Ajax Amsterdam - trying to win with youth

[Draakon]

02.04.2024 - Arsenal - Ajax 1:1 (Champions League Quarter Final 1st leg) - 18. Aldo Diaz - 6. Brian Tol - away game of the quarter final started excellent. Brian Tol opened scoreline after quick counter-attack, but soon we allowed Arsenal to equalize. After half-time we found ourselves under pressure and in 49th minute Daniel Buijs earned his 2nd yellow card and was sent off. Surprisingly, Arsenal couldn't take advantage of their superiority in numbers and wasted most of their attacks, shooting way out of the box. Very good draw in away game and it's always nice to take away goal back with us. But I can't use Buijs in 2nd leg which is obviously a disappointment

06.04.2024 - sc Heerenveen - Ajax 1:4 (ED) - 67. Mourits Lodovica - 54. Anthony Crüden, 65. Hulusi Aydingöz, 80. Roberto Jansma, 84. Melvin Vissers - I had to rest Brian Tol for a game (he's really played a lot for his years lately) and Roberto Jansma started as a striker. Perhaps that's why we couldn't get our attack running properly in the first half. But after the break it looked better and despite conceding one goal we scored 4 ourselves and finished the game with comfortable lead. Nice moment for Melvin Vissers who hasn't found his way to score-sheet too often this season. Man of the match - Roberto Jansma.

10.04.2024 - Ajax - Arsenal 2:1 (Champions League Quarter Final 2nd leg) - 80. and 90.+1 Siem de Jong - 62. Jack Wilshere - we had control of the game and Arsenal looked a bit nervous during the match, but they scored against the run of play (experienced midfielder Jack Wilshere leading their lines) and we had to change our game to get something out of that. But then our captain Siem de Jong step up and showed his value by firstly scoring from Brian Tol's good pass and clinching the win with his injury time winner after corner kick. Great moment for the whole team and we're now in Champions League semi finals against Manchester United. There's no small teams left - FC Barcelona and Bayern are against each other in the other semi.

13.04.2024 - Ajax - NAC Breda 5:1 (ED) - 1., 34., 48. and 59. Brian Tol, 87. Dick Jansen - 68. Vyacheslav Kul'kov - the team looked a bit tired after Arsenal games and I just hoped that we could squeeze necessary points in domestic competition, but Brian Tol pretty much single-handedly beat NAC Breda defensive line to tatters and before 60 minutes was played it was 4:0. I wasn't impressed with conceded goal (again) but I could easily forgive it for such a goalscoring performance. In the 2nd half we gave NAC too many easy chances, but for the first time Jan Kuijpers proved that he's worth something, making several good saves and also saving two clear-cut chances. Deserved 8.0 rating for him. 5th goal came from good cooperation of youngsters Bart Verbeerk and Dick Jansen (again - the winger one, not the striker Jansen). Good news about striker Jansen though - he's now back to light training and tries to recover from his broken leg, but of course he'll not be fit enough to play in this season.

17.04.2024 - PSV Eindhoven - Ajax 1:4 (ED) - 49. pen. Osmar - 4. and 22. Siem de Jong, 86. and 89. Brian Tol - vital 6-pointer against contenders PSV and probably the match of the season, or at least match of the Spring for us in Eredivisie. Despite being away side, we started with attacking tactics and soon Siem de Jong again showed he's in great form despite his 35 years. His 2nd goal came from good DFK. After half-time break PSV increased pressure and clumsy foul by Roberto Jansma earned them a penalty and way back into game. But just 5 minutes later Osmar handled the ball intentionally (tried to do Maradona in the box) and was sent off for that. PSV still tried their best to equalize with 10 men, but finally were punished by Brian Tol's two goals in final 5 minutes of the game. This win secured us 6th consecutive Eredivisie title and allows us to concentrate now to Champions League semi finals and Dutch Cup final which are yet to come. Brian Tol has now scored 25 goals in this season, which is even more remarkable because he really got his first team chances in November-December after Dick Jansen's injury. He's actually started in only 21 games, so that's an incredible breakthrough season for him.

[craigd84]

awesome stuff, its crazy to see Siem de Jong still there scoring at such an age!

I just set up a Ajax save on FM15... Excited!!

[Draakon]

To be honest, a lot of his goals this season have become from penalties. But he's scored crucial goals, like against Arsenal and PSV, which shows the value of experience and mental abilities. But his physical abilities are declining slowly and he's now rated only 2,5*

There's Euro 2024 coming and media declares that Siem de Jong form deserves place in that team, but let's see. He has now 50 caps, but hasn't retired from international football despite his age.

But his career will probably be over in 2025. He'll be 36 then and his contract runs out. He declares his interest to try coaching with a view to management role later and he made himself available as that - his stats look promising (working with youngsters 18), so I believe I'll offer him U-19 coach role next Summer. Until then it's tutoring-tutoring-tutoring.

Thulani Serero is playing now in italy and is retiring after this season. Slowly this generation is fading from game.

Jasper Cillessen's career was not such a success in my save as it is in real life. At some point he came back to Holland to play for NAC Breda, but soon lost his place in first team there too.

Joel Veltman is still in Ajax, but he hasn't earned any NT appearances in my save. He's been rotation player for last couple of seasons and only this year he's really sitting on the bench. He's been playing a bit more after Christmas, but player of his class and history obviously is not happy about ~10 starts in a season.

I have only few 'real' players in my Ajax squad now. Joel Veltman, Tom Noordhoff, Mitchell Dijks, Ilan Boccara, Siem de Jong, Melvin Vissers, Dejan Meleg

[Draakon]

21.04.2024 - Ajax - Roda JC Kerkrade 4:4 (ED) - 1. Anthony Crüden, 8., 44. and 56. Jeroen Bouwhuis - 49. Zakaria Bourik, 66. Ali Arslan, 80. and 83. Diego Rolan - everything was decided in Eredivisie, so I concentrated on next game against Manchester United and rotated several players and gave rest days. Jeroen Bouwhuis returned from injury and the first half looked formidable enough. 3-0 lead at half time and Bouwhuis was flowing. But Elroy van Dalen earned his 2nd yellow card in 65th minute and it all went downhill after that. Roda punished our defensive mistakes and we couldn't get things under control. To be honest, I didn't change tactics after being left with 10 men, rather letting my players to work it out themselves or just have it in their face. After 22 games undefeated a good shaking is perhaps exactly what's needed to concentrate better against next opponents. But poor draw after leading 4-1 obviously didn't impress fans and our defending didn't impress me either. Joel Veltman looked poor on the pitch, so did substitutes Bart Verbeek and Dick Jansen. Perhaps some youngsters at least learned a lesson from this.

24.04.2024 - Manchester United - Ajax 1:2 (Champions League Semi Final 1st leg) - 24. and 90.+3 Tiziano Cappelletto - 9. Brian Tol - first leg in Old Trafford and in the first ten minutes we got what we came for - an away goal! But we couldn't keep up with ManU in the end and late late goal by Cappelletto was a bad blow to our ambitions. Everything looks still possible in the 2nd leg in Amsterdam and pleased that we could compete well against big teams in such high level. Johan Kramer didn't impress, being directly at fault for one of the two goals. Roberto Jansma picked up a knock, and even though it's not too bad, he'll be out for the next games.

27.04.2024 - Ajax - FC Twente 2:1 (Dutch Cup Final) - 18. Brian Tol, 36. Dejan Meleg - 52. Paolo Rolando - a massive fixture right between two continental games and it was difficult to select players for this match. Should I try to win domestic cup or should I try to catch impossible - European major title? In the end, realistic approach won and I went against FC Twente with my first team. But it was really a Pyrrhos victory for us. One after another, Rob Klijn, Jeroen Bouwhuis and Melvin Vissers were carried away on stretchers (torn mastring for all of them, out between 2-4 months) and I could only make forced substitutions. After Paolo Rolando got one back for Twente it looked nervous for a while, but we prevailed and run out deserved winners. It's our 4th title of the season (Dutch Super Cup, European Super Cup and Eredivisie are the first three). Johan Kramer made amends for his mistake in earlier game and was man of the match in the final. Brian Tol finished this Dutch Cup competition with impressive 10 goals.

30.04.2024 - Ajax - Manchester United 1:3 (Champions League Semi Final 2nd leg) - 54. Daniel Buijs - 34. Danny Welbeck, 48. Martin Migliardi, 52. Tiziano Capelletto - well... I didn't really knew how to field my team for this one. My midfield was in tatters. Vissers, Aydingöz and Bouwhuis injured. Right-back Michel Meeuws suspended. Rob Klijn out with inury. Best left winger Roberto Jansma injured. Siem de Jong and Brian Tol completely exhausted. No wonder it wasn't the best game of our season. We were overrun in midfield, veteran Joel Veltman proved too slow in defense and de Jong was simply tired. First goal we conceded from corner after de Jong's mistake and in 52 minutes it was clear - the dream of Champions League final is not going to happen for us. But Daniel Buijs' goal gave us a way back to the game, to at least walk out proud. We had another great chance, but Meleg missed his shot and we earned penalty in the end of the game, but Siem de Jong hit the post from 11 meters. His rating was only 4.0 and I felt that the captain had let his team down, so I fined him for 1 week wages. He wasn't happy about it, but understood my point in the end.

Manchester United went on and defeated Bayern 2:1 in the final. Well done for them.

05.05.2024 - Vitesse Arnhem - Ajax 4:3 (ED) - 2. and 55. Pierre Benoit, 28. Lee Seon-Il, 90.+3 Leandro Bacuna - 26. Brian Tol, 54. Johan Kramer, 74. Siem de Jong - even when that result didn't change anything, it was a disappointing defeat. Our defenser struggled right from the beginning. Defensive partnership of Kramer and Veltman left too much space between them and we were sloppy in set-piece situations. Few positive notes were de Jong's great DFK that equalized the game, but once again we conceded a very late goal and twice in a row we conceded 4 goals in Eredivisie match. There's a lot of defensive worka ahead in Summer after those performances. Vitesse were happy, of course, but in truth it's been a miserable season for them and despite those extra 3 points they ended up 15th in the table - just above relegation zone.

Eredivisie

Ajax goals: Brian Tol 28, Jeroen Bouwhuis 18, Dick Jansen 17, Siem de Jong 16, Anthony Crüden 11, Roberto Jansma 10, Johan Kramer 10

Ajax assists: Daniel Buijs 19, Dejan Meleg 17, Roel Doesburg 14, Anthony Crüden 12

After several years I finally have a central defender (Johan Kramer) who has scored 10 goals from corners and set pieces. 19 assists from Daniel Buijs is a new record. Johan Kramer was also selected as fans player of the year for the season.

Dutch Goalkeeper of the Year

1. Nkau Shoai (PSV Eindhoven)

2. Jan Kuijpers (Ajax) - had the most clean sheets (13) and best average rating, but apparently that's not enough to win this award

3. Koen Casteels (Feyenoord Rottedam)

Golden Boot

1. Rob van Dijk (ADO Den Haag) - extremely surprising award, for a player who's just scored 12 goals with average rating of 7.07

2. Joel Donald (AZ Alkmaar)

3. Tristan Willems (PSV Eindhoven)

Top Goalscorer

1. Johnny van de Meulenhof (Heracles Almelo) - 31 goals - impressive goalscoring for a team like Heracles.

2. Patricio Morales (PSV Eindhoven) - 28

3. Tomas Necid (FC Utrecht) - 26 - despite being 34 years old already, this veteran never stops scoring

Young Player of the Year

1. Ricky Meijs (Almere City) - actually Ajax player on loan at Almere. Had a great season, scoring 16 goals and giving 8 assists for Almere City.

2. Pieter de Jong (Feyenoord Rotterdam)

3. Reinder van Zanten (Almere City)

[Draakon]

Not too many transfers in this Summer. Players returned from loan and I was busy searching clubs for other players to loan them out. Michel Meeuws left the club in June and joined Ipswich Town. Pre-season was short, friendly cup was cancelled and I had only 3 friendlies to prepare the team for next season. But to be honest I didn't need more than 3 games and because of European U-19 championships and Olympic Games this Summer half of the squad were away with international teams. So it was even a struggle to get full 18 players together for Super Cup match.

27.07.2024 - Ajax - PSV Eindhoven 2:0 (Dutch Super Cup) - 46. and 65. Daniel Buijs - biggest problem ahead of this game was at goal. Both Jan Kuijpers and Wilco Schouwenaar were with Olympic squad and I had to send out 16 year old Angelo van Dam against PSV. A goalkeeper who's just joined Ajax U-19 team in March and now had to make his debut in such a big match. Dick Jansen returned finally from his serious injury and was back in starting line-up. We had a good start to the game and were more in control of the match than PSV. Young van Dam had to make couple of good saves in goal and did very well there. First half ended 0-0, but just after 2nd half kick-off, Daniel Buijs scored his first goal. He had a great 2nd half and 2nd goal 20 minutes later secured us our 4th consecutive super-cup win.

[Draakon]

04.08.2024 - Roda JC Kerkrade - Ajax 0:3 (ED) - 38. and 63. Daniel Buijs, 81. Hulusi Aydingöz - compared to last season's regular team, I made two changes. Wilco Schouwenaar started in goal while Jan Kuijpers was on the bench. Secondly, Dick Jansen had his chance up front while last year's comet Brian Tol was named as a substitution. Only player missing due injury was Melvin Vissers. It took some time for us to get us going, but it was a convincing and comfortable win in away match. Daniel Buijs continued his great goalscoring form. Dick Jansen wasted a great chance, but Brian Tol impressed after coming on from substitution. His pass created opportunity for Aydingöz to score the 3rd goal. Solid start to new season. Schouwenaar didn't have too much to do and I was impressed by our solid defending.

10.08.2024 - Ajax - FC Utrecht 2:0 (ED) - 2. pen. and 36. Roberto Jansma - rivalry match started with quick penalty call when Jansen was brought down in the box. The first half was Jansma's show, but final score didn't make us justice. We dominated pretty much every department and Utrecht were completely passed out of the game. Ball possession 62/38 and we neutralized their new top striker Johnny van de Meulenhof very well.

17.08.2024 - Feyenoord Rotterdam - Ajax 0:1 (ED) - 7. Siem de Jong - now then, that was a first test of the season. Jeroen Bouwhuis catched cold while on international duty. I also replaced Jansen (his finishing could have been better in previous games) with Tol up front. And it was Tol's pass that created space for veteran captain de Jong to score early goal. Interestingly, the rest of the match was not good looking football. A lot of midfield battles and solid defending from both sides, as it often is against Feyenoord. But de Jong's goal secured us 3 points and a great win that boosts confidence within squad.

24.08.2024 - Ajax - Vitesse Arnhem 6:1 (ED) - 1., 50. and 57. pen. Hulusi Aydingöz, 23. Daniel Buijs, 34. Jeroen Bouwhuis, 90.+1 Daryl Haak - 48. Aron Johansson - Melvin Vissers was back in fitness and it was great to go against Vitesse with my full squad. We started very strong and Tol-Aydingöz cooperation put us to scoreboard within the first minute of play. They replaced it in 2nd half. Aydingöz had a great game and earned his hat-trick. Penalty call was a bit harsh when Roberto Jansma was tackled in the box, but I don't mind. Aydingöz's corner was headed into goal in ijury time by debutant central defender Daryl Haak. Great moment for him and it makes him fan favorite already. Vitesse had two good chances - in the end of 2nd half Tom Noordhoff's poor pass was intercepted, but Vitesse striker couldn't get his shot past Schouwenaar - the goalkeeper showing why he's better than Jan Kuijpers in those 1-on-1 situations. Schouwenaar couldn't save us the next time it happened, but in the end it was just a rare glimpse of good attacking play in otherwise miserable game for Vitesse.

We've started strong and are already the only team to win 4 out of 4 first matches. PSV dropped 2 points against Almere City. FC Twente and AZ Alkmaar look like contenders so far as well.

Champions League groups were drawn and we were seeded in 1st group. We got Dortmund Borussia, Shakhtar Donetsk and outsiders Slovan Bratislava. Surprisingly Almere City qualified for Europa League group stage. Interesting to see how they'll do, competing in two fronts at once.

Eredivisie

Ajax goals: Daniel Buijs 5, Hulusi Aydingöz 4, Roberto Jansma 2

Ajax assists: Brian Tol 4, Mitchell Dijks 2, Ilan Boccara 2, Roberto Jansma 2

[Draakon]

Quiet transfer window, as usual, but 3 big transfers were made. In addition to Michel Meeuws' £10m deal from Ajax to Ipswich and PSV Eindhoven finally agreed to sell Franklin Badru (their best defensive player, Congolese DC/DMC/MC) to FC Chelsea and FC Twente cashed int their Italian defender Davide Gambino.

PSV, of course, didn't hesitate to spend this cash and landed 4-5 big moves in terms of Eredivisie average player quality.

