's torn calf muscle will keep him out for 4-5 months. This lad is a serious injury magnet, it seems. During 2 seasons he's now had 3 injuries lasting over 3 months. Substitute Dejan Meleg scored his first league goal and 2nd goal of the season. I smell potential here

18.12.2013 - Ajax - sc Heerenveen (Dutch Cup 4th round) 4:0 - 9. Siem de Jong, 45.+3 Mark Uth (o.g.), 60. and 75. Viktor Fischer - 2nd encounter against Heerenveen in 2 weeks time and this game was much better. We controlled it since kick-off and despite Sigdorsson missed a penalty in 16' we finished with 4 goals. 2nd half was Fischer's show. Our quarter final opponent is FC Zwolle who surprised Vitesse and progressed after penalty shoot-out. Should be easier than expected.

The month in conclusion went well. We lost 2 points at Heerenveen, but draw against Barca was a good result and good cup season is also important and I'm happy with solid last game against Heerenveen.

Eredivisie - 16 games played

1. Ajax 41

2. PSV 36

3. FC Utrecht 32

4. AZ Alkmaar 28

5. sc Heerenveen 27

6. FC Twente 25

7. Feyenoord 22

8. FC Groningen 22

9. RKC Waalwijk 21

10. Vitesse 20

11. FC Zwolle 20

12. NEC Nijmegen 19

13. Roda JC Kerkrade 17

14. FC Den Bosch 15

15. NAC Breda 14

16. Willem II Tilburg 14

17. Excelsior 13

18. Heracles Almelo 11

My 5 points difference with PSV is good, but not too secure, so there should be enough excitement for 2nd half of the season. Relegation battle is also just picking up and differences in bottom of the table are very small.

Ajax best goalscorers: Sigdorsson 13, Eriksen 9, Babel 5, Fischer 5, de Jong 5

Ajax best assists: Eriksen 9, Sigdorsson 7

January transfer window started with two major transfers. Firstly I sold Tobias Sana to Düsseldorf for £2,1m. Competition to AML position is very fierce and he only participated in 1 game so far (to be fair, he also scored in that game, but still). Young Viktor Fischer is becoming my first choice AML (partly because Boerrigter is very injury prone) and I've got Ryan Babel to rotate as well.

Secondly - I sold Christian Eriksen to Manchester City for £20m. Both City and Bayern started to show interest and I had agreed that I'm not going to block talented youngster's career if right bid comes in. Of course, I'm not going to spend it, but try to rotate my own team to cover midfield. Thulani Serero should start more games now. Lucas Andersen has improved a lot and deserves more first team football too.

I also loaned out Dico Koppers, who had virtually no games because I have Blind, Boilesen and Dijks for DL. But I like his potential and hope he developes on loan.

To bolster my first team after departures, I promoted Nick de Bondt (AML) and Sheraldo Becker (ST) to first team.

22.01.2014 - FC Den Bosch - Ajax (ED) 0:3 - 4. Viktor Fischer, 10. and 46. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson - very confident performance against smaller Den Bosch side.

25.01.2014 - RKC Waalwijk - Ajax (ED) 0:1 - 3. Siem de Jong - The game started well, but then de Jong got injured and suddenly creativity was lost. We controlled midfield, but narrow lead didn't feel too secure and at times it felt we weren't convincing enough.

28.01.2014 - FC Zwolle - Ajax (Dutch Cup Quarter Final) 0:4 - 5. and 11. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson, 57. and 68. pen. Miralem Suleijmani - great attacking performance and confident finishing. Zwolle perhaps deserved a goal - they actually got one, that was unfairly disallowed by referees - but better team won. I'm very happy with my defense - I haven't conceded in 6 straight games now. And I'm pleased that we have started all games very well right from the kick-off, scoring in first 10 minutes and taking control of the match. This started already in December, but showed even more now in January.

Dutch Cup draws us against FC Twente in semi-final and Euro League draw has been favorable too, giving us Rijeka in 1st knockout round. Let's see what we can make of it.

Sigdorsson has been a real scoring machine this season and he's probably the most indispensable player in my squad now.

Eredivisie

1. Ajax 47

2. PSV 42

3. FC Utrecht 34

4. FC Twente 31

5. AZ Alkmaar 31

........................

16. Willem II Tilburg 16

17. Excelsior 13

18. Heracles Almelo 11

Ajax best goalscorers: Sigdorsson 17, de Jong 6, Fischer 6, Suleijmani 5, Babel 5

Ajax best assists: Sigdorsson 8, Suleijmani 6, de Jong 5, Fischer 5

02.02.2014 - Ajax - Willem II Tilburg (ED) - 3:0 - 46. pen. Lasse Schöne, 75. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson, 82. Thulani Serero - talking about early goals in first 15 minutes. Here we couldn't start scoring before I shouted at my players at half time. It worked miracles and 2nd half was already much better. Willem II is a team we should win easily though, they're struggling near relegation zone.

05.02.2014 - Ajax - NAC Breda (ED) - 3:1 - 15. Miralem Suleijmani, 31. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson, 81. Lasse Schöne - 64. Alex Schalk - good scoring form is back and I'm especially pleased about Lasse Schöne - he scored in consecutive games and actually got his chance in first team just because I sold Eriksen and Andersen is injured. Alex Schalk's goal meant that our 7 games run without conceding has ended for now.

09.02.0214 - Roda JC Kerkrade - Ajax (ED) - 1:3 - 31. Bart Biemans - 1. Viktor Fischer, 68. Joel Veltman, 90.+1 Siem de Jong - one of those games when you score very quick goal, then waste some chances and allow other team back in the game. That happened with us too and at half-time, leaving to dressing room with 1:1 on the scoreboard I was pretty disappointed. But Veltman's first goal from set piece situation put us in control again and in the ende it was deserved victory in away game.

12.02.2014 - FC Groningen - Ajax (ED) - 0:1 - 37. Niklas Moisander - another game where set pieces training paid off. Groningen is strong opponent in away ground and neither of teams had too many chances, but Moisander's header from corner secured us valuable 3 points

15.02.2014 - Ajax - FC Zwolle (ED) - 3:0 - 38. Miralem Suleijmani, 40. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson, 50. Viktor Fischer - already 3rd match against Zwolle in this season and 3rd win, too. Difference in class was evident on the pitch.

