Thomas van den Leeuwen - Making De Godenzonen The Kings Of Europe Again

[tomtuck01]

Interesting offer coming on the back of Louis van Gaal's retirement. I of course declined to attend the interview.

This then came when United appointed Milan's boss Frank Rijkaard. Again, the offer was rejected.

[john1]

Wow, crazy job offers

What coaching badges do you have?

[tomtuck01]

Wow, crazy job offers

What coaching badges do you have?

Continental Pro License. It's in the first few posts of the thread.

[tomtuck01]

Three massive interview offers after the European Championships, with managers moving here there and everywhere. It seems I have developed quite a reputation very quickly! Still, I'm not going anywhere.

[Vanikain]

The league has basically got your name on it now from the start of the season.

[Deisler26]

I would have gone for the Milan job, IMO

[tomtuck01]

The league has basically got your name on it now from the start of the season.

I'd imagine that's likely to be the case!

I would have gone for the Milan job, IMO

That's kind of not the point of the save; "Making De Godenzonen The Kings Of Europe Again".

[Deisler26]

That's kind of not the point of the save; "Making De Godenzonen The Kings Of Europe Again".

LOL. True enough. Ajax are in a right state on my save. No trophy since 2016 (It's now 2023) and no Champions League in 4 seasons.

[tomtuck01]

LOL. True enough. Ajax are in a right state on my save. No trophy since 2016 (It's now 2023) and no Champions League in 4 seasons.

Christ that's horrific. It'll never happen on my watch.

[Deisler26]

Christ that's horrific. It'll never happen on my watch.

Haha. What made me laugh was, I'd won 3 Jupiler League titles, an Eredivisie and Ajax said I wasnt the guy to take them forward....

Merry Christmas to you and yours, Tom!

[tomtuck01]

Thomas van den Leeuwen - AFC Ajax - Preseason - 2016/17

Transfers

(Players below the red line(s) were transferred after the start of the Eredivisie season. A further 10 players were released on a free at the end of the end of their contracts).

A very busy summer indeed, with us having to sell players who wanted to leave to try somethig new elsewhere. I'll therefore just run through the sales rather than all of them as that'd be an awful lot of reading! Any of the other departures you want information on then please feel free to ask.

Jasper Cillessen had his head turned by Roma, but in the end he ended up taking a pretty big step down by joining Hertha Berlin. We got just short of the minimum fee release of £12million for him so I was pleased enough. Stefano Denswil had signed a new contract just after I joined, and insisted of the release clause of £13.5million. He developed much better/quicker than expected and once Internazionale came sniffing he was never going to stay. We got the exact same fee for Nicolai Boilesen and Ezequiel Cirigliano. The former wished to leave and Dortmund matched his release clause so I was happy to wish him all the best. The latter didn't ask to leave or anything, but considering we got him for free a year ago this was terrific business. The last two big deals were those for Joël Veltman and Davy Klaassen, both of whom went to Juventus. I had no desire to let Veltman go, but his release clause was met and despite agreeing a new deal with us he decided to join the Italians instead. No issue with him moving at all, he was excellent for me for two years. As for Klaassen, his contract expired in two years time and he was kicking up a fuss about a nw deal. His agent wouldn't agree to a deal within my £25,000 p/w wage limit so with just two years left on his contract I decided to cash-in. A good fee.

Here are the seven players who joined the club this summer;

Etrit Berisha - £1.6million

Absolute bargain in my opinion. One or two minor problems, but overall he's extremely good. Excellent replacement for the departed Cillessen.

Thorgan Hazard - Free

A good freebie. Very solid player who will no doubt make us some decent profit in the next couple of years.

Branco van den Boomen - £2.7million

Sizeable enough fee to resign a player who left just before I joined the club, but he's a very good youngster who can play in a couple of positions. Also at just twenty years old he still has plenty of time to develop further.

Timothy Fosu-Mensah - Loan

A decent young central defender who will probably be a regular in the side this season. Hopefully we can come to an arrangement with Manchester United to sign him permanently. He rejoins after leaving for United in 2014.

Maarten Stekelenburg - £950,000

Like van den Boomen, another former player rejoins the club, though this one at the other end of his career. He won't neccessarily be first choice, but will compete with Berisha for the starting birth. He'll also come in handy for tutoring pruposes.