Major transfers during this Summer:

Franklin Badru from PSV Eindhoven to FC Chelsea for £17,5m

Davide Gambino from FC Twente to AS Monaco for £11,25m

Michel Meeus from Ajax to Ipswich Town for £10m

Felipe Perivaldo from Spartak Moscow to PSV Eindhoven for £4,7m - 29 yo Brazilian central midfielder

Raouf Amrani from AC Milan to PSV Eindhoven for £4,3m - central midfielder from Algeria

Marko Katainen from Fenerbahce to PSV Eindhoven for £4,3m - Finnish right defender. Very quick, but otherwise looks average.

Norbert Augenthaler from Fürth to PSV Eindhoven for £3,8m - German 21 yo right midfielder-winger. Looks great prospect.

Carlos Andres Marrero from Standard to PSV Eindhoven for £3,3m - Colombian midfielder. Last-minute signing on 2nd of September. Doesn't look to add anything extra to already solid PSV squad.

FC Twente were more cautious with their spending after Gambino's deal and their biggest signing was sc Heerenveen's defensive midfielder Remco Snip for just £2,9m. Wise spending, I'd say.

[Draakon]

Goalkeepers

Wilco Schouwenaar

After spending couple of seasons on loan in France, this young Dutch goalkeeper has returned to grab his place in Ajax goal. Several clean sheets and couple of key saves have proved that so far it's been a good decision by manager.

Jan Kuijpers

Perhaps goalkeeper was a bit weak place in our squad last season, but Jan definitely doesn't think so. He requested transfer, mentioning the need for a new challenge, but probably because he sensed he's starting to stay on the bench more than he's used to. Unfortunately I was unable to find him a new club and at least for a while we'll have two solid keepers in first team. I'll try to give Kuijpers match practice in cup games and against smaller sides.

Defenders

Tom Tepperik

New first choice right-back. So far solid defensively, but could be better in offensive department, especially crosses and overlapping. Still very young and a lot of time to improve.

Tom Noordhoff

Last season he was more of a DMC, covering Ilan Boccara in that position. This season he started again as DC, playing very well and keeping Johan Kramer on the bench. Only injured player in my list in September.

Rob Klijn

Mitchell Dijks

It was difficult to get his contract extended, but finally he agreed to stay below £50,000p/w salary. Very good offensively, dangerous crosser and still part of Holland national team, but it looks like his age is slowly starting to get to him.

Martin Peek

Up and coming young 17 years old right-back. Very highly rated by my coaches. Quick as a devil, just needs some time to gain experience and get his mental attributes up.

Johan Kramer

Last season fans' player of the year.

Elroy van Dalen

Daryl Haak

Returned from loan at FC Groningen after having a good season there. Now he's ready for first team football in Amsterdam. The tallest palyer in Eredivisie with his impressive 203 cm. Already scored on his debut and looks like a dangerous weapon in opponent's box during corners.

[Draakon]

Midfielders

Siem de Jong

35 years old club captain. But because of his age I have to consider more and more where and against whom should I play him.

Melvin Vissers

Injury troubles have plagued him too often and it has left a mark to his attributes. But still a good player and his playmaking abilities are valuable against certain clubs. Good in the air as well and wins most of aerial duels in midfield.

Jeroen Bouwhuis

Hulusi Aydingöz

Has had great start to new season.

Ilan Boccara

Rock of the midfield, but also over 30 years old for now. I should try to find him a long term replacement.

Danny Spaan

Occasionally can be that replacement for Boccara, but certainly doesn't possess enough quality to be first team defensive midfielder

Wingers

Roel Doesburg

Getting more mature than before, but still overshadowed by Daniel Buijs on the right wing.

Roberto Jansma

Still can't believe that big clubs in Europe haven't tried to lure him away. His injury proneness is a big weakness, though.

Kristian Pol

Spent 6 months on loan in Augsburg last season. This year he'll start in Amsterdam again. Rotation player at best.

Dejan Meleg

Experienced Serbian national team winger. Can play on both left and right wingers and is good corner taker.

Daniel Buijs

My best right winger, also part of Holland national team. Gave most assists last season.

Anthony Crüden

Usually always gets his chance because Jansma will be injured sooner rather than later. Similar player to Jansma, good dribbler and moves well on the pitch.

[Draakon]

Strikers

Dick Jansen

Broken leg in last season certainly left his mark and his usual confidence is gone at the moment. Still important part of the team and useful player

Brian Tol

Comet of the last season. Came and conquered and continues to impress after Summer. Very talented player and suitable for my single striker tactics.

Bart Verbeek

Two young 18 years old strikers in team this season, to train with first team squad and get some glimpses of first team football. Not sure yet how they'll turn out, but at least potential is there.

Harry Gillhaus

Second of the pair. Physically good and solid finisher. Everything else could be learned.

[Draakon]

13.09.2024 - Ajax - AZ Alkmaar 2:0 (ED) - 14. pen. Dejan Meleg, 49. Roberto Jansma - AZ look solid this season and are definitely up there in top 3 in the table. Brian Tol and Daniel Buijs looked tired after international break and were rested. Dejan Meleg started as inside forward on the right wing, and he earned us a penalty in 14th minute and scored himself from the spot. Jansma's goal after half-time break was more of individual effort. We didn't have too many chances in the game, but defended well and AZ couldn't have a single shot on target, so well deserved win.

18.09.2024 - Shakhtar Donetsk - Ajax 1:3 (Champions League Group Stage) - 28. Israel Mohnsam - 9. Brian Tol, 12. Roberto Jansma, 81. Roel Doesburg - it was a great football match for the fans, both sides attacking well (and defending rather carelessly on the other end). We took a quick 2-0 lead, but actually could have scored more. Shakhtar's goal came a bit out of nowhere. In the 2nd half Schouwenaar had two good saves to eliminate Shakhtar's clear cut chances and Doesburg's counter-attack and goal secured us 3 points from away match. I'm not too impressed with our defending. We conceded too many corners and looked vulnerable from set pieces. And our finishing certainly could have been better. Brian Tol was the man of the match with his goal and two assists.

21.09.2024 - FC Eindhoven - Ajax 0:3 (ED) - 36. Dick Jansen, 38. and 81. Anthony Crüden - I felt bold enough to field a bit weakened team. Dick Jansen had his chance, Martin Peek started as a right back, Anthony Crüden on the left wing and Melvin Vissers started in midfield and allowed Aydingöz to take a day off. Game had a bit slow start, but opening goal was well made by our goalkeeper Schouwenaar. His long ball found Jansen on the run and it was 1-0. Crüden's goal was quick to follow. FC Eindhoven had a good case for penalty, but referee decided no even if replays showed that we were lucky to escape that call. Again Schouwenaar had to make at least one key save after Eindhoven's player had a clear cut chance after indirect free kick. But in the end it was a comfortable scoreline and another clean sheet in the league. PSV struggled at the same time against Roda and returned with only one point from this match.

26.09.2024 - Chabab - Ajax 0:11 (Dutch Cup 2nd round) - 2. and 18. Siem de Jong, 21. and 74. Anthony Crüden, 26., 51. and 67. Johan Kramer, 43. Harry Gillhaus, 45.+1 Abdi de Hoon (og), 55. and 72. Bart Verbeek - amateur club Chabab had a miserable 90 minutes even though I fielded weakened team against them. Veteran Siem de Jong scored two goals and then opponent's heads dropped. We looked most dangerous from set pieces and Johan Kramer scored his hat-trick (all goals from corners). I was pleased to see both young strikers (Gillhaus and Verbeek) score. Another rest day for first team players who continue to prepare for the next match against Dortmund Borussia.

It's been another good month. We've won 6 straight in Eredivisie and going strong on the other fronts as well. PSV also had a lucky draw against Feyenoord (equalized in injury time) and are now 3rd. FC Twente look even more dangerous of the two. Roda were quick to sack and replace their manager after 5 straight defeats and now they had their first win (plus a draw against PSV which is almost as good), so things look better for them. Vitesse, on the other hand, are still struggling in relegation zone. De Graafschap are in a very good position, but they've had easier matches so far and despite taking some good wins, I expect their luck to change. But Almere City is once agains comfortably in top half of the table and they've showed some quality against PSV (that game ended with 2-2 draw). In Europa League they played a great game away against Atletico Madrid and returned with 1-1 draw.

Eredivisie

Ajax goals: Daniel Buijs 5, Hulusi Aydingöz 4, Anthony Crüden 4

Ajax assists: Brian Tol 6, Anthony Crüden 4, Mitchell Dijks 3

[Draakon]

As in previous season, I'll try to give some hints about up-and-coming talents in my team, players that are currently on loan or in youth team squad. That means usually players under 21 that we might see in first team in 2-4 years.

Goalkeepers

Current first choice goalkeeper Wilco Schouwenaar is just 21 years old and behind him there is 5 years gap until Angelo van Dam - young player just emerged to U-19 team last Spring and rated as 3* potential, currently tutored by Jan Kuijpers. I'm not really worried about GK position, because they are less likely to attract interest by big teams and can go on for years.

Right-backs

Two young right-backs in my first team. Tom Tepperik is 21 and Martin Peek just 17 years old. Nothing too bright coming from youth team at the moment, but I'll get on with them for some years at least. In times of injury troubles, Rob Klijn can play as DR if necessary.

Left-backs

Sadly, nothing to report there. 1,5* youth players at best and at this point I'm even willing to bring up any 2* left-back that could at least share some playing time in first team. Mitchell Dijks has turned 31 years old, Elroy van Dalen (who is really more centre-back than left-back) is 27, so crisis is soon looming ahead.

Centre-backs

In first team post I introduced Daryl Haak. He is one player that earned first team place from my batch of talented central defenders. The other two are:

Bambo Ouologuem

In this season he's on loan at NEC Nijmegen and has quickly become their main defending force.

Michel van Breugel

On loan at Volendam, but also has all key attributes to become good Eredivisie defender.

Midfielders

In first team there is Danny Spaan, 2* so-so defensive midfielder. But there are a bunch of 17-18 year olds coming up.

Rick Schouten

Currently on loan at Telstar. Looks a bit similar player to Melvin Vissers, lower positioned defensive midfielder.

Jan Bouwhuis

No relations to Jeroen Bouwhuis, but this two-footed attacking player has some key qualities like flair and pace. Decent corner taker too. If only his creativity could be higher. Currently on loan at Jupiler League side FC Oss.

Arnold Janssen

18 years old attacking midfielder. Also a very good flair player. Good mental stats, but lacks pace. Also on loan and plays in Jupiler League.

Wingers

Ricky Meijs

I considered for a long time if I should keep him in Ajax or send him to Almere City for another season. In the end, first team opportunities won and he's proved that he's a valuable asset in Almere. Four goals so far in as many games and plenty of Eredivisie playing time to improve his game.

Dick Jansen

Despite lingering in Ajax training grounds he went to NAC Breda for a season. Unfortunately, rather poor performances so far and groin strain kept im out for 3 weeks in September.

Strikers

In strikers department, things look well for the future. Brian Tol himself is just 19 years old. I already mentioned two 18 yo talents in my first team - Bart Verbeek and Harry Gillhaus. But there are plenty of others out on loan.

Jens de Haan

Less talented, compared to others. And not so talented considering he's already 19. Very quick and good finisher, but that's all. Lacks other technical and mental skills needed for a good comlpete striker. Currently on loan at Sparta.

Edwin Meijs

Was my best U-19 striker last season. For this year I loaned him out to Sparta. Solid physically and good flair player. Only turned 17 in Summer.

[Draakon]

01.10.2024 - Ajax - Dortmund Borussia 1:0 (Champions League Group Stage) - 40. Brian Tol - a plenty of positives to take with us from this match. Firstly, good attacking football from our side. Secondly, excellent defense - we only allowed Dortmund to have 2 shots, both of them from long distance and wide. But our finishing could have been better and 1:0 was a shaky lead until the final whistle. Dortmund goalkeeper had a fairly good game too.

05.10.2024 - Ajax - Willem II Tilburg 2:0 (ED) - 60. Brian Tol, 75. Johan Kramer - more difficult than it should have been. Goalless first half and Willem II actually looked dangerous. They had 2 great opportunities to score in the beginning of 2nd half, but Schouwenaar made key saves both times. Scoreline was solid in the end, but gameplay itself looked fairly worrying.

18.10.2024 - FC Groningen - Ajax 1:0 (ED) - 16. Resul Tas - there it was, the first defeat in Eredivisie after 7 straight wins. I don't know really why, but justa few theories - we had international break and I had to rest couple of tired players after national team games (Dijks, Buijs). It looked like we were out of rhythm a bit and didn't have this final lethal pass in the attacking stage. FC Groningen wasn't even so impressive, they just got one chance early in the game and then defended well for the rest of the match. We had possession, but couldn't break through. In the final minute, of course there was a Brian Tol's header that was chalked off by the referee - unfairly, after seeing replay. I complained about it in the media and FA at least fell silent over that criticism. But it doesn't change the fact that we ourselves should have played better.

22.10.2024 - Ajax - Slovan Bratislava 2:0 (Champions League Group Stage) - 33. Tom Tepperik, 43. Dick Jansen - I replaced Tol with Janses for this match and we took a win, as expected. Nothing fancy, just a solid 2-0. A rare goal by my right-back Tom Tepperik and Jansen added the 2nd one. European campaign has really started well, with 3 wins from the first round of the group and we look good to progress from group stage.

26.10.2024 - Ajax - NAC Breda 11:0 (ED) - 5., 23. and 35. Hulusi Aydingöz, 26., 32., 49. and 80. Brian Tol, 53. Jeroen Bouwhuis, 58., 65. and 68. Roberto Jansma - NAC Breda isn't that bad of a team, but we just steamrolled over them. Don't know if it was defeat against Groningen that motivated my players or something else, but this looked like a slaughter on the pitch. Three players scored a hat-trick and in the 2nd half, after first half had ended 5-0, NAC weren't even trying. They were left with 10 men after 64th minute and that didn't help, too. One of the most impressive wins in the league.

30.10.2024 - Ajax - HSC '21 4:0 (Dutch Cup 3rd round) - 8. Daryl Haak, 11., 18. and 25. Roel Doesburg - against amateurs of HSC I fielded 2nd choice players and we took mandatory win. 4-0 is a solid scorilne, but nothing fancy. 203 cm tall Daryl Haak headed a goal from corner and Roel Doesburg scored a nice hat-trick.

It's been a fairly productive month. Things are looking up in Europe and despite this defeat against Groningen, we're still leading the league. PSV have had problems too, they lost against FC Eindhoven and so FC Twente have overtook the 2nd place in the table.

Vitesse's miserable season continues and they're still in relegation zone. sc Heerenveen also have nothing to celebrae.

Eredivisie

Ajax goals: Brian Tol 7, Roberto Jansma 7, Hulusi Aydingöz 7

Ajax assists: Brian Tol 6, Mitchell Dijks 6, Roberto Jansma 5

[Draakon]

03.11.2024 - Ajax - FC Twente Enschede 1:0 (ED) - 27. Brian Tol - we played a very good game against in-form FC Twente, but our finishing let us down in several occasions. Twente defensive line looked fairly error-prone and they gifted us four clear-cut chances, but we only scored once. One of the best goalkeepers in the league, Marijan Papa, also earned his salary in Twente goal. Still, a good win and three points in the bag.

06.11.2024 - Slovan Bratislava - Ajax 0:4 (Champions League Group Stage) - 24. Brian Tol, 31. pen. Dejan Meleg, 46. Tom Noordhoff, 88. Kristian Pol - a fairly easy game against Slovakian side. We looked dangerous from set pieces - penalty was awarded after foul in corner situation. Tom Noordhoff scored his first goal of the season from another corner. Substitute Kristian Pol (who hasn't deserved a lot of playing time) had a great moment when he scored in the end of the game. With this game we won our 4th game in the group and secured us a win in group stage with 12 points. Two last games will be without any additional pressure to us.

09.11.2024 - FC Den Bosch - Ajax 0:4 (ED) - 59. and 68. Brian Tol, 78. Roel Doesburg, 89. Ergun Demir (og) - FC Den Bosch look like a team bound to relegation, but instead they have taken points whenever possible and are currently in mid-table position. Perhaps because I rotated some players, but first 45 minutes in away pitch looked forced and we couldn't find a way through their defense, but in 2nd half we turned up the pace and after first goal blue-white dragons couldn't cope any more. Comfortable 4-0 win in the end. Curious fact - we couldn't create any clear cut chances, but still managed to score four goals.

16.11.2024 - NEC Nijmegen - Ajax 0:2 (ED) - 37. Brian Tol, 90.+2 Anthony Crüden - another tricky fixture that needed full concentration from the team. I don't know why, but a lot of players return tired from international break. Perhaps because players like Buijs, Jansma, Boccara and Dijks are carrying full first team responsibility now and get full games in international squad. But prior to NEC game they looked exhausted, with 88-92 fitness ratings and I had to rotate once again. Match itself was a drab one, we had one good chance that resulted a goal in the first half and in injury time Crüden's goal secured us 3 points.

It's been a good first half of November. I'm especially pleased with our defensive work and goalkeeping. We've kept a clean sheet over 600 minutes. Fitness of the team is also great and we've avoided major injury troubles so far.