20.02.2014 - Rijeka - Ajax (Euro Cup 1st knockout round 1st leg) - 2:0 - 67. Leon Benko, 71. Milivoj Bosnjak - it was really a shock. I thought we had excellent luck with a draw, we controlled midfield in away game, but couldn't break through, and then in 2nd half we conceded twice in quick succession. 5 minutes of mess in defense and 0:2 ??! I feel it was harsh result, but that's football. No away goal for us to take away either. Viktor Fischer played below his standards and we couldn't turn possession into chances and goals.

23.02.204 - Feyenoord - Ajax (ED) - 0:0 - long travel and only 3 days of rest meant I had to rotate some players. Confidence wasn't sky high after Rijeka defeat and it showed in front of the goal, where Hoesen missed perhaps the best chance of the game.Feyenoord's season has been a little disappointing, but their defense is good and they don't give away much chances. I needed just a little more luck and wasn't too harsh with the lads. The worst part of the game was Siem de Jong's injury (fractured wrist) that keeps him sidelined for 2 months. In those weeks we have crutial games coming, such as league encounter against PSV and Dutch Cup semi final against FC Twente, so he'll be a big miss for us.

27.02.2014 - Ajax - Rijeka (Euro Cup 1st knockout round 2nd leg) - 2:0 - 36. Ilan Boccara, 71. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson - we needed two goals and keep a clean sheet at the back and we did just that, although we took our time with those goals. Attacking play wasn't at the level it should have been and it was a relief when Boccara's first goal of the season put as half-way in 45 minutes. Sigdorsson, reliable in front of the goal as ever, provided another. Rijeka couldn't make any attempts on target throughout 120 minutes of football and during penalty shoout-out one save from Kenneth Vermeer was enough to put us through. 2nd leg will test us against AS Roma.

So, very busy month; a lot of games and I can still be pretty pleased with results, despite that little shock in Rijeka. We still enjoy 5 point advantage in Eredivisie, but March will be an important stretch of tough games and it pretty much decides whether we're still a winning team without Christian Eriksen or not. Euro Cup games will add to schedule, forcing rotation and leaving less time to rest and recover between games. And of course, the month will end with two games in a row against Twente, both in the league and cup semi-final.

Eredivisie

1. Ajax 63 (24 games)

2. PSV 58 (24)

3. FC Twente 46 (25)

4. FC Utrecht 44 (25)

5. AZ Alkmaar 42 (25)

6. sc Heerenveen 40 (25)

.......................

16. Excelsior 24

17. Willem II Tilburg 22

18. Heracles Almelo 13

Heracles is pretty much relegated, unless some miracle saves them in last 10 matchdays.

Ajax best goalscorers: Sigdorsson 21, Fischer 8, Suleijmani 7, de Jong 7

Ajax best assists: Sigdorsson 10, Suleijmani 9, Fischer 7, de Jong 6

08.03.2014 - FC Utrecht - Ajax 1:2 (ED) - 68. Leon de Kogel - 63. and 85. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson - more of a battle than football match, that game was what you'd expect from rival clash. Goalless first half, then goal from Sigdorsson, and lapse of concentration in defense right after that. But Sigdorsson became a hero once again, scoring his 2nd goal 5 minutes before whistle and securing us big 3 points.

13.03.2014 - AS Roma - Ajax 0:1 (Euro Cup 2nd knockout round 1st leg) - 73. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson - I didn't expect much from 1st leg in Stadio Olimpico, but we stood excellently in defense all 90 minutes and Sigdorsson's brilliant dribbling from half pitch and dummies for both defender and goalkeeper Stekelenburg gave us valuable away goal and a lead ahead of 2nd leg game.

16.03.2014 - Ajax - NEC Nijmegen 1:1 (ED) - 45. Sheraldo Becker - 52. pen. Michel Breuer - I had to give some key players rest if I wanted to seriously stood up against Roma at home. At first it didn't look too bad, our attacking play wasn't as good as expected, but Becker was first to react when Babel's shot bounced back from post and we headed to half time with 1-0 lead. But Ligeon's missed tackle forced Veltman to save 1-1 situation in our box; he caught striker instead of ball and it was penalty. We conceded a cheap goal and cheap draw. Disappointing result, especially because we let PSV gain another 2 points on us and close the gap

20.03.2014 - Ajax - AS Roma 0:2 (Euro Cup 2nd knockout round 2nd leg) - 57. Marco Borriello, 70. Pablo Osvaldo - we fought well first half, but finally broke under pressure and Roma took what was expected before the game. Yes, they are a better team, but I feel we didn't play at our best level either that night. Ilan Boccara was among casualties that night (strained knee ligaments). Problems in midfield start to influence our performance. de Jong, Serero, Schöne and Boccara are all out.

25.03.2014 - Ajax - FC Twente 1:0 (Dutch Cup Semi Final) - 92. Sheraldo Becker - first of two encounters against Twente and important for me because I really want to win Dutch Cup too. We were better of two teams, but missed our chances and Sigdorsson surprisingly had a horrible game, missing target consistently and finally missing a penalty too in 66'. After 90 minutes ended, I subbed him (with 4.2 rating) and gave young Sheraldo Becker a chance and he rewarded my trust with a winning goal that brought us to final. Our final obstacle will be Feyenoord - they beat FC Den Bosch easily in other semi final.

29.03.2014 - FC Twente - Ajax 1:1 (ED) - 62. Jonny Magallon - 83. Mitchell Dijks - a very different game than the last one. Although Twente players seemed more exhausted before the match, we let them take initiative and pretty much whole game was controlled by them. Magallon's goal was followed by Moisander's 2nd yellow card in 70' and I already accepted defeat when young substitute Dijks raised a hero with header after corner. We held tight for last 7 minutes and took pretty much maximum with 10 men.

Good run in March apart from defeat to Roma.

john1, defeat to Roma was anticipated, would I like to admit it or not. We could have won if we played our best, while Roma needed their average performance to progress. I'm more annoyed with NEC draw.

One thing I forgot to add. Ricardo van Rhijn attracted some interest and he let me know that he's looking for new challenge for next season, so I agreed to his £18m transfer to Manchester United. Hefty transfer fee, but I feel that Ruben Ligeon deserves some more playing time and I've got Kenny Tete up and coming for next season, so despite van Rhijn's class it was time for him to move on. I also won't extend Poulsen's contract - Boccara has been good enough, van den Boomen has played A LOT because of all midfield injuries (both as DMC and MC), Fabian Sporkslede is having a solid season in Roda JC (solid starter in midfield) and perhaps I should give another chance to Eyong Enoh when he returns from loan.