Mitchell Dijks - £3million

A fourth player to rejoin us. Nominally a fullback, but I'd be happy to fit him as a left sided centreback when we revert to a back three. If his mentals improve with age then he could be a very good long term purchase.

Davide Santon - £3.3million

An excellent fullback, who like Dijks will be able to slot into a back three if needs be. He's our highest profile signing of the summer, and joins on our maximum wage of £25,000 p/w. Would expect to sell him in the next two to three years for decent profit.

Preseason Friendlies

A very short preseason again, with the squad in massive transition and young lads away at youth championships and playing pre Olympic friedlies. It was a tough tour of South Korea, with us drawing two and winning one of our three games. It was tough, but hopefully we'll atleast reap the financial benefits in future years.

Johan Cruijff Schaal

Given how tough the tour of South Korea was, this was a brilliant performance. New vice-captain Viktor Fischer fired us infront after just eleven minutes, and just before halftime Mitchell Dijks, playing in the back three, put us 2-0 ahead from a corner. Youngster Nathan Leyder scored an own goal two minutes from time, but we took the trophy thanks to a 2-1 win.

We kick of the Eredivisie season with a home game against Roda JC.

[tomtuck01]

Here's to the next 100!

[tomtuck01]

Thomas van den Leeuwen - AFC Ajax - August 2016

(Fixture vs. Roda JC included despite being played July 30th).

Eredivisie

A great start to the season, winning all six fixtures thus far.

We got off to a good start to the season, though we were far from our best as we beat Roda JC 2-0. Central defenders Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Jairo Reidewald finding the back of the net in the opening half-an-hour. We then went to Vitesse Arnhem, and a first half hattrick from Leandro Damião was enough to see them off 3-0. NAC Breda then came to the Amsterdam ArenA, and we saw them off with a comfortable 4-1 win. After just thirteen minutes we were two goals ahead thanks to strikes from Alexandre Pato and Ricardo Kishna. NAC grabbed one back just after half-an-hour, but Lucas Andersen restored our two goal lead before halftime. Kishna wrapped it up late on with a stunning strike. A tough game at Heracles followed, but we came out with all three points after a late comeback. Before the break Heracles went infront, but two goals in three minutes from Viktor Fischer and Leandro Damião gave us an undeserved win. Another away game followed, this time at FC Eindhoven, and we dished out a thumping. Viktor Fischer put us ahead in just the eleventh minute, but things threatened to get much tougher in the 19th minute when Riechedly Bazoer was sent off. At halftime we still led by a single goal, but eight minutes into period Alexandre Pato doubled our advantage. FC Eindhoven pulled one back just after the hour, but minutes later Lasse Schöne had but us back ahead by two. Jairo Reidewald rounded things off with eight minutes to go as he headed home from a freekick. The month was rounded off with a 5-1 thrashing of VVV-Venlo in what was my 100th game in management, with one man destroying them. Venlo had the audacity to take the lead, and Alexandre Pato didn't like that one bit. By halftime he had fired a hattrick to put us 3-1 up. Lucas Boyé made it four just after the hour mark, and Pato fired his fourth to seal the win with sixteen minutes remaining.

A cracking start, but both Feyenoord and Twente have won five of their first six, so it's not all our own way just yet!

[tomtuck01]

Champions League Group Stage Draw - 2016/17

After our decent performances over the last couple of seasons in the tournament, we had improved our ranking sufficiently to move into the second set of seeds this season. In the truth the competition does look weaker this season, with some big sides missing out. From England for instance, there's no Arsenal or Chelsea, and Liverpool are amongst the fourth seeds, telling you all you need to know about their recent European performances.

Not a bad draw at all, and in truth it would seem we'll be in competition with Marseille for second place in the group.

[Rikulec]

Finally a decent group to be drawn in. Good luck there.

[john1]

Pretty decent draw in Champions League

[Poddy]

Glad christmas is over so we can get more Tom Tuck posts

[tomtuck01]

Finally a decent group to be drawn in. Good luck there.