[Draakon]

19.11.2024 - Shakhtar - Ajax 1:1 (Champions League Group Stage) - 62. Rob Klijn - 25. Israel Mohnsam - with everything decided in Champions League group and PSV match coming up, I rotated my team and the result was 1-1 draw against Shakhtar. A bit disappointing perhaps, but I tried to keep in mind that this result doesn't really matter. Shakhtar started well and had several good chances and after 25 minutes of football they also took the lead. Then things switched and we took initiative. Still, it took a long time to equalize, but Klijn's shot after corner kick made it 1-1 and that's how it ended. Dick Jansen, Roel Doesburg and Dejan Meleg were unimpressive in attacking phase - something to take note on.

23.11.2024 - Ajax - PSV Eindhoven 2:0 (ED) - 61. Mitchell Dijks, 90.+1 Anthony Crüden - we had our best squad on the pitch while PSV looked tired and ragged after 0-3 defeat against Real Madrid. It was an even game though, at least for the first 45 minutes and both teams looked motivated to get all 3 points. But Tol's good pass to Dijks opened up PSV defense and then it became easier. Early substitutions and unfortunate injury left PSV with 10 men and in the end, when they pushed up, substitute Anthony Crüden clinched it with the 2nd goal. Extremely important win - we're now 9 points clear of PSV in the table and look good for the title.

27.11.2024 - Ajax - Heracles Almelo 8:2 (ED) - 1. and 26. Daniel Buijs, 18. Daryl Haak, 30., 65. and 90. Roberto Jansma, 52. Jeroen Bouwhuis, 78. Tom Tepperik - 16. Boban Lazic, 70. Thijs Berends - Heracles clearly look like a relegation candidate this season and their defense fell apart with almost every attack. Only good moment for Heracles was in 16th minute when Boban Lazic's strike equalized the game to 1-1. But only two minutes later Haak scored from corner and then it was all nightmare to Heracles. Once again we scored goals like it was a training match, but two conceded goals were quite cheap ones to take. Roberto Jansma hit the post with his penalty kick in 89th minute, but completed his hat-trick a minute later. Overall - confident win and relaxed 90 minutes. Hulusi Aydingöz created 4 goals with his passes and had a wonderful game as well.

Month as a whole has been extremely successful, especially a vital win against PSV that puts us 9 points clear in the table. We've scored a lot of goals, kept injuries away and things are looking bright.

Eredivisie

FC Twente have had a difficult month. They lost against PSV after conceding in injury time and made draws against FC Den Bosch and FC Groningen. FC Utrecht, meanwhile, won 4 games out of 5 and climbed to 3rd place.

Ajax goals: Brian Tol 12, Roberto Jansma 10, Daniel Buijs 7, Hulusi Aydingöz 7

Ajax assists: Brian Tol 10, Roberto Jansma 7, Hulusi Aydingöz 6, Daniel Buijs 6, Mitchell Dijks 6

[Draakon]

01.12.2024 - Almere City - Ajax 1:4 (ED) - 10. Alan Aitjdag - 34. Dejan Meleg, 73. Elroy van Dalen, 90. Brian Tol, 90.+4 Tom Tepperik - we conceded a goal from corner, but recouped well. In half-time I had every reason to be disappointed with overall performance, but in the 2nd half, especially in the last 20 minutes, things turned better. Good goals for full-backs van Dalen and Tepperik, especially Tepperik's long shot from 20-25 meters out. Almere City chose to go on full attack after van Dalen's goal and were punished bu last minute goals.

04.12.2024 - Borussia Dortmund - Ajax 3:4 (Champions League Group Stage) - 16. and 19. Ilkay Gündogan, 45. Daniel Chaparro - 24. and 46. Dick Jansen, 39. Hulusi Aydingöz, 54. Johan Kramer - there was only pride at stake for us, but qualification for Dortmund. We rotated some players - Dick Jansens started up front, Martin Peek as a right back and Anthony Crüden on the left wing. Jan Kuijpers got his chance between sticks. But we didn't look prepared at all. After 19 minutes were played, we were 0-2 behind and in all kinds of trouble. But we managed to get back at 2-2 before Chaparro's goal sent us into half time break with 2-3 scoreline. 2nd half looked better for us and worse for Dortmund. They lost all confidence after Jansen scored just after kick-off and Kramer's header from corner made it 4-3 and that's how it ended. Great match for the fans and good football all around. Dick Jansen earned himself some credit after scoring two good goals, but Jan Kuijpers showed why he's just a 2nd goalkeeper at the moment.

07.12.2024 - Ajax - sc Heerenveen 0:1 (ED) - 9. Ninos Gouriye - 2nd defeat of the season and even worse because it was at home. We had some troubles in midfield - Aydingöz was injured and Bouwhuis looked too tired after Dortmund match, but that's no excuse. We conceded early goal and couldn't answer in the next 80 minutes. Mitchell Dijks had a great chance but his header went over. Siem de Jong missed his opportunity in the 2nd half. Finishing let us down that night and attacking play should have been better as well.

11.12.2024 - Ajax - Roda JC Kerkrade 1:0 (ED) - 59. Daniel Buijs - it was better because we earned 3 points, but performance was extremely poor against relegation-battling Roda. In the end it was Buijs' individual brilliance that created the only goal. Defensive performance was better though, and we didn't allow a single shot on goal. But my full time team talk was still critical and I pointed out that we have to be better against stronger teams if we want to continue our good season.

15.12.2024 - FC Utrecht - Ajax 2:2 (ED) - 61. Johnny van de Meulenhof, 83. Ivo Stojakovic - 50. Ivo Stojakovic (og), 63. Jeroen Bouwhuis - disappointing draw, because we had taken the lead twice and still let Utrecht equalize in the end. Individual mistakes from Tom Tepperik and Jeroen Bouwhuis were the cause behind conceded goals and Johan Kramer didn't have the best game in defense too. Looks like a mid-season slump - sharpness and creativity are missing and mistakes are creeping in.

18.12.2024 - FC Eindhoven - Ajax 2:0 (Dutch Cup 4th round) - 65. and 69. pen. Roan de Reus - I rotated again some player for cup game, but result was frustrating. Small Eindhoven squad shut us out completely and two goals in 5 minutes by de Reus meant we are out of cup competition. First was a mistake by Jan Kuijpers. Penalty was a foul of young right-back Martin Peek. Dick Jansen got another chance in attack, but looked like rubbish. No good shots and poor passing all around. Midfield didn't look much better either. We even lost possession to Eindhoven 51/49. Extremely frustrating to go out like that and for the first time this season I had a reason to keep my team in dressing room for a while and just shout out what I think of such performance. Hopefully it helps to set some minds right.

21.12.2024 - De Graafschap - Ajax 1:2 (ED) - 35. Silgio Thenu, 17. Johan Kramer, 31. Daniel Buijs - De Graafschap's small team is high-flying this season and are currently 5th, so they couldn't be underestimated. I'm pleased with 3 points and 2 goals in the first half. Thenu's goal kept us on the edge until the final whistle and we had to keep our concentration, but after Eindhoven's result we needed a win and were able to get that in the final match before Christmas break.

A rollercoaster month for us. We started well against Almere City and a match against Dortmund was a great entertainment. There were some scrappy dogfight wins against Roda and De Graafschap that could have been easier for us and of course disappointing defeats against Heerenveen and Eindhoven. Fortunately, PSV lost a match against NAC Breda, so we still have a safe 7 points lead in the table. Falling out of the cup is a disappointment though. Not only that it happened so early, but against such a team like FC Eindhoven. If it were FC Twente or Feyenoord, I could have let it go easily.

Eredivisie

Ajax goals: Brian Tol 13, Roberto Jansma 10, Daniel Buijs 9, Hulusi Aydingöz 8

Ajax assits: Brian Tol 12, Daniel Buijs 9, Roberto Jansma 8

[Draakon]

01.01.2025 - Ajax - Feyenoord Rotterdam 4:0 (ED) - 28. Rob Klijn, 56. and 73. Jeroen Bouwhuis, 89. Anthony Crüden - looks like our usual football is back! We completely steamrolled Feyenoord on the 2nd half in front of our own fans and enjoyed our game. Feyenoord looked extremely vulnerable in every set-piece situation and we took full advantage of it. Excellent result to start a new year with and let's hope things go only up from here.

22.01.2025 - Ajax - FC Eindhoven 4:0 (ED) - 7. Brian Tol, 14. Anthony Crüden, 48. Johan Kramer, 64. Daniel Buijs - a little bit of revenge for our cup defeat. FC Eindhoven had no answer to us and it looked way too easy. Brian Tol's lack of goals had just started to trouble me, but in this game he returned to goalscoring form. Man of the match was still Daniel Buijs - a goal and two assists from him.

25.01.2025 - Vitesse Arnhem - Ajax 1:1 (ED) - 36. Brahim Darri - 45.+2 Siem de Jong - a disappointing draw. Vitesse squad looked tired prior to this game, but we couldn't take advantage on it. We had the most of possession, but conceded a cheap goal in first half. Luckily, 36 years old Siem de Jong equalized in first half injury time from direct free kick. A great goal, but that was it. We had a good pressure on Vitesse in 2nd half, but couldn't create any clear cut chances and Vitesse defensive line did a good job to nullify our attacks. Should have been better, especially because PSV is on the high form and we're now only 5 points ahead of them.

Better month than December, but we have to win games like the one against Vitesse if we want to take the title in Spring.

Transfer window was quiet enough. I sold Danny Spaan to FC Oss (£16k + clauses) and loaned out young striker Harry Gillhaus to Roda JC.

Eredivisie

Ajax goals: Brian Tol 14, Daniel Buijs 10, Roberto Jansma 10

Ajax assists: Brian Tol 13, Daniel Buijs 13, Roberto Jansma 8

[Draakon]

07.02.2025 - AZ Alkmaar - Ajax 0:2 (ED) - 35. Roberto Jansma, 60. Hulusi Aydingöz - a difficult away game, but our defensive line played a near perfect game and we didn't allow AZ forwards any easy chances. Couple of good attacking plays created us two goals and that was good enough for the win. Mitchell Dijks earned a man of the match award with his defensive work. The game was marred by injury to Tom Tepperik - he'll be out for the next 5-6 weeks with broken arm. Youngster Martin Peek has to show what he can do as a first team right-back.

12.02.2025 - Genoa CFC - Ajax 0:1 (Champions League 1st knockout round 1st leg) - 58. Dejan Meleg - Genoa is not the most difficult opponent that we could have got from the draw, but of course cannot be underestimated. The game allowed me to welcome our own Branco van der Boomen who now plays for Italian side. We played again a very good game defensively, tackling well and fighting for every possession. Our goal was a bit of a lucky strike - Meleg tackled the ball away from Genoa defender and it went past goalkeeper to the net. Genoa strikers looked too nervous and completely wasted their best chance in the 75th minute to score an equalizer. So, we came back from Italy with 1-0 lead and away goal. A good start to this tie.

16.02.2025 - Ajax - De Graafschap 5:0 (ED) - 33. Anthony Crüden, 49. and 67. Brian Tol, 69. Johan Kramer, 77. Jeroen Bouwhuis - De Graafschap have had a great season so far, but we steamrolled over them in the 2nd half of the match. Goals came from everywhere and we finished with 5 goals. Our best wingers Daniel Buijs and Roberto Jansma had to skip this game due to small injuries, but Anthony Crüden and Dejan Meleg did a great job on the wings nevertheless. Just in the end of the game, Bouwhuis had to be taken off with a broken wrist - he'll be out for 3 weeks. While we managed to avoid any injuries to key players in the first half of the season, few of those are creeping in now in decisive stages of the campaign.

22.02.2025 - NAC Breda - Ajax 3:0 (ED) - 59. Tim Merckx, 83. and 88. Jochen Bex - well, we were hit hard and fair in this one. That was a true shocker and we were so overplayed by NAC that it got really embarrassing. Even worse because we had almost our best squad on the pitch, but had no creativity, no good chances and looked really clumsy both with and without the ball. NAC-s first goal came from their first good chance, but we were punished by another two after we started to desperately push up and take more risks. Nevertheless, an emberrassing defeat and I let the players have the worst of it in dressing room after the match. Simply unacceptable. Martin Peek had some good performances in pervious games but he looked especially poor in this one, but to be fair, none of the players earned their paychecks.

26.02.2025 - Willem II Tilburg - Ajax 0:2 (ED) - 65. Roberto Jansma, 80. Brian Tol - the first half was more-less a follow-up from NAC match. Poor passing, no creativity, poor finishing. In the 2nd half, after some harsh words at half time, it got a bit better and goals by Jansma and Tol secured us 3 points to end February with a bit better note. I feel we should have played better against a small side like Willem II, but I'll take this anyway.

I'm pleased with our European campaign so far and we looked very good agains AZ, but a manner of defeat against NAC Breda was a real bummer. Fortunately, PSV's season is a rollercoaster too - they lost two games in February, against FC Utrecht and Feyenorod. That gives us still a healthy 10 points lead in the table and we can fully concentrate to 2nd leg match against Genoa, without worrying too much about domestic standings.

Eredivisie

Ajax goals: Brian Tol 17, Roberto Jansma 12, Daniel Buijs 10

Ajax assists: Brian Tol 14, Daniel Buijs 13, Hulusi Aydingöz 9, Roberto Jansma 9,

[Bilbo Baggins]

Good league form, best of luck for your European campaign.

[Draakon]

01.03.2025 - Ajax - FC Groningen 5:0 (ED) - 4. Dejan Meleg, 12. Johan Kramer, 56. Daryl Haak, 57. Roel Doesburg, 74. Dick Jansen - both teams were a bit tired, but while we compensated with good rotation (Brian Tol, Daniel Buijs, Ilan Boccara were rested), then FC Groningen couldn't cope. Things were well under our control after first 15 minutes and in 2nd half Groningen pretty much collapsed. Central defender Daryl Haak was the man of the match - a goal from him in addition to solid defensive work. Roel Doesburg came in from substitution and also made a good impression with his goal and assist.

04.03.2025 - Ajax - Genoa CFC 3:1 (Champions League 1st knockout round 2nd leg) - 21. and 85. Brian Tol, 65. Nikola Maksimovic (og) - 12. Milovan Drobnjak - an important match. We started with 1-0 away win behind us, but conceded too quickly for my liking and let Genoa equalize the aggregate score. But then we pulled ourselves together and soon Brian Tol made it 1-1. In the end of the first half, Daryl Haak picked up a season-ending injury (damaged spine) and after the break Daniel Buijs earned a red card for completely unnecessary violence - elbowing opponent to the face. Despite being left to 10 men, we (or actually, Genoa) scored another goal and then it was another red card. This time to Genoa - goalscorer Drobnjak couldn't cope with his frustration. We could breathe easier after Tol finished the game with another goal and we could celebreate reaching to quarter finals again. FC Chelsea will be our matchup there.

09.03.2025 - Ajax - FC Den Bosch 4:0 (ED) - 3., 16. and 78. Brian Tol, 10. Hulusi Aydingöz - easy. Very easy. As it should be. Great hat-trick from Brian Tol and Den Bosch didn't have a real chance in front of our goal.

16.03.2025 - FC Twente - Ajax 1:2 (ED) - 11. Wesley Boot - 30. and 45.+2 Hulusi Aydingöz - we conceded a quick goal from indirect free kick. I'm not happy about that. But slowly we got the game under control and Aydingöz equalized. Then, just before half time whistle, Ilan Boccara received red card for terrible two-footed tackle, but just after his dismissal, Aydingöz scored another from long range to send us into break with buoyant mood. In 2nd half we played a great game defensively to completely nullify FC Twente attacks. Uneventful 45 minutes ended with our 2:1 away win and with that we took a big step closer to clinching Eredivisie title.

29.03.2025 - PSV Eindhoven - Ajax 3:1 (ED) - 31. and 75. Norbert Augenthaler, 54. Robert Messi - 87. Brian Tol - we had pretty much our best squad for this game, after Tom Tepperik returned from his injury. We could have secured us a title with a win here, but couldn't break PSV at their home. Even game in terms of possession, but PSV finishing was just better. We couldn't create as good chances as they did and we picked up too many bookings. In 69th minute Mitchell Dijks received his 2nd yellow card and was sent off. We chose to chase goals instead of damage limitation, so PSV scored 3 and in the end Brian Tol's goal was a mere consolation. Substitute Roel Doesburg hit the post just after that and 2:3 was near, but it was all too little too late. We should have been better there and fans obviously are not happy with this performance, but in the big picture this one match doesn't count as much. We're still 10 points clear with 4 games to go. Instead, we should now try to get the most out of our continental campaign.

Eredivisie

Heracles Almelo are relegated, so much is clear in the table. Almere City have had a poor form too, but they're safe. De Graafschap is still in top 6, and NEC Nijmegen is having a good season as well. FC Utrecht are fighting for European places, but Top-3 (yes, Eredivisie reputation is such that top 3 get the shot to Champions League) is quite clear.

