Ajax management resigns: Cruyff back!

Just read this too on the VI.

I’m not a huge Ajax fan, but I think this is great news for the future of Dutch football and I will admit I would like to see Ajax and certain other clubs (cough**AZ**cough) do better than they have been recently.

But mostly I’m just excited to see what he can do to turn things around, and how he’ll affect their youth academy!

Does this move mean that Fonteyn and van Geel will most likely resign, or will they stay? I hope they give Cruijff the power he needs to make changes. Otherwise he is just a lame duck.

Posted from  Republic Of Korea

The longstanding reputation of Dutch football is that,from an organizational standpoint, it is well organized and highly competent. The KNVB precisely and effectively organized the football program within the Netherlands, everyone bought into the program, coaches at all levels were well trained and certified, while the players were developed by the best teachers (coaches) in Europe. The Dutch model was a model for everyone else, on how to do it right. The results spoke for themselves, with the Dutch achieving well beyond what might be expected of a country its size (population).

Now, reading the last several blog articles, one could assume that all of the above has come unraveled and the Dutch system is now in chaos. From the national team through the Eredivisie and down to the youth level,quality has been diminished, coaching appointments lack common sense, results are mixed, at best, to the point where no one seems to take seriously the Dutch chances of winning or even coming close to winning the upcoming Euro2008.

What happened? Is there less talent now in Holland? Has the loss of street soccer finally caught up with the Dutch programs? Have the younger players and coaches, with high potential, simply walked away from the sport? Has money infected Dutch football, poisoning the drive to excellence and achievement? Are the leaders of Dutch football simply incompetent, or has “politics” caused these disappointments?

Whatever is broken, I believe it can be fixed as long as their is the collective will and interest to fix it. Otherwise, the golden days of Dutch football,which we all have enjoyed so much, may go into a “dark” period. What a loss to football, to the culture of the Netherlands and to those of us who so much care about this remarkable history and experience. For now, I choose to believe that those that care will step forward and fix the problem. Time will tell.

Posted from  United States

Bob,
an excellent, well worded post as always. You raise many troublesome questions. Personally I believe Dutch football is suffering from the same disease that the rest of Europe (and also beginning to show in the US) is battling. The problem is that the football infrastructure on a grassroot level is being sacrificed for the globalization of the big clubs. The organizations of the KNVB’s of the world (and the English FA for that matter)have become stale and unable to cope with the change of todays big money, big team soccer driven by massive media interest.

How are you going to develop talent in Spain, Holland and Italy when the big clubs buy them when they are 14-16 (depending on the country)? Man U picked up that South African kid who is not even a teen yet…The top talent are long gone before they get a chance to develop properly in their domestic leagues. It happens all over Europe, and the losers are the individual countries who no longer can field proper teams (such as England).

I see the Champion League disappearing in the near future, same with EPL, La Liga and Serie A to be replaced by a global Super League (look at EPL trying to go global with their stupid 39th game). Eresdivisie would be a “farmer” league like most of the rest of European leagues, National Teams would have even less access to it’s top players (and the federations would have to compensate the clubs even more), and us the fans would be the one that are left hurting. After all, ticket gates is nothing compared to TV and sponsor revenue.

The sad thing is, I see very little to stop this, as any FIFA initiative such as Blatter’s “6+5″ rule has zero chance to ever be implemented due to the fact it would be illegal from a EU labour law perspective. They would never allow FIFA to do anything like that.

Soccer has become the true global sport it always was. However, it has gone from the streets to the board rooms and I feel it has unfortunately lost a lot of the soul & innosence that we all love and cherish so much.

Anyway, after getting that rant of my chest, can’t wait to see what kind of mischief good old JC will be up to!! This will be fun to watch

Posted from  United States

Concerning youth players. I think they should go through the same process as hockey, where they have to play a certain amount of years in minor, before they are allowed to be signed, but no drafts, that ruins good sports.

Posted from  Canada