Pretty decent draw in Champions League

In all fairness we had a pretty decent draw last season! (Bayern, Zenit, and Viktoria Plzeň). If anything, its actually a touch tougher this time around!

Glad christmas is over so we can get more Tom Tuck posts

Well they won't be coming thick and fast - real life is too much fun at the minute!

[Vanikain]

By the looks of it you got a decent draw but the rest of the groups look deadly proobably group D and your group would have been the best to get drawn in.

[tomtuck01]

By the looks of it you got a decent draw but the rest of the groups look deadly proobably group D and your group would have been the best to get drawn in.

To be fair I wouldn't have minded been in group C, seeing us swapped with other second seed Dortmund.

[tomtuck01]

Thomas van den Leeuwen - AFC Ajax - September 2016

Eredivisie

Two more wins, one against rivals Feyenoord, and we're two points clear with a game in hand.

The month started with Feyenoord coming to Amsterdam for De Klassieker, and in what was a close game we simply took our chances whereas they didn't. Lucas Boyé fired us infront in just the fifth minutute, but soon after Feyenoord levelled from the penalty spot. Boyé put us back infront soon after, and just before halftime Alexandre Pato scored what proved to be the final goal of the game, giving us a 3-1 win. Our short month was rounded off with a solid 2-0 win at Den Bosch. Lucas Boyé struck again to put us one up in the first half, and skipper Lasse Schöne sealed the win with a penalty with nineteen minutes to spare.

October kicks off with a visit from FC Twente.

KNVB Beker - 2nd Round

Well it could have been more handsome, but it was still a solid win against our lower league opponents. Zakaria Bakkali fired us infront after just thirteen minutes, and soon after Queensy Menig doubled our lead. Thorgan Hazard got his first goal for the club before halftime, and although Scheveningen got a goal back before the hour-mark we were never in any danger of letting the lead slip.

A trip to Voldendam awaits in the next round.

Champions League - Group Stage

One win and one defeat, which realistically is what I expected.

We thumped APOEL in our first group game, with Ricardo Kishna and Leandro Damião starring. We were 3-0 up inside just twenty-five minutes, with Damião firing home twice and Timothy Fosu-Mensah heading home the other. Damião could've had a hattrick before halftime, but he fluffed his chance from the penalty spot. APOEL lost a man early in the secnd half, and we banged in another three goals thereafter. Lucas Boyé made it four just after the hour, and Kishna hit two late of to seal the 6-0 win. The trip to Barcelona followed, and we suffered a 2-0 defeat. Barça hit us early, and infact were 2-0 up after just twelve minutes. Understandably they dominated throughout, but we had some chances so can take away some positives atleast.

Toughest game out of the way with us putting up a decent enough showing, so onwards and upwards. A double header against Marseille awaits.

[tomtuck01]

Thomas van den Leeuwen - AFC Ajax - October/November 2016

Eredivisie

October

Points finally droppped after winning our first ten games, but still three good wins from four.

The month started with a sound 3-0 win at home to FC Twente, but we left it late to seal the win. Ricardo Kishna fired us ahead arly on, but it wasn't until the 84th minute when Lasse Schöne fired home a penalty that the points look like ours. Kishna added a third just two minutes later to out a bit of gloss on the scoreline. A trip to ADO Den Haag followed, and we just about came away with all three points. Ganso put us ahead after just fifteen minutes, but Den Haag pegged us back in the twelve minutes before halftime. We had the chance from the penalty spot in first half stoppage time to retake the lead, but Lucas Boyé saw his effort saved. We grabbed the winner with a little over twenty minutes from time, when Viktor Fischer tapped home a Davide Santon cross. Our first dropped points of the season followed with a 1-1 draw at Groningen. We fell behind early on, but from then on we dominated the game, but failed to take our chances to draw level. Ten minutes from time though we snatched a point thanks to Alexandre Pato, who fired home from six yards out. A dominant win rounded off the month, though we failed to score the goals we should have. Lucas Andersen fired us ahead in the twenty-sixth minute, and two minutes into the second half Ricardo Kishna doubled our lead. We failed to add to the scoreline, and a goal for Zwolle eight minutes from time made a nervy final few minutes, but we saw it out for a 2-1 win.

November

Three wins from three, and goals galore at both ends!