Ajax goals: Brian Tol 23, Roberto Jansma 12, Hulusi Aydingöz 12, Daniel Buijs 10

Ajax assists: Brian Tol 14, Daniel Buijs 14, Hulusi Aydingöz 11, Roberto Jansma 10

[HotChocolate]

Chelsea in the Quarters, that will be interesting

[Draakon]

02.04.2025 - FC Chelsea - Ajax 2:1 (Champions League Quarter Final 1st leg) - 59. Komi Amelete, 72. M'baye Niang - 86. Brian Tol - in the first leg match (what, by the way, took place not in Stamford Bridge, but in Lampard Park!) we looked always as the second best team. We held on nicely for the first 45 minutes, but in 2nd half things started to look worse... just until 5 minutes before whistle Brian Tol found himself at the right spot to pick up tackled ball and score an easy goal. 1:2 in away leg leaves us all chances in this tie and Chelsea must be frustrated to gift us away goal so cheaply. We certainly missed Daniel Buijs who is out with red card for this and 2nd leg match.

05.04.2025 - Ajax - NEC Nijmegen 6:2 (ED) - 18. Brian Tol, 28. Orjan Storhaug (og), 32. Tom Noordhoff, 44. Dejan Meleg, 48. and 71. Daniel Buijs - 42. Geoffrey Castillion, 83. Dean Miath - in a league game between two Chelsea matches we used mostly substitute players (+ Buijs), but result was still impresive. Attacking play looked like an oiled machine and I'm not even too upset with those 2 goals that we conceded.

08.04.2025 - Ajax - FC Chelsea 0:0 (Champions League Quarter Final 2nd leg) - well... we did our best, but it just didn't happen... finishing let us down that night. 13 shots, but only 3 on target. And in the last 10 minutes we had a glorious chance to win the game, but Jeroen Bouwhuis' header from point blank range went well over the bar. Tom Tepperik just returned from injury, but picked up another torn hamstring that will leave him sidelined until the end of the season.

12.04.2025 - Heracles Almelo - Ajax 2:5 (ED) - 70. Thijs Berends, 72. Bryan Smeets - 5. Jeroen Bouwhuis, 7. Johan Kramer, 12. Brian Tol, 17. Rob Klijn, 38. Daniel Buijs - games without pressure, these last ones in Eredivisie, and it showed. Heracles is the last team in league table and rightfully so. We finished the game in first 20 minutes, but 2nd half collapse in concentration and a little bit of complacency allowed them to score two quick goals. Still a comfortable win. We were especially impressive from dead ball situations and two goals came after corners.

20.04.2025 - Ajax - Almere City 4:1 (ED) - 2. Brian Tol, 17. and 64. Roberto Jansma, 29. Bart Verbeek - 83. Tommy van der Loo - similar game to Heracles matchup. Brian Tol scored a very quick goal, but was forced to come off after 10 minutes and torn hamstring leaves him sidelined until July. His substitute, young striker Bart Verbeek also found the net, but real man of the match performance came from Jansma - 2 goals and 2 assists. Our best left winger is in marvellous form lately. 17 year old defensive midfielder Kevin Pengel made his debut for first team in this match.

04.05.2025 - sc Heerenveen - Ajax 2:1 (ED) - 11. Michael Wouden, 43. Mourits Lodovica - 7. Roberto Jansma - we lost our first match against Heerenveen this season, and allowed them to win the second one as well. Probably caused by my rotations within squad, but we allowed them too many chances and didn't take ours. Quick goal by Jansma was followed by quick equalizer by Heerenveen, but then we earned a penalty that Jansma missed and allowed Heerenveen to score another just before half-time. Disappointing to end our good season with such a sour note, but that's football.

Eredivisie

Willem II Tilburg, FC Eindhoven and Heracles Almelo were all relegated, despite that Willem II earned their place in Euro Cup competition next season due to reaching to Ducth Cup final (where they were mercilessly trashed by PSV Eindhoven).

In Champions League final FC Chelsea made 3:3 draw with Valencia, but lost after penalty shoot-out.

Ajax goals: Brian Tol 27, Roberto Jansma 15, Daniel Buijs 13, Hulusi Aydingöz 12, Johan Kramer 10

Ajax assists: Daniel Buijs 18, Brian Tol 15, Roberto Jansma 15, Hulusi Aydingöz 12

Goalkeeper of the Year

1. Wilco Schouwenaar - Ajax

2. Marijan Papa - FC Twente Enschede

3. Nkau Shoai - PSV Eindhoven

Golden Boot

1. Marvin Roest - Feyenoord Rotterdam

2. Paul van den Berg - De Graafschap (23 yo central defender who earned 13 man of the match performances this season and was the key factor why De Graafschap ended their season with excellent 6th place)

3. Daniel Vigna - Feyenoord Rotterdam

Top Goalscorer

1. Marvin Roest - Feyenoord Rotterdam (26)

2. Brian Tol - Ajax (21)

3. Daan Verlijsdonk - FC Den Boscj (21)

Young Player of the Year

1. Brian Tol - Ajax

2. Tom Tepperik - Ajax

3. Jimmy Lambert - FC Utrecht (midfielder on loan from AS Monaco)

[HotChocolate]

Good effort against Chelsea, especially at Lampard Park

[Draakon]

Three important moves in off-season. Firstly, Ajax legend Siem de Jong retired from professional football at age 36. He's a legend around club and I offered him Ajax reserves manager job. He has good coaching attributes (4* attacking coaching) and it's nice to see such icons stick around after playing career.

I sold Dejan Meleg to Valladolid for £2,2mafter he wanted a new challenge and goalkeeper Jan Kuijpers to Lazio for £3,1m. Kuijpers wanted out already in the middle of the season after losing his starting position to Wilco Schouwenaar. Meleg... he's a versatile rotation player who can play on both wings and also deliver corners, but - a rotation player that earns £ 30 000 per week and is in his last year of contract. It doesn't make sense to offer him contract extension with a similar/higher salary that he expects while his role in the squad has degraded. And to get at least couple of millions out of this deal would be better.

Of course, as expected, both transfers were critizised by fans for small fee and losing long-serving players, but that's football and I choose to ignore such complaints.

Joel Veltman contract also run out and he decided to leave the club and join sc Heerenveen. He's 33 now and spent last season away at Almere City (6.70 average rating proving that he's far from his best days as a footballer).

Otherwise, typical Summer with a bunch of loan moves and few sold youngsters who didn't make it to the first team. Central defender Bambo Ouologuem returned from his loan spell at NEC Nijmegen and sticks with our first team for a while.

26.07.2025 - Ajax - PSV Eindhoven 1:1 (Dutch Super Cup) - 33. Brian Tol - 70. Joel Donald - this season calendar for Summer months is just crazy. We've got PSV Eindhoven twice to begin with (DSC and league opener), followed by matches against FC Twente and AZ Alkmaar. But we're ready for the challenge and at least I've got full squad fit and healthy at my disposal. It was a fairly even game, we perhaps edging first half and PSV coming a little bit back after the break, but we limited their chances well until 70th minute. They've got a Polish winger Dariusz Gasecki that can throw ball like Rory Delap and one of these situations ended with Joel Donald staring an empty net in front of our goal. 1-1 and extra time didn't bring a breakthrough either, so the match went to penalties. It's a nervous situation at most times, but not tonight - Wilco Schouwenar coolly saved all three PSV penalties in a row and just after 3 spot kicks we were declared Dutch Super Cup winners for the 5th time in a row. Man of the match was Mitchell Dijks for his relentless defensive work.

[Draakon]

01.08.2025 - Ajax - PSV Eindhoven 2:2 (ED) - 18. Johan Kramer, 50. Brian Tol - 45.+1 Patricio Morales, 84. Raouf Amrani - it was a rematch of Super Cup game, but this time we were in Amsterdam Arena in front of our own fans and it gave the team extra boost. We controlled most of the match, but weren't clinical enough with our final pass and execution. PSV only had two good chances and used them both excellently. What's worse - we conceded both goals in the end of respective halves. 17 shots, 12 of them on target, but only 2-2 draw to take away from this match. I really feel that we should have delivered the blow and PSV felt really lucky to get away from this with a draw. Jeroen Bouwhuis with a man of the match award.

09.08.2025 - FC Twente Enschede - Ajax 0:3 (ED) - 54. Rob Klijn, 69. Johan Kramer, 79. Daniel Buijs - very, very even game for the first 53 minutes. FC Twente looked dangerous and Schouwenaar had to make a couple of important saves. But our practice time with set piece situations paid off and both central defenders (Klijn and Kramer) scored from corner to give us pretty safe 2-0 lead. FC Twente took more risks to get back into game and were soon punished by another goal. Very good defensive performance on the 2nd half, and very valuable 3 points in away match against Twente.

16.08.2025 - AZ Alkmaar - Ajax 0:1 (ED) - 83. Jeroen Bouwhuis - as I said, it's a terrible fixture list for the beginning of the season. Another difficult game in away stadium, despite the fact that AZ had way more injury problems than we did. But they looked very organized and defended well, although their strikers looked a bit nervous. Schouwenaar saved us again in the first half with a great save from upper corner after dangerous header. Our opportunity came just before the end of the game - Daniel Buijs' pass found Bouwhuis on the run and he used his half-chance very well. 1-0! Despite the result, our attacking players didn't impress me. Especially Brian Tol and Roberto Jansma looked poor and couldn't pose a real threat for AZ defenders.

Bouwhuis picked up a knock himself in the end of the game and will be sidelined for 4-5 weeks (fractured ribs). Another blow came from the training grounds - Rob Klijn broke a leg after robust challenge and is out for 4 months. There goes one of my key central defenders. Time for young Daryl Haak to step up and prove his worth. Left-back Elroy van Dalen is also out for 2-3 months (torn calf), so injuries are slowly creeping in.

25.08.2025 - Ajax - De Graafschap 3:0 (ED) - 59. Hulusi Aydingöz, 70. Daniel Buijs, 85. Bart Verbeek - because of injuries I had to shuffle my rotation a bit - Melvin Vissers started in midfield, Daryl Haak in defense. Hulusi Aydingöz moved to Bouwhuis' usual role as MC (attack). De Graafschap should have been an easy prey, but once again we looked poor in the first half and only after I raised my voice at half time things started to improve. Aydingöz' goal eased the pressure and was soon followed up by marvellous long shot by Daniel Buijs. It's not often that we score from distance, but this time it was twice in one game - substitute striker Bart Verbeek curled the ball in from 27 meters out to make it 3:0. Despite the fact that we didn't produce any clear cut chances, it was a fair result. Right-back Tom Tepperik walked away with 2 assists from this match (although all he did was to give the short pass to Buijs and Verbeek in midfield area). I'm still not happy with our lack of good chances, although I can't fault the shooting effort. In this match 18 shots, 10 on target which is again well over 50%, but we're not dangerous enough and not clinical enough.

Eredivisie

Despite all the criticism I can be happy with this month. We came through a series of tough games with 10 points and look good for now. Roda JC Kerkrade surprisingly leads the table, but they have had a very easy fixture list so far. AZ Alkmaar looks in trouble, but they've played two tough games against us and PSV this month, so jury is still out on them. From nelwy-promoted teams ADO Den Haag look good enough to stay up,. FC Dordrecht have also had a good start and took points from where they can. Dordrecht, however, look doomed and are certain candidates for 18th position.

Ajax goals: Brian Tol 2, Daniel Buijs 2, Johan Kramer 2

Ajax assists: Daniel Buijs 2, Hulusi Aydingöz 2, Tom Tepperik 2

[Draakon]

The fact that we've been quiet on the transfer market doesn't mean that other clubs in Holland are following our lead. Biggest moves this Summer:

Peter de Jong from Feyenoord to Chelsea for £8m - 22 years old national team defensive midfielder. Not sad to see him go and Feyenoord team will lose from this move

Pierre Benoit from Vitesse to Stoke City for £7,25m - Vitesse picked up this French forward 8 years ago at the age of 17 for free. Since then he's become one of the best strikers in Eredivisie. Good piece of business and great scouting work. Dereved the move to bigger club.

Emerson from Genk to PSV for £6,5m - another Brazilian striker/winger. 23 years old. Good, but perhaps a little overpriced.

Hugo Lorenzo from Racing Club to Feyenoord Rotterdam for £5m - after selling de Jong, Feyenoord packed their midfield with replacement players and Lorenzo is probably the best of them. 24 yo Argentinian midfielder.

Xuxa from PSV to Malaga for £4,9m - PSV picked up this left back a year ago for £2m. He played only 12 games for them last season and now the club managed to get almost 5m for him. Great business.

Luizinho from Corinthians to PSV for £4,8m - solid 23 yo Brazilian centre-back.

Leandro Lincoln from Coritiba to Feyenoord for £3,5m - Brazilian attacking midfielder

Jan Kuijpers from Ajax to Lazio for £3,1m - my long-serving goalkeeper ends this list of top trades in this Summer

Real Madrid scouts were spotted lurking around Amsterdam Arena in July. It appeared that they tried to sign our young talent Tony de Leeuw who is probably one of the best U-18 defensive midfielders and already has been invited to U-19 national team despite being only 16 years old. We quickly resolved this threat by signing a new pre-contract with him. I've already lost one talented midfielder a couple of years ago (Clemens Hermens to Valencia) in such a way and I'm not willing to lose another. With my transfer system it's vital to hold onto good talents as long as possible.

[Draakon]

13.09.2025 - Ajax - NAC Breda 6:0 (ED) - 2. Daryl Haak, 8., 56. and 60. Daniel Buijs, 46. Roberto Jansma, 83. Brian Tol - we came back fresh from international break and easily steamrolled over NAC Breda. Daryl Haak started with a goal from corner just after 2 minutes were played. Daniel Buijs scored a great hat-trick and I'm pleased that Brian Tol got himself to score-sheet again after a while. The 2nd half was an opportunity to introduce some youngsters to our fans and Jan Bouwhuis with Kevin Pengel got some playing time. From statistics department - 20 shots, 13 on target.

16.09.2025 - Ajax - FC Porto 5:1 (Champions League Group Stage) - 2. Ilan Boccara, 32., 62., 66. and 77. Brian Tol - 18. Miguel Angel Abarca - we were drawn in a group against Porto, Norwich City and Apoel. Not too bad, but keep in mind that it's one of the benefits that comes with being a 1st seed team. Still, FC Porto is a very strong team with higher wage budget than we do and they've gathered a solid squad to compete in European level.

We had to go to this game without Mitchell Dijks and Daniel Buijs who had to serve their suspensions from previous campaign. Young winger Dick Jansen (again, not to confuse him with his namesake striker) got his chance on the right wing. Tom Noordhoff started as a left-back. Despite missing some key players, we had better start of the game and the first goal came surprisingly from Ilan Boccara who's run to the box ended with measured shot to far post. It didn't take long for Porto to equalize and most of the first half was pretty even and a bit nervous from both sides. Tom Noordhoff's cross from left was followed by Tol's header that bounced in from underside of the bar and that gave us 2-1 lead for half-time. After the break we managed to lift our game, but Porto suddenly almost collapsed. Brian Tol found the net from pretty much every chance he got and we finished the day with excellent 5:1 scoreline. Winger Dick Jansen had a good game with 2 assists from right wing and overall it was an excellent performance from whole team.

21.09.2025 - MVV Maastricht - Ajax 1:4 (ED) - 44. Martin Peek (og) - 32. Anthony Crüden, 56., 67. and 71. Brian Tol - little bit of continental hangover perhaps, but we couldn't put small MVV side to under real pressure at the beginning. Roberto Jansma picked up a knock really early and substitute Crüden scored a good goal, but just before the break we let MVV equalize. Wilco Schouwenaar made a great save of their long shot, but ball bounced unfortunately against Martin Peek and into our goal. I managed to wake the lads up in half time and Brian Tol then picked up where he left off against Porto. Excellent hat-trick inside 15 minutes, his 2nd in this week and MVV were beaten. Game overall was full of fouls and yellow cards and Mitchell Dijks was finally sent off just before final whistle - he'll be suspended for the next fixture and because Elroy van Dalen is still injured I have to again be creative about left-back position.

Roberto Jansma's injury, however, is a terrible one - broken leg keeps him out of the game for 5-6 months. That's a real blow...

25.09.2025 - Heracles Almelo - Ajax 2:4 (Dutch Cup 2nd round) - 13. Sven Hoogendoorn, 18. Bryan Smeets - 42. Jeroen Bouwhuis, 51. and 79. Dick Jansen, 77. Dick Jansen - I don't know what happened in the first 20 minutes. We were completely sleeping on the pitch and allowed Jupiler League side Heracles to score two pretty easy goals inside 5 minutes. Perhaps some new players in the team (Kevin Pengel started as defensive midfielder and winger Dick Jansen had his opportunity on the right wing) It took some time to get our game going and Bouwhuis' goal brought us back to 1:2 before half-time. My team-talk was still loud and clear and shook at least some of the players up. Equalizer came just 5 minutes after 2nd half kick-off and in the end we managed to convert our better class to goals. Both Dick Jansens got themselves to score-sheet (winger scored 2 and striker 1 goal).