04.04.2014 - Ajax - AZ Alkmaar 2:0 (ED) - 24. and 82. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson - how many times has a brilliance of one man saved us a day. We dominated the match, but only really dangerous attacks came through Icelander and he was rewarded with 2 goals.

09.04.2014 - Ajax - PSV Eindhoven 1:1 (ED) - 81. Viktor Fischer - 54. Magnus Wolff Eikrem - a home encounter against PSV was a real six-pointer. Tightly contested match where neither of teams had too many chances and first half ended goalles. Wolff Eikrem's brilliant shot then surprised Vermeer and it took almost too long until our desperate attempts to equalize finally succeeded. Fischer the saviour this time. Suleijmani was a disappointment that night and his form has steadily declined over Spring. Too bad, cause I need more options up front.

12.04.2014 - Ajax - Vitesse Arnhem 1:0 (ED) - 60. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson - 3rd strong opponent in a row, luckily all have been home games and fans' support means a lot. Again we relied on Sigdorsson and one goal was enough to keep 3 points.

16.04.2014 - Ajax - sc Heerenveen 2:0 (ED) - 14. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson, 33. Viktor Fischer - Heerenveen have been easier opponent to us, mainly because their defense leaks like a bucket without bottom. After several nervous games it was a relief to get 2 goal advantage in 1st half. Stefano Denswil have been in a brilliant form lately, bagging the 2nd MoM award in a row and really tooking over DC position in first team that belonged to Joel Veltman in the beginning of the 2013/2014 season.

20.04.2014 - Excelsior - Ajax 1:2 (ED) - 75. Moussa Kalisse - 16. and 57. Ryan Babel - I had to rotate, because we've played 4 games in past 2 weeks. Sigdorsson and Fischer were rested, along with Niklas Moisander. But my midfield has finally recovered and Serero, de Jong and Boerrigter were back in the line-up. Babel, who had been goalless for more than 700 minutes prior this game, rewarded my faith in him with 2 goals, but last 15 minutes of the match were still nervous after we conceded a stupid goal.

27.04.2014 - Feyenoord Rotterdam - Ajax 3:2 (Dutch Cup Final) - 44. Jean-Paul Boetius, 46. Erik Falkenburg, 90.+5 Harmeet Singh - 20. and 64. Viktor Fischer - probably the most shockingly unfair result of the match, leaving us to despair... We started well and took the lead and things went even better when Javad Nekounam (Feyenoord's midfielder) was sent of in 42', but suddenly out of nowhere we let them equalize with 10 men and went to half-time frustrated after that. When 2nd half kicked off, it took only 2 minutes after Feyenoord took the lead. Passive defending and nervousness all around. I pushed all men forward and Fischer scored his 2nd goal to bring game back to level terms. But then, in 1,5 minutes time (90-90.+1) Ricardo van Rhijn received TWO yellow cards, BOTH UNFAIR! And got sent off... unbelievable refereeing. I've never seen something so outrageous in FM13. And in the mess in final minutes Feyenoord took their chance and scored a winner in injury time before we got to properly recover from this injustice. I was really upset and perhaps it was for the best that nobody asked me about referee in post-match press conference, because I'd probably been sidelined for a while after what I had to say.

Needless to say, fans were devastated and so were players, getting so close but still missed the chance of cup glory.

04.05.2014 - Ajax - FC Den Bosch 1:0 (ED) - 51. Stefano Denswil - last game of the season and we held only a 1 point advantage in front of PSV. PSV were playing superb 2nd half of the season and their last match was against FC Zwolle, therefore easy enough. So we had to win this one to retain the title. But things weren't that easy. Den Bosch stood well in defense and made things difficult for us. Denswil was the man who finally broke deadlock to score his first senior goal from corner, and what a goal it was! It summed up his brilliant month and earned him new contract for next 4 years. PSV won against Zwolle, but that wasn't enough for them. Title for us and a great reward after such a shocking loss in cup final.

Eredivisie - final standing

1. Ajax 87

2. PSV 86

3. FC Twente 63

4. AZ Alkmaar 61

5. FC Utrect 55

6. Vitesse Arnhem 53

7. Feyenoord 48

8. sc Heerenveen 47

9. FC Groningen 46

10. FC Zwolle 41

11. NEC Nijmegen 40

12. FC Den Bosch 39

13. RKC Waalwijk 39

14. Roda JC Kerkrade 37

15. NAC Breda 35

16. Willem II Tilburg 30 (relegated)

17. Excelsior 26

18. Heracles Almelo 18 (relegated)

Our players earned plenty of individual awards for the season:

Best goalscorer: Kolbeinn Sigdorsson 22 goals (27 matches)

Best young player: Viktor Fischer

Best goalkeeper: Kenneth Vermeer

Ajax best goalscorers (all competitions): Kolbeinn Sigdorsson 29, Viktor Fischer 12, Miralem Suleijmani 7, Ryan Babel 7, Siem de Jong 7

Ajax best assists: Kolbeinn Sigdorsson 12, Miralem Suleijmani 11, Viktor Fischer 9

Best young players from my own point of view (attribute improvement + match performance) - Viktor Fischer, Branco van den Boomen, Stefano Denswil

June holiday and transfer season started with two important announcement. Firstly, Ricardo van Rhijn joined with Manchester United (£18m transfer). Secondly, Christian Poulsen announced his retirement in the end of the season. He's 34 years old now and continues his career in football as a coach.

From the squad that was more or less involved in first team action I had to make a decision about Abdelmalek El-Hasnaoui. He's 20 now and contract running to an end, but with 2,5* potential and no extraordinary talent I decided to let him leave. Decisive factor perhaps his poor pressure handling in important matches, a weakness that my coaching team pointed out. I'll try to use 18yo Melvin Vissers as a young-and-coming midfielder instead.

Most of my loan players returned and here's a short summary of their seasons:

1) Eyong Enoh - played regularly for Fürth in German Bundesliga. Performance ratings were poor (6.60ish average), but he helped Fürth to secure place in Bundesliga for next season. When leaving, he demanded transfer, but now requested to be taken off from transfer list. His attributes developed somewhat, too, and I think I could use him when Poulsen is out of rotation

2) Fabian Sporkslede (Roda JC Kerkrade) - developed well and got a lot of playing time in Roda. His attributes are good all-around. Not great, but no significant weaknesses either. I have to decide whether to bet on Enoh's experience and physical presence or bet on chances that Sporkslede is still younger and developing. First choice DMC would be Ilan Boccara either way.