Alexandre Pato got us off to a great start in our first game of the month against PSV in De Topper, firing home after just six minutes. In the opening minute of the second half Leandro Damião doubled our lead with a fine header. PSV soon got one back, but after seeing off some pressure we went 3-1 up with eighteen minutes to go thanks to Pato's second of the gam. PSV pulled another back, in the 78th minute, but just a minute later Lucas Boyé restored our two goal lead. With just a minute to go Thorgan Hazard fired home another to wrap up a 5-2 win. We then travelled to Heerenveen, and took all three points despite a poor performance. Alexandre Pato put us infront just before halftime, but just three minutes into the second half the hosts drew level. With seven minutes remaining we grabbed an undeserved victory, when Pato fired home his second of the game. The month was rounded off with a win at home to Go Ahead Eagles. Viktor Fischer put us ahead after just nine minutes, and early in the second half Ricardo Kishna curled home to make it 2-0. Fischer added a third four minutes from time, with Go Ahead grabbing a consolation in stopage time.

Feyenoord just won't go away right now. We head into December just two points clear, but with a game in hand.

KNVB-Beker - 3rd Round

October

A solid win at the second division side. Viktor Fischer fired us ahead in just the fifth minute, and then seven minutes before the break goalkeeper Etrit Berisha slotted home from the penalty spot to double our lead. Lucas Boyé made it 3-0 nineteen minutes from time, and although Volendam grabbed a goal late in the day, it was still a comfortable win.

In the fourth round we face RKC Waalwijk away from home.

Champions League - Group Stage

October

A very good home win to make it two wins from our opening three group games. Alexandre Pato put us infront after half-an-hour, but Marseille pegged us back before halftime. However, goals in the second half from Lucas Andersen and Lucas Boyé gave us a 3-1 win.

November

Two wins and a draw- and we're through to the next round once again.

The return game against Marseille was first up, and we secured a decent draw. Marseille went infront just after halftime, but Alexandre Pato equalised in the 69th minute. Both sides had a late chance or two to win the game, but a 1-1 draw was fair. We then travelled to Cyprus to face APOEL, and came away with a corking 4-1 win. We fell behind in the sixth minute, but straight away Lucas Boyé levelled it up. Leandro Damião put us ahead just after the twenty minute mark with a fine header. We finally struck a third to make the game more comfortable with seven minutes to go as Abdelhak Nouri fired home from just outside the box, and then in the final minute Boyé got his second with a fine finish. In the final group game we welcomed Barcelona with us both already through to the next round, but what a stonking game it was. Barcelona led three times, but we came back every time and eventually won the game 5-3 - what a great exhibition of attacking football it was!

In the next round we face an old nemesis - Bayern Munich.

[john1]

Looks like your match against Barcelona was epic Good results in the league

Good luck against FC Bayern.

[tomtuck01]

Looks like your match against Barcelona was epic Good results in the league

Good luck against FC Bayern.

It was a great game. Was so elated first when Kishna put us 4-3 up, and then also when Damião sealed it on the counter in stoppage time.

[john1]

It was a great game. Was so elated first when Kishna put us 4-3 up, and then also when Damião sealed it on the counter in stoppage time.

Haha

What formation are you using with Ajax? 4-2-3-1?

[tomtuck01]

Haha

What formation are you using with Ajax? 4-2-3-1?

Got three different ones that I use; 4-5-1, 3-5-2, and 4-2-3-1. Rarely use the latter.

[tomtuck01]

Thomas van den Leeuwen - AFC Ajax - December 2016

Eredivisie

A busy month, but five wins from six has seen us go nine points clear after an indifferent month for Feyenoord.