Being 0-2 down in a cup game was a pretty dreadful moment and it wasn't far away that our cup season could have ended right there in 2nd round. By the way, PSV had a great game in Champions League and they managed to surprise FC Bayern 2-0. But hangover was even worse than ours - they lost 0-1 to NAC Breda in following Eredivisie match and then lost after penalty shoot-out against FC Volendam in cup 2nd round.

28.09.2025 - FC Groningen - Ajax 1:3 (ED) - 44. Jan Velten - 18. Anthony Crüden, 26. Daryl Haak, 59. Dick Jansen - I had to rest some players because tight schedule. Jeroen Bouwhuis and Brian Tol sat out this match. Mitchell Dijks served his suspension and Tom Noordhoff started as a left-back. FC Groningen is miserably underperforming and are now in relegation trouble despite having pretty decent squad. We took lead in the match, but Tom Noordhoff who had a very good game as left-back against Porto, now struggled. After getting only 1 tackle out of 6 right, frustration took over and his two footed challenge earned a red card when only 23 minutes were played. But before Groningen could take advantage, Daryl Haak scored from corner and gave us 2-0 lead. Groningen's goal was a poor set-piece defense - we left Jan Velten completely unmarked in front of the goal. Again just before half time and after we specifically trained defending set-pieces prior to this match. Disappointing. But Groningen still couldn't turn the game around and although Jansen's goal in 2nd half was perhaps a bit against the run of play I can be pleased with 3-1 away win. Noordhoff is definitely suspended for 3 games and Ilan Boccara picked up a knock that leaves him out from 2 next matches. I'm starting to think that previous injury-free season well be cashed in this time around, and with hefty interest.

Eredivisie

Roda JC are still flying high and undefeated after 7 games - while they started their season agianst smaller teams, they now look more dangerous after beating FC Twente 2:1 and giving a good 0:0 performance against Feyenoord at De Kuip. Groningen and AZ Alkmaar are still underperforming.

Ajax goals: Brian Tol 10, Daniel Buijs 5

Ajax assists: Hulusi Aydingöz 7, Daniel Buijs 4, Brian Tol 3, Melvin Vissers 3

[Draakon]

05.12.2026 - FC Twente Enschede - Ajax 1:1 (ED) - 39. Metodi Petkov - 3. Brian Tol - FC Twente are solid 3rd place team and I didn't expect an easy game against them in this match, but we scored quickly and first half was well under our control. In fact, we had 3 clear cut chances, but missed them all (2 by goalscorer Tol) and of course, Petkov equalized pretty much out of nowhere to make it 1-1 before half time. 2nd half was ruined by Mitchell Dijks, who made a crunching late tackle and was sent off in 63rd minute. After that, it was pretty much damage limitation and being down to 10 men I had to be satisfied with a draw. Big disappointment in terms of league standings - we should have finished this game off in 1st half by 2-0 or 3-0, instead, we conceded a poor goal and a red card on top of that that leaves one of the key players out for a couple of more games.

08.12.2026 - Ajax - Galatasaray 3:0 (Champions League Group Stage) - 10. and 73. Johan Kramer, 80. Stef van Grinsven - we needed a win in this match to clinch 1st place in the group and 1st seed for 1st knockout round. Galatasaray probably even came to this match to put up a fight, but Kramer's header from corner put us in front and after that Turkish side looked a bit broken mentally. Kramer scored another in the 2nd half and young 17 years old left winger Stef van Grinsven came on as a substitution and scored his first ever goal for Ajax to finish that game off. Very solid.

Our first knockout round opponents are CSKA Moscow. Not the worst draw by any means.

13.12.2026 - MVV Maastricht - Ajax 0:2 (ED) - 42. Roberto Jansma, 45.+4 Brian Tol - MVV is probably the most improved small side in Eredivisie and they played a solid game against us. Ball possession was only 52/48 to us and we couldn't play our usual free-flowing game. But Roberto Jansma returned from injury break and showed that a moment of individual brilliance is sometimes worth more than good team effort. Easy dribbling and low shot driven hard to far post and that was it. MVV didn't recover before half-time whistle and let Brian Tol score another goal in injury time and they couldn't turn this around in the 2nd half (despite hitting the post once). A bit drab match and poor win, but I can't complain really about 2-0 result.

18.12.2026 - Ajax - AZ Alkmaar 1:1 (ED) - 56. Roberto Jansma - 50. Hakan Aeschlimann - another stupid draw. We controlled that game until 50th minute. Goalkeeper Schouwenaar tried to play short pass to Ouologuem, but played it right onto the foot of Aeschlimann instead and AZ striker had no troubles of scoring an easy goal. The first serious mistake by my goalkeeper during whole season and it was a costly one. Jansma quickly equalized, but we couldn't find another goal and had to settle for a draw. I start to feel that Jeroen Bouwhuis' injury is affecting our game more than I thought. We certainly lack creativity in the middle of the park against better teams.

23.12.2026 - VVV Venlo - Ajax 1:2 (Dutch Cup 4th round) - 78. Leroy Lamers - 2. Anthony Crüden, 14. Melvin Vissers - VVV are struggling this season and I hoped for an easy win before Christmas. We had a good first half, but were awful after the break. After Lamers made it 1-2 we gave away two more easy chances to VVV, but Schouwenaar made one good save to keep us in front and finally we were saved by the whistle. I was not happy with that and made myself clear to players.

Quarter final draw has been kind to us and we got FC Twente reserves.

It's not the worst month and given the circumstances, draws against FC Twente and AZ are not the worst results, but PSV have kept their good form and we're now virtually 6 points behind them in the table. That's too much. And in few matches we didn't perform as well as we should have and I'm not happy about that.

Cup competition looks fairly promising (although most of the big teams are still in contention, so semi-finals should be tough fights) and Champions League season goals are also met with progression from the group.

Eredivisie

FC Twente are not at all far behind PSV and us. Willem II Tilburg and VVV Venlo are relegation material unless they improve a lot in the 2nd half of the season. FC Utrecht are still impressing and Groningen and AZ Alkmaar are still struggling to get it going.

Ajax goals: Brian Tol 12, Anthony Crüden 8, Roberto Jansma 7, Daryl Haak 7

Ajax assists: Brian Tol 10, Daniel Buijs 10, Melvin Vissers 9

[Draakon]

Transfers

I was looking carefully to my squad prior this January. Which veterans can continue in next season, what kind of contracts to offer and who I should set aside to make room for new youngsters. I extended most of the players' contract, although I dare to say that Ilan Boccara and Mitchell Dijks can't maintain their level more than this one year. Rob Klijn (althogh he's not 30 yet) have also declined as a footballer and his injury-ridden last season was a big blow to his career. I can keep him around as a backup, but I'll doubt he'll return as a player he once was.

Roel Doesburg insisted too big salary for his backup role and I decided to let him leave. He's quick, but that's about it. Too inconsistent for first team or key player, he turne 24 so 2,5* is pretty much his level as a footballer. And with Daniel Buijs as a solid starter, Ricky Meijs settling in and playing better every month, with 18 years old Wouter Jansen coming up, I've got enough options for right winger role.

We made no big transfers this January. I released three U-19 players and sent several of them on loan. Stef van Grinsven went to sc Heerenveen, others to Jupiler League sides.

PSV made headlines this January by selling their best home-grown midfielder Sven van Bergen to Manchester City for whopping £27,5m. That's a huge amount in Eredivisie terms, but van Bergen is a great talent. Only 21 years old, but surely one of the best Holland midfielders for coming years. Let's hope he'll make it in Premiership. PSV invested that money carefully by buying first Zakaria Gumbo from domestic rivals Feyenoord for £3m and then replaced van Bergen with Argentinian defensive midfielder Ricardo Carabajal from Boca that cost them £11m

On the last transfer day FC Bayern swooped in and bought South African right winger Khanyiso Bikwani from PSV for £10,25m. PSV also managed to sell their Argentinian striker Emiliano Banegas to Lokomotiv Moscor for £4,7m

So, although they gathered almost £30m profit in one transfer window, PSV look a bit weaker as a squad and have less depth. van Bergen will be very difficult to replace and let's see how they get past first injury crisis.

23.01.2027 - Roda JC Kerkrade - Ajax 0:4 (ED) - 26. Johan Kramer, 49. Brian Tol, 78. Daniel Buijs, 87. pen. Harry Gillhaus - back from the long break and Jeroen Bouwhuis was back in the squad. However, long training sessions in January had some casualties - Melvin Vissers and Bambo Ouologuem had to skip some games due to injuries. Mitchell Dijks was still serving his suspension for red card and so our defensive line looked most curious one, with Tom Tepperik on the right, Tom Noordhoff and Johan Kramer making a central defensive partnership and young Martin Peek taking unfamiliar left-back role.

Game itself went quite well. Jansma's indirect free-kick was headed home by Kramer in the firs thalf and I managed to fire up lads for the 2nd period so we finished with convincing 4-0 win. A rare goal (although from 11 meters) by substitute striker Gillhaus.

26.01.2027 - FC Twente Reserves - Ajax 0:4 (Dutch Cup Quarter Final) - 7. and 25. pen. Anthony Crüden, 71. and 85. Ricky Meijs - a curious game. I think nobody expected that Twente Reserves could get so far in cup competitions, but for us they looked like an easy walkover, and, to be honest, they were. I rotated some players and because Tom Noordhoff served cup suspension I had to play 16 year old Ruben Janssen in central defense. Let it be said that the lad was great, giving 8.4 performance and impressing coaching staff.

Crüden's goals gave us early 2-0 lead and substitute Meijs added another two to show difference of class between two teams. All favourites won their quarter finals. In the semis we're against rivals Feyenoord while PSV goes against sc Heerenveen to determine 2nd finalist.

31.01.2027 - FC Dordrecht - Ajax 0:2 (ED) - 15. Johan Kramer, 70. Brian Tol - despite some players returning from injuries, I had to be wary that Feyenoord match is just around the corner and find a good balance to decide which players I can rest and who do I need for win in this away match. Ouologuem, Tepperik, Dijks, Boccara and Bouwhuis were rested. Away games against smaller sides are always a bit tricky, but we looked well disciplined and scored 2 goals without giving Dordrecht much options. Daniel Buijs was hacked down by Dordrecht defender early in the match and he'll be out for a while - strained knee ligaments keep him sidelined for 5 weeks. Bummer, because I really could use him against Feyenoord and later in continental games in February. But even more reasons for Ricky Meijs to prove himself.

Eredivisie

Ajax goals: Brian Tol 14, Anthony Crüden 10, Johan Kramer 8, Daryl Haak 7, Roberto Jansma 7

Ajax assists: Brian Tol 10, Daniel Buijs 10, Melvin Vissers 9

[Draakon]

03.02.2027 - Ajax - Feyenoord Rotterdam 1:0 (ED) - 44. Brian Tol - difficult games, these against Feyenoord, and even more so without Daniel Buijs. Jeroen Bouwhuis was back from injury, but obviously a bit out of form. Dick Jansen started as AMR and was completely unimpressive. The only good chance of the game came from Roberto Jansma's cross from the left. Tol's header didn't seem very good at first sight, but Feyenoord keeper let the ball through and we were 1-0 ahead just before half-time whistle. We couldn't add another goal, but our defense looked rock solid and Feyenoord couldn't create anything of danger. Home win against arch rivals is a very good result.

07.02.2027 - Ajax - De Graafschap 2:0 (ED) - 45. Ricky Meijs, 84. Anthony Crüden - completely one-sided match, but we couldn't score more than two goals. Brian Tol put in a poor performance and couldn't pose a threat up front. Ricky Meijs replaced Jansen on the right wing and proved his merit with a goal.

10.02.2027 - Ajax - Almere City 3:1 (ED) - 27. Anthony Crüden, 32. Dick Jansen, 50. Brian Tol - 25. Peter Luptak - slow start to the game and good counter-attacking tactics by Almere City made us concede the first goal in 5 games. But response came quickly and two minutes later Ricky Meijs and Anthony Crüden crafted probably the best goals of the season so far. Meijs sent a bicycle-kick-cross to in front of the goal from right side of the box and Crüden took the ball from half-volley to fire it low into the net. We looked nervous enough on the pitch, so after Tol scored our 3rd goal, I could relax a little. Almere certainly are not the team to be underestimated.

13.02.2027 - ADO Den Haag - Ajax 2:2 (ED) - 31. and 38. Co van Beek - 47. Jeroen Bouwhuis, 83. Roberto Jansma - the 4th mantch in 11 games. It certainly made me rotate a lot and find the optimal squad, considering fitness and games to come. We wasted two clear cut chances in the first half and ADO punished us hard for that. Firstly Johan Kramer lost a simple header in our 6 yard box. Seven minutes later we were carved open by a clever ball behind defensive line. ADO very young and talented striker Co van Beek scored on both occasions and alarm bells started to ring. I found a proper team talk in dressing room and Bouwhuis' goal came soon enough after 2nd half kick-off. Finally we could equalize, but couldn't add another goal to take a win. Only good news with that draw is that our affiliates Almere City surprised PSV and took 3-2 win. So despite the draw we came one point closer to 1st place.

Eredivisie

Only one point between us and PSV. FC Twente dropped 4th, Feyenoord are 3rd. ADO look strong on 6th place and after their good start, FC Utrecht have started to drop a little. Bottom of the table also look interesting. MVV look reasonably safe, but 5 teams are in relegation battle.

Ajax goals: Brian Tol 16, Anthony Crüden 12, Roberto Jansma 8, Johan Kramer 8

Ajax assists: Brian Tol 11, Daniel Buijs 10, Melvin Vissers 10, Roberto Jansma 8

[Draakon]

16.02.2027 - CSKA Moscow - Ajax 3:2 (Champions League 1st knockout round 1st leg) - 24. and 88. Alexandr Suchkov, 78. Guaracy - 76. and 86. Dick Jansen - I have mixed feelings about this first leg loss... Daniel Buijs was still injured and Ricky Meijs also sideline with a small knock. I didn't trust young Wouter Jansen to start in such a match, so I put left-footed Crüden to AMR position as inside striker. In the end, it didn't pay off. Roberto Jansma had a very poor match on left wing, so both of our wingers were neutralized by CSKA defense. We had 63% of possession and more shots, but CSKA looked very clinical. Their second goal came from DFK and 3rd one also from long shot. We did put up a brave fight - Dick Jansen scored two goals, both from corners and 2-2 in away leg looked fairly solid result until good shot from 20 meters out clinched this game to home team. Disappointing to lose in the end, after equalizing twice, but two way goals give us all chances to win with aggregate score.

21.02.2027 - Ajax - Willem II Tilburg 4:0 (ED) - 17. and 23. Jeroen Bouwhuis, 30. Brian Tol, 61. Ricky Meijs - Willem II are red lantern in Eredivisie table and rightfully so. They had no chance against us in Amsterdam and despite having a couple of talented youngsters in their team, as a squad they look a miserable bunch. Jeroen Bouwhuis is picking up good form after his long injury and with crucial matches ahead, that's a big addition to our squad.

28.02.2027 - VVV Venlo - Ajax 0:6 (ED) - 33. Jeroen Bouwhuis, 36., 56. and 61. Brian Tol, 38. Ricky Meijs, 84. Wouter Jansen - it took some time and we managed to hit the frames of VVV goal no less than 4 times before Bouwhuis finally broke the deadlock. After that, it was free scoring run and VVV fans had a terrible night. Brian Tol's hat-trick raised him on top of Eredivisie scoring table with 18 goals. Anthony Crüden gave two great assists and young Wouter Jansen found his way to scoresheet once again. Great away win, but easy games are starting to run out and March is fulled of more difficult fixtures.

Eredivisie

Ajax goals: Brian Tol 20, Anthony Crüden 12, Roberto Jansma 8, Dick Jansen 8, Johan Kramer 8

Ajax assists: Melvin Vissers 13, Brian Tol 12, Daniel Buijs 10

[Draakon]

03.03.2027 - Ajax - FC Groningen 5:0 (ED) - 18. Ricky Meijs, 25. and 45.+2 pen. Anthony Crüden, 75. and 88. Bambo Ouologuem - very satisfying result for the beginning of month. FC Groningen is a bigger club compared to our latest matches and we were able to continue our great goalscoring form. Ouologuem hasn't scored too many goals, but that night he was on the mark twice after corners.

07.03.2027 - Ajax - Excelsior 7:0 (ED) - 1. Roberto Jansma, 4., 20., 33. and 54. Brian Tol, 17. Ricky Meijs, 84. Harry Gillhaus - another complete destruction of clearly smaller side. Jansma opened scoring after just 14 seconds and Brian Tol continued to score no less than 4 times in a match. Substitute Harry Gillhaus also managed to get to score sheet. Great game all around.

