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Demy de Zeeuw, Ajax’s midfield motor…
Comments(19)
In these columns, we regularly discuss Ajax’s history, importance for Dutch football and their shonky management in recent times. The Sons of Gods had the most money to spend on the transfer market in the last decade or so, but it hardly ever led to impressive results.
The question that keeps coming back… Why doesn’t Ajax simply trust it’s world famous development system a tad more… Instead of spending hard earned money on vague and overpaid import-players. Especially when you know that Ajax of all clubs in Holland is constantly under a magnifying glass and being watched on a global basis.
Marco van Basten spending spree didn’t even lead to qualification for Champions League football, so it was interesting to see how Martin Jol would work with what he found in Amsterdam. A reliable target man and an experienced center back were on the top of his wishlist. But the biggest coup Jol placed for midfield.
Jol really wanted to sign Clarence Seedorf, but the AC Milan midfielder wasn’t ready yet. And thus Jol set his sights on Demy de Zeeuw. Maybe not the experienced of all midfielders, but definitely a player with dynamics and vision. A leader. And affordable as well.
Two weeks ago, De Zeeuw played in Oranje against Scotland, Bert van Marwijk needed him to solve the midfield problem, what with Van Bommel injured. A slightly injured Stijn Schaars wasn’t able to keep up with the pace against England. Van Marwijk tested Mendes Da Silva against Japan, but he failed miserably. In Glosgow, it was De Zeeuw’s turn to demonstrate his worth, against an opponent which still had something to fight for.
The conclusion was simple. It would be highly preferable if Van Bommel is top fit at the WC in 2010. But if he isn’t, De Zeeuw seems to be the logical replacement.
De Ajax midfielder did well. Like Van Bommel, he likes to engage himself fully in the challenges and he has a tremendous impact in the build up. I have to say, a top fit Schaars could pick up where he left off last season at AZ, but he will have to prove himself again.
During the last EC, under Van Basten, it seemed De Zeeuw was the ideal man to play next to Van Bommel, but Van Basten picked Orlando Engelaar at the last minute.
Victim De Zeeuw felt humiliated, he was never told why his team manager made that switch. And it wouldn’t be without implications. When Ajax under Van Basten asked De Zeeuw to consider a move to Amsterdam, De Zeeuw said no. With Jol at the reigns, the situation was different and the little midfielder happily agreed to talk.
At long last, a sensible signing. De Zeeuw may not be the vocal leader on and off the pitch, but his game inspires. A leader by example, as the yanks call it.
Against NAC, a week and a half ago, De Zeeuw ruled in midfield, which was ironically the spot where Van Basten couldn’t find the right personnel last season.
Martin Jol: “Demy is key in our game. I can’t imagine not having him at Ajax.” De Zeeuw is the only summer signing with a starting position.
The ex AZ player isn’t too happy himself yet. “I am modestly satisfied. I wanted to have a bigger impact. I did score some goals now, but my game play overall was too inconsistent. I hate losing the ball. My strength is my thrift. I hardly lose the ball or have loose passes, but I am playing a bit too forced at the moment. I seek depth too often, I guess, simply to show Ajax what I can do. I overdo it a bit. But, the coach doesn’t seem to mind. He wants me to go for deep balls or through balls, because you do get to put a player in a one on one position in front of goal when it works. I love taking the initiative and with lads like Suarez or Pantelic it’s just wonderful to search for solutions.”
Does De Zeeuw feel Ajax is doing well? “The NAC game was our best this season and we played exactly how we want to play. Everyone pushes forward, everyone was focused and we kept pressure on the opponent. It’s tough and hard work, but once you do it you can easily control games. And therefore, with that style, Ajax should be able to beat any team in the Eredivisie. Sometimes we are too passive though. We need someone to say: “Right! That’s it, we take over now. We are Ajax!”.
De Zeeuw feels that could be his role. “I think I have it in me, and I think most players listen to me when I talk. The team gels better and better these days and the coaches and players are now used to each other. I think we’ll grow and develop every week. Exciting.”
De Zeeuw sees PSV and Twente as the main competitors. “PSV has so much consistency in their team and in all honesty, they have top class players in all lines. Twente is developing so well, both as a team as on club level. Good to see, I can see them play for the title this year. Impressive. AZ doesn’t have it together yet, but I know from experience that it can click within one game. But you just don’t know. The second season after a big success is always hard. Feyenoord is interesting, but a bit too inconsistent I think and because they have a young team it’s both playful but also naive at times. But their time will come.”