The month started with a trip to Roda JC, and we thrashed them 5-0. We totally took them apart in the first half, with Alexandre Pato, Anwar El Ghazi (2), and Viktor Fischer firing us into a four goal lead. Late on Pato got his second of the game to round off a terrific away win. Another away game, this time at AZ, followed, and we secured a very solid win. We got off to a great start with Viktor Fischer firing us infront after just three minutes, and then just eight minutes into the second period Lucas Boyé doubled our lead and made the points safe. Vitesse Arnhem then came to Amsterdam, and we thumped them 5-2. After just two minutes we were ahead thanks to Viktor Fischer. Vitesse soon equalised though, and in the opening minute of the second period they went ahead. A stunning ten minute hattrick from Alexandre Pato put us 4-2 up, and with just a couple of minutes to go Fischer grabbed his second of the game to seal the win. We then went to Breda to face NAC, and we dished out another thumping. Goals in the first half from Lucas Andersen and Lasse Schöne had us 2-0 up at the break. NAC pulled one back in the 65th minute, but a second for Andersen six minutes later followed by a Branco van den Boomen header secured the points. Heracles were up next at home, and we comfortably saw them off 3-1. Lucas Boyé slotted us infront after just twelve minutes, and Alexnadre Pato doubled the advanage nine minutes before halftime. Viktor Fischer got a third early in the second half, with Heracles grabbing a consolation in stoppage time. The month, (and year), was rounded off with a 2-2 draw away at Utrecht. They went infront after just five minutes, but we immediately hit back through Alexandre Pato. Utrecht went back infront before halftime, but Pato got his second of the game early in the second half to level it up at 2-2. Both sides had chances to win, but ultimately a draw was a fair result.

The new year starts with an away game at VVV-Venlo.

KNVB Beker - 4th Round

A solid win with a much changed side. Goalkeeper Etrit Berisha fired home his second penalty of the campaign in the first half to put us infront, and just before the hour Queensy Menig tapped home to seal our passage to the next round.

In the quarter finals we face VVV-Venlo at home.

[john1]

Pretty decent month Good to see you come back each time when Utrecht took the lead

[tomtuck01]

Pretty decent month Good to see you come back each time when Utrecht took the lead

It shows the spirit in the camp.

[tomtuck01]

Thomas van den Leeuwen - AFC Ajax - January 2017

Eredivisie

Two wins from two after the winter break, and we're now eleven points clear.

We struggled against VVV-Venlo, despite getting an early goal in the opening fifteen minutes through Viktor Fischer. As the game went on it was VVV who created the better chances, but we were able to hold on to take all three points. FC Eindhoven then came to Amsterdam, and we saw them off with relative ease. Davide Santon fired us infront from the edge of the box after ten minutes, with Lucas Boyé doubling our lead in the twentieth minute. FC Eindhoven pulled one back with two minutes to go from the penalty spot, but in the second minute of stoppage time we secured the points when Niels van Zanten struck his first ever senior goal.

February kicks off with a trip to Feyenoord.

KNVB-Beker - Quarter Final

An absolute disaster. We fell behind after just nine minutes, but his back straight away through Ezra Walian. Young rightback Roy Jacobs fired us infront five minutes later, but VVV equalised soon after. Before halftime though Queensy Menig had put us back ahead. Early in the second half they squared it up at 3-3, and got what proved to be the winning goal on the hour mark. Try as they might the young lads couldn't find a fourth to level it up again, and we crashed out.

Poor. Very poor.

Transfers

As usual there was a fair bit of activity during the January transfer window, with us bringing in three players and letting five leave - two permanently, three on loan. We made £20million from one player, and he was probably the one player in the squad who I really didn't want to sell........

Players Out

Urby Emanuelson had asked to leave due to a lack of first team football - he made just two appearances in the first half of the season. A pity as he was good to have around the club for tutoring purposes, but it's fair enough that he wants to be playing regulalry. The other sale was Alexandre Pato. He scored 24 goals in 24 appearances this season before the winter break, and inevitably drew interest from clubs in bigger leagues. Fiorentina made the move, and we asked for £20million, (actually above his minimum fee relase clause of £15million), and they made the bid. Due to a couple of clauses we recieved just £11.4million of the fee, but it still represented a profit of £6.8million on our outlay just a year ago. Of the players loaned out, Damon Mirani will be in the squad next year, but just needs some top level games this term. Joazinho Pedro hasn't develped as hoped so he'll probably sold in the summer, and Aschraf el Mahdioui I'm unsure about. Lets see how he does in the Eredivisie with Den Bosch!

Players In

Marcus Onnervik - £1.4million

A deal set up my director of football Marc Overmars, and I was happy enough to go ahead with it. He has alot of improving to do, not least of all mentally, but physically he's already in good condition so other areas can be focused on.