10.03.2027 - Ajax - CSKA Moscow 2:0 (Champions League 1st knockout round 2nd leg) - 41. Anthony Crüden, 78. Brian Tol - we had to turn around 2-3 away loss in this match, and we were able to convert our possession to goals this time. 2-0 win looked convincing enough, but CSKA had couple of good attacks and Schouwenaar had to make 3 great saves to keep a clean sheet. His 7.7 rating reflects his importance to us in this game. In the other end, we didn't create too many chances, but these few were enough to find two goals and take 4-3 aggregate win. Quarter final draw sends us against FC Barcelona.

13.03.2027 - FC Utrecht - Ajax 2:1 (ED) - 30. Andre Huisman, 70. Oussama Rizki - 50. Brian Tol - poor defeat against rivals and that ends our streak of 30 league games without defeat. Utrecht were cliical while counter-attacking and we lacked decisiveness in defensive end. After finding an equalizer, Tom Tepperik earned his 2nd yellow card in 56th minute and it was uphill struggle after that. I took a risk and continued to attack with 10 men, but one good counter attack gave Utrecht another goal and that was it. We had possession (59%), but that was not enough. That's a serious blow to our title chances and allowed PSV to slide 4 points ahead of us.

31.03.2027 - Feyenoord Rotterdam - Ajax 3:1 (Dutch Cup Semi Final) - 26. Marvin Roest, 57. and 87. Daniel Vigna - 55. Brian Tol - after international break, all looked well, players were rested and Daniel Buijs back from injury. But cup semi final at De Kuip against Feyenoord brought probably the worst result of the season. Yes, Dijks and Noordhoff were suspended, so Peek had to take unfamiliar DL position, but we looked very clumsy in defense. First goal came after Daryl Haak gave away possession too cheaply. We equalized after the break, but just 2 minutes later Feyenoord substitute Vigna found the net - passive defense by Ouologuem in this situation. Tom Tepperik looked miserably poor as well, Bouwhuis and Ricky Meijs had to come off with injuries. I lacked options from bench and whatever Feyenoord manager had said at half time, it was working well for us. Vigna added another before the end of the game and Ilan Boccara managed to take a 2nd yellow in the last minute of the match. 3-1 final result, we were beaten convincingly and returned to Amsterdam in a very sour mood. Tepperik and Roberto Jansma probably were most underperforming players of the first team. Fans also expressed their frustration and after two domestic losses, and even more difficult matches coming up, it's a hell of a task to turn things around...

Eredivisie

Ajax goals: Brian Tol 27, Anthony Crüden 15, Roberto Jansma 9

Ajax assists: Brian Tol 13, Melvin Vissers 13, Jeroen Bouwhuis 11, Anthony Crüden 11, Daniel Buijs 10, Roberto Jansma 10

[Draakon]

03.04.2027 - Vitesse Arnhem - Ajax 0:2 (ED) - 8. and 55. pen. Brian Tol - very, very good game tactically. Vitesse came for the win and our defense looked vulnerable in first half. Schouwenaar had to make one great save right at the start, but couple of minutes later Tol scored his first goal. After that, we kept our defense organized, full-backs especially had a great game. 2nd half penalty made it a little more secure and despite gifting Vitesse another clear cut chance (central defender Rafael somehow managed to head over bar from goal line). Vitesse had 56% possession, but our finishing was better and so we took a valuable away win. Concerns about Roberto Jansma - his form is declining and he looks a bit lost on the pitch - just 5.8 performance against Vitesse and he was easily neutralized by opponents defense.

07.04.2027 - Ajax - FC Barcelona 2:4 (Champions League Quarter Final 1st leg) - 71. Anthony Crüden, 80. Roberto Jansma - 3. and 50. Ramon Ramos, 10. Lebogang Mabena, 56. Giuliano - statistics look fairly even: possession 50/50, both team had 9 shots on goal. But we were clearly beaten in the first 70 minutes and just after Barca started to step off the gas, we clawed back two goals to keep this game's score respectable. Nothing more - we can't seriously dream about progression after conceding 4 goals at home. 2nd leg will be just a game that we have to put behind us.

10.04.2027 - Ajax - sc Heerenveen 1:1 (ED) - 4. Anthony Crüden - 73. Marco Woudsma - frustrating... we should have won this one easily, but instead again a poor draw. Quick opening goal was a good omen, but it was followed by string of half chances that went wide of goal. From 17 shots only 4 went on target. Dick Jansen replaced tired Tol up front, got a pass, turned around his men, somehow dodged another tackle and found himself so alone in front of goal that it must have frightened him, because his shot went wide from point blank range. After all that it was no wonder that Heerenveen managed to equalize after corner and we dropped another 2 points against in-form PSV.

13.04.2027 - FC Barcelona - Ajax 3:2 (Champions League Quarter Final 2nd leg) - 65. Nuno Moreira, 76. Ramon Ramos, 79. Capitao - 78. Bart Verbeek, 86. Dick Jansen - after losing this tie in the first leg, I let few of my men to have a rest day in this match. Brian Tol was absent, so was Daryl Haak and Ilan Boccara. I started with more defensive tactics, aiming to keep the score respectable and not to walk away with 0-4 or bigger defeat. We held on 65 minutes and after Barca did score their goals, substitute Bart Verbeek scored one for us. Jansen's header in 86th minute gave us 2-3 defeat and, considering all things and difference of class, I'm happy with that.

18.04.2027 - Ajax - FC Twente Enschede 1:0 (ED) - 50. Daniel Buijs - a very good performance. We controlled this game well enough and got one clear cut chance - Mitchell Dijks' cross from left found Buijs in front of the goal and his tap-in gave us a win that we deserved. It's nice to win against strong teams, but our title challenge is officially over with that. PSV took 1-0 win against Willem II and they are still 6 points ahead of us with one more matchday to go.

Eredivisie

What to tell about this month. Firstly, we were weaker than Barcelona and didn't deserve to reach semi-finals this season in CL. Quarter finals is a good result though, and I'm not too disappointed with our continental campaign, but we miss a little extra that is needed to compete for the high prize. I'm happy that PSV managed to progress from their group (first time in those years!), but they were beaten by Juventus in first knockout round.

sc Heerenveen draw was a poor result, but our title chance was lost already in March with a loss against FC Utrecht. PSV just have not flinched against smaller sides and their last loss was back in February. They were trashed by sc Heerenveen in Dutch Cup semi final though. Cup was won by Feyenoord after penalty shoot-out.

Ajax goals: Brian Tol 29, Anthony Crüden 17, Roberto Jansma 10

Ajax assists: Brian Tol 14, Melvin Vissers 13, Daniel Buijs 12, Roberto Jansma 12, Anthony Crüden 11, Jeroen Bouwhuis 11

[Draakon]

02.05.2027 - PSV Eindhoven - Ajax 3:1 (ED) - 14. Ricardo Carabajal, 59. Luizinho, 88. Osmar - 61. Jeroen Bouwhuis - with title challenge over, there was only honor to play for in this match, unfortunately we couldn't match PSV's higher confidence and home advantage. Poor defending in set piece situations lead to 0-2 (both goals from corners) and after Bouwhuis gave us some hope with his goal (after good long ball by Ouologuem), Ilan Boccara received his 2nd yellow and was sent off. 3rd goal was inevitable after that and we finished our disappointing season with another disappointment.

Eredivisie

Due to higher league reputation we have now 3 places in Champions League. That will be interesting next season. FC Utrecht won European places playoff battle and are participating in Euro Cup this season, along with FC Twente and sc Heerenveen (latter earned their place after reaching Dutch Cup final). In relegation zone, FC Dordrecht managed to hold onto their ERedivisie place while Excelsior were relegated. NEC Nijmegen won Jupiler League and are up a level next year. NAC Breda (with some help from my Rick Schouten) climbed throug play-offs to get back to Eredivisie, despite finishing just 3rd in Jupiler League.

To sum up this season - we were playing okay in all competitions. PSV looked a lot stronger in this year and they invested a lot to their squad, so that they finally win a title was long time coming. We reached quarter finals of Champions League and I'm happy with that. We were defeated in cup semis, which was bad because it was against Feyenoord, but to be honest, we have had worse cup seasons. So, nothing extraordinary, no reason to panic, but still we're emtpy-handed with no trophies to show after long season.

Trying to analyze it further - we have a strong defense, especially central defenders. We only conceded 22 goals in Eredivisie (PSV conceded 26). We have strong attack with the best goalscorer in the league (Brian Tol with his 25 goals). True, it has been more one-sided than in previous years and he needs a bit more support from wings. Daniel Buijs and Roberto Jansma didn't shine this season because of injuries. Ricky Meijs filled OK for Buijs, but Anthony Crüden was a revelation with his 17 goals and 11 assists.

Problems are in midfield and date back in August 2026, when I sold Aydingöz to Atletico Madrid just before transfer deadline. Schouten had gone to NAC Breda on loan before that and his deal didn't include recall option. I was left with 3 midfielders - Vissers, Bouwhuis and Pengel. Vissers is a good rotation player, but that's all. Bouwhuis struggled with injury during winter and Pengel is too defensive-minded to create enough chances to forwards. I struggled a lot to rotate and find cover during injuries and fitness problems. Dick Jansen filled for Bouwhuis, and while he did well at times, he's a winger, not MC.

In addition, the best before for Mitchell Dijks and Ilan Boccara is starting to get over. They might be good for another season, but they're both 34 now and I expect them to retire soon. Good tutors, true, but getting slow against quicker players. So I need to replace those.

Looking to the future - I'll get Schouten back from loan and he can offer some cover from bench. Young defensive midfielders Tony de Leeuw and Patrick Gösgens had strong seasons in FC Utrecht and Sparta respectively. They should take over from Boccara.

And 17 year old Ferry Timmers is regarded as 3,5* MC by my coaches. He's not ready yet, give him another season.

Ajax goals: Brian Tol 29, Anthony Crüden 17, Roberto Jansma 10

Ajax assists: Brian Tol 14, Melvin Vissers 13, Daniel Buijs 12, Roberto Jansma 12, Anthony Crüden 11, Jeroen Bouwhuis 11

Eredivisie Golden Boot

1. Luizinho (PSV Eindhoven)

2. Yannick Stuivenberg (sc Heerenveen)

3. Tommy van der Loo (Almere City)

Eredivisie Best Goalscorer

1. Brian Tol - 25 (Ajax)

2. Manuel Foti - 18 (PSV Eindhoven)

3. Marvin Roest - 18 (Feyenoord Rotterdam)

Dutch Young Player of the Year

1. Rugene Martis (Vitesse Arnhem)

2. Co van Beek (ADO Den Haag)

3. Bambo Ouologuem (Ajax)

Goalkeeper of the Year

1. Wilco Schouwenaar (Ajax)

2. Nkau Shoai (PSV Eindhoven)

3. Marijan Papa (FC Twente)

After long season, some movement between football staff is inevitable, so I had to decline Manchester City approach (they offered £52k p/week).

Fun fact of the month - Inter Milan were relegated from Serie A. Oh boy...

[Draakon]

So, to turn things around, I have to find some players to take over from veterans and offer competition and rotation options in midfield. Here are my best prospects who are 17-20 years old.

Goalkeeper

Leen Havenaar

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Only 17 years old, he spent his season on loan at Helmond Sport. Quickly took over first team goalkeeper duties there, developed a lot during this year and helpet Helmond back to Jupiler league. He and Angelo van Dam are competing to take over from Schouwenaar, when time comes.

Defenders

Stephan Cairo

His season on loan at FC Dordrecht was not the most successful one, but his personal development was worth it. He's now rated as 1* CA, but 3,5* PA player. Too short to be standard central defender, but I'm tempted to use him with cover duties next to Daryl Haak. Next season he'll be with Ajax.

Ruben Janssen

Very good prospect from U-19 side. Still a bit unsure what he'll become. Could be DR or DMC as well, but DC looks most likely.

John van de Stelt

Another solid U-19 player. I'll try to find a good Jupiler League club for him this season.

Midfielders

Ferry Timmers

The best central midfielder option so far coming from the youth rank. Rated as box-to-box midfielder by my coach. Needs to improve technically though.

Tony de Leeuw

Spent his season in FC Utrecht, where he took over DMC position. This year, he'll be in Ajax and he'll by my long term replacement for Ilan Boccara

Patrick Gösgens

Another talented defensive midfielder. Just slightly 2nd best next to de Leeuw, but still very good prospect. His season at Sparta Rotterdam went well, he helped Sparta to Jupiler League play-offs. This season I'll find him another loan club.

Rick Schouten

Helped NAC Breda back to Eredivisie last season and is now back in Ajax, to provide cover in midfield. Very similar player (deep-lying playmaker) to Melvin Vissers. Solid all-around, but not exceptional in any area.

Wingers

Stef Zwikker

Talented winger, but in the end I'm afraid that 2,5-3* PA is a bit low to really compete for Ajax first team place. Needs to step up his training a bit.

Stef van Grinsven

Probably the best attacking player coming from my youth ranks. Can play winger position or striker. Possesses a strong long shot (which is a rare feat in my team). Was in sc Heerenveen team for the last 6 months. One more season on loan and then...

Erik de Winter

Another left winger. Younger than Zwikker, and could overcome him easily when his loan spells are successful.

Strikers

Joris Goedhart

Currently the best striker in U-19 team. Not complete forward material per se. His strongest attribute is his acceleration. But let's see what comes out of him.

[Draakon]

New season is about to start and I don't remember how long it's been since the last Summer that we didn't have to play Dutch Super Cup match. Just Eredivisie for us. Friendlies were a string of mixed results. We won 4-3 against OGC Nice, then drew 3-3 against Wolfsburg and snatched 1-0 win over Toulouse. Solid opponents, but our defense was dreadful at times and those two games with 3 conceded goals especially messy. So I hoped we could mop things up before serious business starts.

01.08.2027 - Ajax - FC Dordrecht 5:0 (ED) - 9. Mitchell Dijks, 26. Melvin Vissers, 43. Johan Kramer, 49. Roberto Jansma, 80. Dick Jansen - very convenient fixture list, starting with probably the weakest team in the league, and a home match against them. It was almost like a walkover. FC Dordrecht couldn't cope and their goalkeeper made things even more easier to us when he let himself to be surprised by Mitchell Dijks' deep cross that landed in the goal. We were lethal from set pieces and finished with 5 goals in the end.

We didn't even have our best squad. Ilan Boccara served suspension from previous season, Brian Tol had to skip a couple of games because of small injury and Daryl Haak was also sidelined. Dick Jansen couldn't convince me as a striker, although he had one good chance when ball just bounced to him and he scored a goal, but he should be better to claim true first team football. Man of the match was Tom Tepperik - solid defensive work from him, combined with 2 assist.

07.08.2027 - FC Twente Enschede - Ajax 0:0 (ED) - the first test of the season, and actually we played well. I was surprised that Twente gave midfield to us, we had 64% of possession and 13 shots against FC Twente's 6. Unfortunately, we couldn't find target most of the times, and Twente's defensive line was solid enough to make things difficult for us. Mauricio Arias had the best chance for Twente, but his header went wide. Dick Jansen was once again disappointing - he had our only clear cut chance, but let Twente defender get there in time and block it.

In the end, 0:0 against FC Twente at Grolsch Veste is not a bad result. Our gameplay was encouraging and with a little bit of more confidence we should be able to win this sort of games.

15.08.2027 - VVV Venlo - Ajax 0:2 (ED) - 29. Daniel Buijs, 39. Roberto Jansma - solid away match. Brian Tol was back in the team, but obviously just finding his form after injury. Buijs scored from our best chance in the first half, Jansma added another goal in his usual manner (dribble into the box and fire low). In 2nd half we couldn't keep our flow and match started to drag a bit, but it was OK, because we had a result that we needed. Johan Kramer took MoM performance for his defensive efforts - as it shows, creative efforts in midfield and attack just wasn't on display too much.

I'm happy with our defense though - first 3 games without conceding. Good start.

21.08.2027 - ADO Den Haag - Ajax 1:3 (ED) - 79. Patrick Roelofsen - 2. and 88. Johan Kramer, 52. Brian Tol - I haven't rotated much. With Daryl Haak still sidelined, it's been fairly consistent first XI. Johan Kramer is starting to show his good form and claiming first tema place ahead of younger (though more talented) Haak. This time, a quick goal from corner from him, and another towards the end of the match.

We played a very good game and actually deserved to win by more goals, but we managed to hit the frame 3 times. Substitute Patrick Roelofsen managed to score one for ADO in the 2nd half and it made things a bit nervous until Kramer's 2nd goal clinched it for us.

Brian Tol opened his scoring in this season by probably the most horrible defensive error of the match day. ADO's left back Gijs Kamara sent a very careless ball towards goalkeeper, but it went straight to penalty spot where Tol was already waiting. Not the most difficult goal to score.

Despite one conceded goal, our form is high and confidence growing.

So, fairly good month in August. PSV and Feyenoord have started very strong with 4 consecutive wins and they are leading the table, but I'm not too worried. Let's see what September brings.

Champions League groups were drawn and we're against FC Porto (again!!), Olympique Marseilles and Red Star from Serbia.