3) Mickey van der Hart (RKC) - was a first choice keeper in RKC. He played a lot and developed significantly. Average rating perhaps not giving him justice because RKC's poor defence puts GK under a lot of pressure and some goals are inevitably conceded. However Jasper Cillessen demanded more of first team football, so perhaps I can switch them around next season - send Cillessen away on loan and leave van der Hart as my backup GK.

4) Jody Lukoki (NAC Breda) - NAC had a poor season, finishing in the bottom half of the table and Lukoki wasn't able to affect things too much. Usually quiet performances, rare glimpses of quality, 2-3 goals during whole season, no significant progress in attributes. Despite his speed I'm not sure he's good enough to be in Ajax first team squad, he simply lacks technical skills and tactical understanding of the game, also mentally not the best player.

5) Dico Koppers (Hercules) - went on loan to Spanish 2nd league and it was a right decision - he got a lot of playing time and developed better than he could have done in Ajax. Similar player to Sporsklede - no real weaknesses, but no special strengths either. He'd probably be backup at best for the next season ahead, so it's better for him if I'd fin another loan option with first team playing time for another year.

I've usually selected short pre-season option, because it gives players more time to rest and as I'm not too active on transfer market I don't need many games to work on team cohesion. So only 3 friendlies in July this season.

12.07.2014 - GFC Ajaccio - Ajax 0:3 - 37. Derk Boerrigter, 44. Dejan Meleg, 86. Viktor Fischer - Lasse Schöne and Derk Boerrigter were finally recovered from injuries and I'm trying to nurture them back to useful players again. Boerrigter started his pre-season well with beautiful free kick to score opening goal. Dejan Meleg was another impressive player on the pitch.

19.07.2014 - Stade Lavallois - Ajax 0:2 - 46. Siem de Jong, 90.+2 Kolbeinn Sigdorsson - attacking play wasn't as good as required, we didn't create enough chances, but defensive line worked very well and limited opponents to long shots only.

23.07.2014 - Köln - Ajax 0:1 - 78. Dejan Meleg - Köln played very good game defensively and weren't easy to break, but finally Meleg's goal gave us a winner. Meleg is seriously knocking on first team door and demanding more playing time for those performances.

So, I'm pleased with defensive record in those 3 games, keeping a clean sheet throughout pre-season is nice and defensive line looks pretty solid for now. Time for one more big test before new season finally kicks off.

26.07.2014 - Ajax - Feyenoord Rotterdam 2:0 (Dutch Super Cup) - 24. and 89. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson - both sides are gradually weakened after last year Cup final encounter - we sold van Rhijn, and Feyenoord lost de Vrij and Harmeet Singh in free transfers. But nevertheless the fierce battle and this time we prevailed. Attacking play worked very well, we created 3 ccc-s (converted only 1 of them, though) and held the game under our control since the opening goal. Sigdorsson's 2nd goal put the result beyond doubt and at least it was a small consolation after Cup final loss in Spring.

Before domestic league kicks off, I managed one more transfer and sent Jasper Cillessen away to loan for a season.

Okay, I've encountered a strange problem. I've got too many players in the squad - especially young 19-20 year old players that I'd like to keep around, but there's no way I can offer enough playing time to all of them and strangely there's a very little interest about loaning them by lower division clubs.

Stan Bijl (GK) - perhaps unremarkable, but had excellent tournament in this Summer's European U-19 championships, when Holland came 2nd after final loss to Scotland U-19

Djavan Anderson (DMC) - great prospect, but dificult to get him first team chance with Boccara, Enoh, van den Boomen and Sporkslede ahead

Elton Acolatse (AMR)

Ricardo Kishna (AML) - winger positions have perhaps the fiercest competition of all, with Fischer too being very young.

Queency Menig (ST) - single-striker formation limits playing options.

I have to either sell somebody or just shuffle them around to feeder clubs and hope that by some miracle they'll get enough playing time and improve, not decline as players.

Nice read Draakon, always loved reading your posts in the Ajax thread on GPTG

So, this is the first team squad that I head for new season with:

GK: Kenneth Vermeer, Mickey van der Hart

DR: Ruben Ligeon, Kenny Tete

DRC: Stefano Denswil, Joel Veltman

DLC: Niklas Moisander, Dick Koppers

DL: Daley Blind, Nicolai Boilesen, Mitchell Dijks

DMC: Ilan Boccara, Eyong Enoh, Fabian Sporkslede

MCs: Thulani Serero, Branco van den Boomen, Lasse Schöne, (Melvin Vissers)

MCa: Siem de Jong, Lucas Andersen

AMR: Miralem Suleijmani, Danny Hoesen, Dejan Meleg, Elton Acolatse

AML: Viktor Fischer, Derk Boerrigter, Ryan Babel, Nick de Bondt

ST: Kolbeinn Sigdorsson, Sheraldo Becker

02.04.2014 - Ajax - Sparta Rotterdam 4:0 (ED) - 7. Stefano Denswil, 11. and 40. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson, 84. Miralem Suleijmani - home game against newly-promoted Sparta Rotterdam is probably a pretty good start to the new campaign and it was indeed a relaxed 90 minutes. Stefano Denswil who scored our last goal of previous season picked up where he left off and opened scoring. Goal came from corner after Sigdorsson had nudged the ball towards far post where Denswil was already waiting. We went to half time with 3-0 lead and final score was set by Suleijmani who had very quiet game until 84. minutes.

09.08.2014 - FC Den Bosch - Ajax 1:4 (ED) - 77. Moreno Rutten - 16., 63. and 71. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson, 90. Miralem Suleijmani - we had to be more cautious in this game. I still remembered well the final game of the last season when Den Bosch put up a very good defensive performance against us, but Kolbeinn Sigdorsson's skill was too much for them this time. Opening goal came from wonderful 35 yard free kick. We conceded our first goal of the season from corner when my defense were caught ballwatching for a moment, but it didn't impact the final result. Sigdorsson has now scored impressive 7 goals in 3 first games! Suleijmani snapped another goal after poor overall performance when game was already decided. Well, that's a skill too

16.08.2014 - Ajax - Vitesse Arnhem 2:1 (ED) - 24. and 50. Viktor Fischer - 65. Dan Mori - compared to likes of Sparta and Den Bosch, Vitesse is definitely a more serious opponent, but (of course) international break was held just before this game and Sigdorsson and Boccara returned back to Amsterdam with injuries. Nothing too serious though, but they were sidelined for 2 games (= 2 matches) and against Vitesse it made me quite nervous. Vitesse on the other hand returned us a favor by selling Wilfred Bony to SLB just 2 days before match. A bit of luck is always needed and this danger was successfully averted .