Joost Hodselmans - £1.3million

Yet another transfer set up by Overmars. Like Onnervik he has alot of improving to do, but he's young and has plenty of time to do it in. He has a decent little spread of attributes between technicals, mentals and physicals, and so there's already something to work with going forward.

Sean O'Shea - Free

Excellent young lad signed up for free following his decision to leave Sporting Kansas City in December. For a central defender he has a really poor "Jumping Reach" but hopefully that can improved sufficiently. If so, he can definitely make the grade.

[tomtuck01]

Thomas van den Leeuwen - AFC Ajax - February 2017

Eredivisie

Four wins from four, and the title is now all but ours.

We travelled to Rotterdam for De Klassieker at the start of the month, and we came through to take all three points late in the day. Feyenoord took the lead in the first half, and with us heading for defeat we found a hero. Lucas Boyé headed home with five minutes to go to level things up, and then with just a minute to go the same man tapped in from yards out after the Feyenoord keeper failed to hold on to a freekick. 2-1, a real smash and grab. Another 2-1 win followed at home to Den Bosch, but we really weren't at our best. An early goal from Vaclav Cerny got us off to a great start, but just ten minutes later Den Bosch levelled things up. In first half stoppage time we won a penalty, but Lasse Schöne's effort was saved. However the ball was cleared out for a throw-in, and from that we got what proved to be the winning goal, with Ganso feeding the ball to Viktor Fischer just inside the area who fired home. We then went to FC Twente and came away with all three points in what was an excellent away performance. Anwar El Ghazi fired us infront after thirteen minutes, and Lasse Schöne doubled our lead five minutes later from the penalty spot. Twente pulled one back, but it was 3-1 and ultimately points sealed seven minutes before halftime thanks to Lucas Boyé. Utrecht came to town at the end of the month, and we saw them off with a 2-1 scoreline. Lucas Boyé fired us infront just after the twenty minute mark. Our very player, Mattheus, who is only loan at Utrecht, equalised for them on the stroke of halftime. The winner came just twelve minutes into the second period, as Viktor Fischer fired home from a tight angle.

No cleansheets, but I can't complain when we're winning games. March starts with the visit of ADO Den Haag.

Champions League - 1st Knockout Round

Unsurprisingly Bayern did for us again. Over the last three seasons our record against them is; P-6, W-0, D-2, L-4, GS-1, GC-13.

We did well in the first leg in Amsterdam, and managed a credible draw, but it could have been so much better. Bayern had most of the ball, but we had the better chances overall, and indeed we took the lead six minutes before halftime. Typically though Bayern just seemed to flick a switch, and instantly equalised. Throughout the second half we had the better chances, but didn't take them. 1-1 the final score. In Munich we took our usual 3-0 battering. After just four minutes we were behind, and in 21st minute Bayern had doubled their lead. A third arrived just before halftime and it was game over.

A 4-1 defeat on aggregate.......I suppose the only plus is that we've finally scored against them!

[john1]

Unbeaten month in the league Yours to lose now. Good to see you made money from selling Pato. Can I see screenshot of Lucas Boye?

[tomtuck01]

Unbeaten month in the league Yours to lose now. Good to see you made money from selling Pato. Can I see screenshot of Lucas Boye?

Ours to lose? Just a bit when we're seventeen points clear with only twentyone points to play for!

And this Lucas Boyé is January; Click!

[tomtuck01]

Well we all knew it was just a matter of time, but March 11th is bloody early!

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar with the priase this time.

[john1]

Congrats on winning the league Boye looks good and I noticed he's wanted by a club? who?

[tomtuck01]

Congrats on winning the league Boye looks good and I noticed he's wanted by a club? who?

At the time it was Roma I think. Currently free of interest after signing a new deal and deciding to no longer be in a paddy.

[Ryan377]

These Eredivisie titles wins are getting boring mate, I expect European glory next year

In all seriousness though you're doing a fantastic job, good luck for next season.

[tomtuck01]

These Eredivisie titles wins are getting boring mate, I expect European glory next year

In all seriousness though you're doing a fantastic job, good luck for next season.