Eredivisie

[Draakon]

As predicted, we were quiet during transfer window. Not too much interest towards our stars, few smaller transfers and a lot of loaning of younger players. As said, Roel Doesburg leaved for free. I also sold two youngsters that couldn't make it to the first team for £36k+ clauses.

The biggest move of the league was made inside Eredivisie. PSV matched Feyenoord's right-back Patrick Salie's release clause of £10,75m and took him over. A good player, but a bit overpriced, if you ask me. Despite our inactivity, the transfer market of the league was busy as a beehive. Feyenoord catched my attention as they sold a lot of their first team players without making too many big signings to replace them. Although they dropped out from Champions League after losing to Granada in qualification play-offs, it's interesting to see how they'll defend their 3rd place in the league without those players.

Biggest moves of the Summer:

Patrick Salie from Feyenoord to PSV for £10,75m - 23 yo South African right-back. A very good player, although overpriced

Luizinho from PSV to Ponferradina for £8m - the best DC in PSV last season, a bit surprised by this move actually

Omer Cohen from PSV to Norwich for £6,25m - another DC from Israel. Was rotation player in PSV, so well done to get over £6m for him.

Wilder Serrano from PSV to Olympique Lyon for £6m - Colombian midfielder appeared to be surplus in PSV

Sergey Troshin from Dortmund to PSV for £6m - despite his name, Sergey is actually German. 23 years old defensive midfielder. Haven't really scouted him yet to find out enough about him

Hugo Lorenzo from Feyenoord to LOSC Lille for £5,25m - attacking midfielder who scored 13 goals for Feyenoord last season. Another curious deal. Interesting how they'll replace him.

Raouf Amrani from PSV to HSV for £4,5m - 28 year old Algerian midfielder. Good, but not exceptional and probably right time to sell him

Matias Ruis from Palermo to Feyenoord for £4,3m - Argentinian centre-back; not too impressive according to attributes

Daniel Vigna from Feyenoord to Betis for £4,2m - another departure from Feyenoord, their first choice left winger. Yes, he was 28 years old, but again - no serious replacement.

Miklas Oross from Feyenoord to Villarreal for £3,5m - strange move, but profitable, Hungarian midfielder who came to Feyenoord last Summer for just £925k. Played only 16 games last season, but somehow got Villarreal attention and made Feyenoord over £2,5m profit

Paupol Milambo from Genoa CFC to PSV for £3,3m - 26 years old Belgian DRC

Borracha from Atletico Mineiro to FC Twente for £3,2m - a talented Brazilian goalkeeper, only 21 years old. Probably worth his money, but FC Twente let Marijan Papa leave for free (Croatian goalkeeper, in my opinion one of the bests in the league) without offering him a new contract and instead they spend over £3m for a new lad. That's not very effective transfer policy.

[Draakon]

11.09.2027 - Ajax - Almere City 4:0 (ED) - 5. and 32. Jeroen Bouwhuis, 46. and 48. Roberto Jansma - to begin with September, we crushed Almere City without too much effort. Difference in class between two teams was evident, Almere couldn't make a single shot druing whole match. Bouwhuis and Jansma did our goalscoring and especially in the beginning of the 2nd half Jansma looked really fired up. A very good performance.

14.09.2027 - Red Star - Ajax 1:4 (Champions League Group Stage) - 81. Milos Foric - 3. and 65. Johan Kramer, 61. Brian Tol, 69. Dick Jansen - it was difficult to find the right squad for this match. Yes, Red Star are outsiders in the group, but you can't be sure in away match. And we got vital PSV game coming up, so I wanted to rest at least some key players. Dijks sat out, also Ilan Boccara (who was replaced by young Tony de Leeuw) and Kevin Pengel replaced Melvin Vissers in midfield. In the end it was easy enough - Johan Kramer's superb form continued and his two set piece goals gave us solid 3 points to start our continental campaign. The late goal that we coceded obviously could have been avoided, but that's OK.

18.09.2027 - Ajax - PSV Eindhoven 4:2 (ED) - 2. and 26. Brian Tol, 74. Daryl Haak, 76. Anthony Crüden - 23. Ricardo Carabajal, 90.+2 Marvin de Jong - the biggest question mark prior to this key match was Daryl Haak. The towering central defender was fit and back in the team, but Johan Kramer's excellent form made it difficult to choose between those two. In the end, I went for Haak. I wanted to win this match at home and gain momentum in Eredivisie table, and we started brilliantly. Brian Tol scored quickly from our first corner and despite PSV equalizer, we went to half time with deserved 2-1 lead and looked more in control of the match. PSV finally tired after 70 minutes were played and we quickly scored another 2 goals to clinch the win. Daryl Haak proved that he too can score from corners. Injury time goal for PSV changed little and it was well deserved win in the end. I'm happy that we didn't allow PSV back into the game and were decisive enough to take 3 points from home.

22.09.2027 - Ajax - Drachtster Boys 5:2 (Dutch Cup 2nd round) - 31. Ricky Meijs, 45.+2 Johan Kramer, 48., 56. and 66. Harry Gillhaus - 4. and 78. Arjen Nijhuis - against amateur team we went with complete 2nd choice squad. Despite that, to concede in the 4th minute from a counter attack was unpleasant surprise. Fortunately, by Johan Kramer's another corner header we went to half time break in 2-1 lead and that saved my players from the worst in dressing room. Young striker Harry Gillhaus picked things up in the 2nd half and his hat-trick secured us a win. A lot of rough edges in this match, because the team I fielded was young, inexpereinced and less gelled, so it was a good learning experience.

26.09.2027 - De Graafschap - Ajax 1:1 (ED) - 47. Abdelmajid Afkir - 58. pen. Brian Tol - frustrating... perhaps it had something to do with dropping out of rhythm after PSV win and relaxed cup match, but just as we had gained 4 points in Eredivisie table compared to PSV, we now lost 2 points ourselves. I can't blame the performance, but finishing was horrible. De Graafschap defenders worked hard, but we got 4 clear-cut chances and only Tol's penalty was the one we could finally score. That's not a way to win championship. We tried our best in the end, but it fell short, so disappointing draw against significantly weaker De Graafschap was the first poor result of this September.

29.09.2027 - Ajax - FC Porto 4:1 (Champions League Group Stage) - 8. pen. and 20. Brian Tol, 13. Jeroen Bouwhuis, 34. Anthony Crüden - 32. Ivo Paulo - similar to PSV encounter; I tried to take advantage of home game atmosphere and fans' support, and we succeeded in that. A quick penalty spread nervousness to opponents defenders and although Porto looked formidable in midfield, their defensive line crumbled and one mistake followed another - a quick penalty was the first sign, a lot of 2nd balls fell to us (Bouwhuis' goal) and then Crüden simply played himself past Porto right-back to find an opening. One mistake by Bambo Ouologuem gave Ivo Paulo a chance to score a goal, but in the end it was not enough. 4:1 gives us confidence after poor De Graafschap result. Let's hope our good continental form continues.

Eredivisie

Feyenoord had a great start to their season, winning 6 first games and just then lost 0:2 against sc Heerenveen. Top of the table is still pretty tight and predictable. NEC Nijmegen had a horrible start and they're on a serious losing streak despite having not so poor squad at all.

Ajax goals: Brian Tol 7, Johan Kramer 6, Roberto Jansma 4

Ajax assists: Daniel Buijs 6, Melvin Vissers 3, Roberto Jansma 3

[Draakon]

02.10.2027 - Ajax - FG Groningen 2:0 (ED) - 41. Ricky Meijs, 51. Daniel Buijs - after poor draw against De Graafschap I needed a win. But we had some tired legs in squad after continental match and I needed to rely on younger players to take this game on. Tony de Leeuw started in holding midfielder role, Rick Schouten in midfield, Ricky Meijs on the left wing (a little bit unfamiliar to him). We controlled the match from start to finish. Only goals kept themselves waiting a bit. Meijs broke deadlock in the end of the first half and after Buijs' goal we could relax a bit. Solid win and youngsters filled their roles very well too.

15.10.2027 - Ajax - Feyenoord Rotterdam 0:1 (ED) - 58. Leandro Lincoln - after international break our lines were cut. Tony de Leeuw was injured while with U-21 team and Daniel Buijs returned injured from Holland national team match. There were injury troubles in Feyenoord too, so it evened out between two teams.

The main character in this rival derby was actually the referee. Honestly - he acted like a toaster, pumping a card out of his pocket every time somebody fell down on the pitch. Tom Noordhoff got his 2nd yellow card already in the 38th minute, Tom Tepperik in 87th. With 10 man, it was a very difficult task to get a win against Feyenoord. Our best chance to score was in the fist half, but Ouologuem's header from corner clipped the bar and went over Feyenoord goal. We held 0-0 until Leandro Lincoln's beautiful long shot went past Schouwenaar and landed in the upper corner.

Devastating result - to lose against Feyenoord, in front of home fans, and lose two players for the next match because red cards. I have to pick my team up from this.

20.10.2027 - Ajax - Olympique Marseilles 0:0 (ED) - we had the possession and control, but OM is a very disciplined and capable team and they were difficult to break down. Both teams were a bit careful in the back, not taking too many risks and in the end, the draw was a fair result. Second game in a row without scoring - yes, that's a bit troubleing.

23.10.2027 - NAC Breda - Ajax 0:1 (ED) - 10. Jeroen Bouwhuis - Bouwhuis is back! And finally back with a goal. But truthfully, his goal was the only bright moment of this match. After that, it was a struggle. We couldn't keep the game under our control, giving away too much possession and allowing NAC too many corners. We also didn't create anything dangerous. Jansma's dribble ended with a good chance, but that went wide. In the end we secured us a narrow win and 3 points, but it was pretty dreadful performance.

26.10.2027 - Ajax - PEC Zwolle 1:0 (Dutch Cup 3rd round) - 52. Rick Schouten - another okay result with poor performance. This time, of course, partly because I fielded a weakened squad and let youngsters play. But we were so head and shoulders above Zwolle that it should have been 3:0 easily. Rick Schouten scored his first ever goal for Ajax from smart cutback cross by Anthony Crüden and it remained the only goal of the match. We had 23 shots, but only 9 of them went on target and that's an area for improvement.

Eredivisie

It has been a rollercoaster month with some unexpected troubles, but we're not the only team struggling to keep form. After having a fantastic result against us, Feyenoord made a disappointing 0-0 draw with FC Dordrecht and fell out of cup competition after losing 1-2 to Helmond Sport. PSV picked up two losses in October - against FC Twente and ADO Den Haag. And FC Twente lost against Roda and Utrecht. So that's why Eredivisie table looks like it does. In this turmoil, brave MVV have climbed up to 3rd spot. They've won every single game in September and October and in this streak they've beaten PSV, AZ Alkmaar, FC Groningen, Vitesse and Feyenoord. What a run!

European campaign is also going OK. The board have set minimum expectation to progress from group stage and we're on course to do that. Next matches against FC Porto and OM are in away stadiums and I have to find a good tactics to get at least 1 point from them.

Ajax goals: Brian Tol 7, Johan Kramer 6, Roberto Jansma 4, Jeroen Bouwhuis 4

Ajax assists: Daniel Buijs 6, Melvin Vissers 4

[Draakon]

I almost forgot to make a squad update for current season. Not too many changes, but few youngsters have been added to the team and some players have showed more development than others.

Goalkeepers

Wilco Schouwenaar

Still on the verge of international breakthrough. Aways inlcuded into Holland national team, but only 1 cap so far. 24 years old and it's a question - whether he attracts attentions from big clubs in Europe or remains to Ajax.

Angelo van Dam

19 years old goalkeeping talent. Was on loan last season, but I kept him in Ajax for this year. My goalkeeping coaches are the best in the league and he'll get playing time in cup matches and reserve fixtures.

Defenders

Tom Tepperik

Martin Peek

Right back position has always looked great and even more so with these two.

Mitchell Dijks

Veteran left-back. Despite his 34 years, he's still actively playing for Holland and trying to reach his 100th cap! I extended his contract for one more season - he's a great tutor even if he's past his peak.

Daryl Haak

The best centre-back in Ajax. 22 years old, in this fall he finally earned his first cap for Holland. Towering defender who's a huge threat during corners and set piece situations.

Bambo Ouologuem

Great defensive partnership between him and Haak.

Stephan Cairo

Returned from loan in Summer and stayed in the team. I don't really need a keeper, and he's too poor in the air to be a serious centre-back. So I finally made a decision to re-train him as left-back. He's very very quick and I need cover for this position. Let's see how it turns out in long run.

Tom Noordhoff

Experienced centre-back. One of three players whose contract ends in next Summer and I'm almost sure I'm not extending it. He's good backup, but needs to make space for younger players.

Johan Kramer

3rd best centre-back in my team, but punches a lot above his abilities. Has been in excellent form this season and earning his place in the team even though my coaches report that he's too inconsistent.

[Draakon]

Midfielders

Ilan Boccara

Experienced defensive midfielder. He's not so quick and hard-working as he used to be, but still a valuable player. Also eraned contract extension and tutors youngsters.

Tony de Leeuw

Up-and-coming defensive midfielder and long-term replacement to Boccara. Unfortunately has been injured for the beginning of this season. Played a very good season in FC Utrecht last year.

Kevin Pengel

A little bit of hybrid between DMC and MC (defending). Used in both roles. Gets enough playing time and looks promising. Only 19 years old, but seems like he's been around for a while.

Melvin Vissers

Experienced deep-lying playmaker. Not showing his age yet and still getting national team invitations, but he's turning 32 this season and I have to start thinking about replacing him.

Rick Schouten

20 year old midfielder. Very versatile, although looks similar (DLP) to Vissers. Doesn't look like a huge talent and is only rated 2,5* by my coaches, but fills his backup/rotation role very well. Spent last season out on loan and returned this Summer. I've used him as DLP(support), MC(support) and MC(attack). Good movement without ball, wise decisions on pitch, solid technique. Let's see if he can prove his worth.

Jeroen Bouwhuis

My best attacking midfielder. Unfortunately, he's been injured a lot lately and it troubles me, because he's the only true attacking central midfielder I've got.

[Draakon]

Wingers

Daniel Buijs

Ricky Meijs

Perhaps Ricky spent too many seasons on loan before getting a true chance in Ajax first team, but he's a solid cover for Buijs on the right and can also play as a left winger. Very determined lad.

Wouter Jansen

One for the future. Only 18 years old. Very quick and determined. Let's hope that the rest will follow.

Dick Jansen

Good cover player, but a little bit between roles that I need. Not good enough right winger compared to Buijs and Meijs. Not comfortable enough in MC position to substitute Bouwhuis (although, in times of need, has played in midfield). Starting to reach that age where next step is necessary, so probably I'll find him a way out.

Roberto Jansma

Anthony Crüden

Stef Zwikker

He kind of got stuck in Ajax and I couldn't find him a good loan option. He's not a bad player, only 19 years old and shows some promise, but not enough to really compete for Ajax first team winger role. Probably on his way out next Summer.

Strikers

Brian Tol

One of the best young Holland strikers. 22 years old and probably soon attracting interest from bigger leagues. Vey good finisher and creates a lot of chances to others.

Dick Jansen

Another player that is somehow lost in my team. He's a solid cover to Tol, but he's already 28 years old and sitting on a bench is a bit of waste, considering he could be first team striker in any other Eredivisie team. 2* rating from my coaches doesn't help either. I haven't really decided if I extend his contract or let him go next year. Money is also an issue - he's not worth £18,000p/w in this role... probably need to give some youngsters chance instead of him.

Harry Gillhaus

Here's one example. Gillhaus certainly has had less playing time because of Jansen, but he's not so poor. He played in cup 2nd round match and scored a hat-trick, but in the league he only got minutes from the bench.

[Draakon]

02.11.2027 - OM - Ajax 2:0 (Champions League Group Stage) - 29. Robin Denis, 53. pen. Claude Ribakare - difficult match and I was a bit indecisive about how attacking our game plan should be. We started with standard mentality and went attacking after the first conceded goal, but nothing helped us to make a turn to the game. It is easy to blame (and that’s what I intend to do) an individual player and that’s Mitchell Dijks for this loss. Our left flank was carved open a number of times, Dijks missed tackle after tackle and it looked like his best before is truly starting to expire. The first goal came after OM right winger skipped past Dijks and surged into the area. Later he once again missed his tackle, let opponent striker into the box and forcing Haak come to the rescue, unfortunately, a bit late and giving away a penalty. The rest of defenders were up to task and played well.

Another worry is Brian Tol, who’s been goalless for over 400 minutes of football and it’s starting to affect his confidence. He had one good chance in the 2nd half, but blasted it way over goal. That’s not encouraging at all…

+ Daryl Haak and Bambo Ouloguem - very solid in defense, winning headers and challenges, both making a bunch of important interceptions

- Mitchell Dijks - extremely poor in defense and finishing with 5.6 rating

- Daniel Buijs - very quiet game from him. Created noting up front and was substituted in 2nd half with 6.6 rating

06.11.2027 - Ajax - NEC Nijmegen 1:0 (ED) - 41. Brian Tol - we dominated the game so well that it's unbelievable we couldn't score more than just one goal. 24 shots, 11 on target and only one goal! But in the end it's 3 points that matter. Promoted in Spring, NEC Nijmegen have had a terrible first half of the season - they're dead last in the table and still looking for their first win.