Game itself started with Moisander's horrible mistake when less than 5 minutes had been played. His sloppy pass was intercepted by Ismael Bangoura who somehow missed his shot. With Sigdorsson missing, Ryan Babel played as ST (with AF-attack orders) and Viktor Fischer opened his goalscoring tally with two goals. Vitesse's only goal came from indirect free kick (again, lapse of concentration from my defensive line), but after that we coolly held possession and controlled the game until final whistle. Vitesse took 3 more casualties with loss - Bangoura, Jonathan Reis and Michiro Yasuda all had to be taken off with injuries.

24.08.2014 - Ajax - FC Twente 3:0 (ED) - 4., 44. and 50. Viktor Fischer - FC Twente looked like a victim of poor AI squad building prior this fixture. Only one solid DC, and he too was injured. They had to settle with DC partnership of Tim Breukers (who is actually right-back) and Lukas Schwering (19 yo youngster). It certainly made a difference and let my attacking players find all sorts of openings. Fischer scored a flyer after heading in Ligeon's cross from right wing. The fact that Fischer was able to out-jump Schwering in 6 yard box itself tells a story of defensive troubles Twente faced that night. Fischer kept his performance level high and finished the game with hat-trick. Towards the end of game substitute Dejan Meleg had a wonderful chance, when he skilfully passed the last defender, but he narrowly missed his shot. In conclusion, a very impressive 3-0 win. I only let Twente make 3 shots to goal and none of them were dangerous.

Eredivisie

1. Ajax 12 (4 games)

2. AZ Alkmaar 12

3. PSV 10

4. Vitesse 9

5. ADO Den Haag 9

6. sc Heerenveen 8

7. NEC Nijmegen 8

Ajax best goalscorers: Sigdorsson 7, Fischer 5, Suleijmani 2

Ajax best assists: de Jong 3, Suleijmani 2, Babel 2, Serero 2, Ligeon 2

Champions League - groups were drawn, as always, in the end of August and I was happy that PSV were able to fight their way through qualification to the group stage. Despite the fact that we were seeded 2nd this season, our goup isn't much easier, with ManU, AS Roma and FC Kobenhavn making things difficult enough. Let's see how it goes.

Dutch Cup draw could also be easier, our 2nd round game is against VVV Venlo on away pitch.

I can report of another pleasant surprise, when, towards September, Joel Veltman received a call-up to Holland national team. Surprising for me too, as he's not even played in competitive games this season and Denswil would be more suitable candidate for a place. Daley Blind also received the call.

In August I finalized 3 more transfers:

1) Loaned Nick de Bondt to FC Den Bosch - he needs first team football to improve

2) Sold Lasse Schöne to Almeria (£1,6m) - his contract was running out in a year and I wasn't going to extend it

3) Sold Sinan Keskin to Telstar (£16k + clauses) - not good enough for 1st team

I don't know what I should do, but Ajax fans have never been pleased with my transfers. This time they were sad about Schöne's departure and thought that £1,6m was not enough. Well... perhaps 2 years ago it wouldn't have been enough, but for a fringe player with contract running out - what else should I do? He's deadwood for the team. £18m transfer of van Rhijn in June also brought angry response, although the player itself wanted to leave and to be honest, in real life £18m is a very good price for Eredivisie right-back. Remember what Ajax received for Suarez, Vermaelen or Ibrahimovic, for example.

From other clubs PSV and Twente were the most active on last couple of days and tried to strengthen their teams. As usual, Eredivisie was a selling league, with many young talents leaving for large amount of transfer fees.

Eredivisie major transfers

1) Wilfried Bony - from Vitesse to SLB - £19,5m

2) Ricardo van Rhijn - from Ajax to ManU - £18m

3) Dusan Tadic - from Twente to AS Roma - £11,5m

4) Marco van Ginkel - from Vitesse to Sporting (POR) - £9,75m

5) Luciano Narsingh - from PSV to Tottenham - £9m

6) Markus Henriksen - from AZ to Celtic - £8,5m

7) Dentinho - from Shakhtar to Twente - £6,25m

8) Jeffrey Gouweleeuw - from sc Heerenveen to Genoa CFC - £5,25m

9) Victor Palsson - from NEC to Anderlecht - £4,7m

10) Rasmus Falk - from Groningen to Sampdoria - £4,4m

11) Ninos Gourye - from FC Zwolle to Genk - 4,2m

With 5 games played in this season, I have my regular team petty much chosen and I thought perhaps some of you are interested how my team is set for the game. Individual roles depend somewhat on certain players that are picked for specific match, but lets see how my first 11 play it out.

GK: Kenneth Vermeer - GK/defend - With Cillessen out on loan I have no pressure to share GK playing time and Vermeer is undisputed no. 1 choice. He hasn't had to make too many crucial saves so far, my defense has been able to limit opposition chances, but solid performances all around. Two goals conceded so far have come from ccc-s, so can't blame him there.

DR: Ruben Ligeon - FB/automatic - compared to van Rhijn, Ligeon is more limited technically, but with explosive pace and acceleration. He likes to take opponents 1-1 and dribble past them and with his acceleration he's often able to find clear space for good cross. So far, he's laid out 3 assists (crosses), which is excellent for a full-back. He's aggressive enough and makes good number of tackles, but his tackle % could be higher (limited technical attributes affecting this, obviously).

DRC: Stefano Denswil - DC/defend - excellent player all around, very consistent, still young and developing, but my coaches rate him already higher than much more experienced Moisander. His positioning is excellent and he makes a lot of interceptions each game. Very good in the air and at least one player that could pose a threat from set pieces in opposition box. My defensive line as a unit is remarkably quick. Not only Ligeon, but centre-backs too (Blind perhaps the slowest of the 4), so physical qualities and great attitude means Denswil is not far from NT invitation.

DLC: Niklas Moisander - DC/defend - he's not as brilliant as Denswil, but he's experienced, he knows what he does on the pitch and he's aggressive enough - isn't afraid to foul and take a yellow card for the team when he has to. Consistency is his main quality, he never gets nervous on the pitch and you can be sure that he usually fills his role to at least 7.1-7.2 level of rating. Good tutor too, for younger players.