Can't honestly see it happening in Europe, atleast not anytime soon - the best are far too good!

Might just try and actually win the Dutch Cup first.

[tomtuck01]

Thomas van den Leeuwen - AFC Ajax - March & April 2017

Eredivisie

March

Four wins from four - the title is ours and now we're just having fun!

The month started with the visit of ADO Den Haag, and after an early scare we took them apart. In just the second minute we fell behind, but after piling on the pressure we eventually equalised in the 25th minute through Anwar El Ghazi. The same man put us infront six minutes later, and on the stroke of halftime Davide Santon made it 3-1. Early in the second half El Ghazi missed the chance to secure his hattirck, hitting the woodwork from the penalty spot. With twenty-five minutes to go the win was sealed by a lovely strike from Vaclav Cerny to make the final score 4-1. We the travelled to PEC Zwolle knowing a win would secure us the title, and we did it in some style. A youthful side destroyed Zwolle, thumping them 5-0. Following the title win, Groningen came to Amsterdam, and young side again won with some style. Riechedly Bazoer got us off to a flying start after just three minutes, with second half goals from Anwar El Ghazi and Niels van Zanten sealing the win. For our final game of the month we faced PSV away in Eindhoven, and once again a youthful side recorded a great win. Anwar El Ghazi again hit a brace, firing home twice in the opening six minutes. Further goals from Viktor Fischer and a late strike from Leandro Damião, just back from injury, gave us a 4-0 win.

April

Three more wins to finish the season as went passed the 100 goal mark.

We tore Herenveen apart in the openign fifty minutes, going 4-0 infront thanks to goals from Ezra Walian (2), Viktor Fischer, and Anwar El Ghazi. We slacked off late on and let in two goals to unfortunately take some gloss off the scoreline. Our final home game of the season was against AZ Alkmaar, and just about saw them off. Things got off the a disastrous start when Ganso got injured taking kick off. Alkmaar then went ahead in the seventh minute, but goals before halftime from Anwar El Ghazi in the thirteenth minute and Viktor Fischer ten minutes before the break saw us turn the game around and ultimately secure all three points. Our final the game of the season was away at Go ahead Eaglas, and we sa them off eventually. Goals from Abdelhak Nouri and Anwar El Ghazi either side of halftime has us 2-0 up. Go Ahead got one back with then minutes to go, but in the fourth minute of stoppage time Viktor Fischer sealed all the three points with a goal on the break as Go Ahead looked for an equaliser.

An excellent finish to the season, winning the title by twenty-four points.

[RTHerringbone]

*Yawn*

Bit easy? What's the hook that'll keep you playing this save? Is the continued quest for European honours likely to reap rewards?

[tomtuck01]

*Yawn*

Bit easy? What's the hook that'll keep you playing this save? Is the continued quest for European honours likely to reap rewards?

The "hook" is the rules I have in place. (Well, the first two specifically).

Players have to keep being moved on as I can't give them more money. I've currently got six players on £25,000 p/w and convincing them to remain on that little isn't easy, thus they have to be sold and I have to plug the gap(s) with younger players as signing established stars for £5million or less isn't easy either!

I think now the aim is for a competitive XI made up of home-grown players.

But as for Europe. Erm, I'll get back to you on that.

[tomtuck01]

Very unlikely that we'll ever better this, so I'll enjoy it while I can.

Someone's trying to get more game time by buttering me up.......

[john1]

Another superb season Cracking win over PSV

[tomtuck01]

Another superb season Cracking win over PSV

Need to do better in the cup mind, and more importantly the Champions League.

[tomtuck01]

Three years in a row El Ghazi has now won this award. A touch undeserved in my opinion, as he never hit form until the last two-three months of the season when he went on a terrific run.

He was only at the club during the first half of the season, leaving for Fiorentina in January. Just tells you how excellent he was for us.

[tomtuck01]

Thomas van den Leeuwen - AFC Ajax - Season Review 2016/17

Eredivisie

Results 1 - Results 2

Final table - Champions

Easy. Really easy.

Goals galore for us this season, as we hit the back of the net an average of three times a game. We again conceded far too many for my liking, but it does seem a bit churlish of me to complain about that after winning so many games. In the end we finished twenty-four points ahead of second placed Feyenoord, and a massive 43pts infront of PSV Eindhoven in third place. We secured the championship way back on March 11th with a 5-0 win away to PEC Zwolle.