+ defensive work and overall control of the match, we had 72% of possession

- Anthony Crüden had a quiet game on the left wing. Should have been better against such team as NEC

20.11.2027 - Vitesse Arnhem - Ajax 0:2 (ED) - 2. Brian Tol, 41. Ricky Meijs - Vitesse don’t have the best of times and they constantly find themselves in bottom half of the table, but despite that they are difficult opponents, especially in Gelredome. Their young striker Rugene Martis is probably the best attacking talent in Eredivisie right now - two-footed, excellent finisher and possesses a terrific long shot.

Vitesse tactic is a counter-attacking 4-4-2, with deep controlling central midfielders and low-positioned wingers. I expected to have possession, but difficult task was breaking their 6-men defensive line.

We had pretty much our best XI to start with, expect Daniel Buijs who looked a bit tired and so Ricky Meijs had a go on the right wing.

Vitesse had the first opportunity right after kick-off. We were a bit passive and let their right winger dribble into the box and shoot. Schouwenaar had to make a great save to keep 0-0. Minutes later, Ricky Mejs found Brian Tol in the area and Tol’s fierce shot between two defenders landed in upper corner of Vitesse goa. 1-0! 2nd goal came after combination between same two players - this time Tol released Meijs with a great pass and young winger had no problems passing the ball into the net.

In the 2nd half Vitesse made all their substitutions and after Bendik Ostravik picked up a knock and was forced off, they had to fight almost 30 minutes with 10 men. Game was fully under our control after that. Daryl Haak missed a clear cut header after substitute Rick Schouten found him in corner situation. Ilan Boccara found Meijs again in the box, but this time his shot went wide… despite those misses I was happy with a solid away win. Also important - we haven’t conceded since Feyenoord match, so defensive line works really well.

+ defensive line, especially Daryl Haak and Bambo Ouologuem.

+ Wilco Schouwenaar - our keeper didn’t have too much to do, but one great save he had to make proved his worth to team

+ Ricky Meijs - replaced Buijs on the right wing and was excellent

+ Brian Tol - a goal and assist and a man of the match award for the striker

- Anthony Crüden - Roberto Jansma picked up a small injury in the first half, so Crüden came in at half time… and didn’t make anything substantial in attacking phase.

24.11.2027 - Ajax - Red Star 7:1 (Champions League Group Stage) - 4. Mitchell Dijks, 7. Jeroen Bouwhuis, 10. and 48. Daniel Buijs, 18. and 87. Daryl Haak, 47. Brian Tol - 53. Leandro Sosa - Red Star have been so poor in Champions League that they had lost all motivation and interest about this match. We completely steamrolled them and I was genuinely surprised in the 2nd half when one of their rare attacks finally succeeded to give them consolation goal. Daniel Buijs was the man of the match with his 2 goals and 3 assists. Complete destruction, but in our group it doesn't change much - we still need at least draw against FC Porto in Portugal

28.11.2027 - Ajax - Roda JC Kerkrade 3:0 (ED) - 15. Daryl Haak, 45. and 78. Brian Tol - Roda JC have replaced some key players in their squad and, as a result, are underperforming this season. At least at home we looked fairly comfortable against them and took comfortable 3:0 win. Daryl Haak scored from corner and we constantly won headers in Roda box, so Brian Tol’s two goals from headers were long coming. Very solid performance.

+ Brian Tol’s two goals show that he’s in good goalscoring form

+ Daryl Haak - good defensively and won headers in set piece situations

+ very good shooting accuracy (17 shots, 13 on target)

+ clean sheet

- Melvin Vissers’ yellow card means he’ll be suspended for the next match

Eredivisie

Ajax goals: Brian Tol 12, Johan Kramer 6, Jeroen Bouwhuis 5

Ajax assists: Daniel Buijs 10, Brian Tol 4, Melvin Vissers 4

[Draakon]

03.12.2027 - FC Utrecht - Ajax 0:1 (ED) - 45.+2 Brian Tol - despite the fact that FC Utrecht’s injury list included a couple of key player and we only missed suspended Melvin Vissers, I didn’t underestimate Utrecht’s capabilities, especially on their home ground.

Vissers was replaced by Kevin Pengel who is a bit more defensively minded player in midfield. Otherwise it was our best XI on the pitch.

Chances were scarce, our shooting wasn’t good enough and our corners were easily dealt by Utrecht defenders. We controlled most of possession, but couldn’t convert it to good chances and goals. In the end of the first half, Tom Tepperik’s careless tackle gave clear cut chance to Utrecht, but their best striker Johnny van der Meulenhof hit the post. Minutes later, Brian Tol dribbled to their box, tricked his way past defender and shot it high just below the par. Excellent time to score - just before the whistle.

2nd half passed without great chances to either side. Once we looked under pressure when Utrecht earned 3 corners in a row, but defending was excellent in crucial moments.

So, narrow 1-0 win, but in away match against a rival team - I’ll take it.

+ Tom Tepperik’s man of the match performance - despite his one mistake he tackled and defended excellently and ended the game with 8.8 rating.

- poor shooting and finishing. Only 7 shots and 3 on target. Probably partly because Vissers’ absence and Pengel’s more defensive mentality, but creativity was missing from others too

07.12.2027 - FC Porto - Ajax 3:2 (Champions League Group Stage) - 16. Gustavo, 54. Miguel Angel Abarca, 90.+4 Deniz - 29. and 38. pen. Brian Tol - we needed a draw to progress from this group, but to get a draw in Estadio do Dragao is a tough challenge. FC Porto started with attacking tactics and they soon scored their first goal, but we went to half time with 2-1 lead. Brian Tol was the man once again - scoring from quick counter at first and then converting a penalty after Mitchell Dijks was foulde in FC Porto box. But we couldn't hold on. With game nearing to an end and 2-2 on scoreboard, we conceded a late injury time goal by FC Porto substitute Deniz and that erased our hopes of progressing from group stage. 3rd place with 10 points and our continental season continues with Europa League. So near and yet so far. A bit salt on our wound was knowing that PSV finished 2nd in their group.

+ Brian Tol, excellent goalscoring form from him.

- defensive effort as a whole, no individual errors, but overall 3 conceded goals were 1 too many.

11.12.2027 - MVV Maastricht - Ajax 0:1 (ED) - 53. Johan Kramer - injury time loss against FC Porto really hurt and we needed a win to pick ourselves up. But the match wasn’t an easy one. MVV have had a superb season so far and they are 4th in the table, so I anticipated a difficult fixture. Besides that, I had to make few changes to line up - Daniel Buijs was injured and replaced by Ricky Meijs. Mitchell Dijks, Daryl Haak and Jeroen Bowhuis looked a bit tired. Young Stephan Cairo got his chance as left-back. Rick Schouten started in midfield. Johan Kramer stepped into central defense to replace Haak.

We found it difficult to score, although we had chances. Vissers missed a clear cut chance in the first half. Ricky Meijs good pass released Brian Tol behind MVV defensive line, but his shot was parried by MVV keeper. There was nervousness about our men, we made too many fouls and even set pieces were poor.

Finally, it was a corner and once again Johan Kramer’s header that found the net. He showed his goalscoring ability in August and, sitting on a bench for a while, showed he hasn’t lost his touch.

We gifted MVV a chance to equalize in injury time. Tom Tepperik lost a header inside our box, but MVV’s header from point blank range went over the bar. Too close.

In the end, a poor match and poor performance, but win nevertheless. There are and will be games when things don’t work out as they should, but those scrappy wins decide titles in the end of the season.

+ Johan Kramer showed that our 3rd central defender could be game changer

- creativity could have been better, Vissers-Schouten midfield didn’t really prove themselves

- Roberto Jansma - he and Anthony Crüden have both been poor recently and our left wing is weaker as it should because of that. Poor passing from Jansma and 6.7 rating. Crüden came in as a substitute and finished with 6.3

15.12.2027 - AZ Alkmaar - Ajax 1:2 (ED) - 75. Hugo Castillo - 55. Brian Tol, 74. Roberto Jansma - after resting some players against MVV, we were back with our best squad against AZ Alkmaar. We held the possession in the first half, but 45 minutes ended goalless. After the break we found our scoring form and Brian Tol together with Roberto Jansma made both goals. Tol's superb pass to Jansma was especially brilliant and our best left winger finally found the net.

But, just after our 2nd goal, we easily let AZ hit one back and the final 15 minutes of the match were a bit nervous because of that. We made it a bit harder than it should have been, but in the end kept our composure and returned with 3 points from away match.

+ Brian Tol and Roberto Jansma - made both of goals

- conceding a minute after scoring shows low concentration

18.12.2027 - Ajax - sc Heerenveen 2:0 (ED) - 7. Anthony Crüden, 63. Dick Jansen - just three days after AZ Alkmaar fixture and a lot of tired legs - Mitchell Dijks, Ilan Boccara looked exhausted, so did Roberto Jansma and Brian Tol. Melvin Vissers picked up a yellow card in previous game and it was his 7th - that’s right, 7th! - of the season. Somehow he’s been able to get himself into serious suspension trouble already before half the season is over.

sc Heerenveen, on the other hand, had full week to prepare for this match. They’ve had a great first half of the season and currently occupying 3rd place in the table. So, instead relying on experience and tired players, I sent out younger, more fit squad.

Stephan Cairo started as a left back, Kevin Pengel and Rick Schouten in midfield. Anthony Crüden on the left flank and almost forgotten Dick Jansen up front.

We had possession, but Heerenveen had a number of corners and at some point I remembered that we haven’t practiced defending set pieces for a while. Anthony Crüden looked the most dangerous up front, he made a couple of great dribbles into sc Heerenveen box and one of them he finished with a great goal. In the 2nd half sc Heerenveen captain Yannick Stuivenberg was unable to clear Crüden’s long pass, Jansen picked up the ball and fired it hard and low - 2:0! An excellent goal for a striker who hadn’t played for such a long time. He created another good chance for Ricky Meijs, but right winger missed it. 2-0 is a good result, especially with a squad like that. So, before Christmas break we’re still 5 points ahead of PSV. sc Heerenveen and MVV Maastricht are already 11 points behind.

+ Stephan Cairo had a great game in defense - he finished with 8.1 rating and picked up his first man of the match award in Eredivisie.

+ Dick Jansen scored a great goal (his 75th for Ajax) after long spell on the bench

+ Anthony Crüden proved himself after long stretch of poor form

+ 18 years old midfielder Ferry Timmers made his debut for the club in 2nd half

22.12.2027 - Ajax - Roda JC Kerkrade 2:3 (Dutch Cup 4th round) - 4. Anthony Crüden, 71. Ricky Meijs - 9. Jochen Bex, 66. Wilfried Hendriks, 84. Robi Arsic - considering that we won against Roda last time a couple of weeks ago (3:0) and it was a cup match, I rested some tired players (Bouwhuis, Dijks, Tepperik, Boccara) and gave a chance to younger ones. We started well and scored a quick goal, but to be honest, Anthony Crüden's dribbles to Roda box were the most dangerous events from our attack in the first 45 minutes. In the other end of the pitch, our defense looked terrible. At first Mitchell Djks lost a tackle and from that clear cut chance came Roda's equalizer. Wilfried Hendriks scored in the 2nd half after Kevin Pengel (who was supposed to mark him) lost his man completely in the box. We then started to press higher, push forward and that was rewarded by 2nd goal - Crüden's good cross found Ricky Meijs who made it 2-2. But then, before the end of the match, Roda had a quick counter and our defensive line was carved open once again. Wilco Schouwenaar couldn't do much in those goal situations and just like that we were out of the cup.

Very disappointing loss, especially in front of our fans. We should have easily win this game and how the best defense of Eredivisie conceded 3 goals against Roda JC is beyond my understanding...

+ Anthony Crüden - a goal and assist by him; but he was the only positive factor in our game

- defensive line as a whole, but especially full-backs Mitchell Dijks and Martin Peek

- Brian Tol - very quiet game from him; disappointing

December as a whole was a very up-and-down month... we continued our good form in Eredivisie and finished this year 5 points ahead of PSV, but managed to fall out of Dutch Cup competition and Champions League. That lets us concentrate to domestic league in new year, but overall it's a disappointment.

Eredivisie

MVV are still going on strong and are 3rd in the table. Let's see if they can continue like that until the end of the season. NEC Nijmegen have managed to go full 17 games without a win and are as well as relegated.

Ajax goals: Brian Tol 16, Johan Kramer 7, Roberto Jansma 5, Jeroen Bouwhuis 5

Ajax assists: Daniel Buijs 10, Brian Tol 6

[Draakon]

23.01.2028 - FC Dordrecht - Ajax 2:5 (ED) - 54, and 73. Jeroen Aarts - 9. Brian Tol, 14., 18. and 41. Roberto Jansma, 66. Daryl Haak - FC Dordrecht is, at least on paper, a clear relegation candidate and they struggle both at home and away. Our weakness prior the game was absence of Wilco Schouwenaar. Our keeper injured himself during winter break and will be out for 2-3 matches. 19 years old Angelo van Dam will have to step up and show his talent in goal.

The game started with a little controversy - Jeroen Bouwhuis pushed FC Dordrecht defender away from the ball, went to counter attack, found completely unmarked Brian Tol in the box who made it 1-0. Yes, let’s admit it was a foul, but it was a quick goal and Dordrecht struggled from that point on. Roberto Jansma showed that he, too, can score goals and his hat-trick was probably the highlight of the match.

Not so excellent was our defensive performance - conceding two goals against club like Dordrecht is almost criminal. The first came from indirect free-kick and Brian Tol was the man who lost his challenge and allowed Jeroen Aarts to score his first goal. In the second occasion, our central defenders were a bit too passive. I’m not happy to give away easy goals, even if it didn’t change the outcome of the match. Angelo van Dam had okay game, but he couldn’t rescue the team in those goal situations

+ Roberto Jansma - great hat-trick and the left winger is staking his claim for national team place

- defensive performance, especially two conceded goals

28.01.2028 - Ajax - FC Twente 2:1 (ED) - 17. Ricky Meijs, 25. Jeroen Bouwhuis - 4. Mauricio Arias - FC Twente played a very difficult cup match against PSV Eindhoven, that they finally won after penalty shoot-out, but 120 minutes of football left their mark and they looked a lot more tired than we did. Schouwenaar’s absence was a bigger concern than in previous match, because Twente strikers were unlikely to forgive any mistakes.

And our young keeper proved his inexperience early in the match - his careless clearance bounced against Mauricio Arias and FC Twente best striker had no problems to score from point blank range. A cold shower to start the match with, but we recovered well. Our equalizer came after great ball by Tom Tepperik found Ricky Meijs on the run and it was 1-1. We continued to play better football than FC Twente and it soon paid off - Jeroen Bouwhuis took a rebound in the box and his shot found the net after hitting inside the post. 2-1. We even had a chance to make it 3-1. Brian Tol was fouled in a box (probably a bit harsh decision by referee), but he couldn’t convert his spot kick. A fair outcome, but at least we can’t say that referees haven’t favoured us.

In addition to this missed penalty, our best striker had a miserable game - he missed most of his shots and finished with 5.2 rating. A little unexpected and shockingly poor performance by a player of his standard.

But it didn’t change the result - we controlled the 2nd half of the match and didn’t give FC Twente any chances to equalize, so a very important win. At least in Eredivisie we continue our winning streak. Wilco Schouwenaar and Daniel Buijs are soon to return to full fitness and we’re ready to secure us this title.

+ Jeroen Bouwhuis - man of the match performance by our attacking midfielder

- Brian Tol - couldn’t convert a penalty and otherwise horrible match for the striker

- Angelo van Dam - his high-profile mistake is a clear learning point, but proves that he’s not ready for full-time first team football yet

Eredivisie

After Roda JC pushed us out of the cup, they continued their good form by equalizing against PSV in January, so we're now 7 points clear in the table.

Ajax goals: Brian Tol 18, Roberto Jansma 8, Johan Kramer 7, Jeroen Bouwhuis 6

Ajax assists: Daniel Buijs 10, Brian Tol 8

[Draakon]

Tom Noordhoff had felt a need for a new challenge and I sent him to Villarreal for £1m. A move that was met with big disappointment by fans, but 32 year old defender haven't had much playing time and his contract was about to end in Summer, so for me it was a good piece of business to earn £1m out of this.

Dick Jansen and Rob Klijn also requested transfers, but without sufficient interest I finally sent them both to Almere City until the end of the season. Young midfielder Ferry Timmers, who made his debut before Christmas, went to Eredivisie side VVV Venlo until Summer.

It was a busy transfer window to other teams as well. PSV especially strengthened their squad, probably with Champions League knockout stages in mind. They bought Mexican midfielder Isaac Garcia from Monterrey for £11m and Brazilian attacking midfielder Gian from Granada for £5,5m.