DL: Daley Blind - FB/automatic - important part of the team, Holland NT defender. Versatile player, can play all positions in defensive line. Compared to others he could be quicker (which is not usually problem in Eredivisie, but could be in European games) and he tends to get nervous more often than not. In team talks I always turn my attention to his morale and usually try to encourage before game. He's also the player who questions my team talks more than anyone else. Harsh criticism after loss fires most of my team up, but Blind gets upset and later on discusses my team talk ability in public.

DMC: Ilan Boccara - DMC/defend - I have several good options for this position, but I prefer Boccara, because he's young and a very intelligent player for his age. DMC in my formation should be a hard working, aggressive player in front of defensive line and Boccara has the qualities. Areas to improve are heading (in FM, DMC who wins 90-100% of headers is a massive advantage when opponent GK makes long goal kicks) and long shots (DMC doesn't have to impact attacking play too much, but when chance appears, 1-2 dangerous shots from 20-30 meters would make attacking play better and force opposition defenders move more to cover him, therefore leaving space between lines that my other players could use). Boccara has missed couple of games this year because of neck injury, but his true ability should be on show in continental games against strong teams.

MCL: Thulani Serero - MC/support - he is a player who hasn't really, I mean really, opened up. He's solid option next to Siem de Jong, but he hasn't made himself commanding midfielder player. He's unremarkable most of the games making no major mistakes, but not deciding games for us either. He gets too few assists compared to others and although he should be my best corner taker, his corners rarely result in a goal. When Branco van den Boomen replaces him, Branco also takes corners and his crosses seem far more dangerous. But I can't complain too much either. Serero still averages solid 7.1-7.3 rating and does his job well to work hard. Perhaps I need to adjust some sliders to his role. One more thing that needs improving is his long shots. In his position he tries at least 2-3 times in a game from long range (long shot attribute is 12 IIRC) but most of the time his shots are well wide and don't pose any threat.

MCR: Siem de Jong - MC/attack - one thing that is great about Siem is that he's the leader on the pitch, usually playing at his best when the match is important and/or we're behind and need to change things around. He can score, he can spread out assists and his court vision is very good.

AMR: Miralem Suleijmani - IF/attack - I've got mixed feelings about him. First of all, most of you probably agree that he's overpaid. Secondly, he's rather inconsistent and therefore not good for tutoring. He gets nervous too easily and although I've managed to improve his confidence by wise team-talk routines, he often remains virtually unvisible on the pitch and has no real impact on attacking play, especially against stronger defense. Against weaker teams he can excel well, when his running and dribbling skills are enough to pass defenders and find openings in defensive line, but you never quite know what sort of performance he's going to put out before the match. Even when playing poorly, he sometimes manages to get himself to score-sheet in the end and therefore improve his match rating, making somewhat up for 80 minutes of disappointment. He's also one of my best penalty takers (on paper, that is), but in matches it often comes down to his body language. When he's too nervous, it might be the best to replace him as a spot kick taker, otherwise there's roughly 50/50 chance he'll blow it.

AML: Viktor Fischer - W/attack - one of the great prospects of attacking players I've got. Fischer can score and his finishing in matches are more of a striker. He's great without ball and opens well behind defensive line, and with Sigdorsson's creativity and vision those two often link up and play one-two to create 1-1 chance to Fischer.

ST: Kolbeinn Sigdorsson - CF/attack - I have to say Sigdorsson is probably at least 50% of my attacking power, and I'm honestly a bit worried about his importance. He scores a lot, and is excellent finisher. That is obviously connected to the fact that his shots on target ratio is above 60%. He also works well as CF, spotting openings behind defensive line and giving assists, usually linking up with Fischer or de Jong. He's also mean free kick taker (Derk Boerrigter is perhaps the best in that particular department, but Sigdorsson isn't much worse).

12.09.2014 - FC Groningen - Ajax 0:1 (ED) - 42. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson - after I beat FC Twente at home, away match against FC Groningen is completely another obstacle. Top-half teams always prove to be very fierce opponents at home and this match was no different - very few chances to either side, very good defensive play from both sides. Our only chance came 3 minutes before half time when Ligeon's cross found Sigdorsson in the box. Icelandic striker's first touch was excellent, stopping the ball at his feet and then fired hard and low. Otherwise invisible in the game, but Sigdorsson made himself a hero once again.

16.09.2014 - FC Kobenhavn - Ajax 3:3 (Champions League Group Stage) - 31. Raul Rusescu, 65. Soren Soe Falkenberg, 75. Cesar Santin - 7. Niklas Moisander, 32. Danny Hoesen, 81. Ryan Babel - after the draw was made for CL groups I understood I have to win at least both games against Kobenhavn and home game against AS Roma to progress from this group, but we stumbled already in the first game. Bad news started already before the match when I discovered that Sigdorsson has to serve one match suspension because of his yellow cards from previous season. So Ryan Babel had to step up. I thought that I need a powerful defensive midfielder in away European game and Eyong Enoh got his first chance to impress. He rewarded my trust just 20 seconds from kick-off with elbowing opposition midfielder and receiving his red card in 1st minute of game. Unbelievable. If I remember correctly I literally yelled at him as I couldn't believe such a stupidity. Fined him 1 week wages after the game, but damage was done. Moisander's and Hoesen's goal gave us lead twice, but Kobenhavn used their advantage of numbers and finally I was happy to return with a draw. Babel's equalizer made me smile as he, indeed deserved his place in the line-up. I can only speculate what result could have been with Sigdorsson on the pitch and Enoh on the bench. At the same time ManU easily beat AS Roma and took 1st position in the group.

20.09.2014 - sc Heerenveen - Ajax 1:2 (ED) - 20. pen. Alfred Finnbogason - 36. Viktor Fischer, 72. pen. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson - another very very difficult game. Blind's foul in the box let Heerenveen take the lead from penalty. Just a few minutes later Denswil's mistake let Raitala go 1-1 against Vermeer, but his fantastic save held me in the game. When game progressed I slowly started to take initiative and after Fischer's goal we went to half time with 1-1. But victory was held to us on a plate when Denswil were brought down in front of Heerenveen goal and Sigdorsson coolly scored from the spot. Last 15 minutes we were under a lot of pressure, but defense held and we turned another even fixture to our win.