So, I suppose the next aim is to win every game in a season? Hmmm.

KNVB-Beker

Eliminated in Quarter Finals

Well the quarter finals represents our best performance in the competition to date, but it is still totally unacceptable.

We comfortably made it through the three rounds before the quarter finals, beating lower division sides by two goals each time while playing a mix of first teamers, back-up players, and young lads. In the tie against VVV-Venlo I stuck with that mix, and ultimately we came unstuck. It was bad enough losing, but to concede four goals at home to such a lowly side was so very poor.

VVV made it through to the final after defeating PSV away from home in the semi's. Ultimately they came up short in the final, going down 1-0 to Den Bosch after extra time.

Champions League

Eliminated in 1st Knockout Round

Another exit to Bayern Munich, but our mot impressive win to date.

The group stage was superb - we lost just once, away in the Camp Nou, and achieved our highest points tally so far. We dished a couple of thrashings to the lowest ranked team in the group, took four points off a good Marseille side, and then came the impressive win - beating Barcelona 5-3. We faced our old nemesis Bayern in the 1st knockout round, and unsurprisngly they again gave us a good humping. We did achieve something against them that we hadn't done before - a goal as we drew the home leg! They comfortably saw us off on aggregate 4-1.

We may have fallen back this year in terms of what stage we have got through to, but we have also made some sort of progress by defeating a team such as Barcelona. Onwards and upwards.

Other Information

Squad Stats - Transfers - Finances

Players galore used! Was delighted with how some of the youngsters did. Loanee Timothy Fosu-Mensah, (who is staying for a further year), was so much better than I expected, and he formed a terrific partnershipt with Jairo Reidewald in the centre of defence. Vaclav Cerny made an impression on the first team this year, as did Niels van Zanten. Both can expect to be in the first team squad throughout next term.

In the transfer market we had an amazing year as we made nearly £100million more than we spent. A few of the players leaving the club weren't down to choice, but due to the fact that minimum fee relase clauses were met. That was fair enough in all hoenesty, and helped us to a great year. Most of those signed, (expect the younger lads bought in January), did their bit over the course of the season, the most impressive being Davide Santon.

--------------

Three Season Transfer Income/Expenditure

Just a wee little sub-section here before I mention the finances as our first three year transfer period is up. If you are unaware of what I am talking about, in the very first post of the thread under "Rules" was the following; 5. Make profit on transfers over every three year period (2014-2017, 2017-2020, etc). So here goes.......

Expenditure; £33.65million - Income; £187.5million

Difference; +£153.85million

Fair to say we managed to adhere to that rule quite easily!

--------------

Financially we're flying and we're about £53million better off compared to this time a year ago. It will soon be more once our TV revenue comes in from this seasons Champions League. Of course that will be down from last year, as has been our overall prize fund due to not getting as far this time around. Still, we're going along very well.

Player & Young Player

Of The Year

Davide Santon

A terrific first season with the club, which even saw him regain a place in the Italian national squad. He was just terrifically consistent throughout the campaign - solid at the back and contributing going forward. Hopefully we can keep hold of him in the summer.

Viktor Fischer

Terrific season for the young Dane. Whether played in the middle of midfield, behind the striker(s), or out on the left, he was excellent. After two years of injury struggles he really came of age. With clubs from other leagues gathering, we may face a struggle to keep hold of him.

What Next

No idea really. Alot of our players are wanted by other clubs so we'll just have to see what comes of the interest. Quite a few of them have minimum fee release clauses and if those are met we're obviously powerless. Summer could be entertaining!

[john1]

Brilliant season Not surprised to see Santon won player of the year Club balance looking nicely

[tomtuck01]

Brilliant season Not surprised to see Santon won player of the year Club balance looking nicely

I'll stick to the brilliant league season, rather than brilliant overall. Still failing in the cup.

[tomtuck01]

North London loves me.

Two interesting jobs in Italy. Fiorentina a touch tempting as I wouldn't mind managing Alexandre Pato again!

[john1]

Wow, decent jobs offers there