23.09.2014 - VVV Venlo - Ajax 1:3 (Dutch Cup 2nd round) - 33. Roy de Ruiter - 12. Dejan Meleg, 69. Niklas Moisander, 72. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson - after tight schedule I let some first team players to have a day off and introduced few youngsters to first team. Actually, Moisander, de Jong and Sigdorsson were the only players of my first choice XI in this match. Joel Veltman's mistake cost us a goal and there was some nervousness in my young squad after half time, but difference in class between teams was too evident. Moisander re-established our lead with a header from corner and after VVV's GK made a mistake with his throw, Sigdorsson scored a beautiful chip from 30 meters to put game beyond doubt.

28.09.2014 - Ajax - RKC Waalwijk 4:0 (ED) - 17. pen and 34. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson, 31. and 81. Dejan Meleg - relatively easy home game against overachieving RKC, but continental game against ManU was just 3 days away so I decided to continue resting some key players. Dejan Meleg started as left winger, Enoh got his 2nd chance in midfield. Siem de Jong and Thulani Serero were also rested. Kolbein Sigdorsson continued his great scoring form, but man of the match award went to Dejan Meleg, who surprised even me with very dangerous attacking play and 2 goals.

Eredivisie

1. Ajax 21 (7 games)

2. PSV 19

3. Vitesse 18

4. Feyenoord 13

5. sc Heerenveen 12

6. AZ Alkmaar 12

..................

16. FC Den Bosch 3

17. Excelsior 3

18. NAC Breda 0

NAC Breda have had a horrible start of the season, losing their first 7 match and you don't have to have any foreseeing powers to predict that their manager Peter Bosz is soon to be sacked. AZ Alkmaar started the season very well, but their manager Laurent Blanc decided to take over Inter's post and right after that AZ slipped, losing to Vitesse and starting their Euro Cup group stage with a disappointing 0-3 loss against FC Lorient, so I'd say that managers definitely play their role in AI teams.

Ajax best goalscorers: Sigdorsson 12, Fischer 6, Meleg 3

Ajax best assists: de Jong 4, Ligeon 4

You get a lot of pens.

I haven't really thought about that. But Heerenveen and RKC games were rather physical and referee got his hands full with cards. I'm even a bit disappointed that some of my players (Blind, Ligeon, Enoh) took yellows in home match against RKC. Player like Enoh, with aggression 17 (dropped from 18 after I fined him for red card) are bound to be booked as soon as they make their 2nd (sometimes even 1st) foul with a regeree like that.

But all penalties were legit and referee decisions correct in those situation. I remember only one game (against Vitesse in August 2012, scroll up if you like) where referee gave me unfair penalty and that was also decisive goal of the game. Otherwise penalty decisions have been more-less correct.

01.10.2014 - Ajax - Manchester United 0:1 (CL Group Stage) - 33. Robin van Persie - I didn't have too many hopes before the match, but ManU didn't get their 3-4-3 working at all (maybe because we were very motivated in front of home fans) and actually we had most of initiative and chances in the game. Just until great long ball from De Gea found van Persie on the run and dutchman found the net. It wasn't clear cut chance, just excellent shot from the corner of the area. At the same time, we had possession and most of the chances, but couldn't break through. De Gea had a fantastic game, he made at least 3 brilliant saves and finished his game by blocking Fischer's shot from 3 meters in the 90. minute. He walked away with MoM award, too. I have to say we just didn't have luck that night. Despite the loss, I can't blame players, they did very well and showed great football at times.

04.10.2014 - Excelsior - Ajax 0:1 (ED) - 33. Viktor Fischer - because of important game against PSV coming up, I rotated some players. De Jong, Ligeon, Moisander, Boccara and Sigdorsson had a day off. Away games against small sides could be tricky and that's exactly what happened. We had only one very good chance and Fischer was on the mark that time. Excelsior also had one chance, but they missed and that was it. Performance was very ugly compared to ManU game, but I assume players were already focusing to PSV game in their minds. We still got 3 points and that's what matters.

07.10.2014 - PSV - Ajax 1:1 (ED) - 18. Tim Matavz - 84. Ryan Babel - away game against PSV is perhaps the most difficult encounter of domestic season and I prepared very carefully for that. But as expected, PSV got better start and they took the lead. But then things evened up and we worked very hard to equalize. There was a moment in 2nd half when Boilesen was fouled in PSV area, but referee didn't award the penalty! I was outraged about the incident after the game, but FA remained silent. They probably knew that ref screwed up this time. Sigdorsson was invisible up front and nothing went his way, so I subbed in Babel and he found the net with 6 minutes to go. I'm pleased we managed to equalize and if someone would have offered me a draw before the match I would have taken it, but this penalty that was not awarded still stung a bit.

22.10.2014 - Ajax - AS Roma 3:1 (CL Group Stage) - 18., 40. pen. and 84. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson - 29. pen. Rasmus Elm - again we put up an excellent performance in continental game and completely outplayed AS Roma in Amsterdam Arena. Sigdorsson was unstoppable. I had to play young Kenny Tete in DR and he conceded a penalty, but he recovered well and played solid game otherwise. He'll probably learn from that. We completely nullified Roma's midfield - Daniele De Rossi and Dusan Tadic couldn't get anything going. Let's hope we can show something like that in Italy too.

26.10.2014 - Ajax - Feyenoord 3:0 (ED) - 21. pen and 59. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson, 34. Siem de Jong - another great performance and excellent win against our arch rival. To be fair - Feyenoord missed their 3 main midfielders (Clasie and Vormer were out with injuries, Nekounam was away with international duty) and that left its mark to the game. Sigdorsson was again unstoppable up front and we had 21 shots (8 on target) while Feyenoord only had 4 and missed them all. Siem de Jong scored his 50th league goal (and 50th league goal for Ajax) in this match.

30.10.2014 - Ajax - Capelle 4:0 (Dutch Cup 3rd round) - 21. pen. Branco van den Boomen, 32. Ryan Babel, 48. and 60. Dejan Meleg - nothing much to report here. Very one-sided game as expected and all of my first 11 (except Denswil) got a day off. Youngsters had their chance to show their skills and they did exactly that. Dejan Meleg put on most impressive display - 2 goals plus he also earned a penalty. Next draw was a bit unlucky for us - Vitesse in 4th round.

So, pretty successful month and I've got some hope back about Champions League games. We put in good performances against top clubs this month. Kolbeinn Sigdorsson is continuing his magnificent goalscoring form - 17 goals in 11 games! In reference to previous comment - it appears that I indeed do get a lot of pens. 3 this month for me, 1 against me and 1 should have been, but wasn't awarded for me.

Eredivisie

1. Ajax 28 (10 games)

2. PSV 26 (11)

3. Vitesse 24 (11)

4. sc Heerenveen 22 (11)

5. ADO Den Haag 20 (11)

6. AZ Alkmaar 19 (10)

...................

16. Sparta 8

17. Excelsior 6

18. NAC Breda 4

Ajax best goalscorers: Sigdorsson 17, Fischer 7, Meleg 5, Babel 4

Ajax best assists: Suleijmani 5, Babel 4, Hoesen 4, de Jong 4, Ligeon 4

Kolbeinn Sigdorsson's average rating is 8.36... 'nuff said.

A little preview about November - both HSV and Liverpool approached me. Liverpool especially is struggling (they're 13th in Premier) and they offered me £41 000 pw salary + ~£35m transfer funds. Iturn down all other offers in my Ajax save, but still some offers are more tempting than others.

04.11.2014 - AS Roma - Ajax 3:2 (Champions League Group Stage) - 16. Elkeson, 28. Ciro Immobile, 54. Pablo Osvaldo - 71. Viktor Fischer, 90.+3 Daley Blind - despite winning home game comfortably 3:1 I knew this one in Stadio Olimpico is not going to be that easy. And AS Roma put our defense to the ropes. We couldn't get things going until it was already too late. Our attacking play was limited and we didn't get too many chances. Fischer and Blind scored good goals, but it was all too late then and it never really looked like a serious comeback. Thulani Serero was a disappointment in this game and Vermeer could have done better, too. Much worse was the fact that Sigdorsson inured himself (twisted knee) and my main attacking force is out for 3 weeks.

08.11.2014 - Ajax - NEC Nijmegen 3:0 (ED) - 13. and 34. Lucas Andersen, 33. Thulani Serero - a lot easier encounter for us. Sigdorsson's absence meant that midfielders took over goalscoring responsibilities and both Andersen and Serero scored their first league goals of this campaign.

12.11.2014 - FC Utrecht - Ajax 1:1 (ED) - 22. Leon de Kogel - 66. Danny Hoesen - one has to be said about Utrecht - they have mean defensive line - really solid back four that are hard to break down, especially in away game. We succeeded only once despite having 62% of possession, and had to work really hard to get equalizer after de Kogel's goal in first half. Sigdorsson was well missed in this game - Ryan Babel lacked physical presence to fight with Utrecht's central defenders and Lucas Andersen was nullified in midfield.

15.11.2014 - NAC Breda - Ajax 0:0 (ED) - as I've already mentioned, NAC Breda is a red lantern this season and I'm not pleased that we couldn't get 3 points from this game. True - I had to rotate some players because of the schedule. Resting Fischer and de Jong certainly had an effect, but youngsters didn't live up to Ajax standards. Defense was solid, though.

23.11.2014 - Ajax - PEC Zwolle 3:0 (ED) - 25. Lucas Andersen, 33. Ryan Babel, 56. Miralem Suleijmani - this game started with trouble when Vermeer twisted his knee and Mickey van der Hart had to step up for his debut in Eredivisie. Young goalkeeper had a solid game, but he has to make some more of those, as Vermeer is sidelined for next 3 weeks. This time, at least, my attack worked again. Andersen can be brilliant as a playmaker, but his inconsistency troubles me a bit and against better defense he has troubles to get things going.

26.11.2014 - Ajax - FC Kobenhavn 0:0 (Champions League Group Stage) - while in Denmark it was all-out attacking game that ended 3:3, then now it turned out to be tight defensive battle without goals. I needed to win this one to maintain hopes of qualifying, but those 2 draws against Kobenhavn sealed my fate. Good defensive work kept a clean sheet and van der Hart didn't have too much to do, we controlled midfield, won possession 61/39, but shots on target were only 7 from 18 and no real CCC-s. The best chance perhaps Blind's volley after free kick that was parried by opponent's goalkeeper.

29.11.2014 - ADO Den Haag - Ajax 0:1 (ED) - 57. Viktor Fischer - ADO Den Haag are way overachieving this season and find themselves in 7th position prior this match. They defended well and we only had one really good attack, but that was enough. Sigdorsson was back from injury and his strong shot was parried by Den Haag's goalkeeper, but Fischer was first to the ball and passed it to empty net. Mickey van der Hart continued his row of clean sheets and he had to make one brilliant save to tip over a long shot. That 7.3 performance was enough to earn him a place in Eredivisie team of the week.

In conclusion - good month domestically, disappointing month continentally. Domestic success is not so much my own dealing though (can't be happy with a draw against NAC Breda), but the fact that PSV had a terrible month (losses against ADO Den Haag, Vitesse and FC Groningen) made the situation in table much easier for me.

Eredivisie

1. Ajax 39 (15 games)

2. PSV 35 (16)

3. Vitesse 34 (16)

4. AZ Alkmaar 30 (16)

5. Feyenoord 28 (16)

6. sc Heerenveen 28 (16)

............................

16. FC Den Bosch 10

17. Excelsior 10

18. NAC Breda 8

CL Group D

1. ManU 15 (5 games played)

2. AS Roma 6

3. Ajax 5

4. FC Kobenhavn 2

Ajax best goalscorers - Sigdorsson 17, Fischer 9, Babel 5, Meleg 5

Ajax best assists - Babel 7, Suleijmani 5, de Jong 5, Ligeon 5

Got some spare time and thought about sharing some pics with you - mostly about my new young talent (van den Boomen, Denswil, Meleg), but also I suggest some of you might take a look how Fischer and Sigdorsson have turned out for november 2014

So you only have to win at Old Trafford? Easy

So you only have to win at Old Trafford? Easy

Not only. I need to win and I need AS Roma to fail against Kobenhavn at the same time. Scenarios go as following:

1) When AS Roma win against Kobenhavn, they are through as 2nd and we're 3rd, no matter what happens at Old Trafford

2) When AS Roma draws against Kobenhavn, I need a win against ManU to grab 2nd place

3) When AS Roma loses against Kobenhavn, both win and draw are good enough for me. I'm not completely sure, but IIRC in case of points tied, games between clubs are considered before overall goal difference. We won at home 3-1 and lost in Italy 2-3, so I should have advantage there.

But either way, AS Roma can simply put all doubts aside by winning their last game.