Yeah. I am also undecided on De Zeeuw as a regular starter for Oranje. If Oranje needs to start with 2 anchor midfielders then Van Bommel with De Jong. De Zeeuw as back-up. I dislike Engelaar completely.
Vd Sar (Stekelenburg)
Heitinga (vd Wiel) Mathijsen (Marcellis) Boulharouz (Maduro) Braafheid (v Bronckhorst or Drenthe?!)
De Jong (De Zeeuw) Van Bommel
Sneijder (vd Vaart, Afellay)
Van Persie (Kuijt, De Guzman) Huntelaar (v Nistelrooij) Robben (Elia, Babel)
Pantelic is so disappointing so far…I really hope he’s going to find his way soon because we need a striker. First half, Suarez should’ve scored three times but got none in. Enoh playing an excellent match; winning everything on the midfield. Ajax looks strongly defensively again, except for two slipups. Score is 0-0 halftime.
Posted from 
Netherlands
goal ajax
they were absolutely domminating
elia has scored for hamburg aswell
anderlecht scores 10 minutes before time. ajax just completely lost their concentration. game should have been easy three points for ajax, now anderlecht got a completely undeserved point.
when you put pantelic in the game, you’re effectively playing with only 10 men. every time he touched the ball, it was lost.
Posted from Netherlands
i don’t understand how ajax were unable to beat a crap belgian team… belgian football is one of the worst in europe. they should have beaten them 4-1
Posted from 
Hungary
They were just too static. Suarez had a really bad day. A good sub was Rommedahl. Should have started.
Posted from Netherlands
and Herenveen could not beat the minnows. Not a good day for Dutch football 3 draws and 1 win. PSV of course they always manage to win give it to them for finding the way. I wish Ajax had their fighting spirit. I totally agree that Ajax threw the game away, quite ridiculous. It will not be easy now.
Posted from 
United States
galataseray drew as well,at home against sturm graz…
Posted from Hungary
And the evidence that the Dutch League is one of the weakest leagues in Europe keeps mounting.
Should we really be selecting Affelay, Schaars, Da Silva, de Zeeuw, vdWiel, Ooijer, vBronckhorst (any more)? Yes they were the best in their respective teams, but what does it really say when you’re the best of FC Knudde?
P.S. PSV could have easily ended up with a 1-1 draw as well, they were just a bit more lucky in the end.
Posted from Netherlands
I mentioned vBronckhorst because Feyenoord is below these teams in the league (Feyenoord themselves didn’t play of course, probably for the best).
Posted from Netherlands
we should select affelay and van der wiel (and emanuelson as well) but i’m not sure about the others. selecting doesn’t mean starting 11.
Posted from Hungary
Yeah Emanuelson is looking really good so far this season. He really needs to stick at LB, cuz he sucked at the nr 10 position. He’s strong defensively (he owned everything today) and is dangerous when he comes from the backline forward.
It;s not like Ajax “threw” the game, they just got unlucky. Suarez should’ve scored two, and Anderlecht got lucky with their goal. We also should have had a penalty in the 4th minute and one near the end (it was given outside the box, but according to the rules the kick should be appointed where the foul ended, not where it started).
How the referees missed the blatant handball in the 4th minute I don’t know; what a joke.
I’m still confident Ajax will go on to the next round, it’s not like they lost both games either. They’re looking really strong, and I think it would take a team like HSV to knock them out of the EL. For the first time in 4-5 years, I actually have faith in an Ajax team.
Posted from Netherlands
Haha 
, well said Sol…
Also, Robben has not scored after scoring in his first match. I think a player like him will be very good when entering the pitch after first half. Even maybe only the last 20 minutes in the second half.
Posted from 
Indonesia
You could say Ajax was unlucky, but I’d say it’s inability to win matches like this scoring at least 3 or 4 goals. They’re (dutch clubs in general) already happy with 1-0, just look at PSV’s reaction after the game, they’re all quite content with the result of 1-0. I remember Dutch clubs being deeply ashamed if they could only win 1-0 against some unknown club from wherever the hell Klutsch comes from or whatever they are called.
And remembering some discussions earlier on this blog regarding Suarez being Barcelona material or not, I’d say yesterday should pretty much settle that discussion (I wanted to say back then that he was not nearly good enough for Barcelona but I didn’t bother cause Suarez is not an Oranje player and I don’t really care that much, I do root for Uruguay and Suarez though whenever they are playing, I like his attitude on the pitch, like a miniature version of Kuyt but with some dribbling skills).
Posted from Netherlands
Kuyt of course is better/more useful. Ask yourself this:
Do you want a big workhorse or a small workhorse? Which one will be more effective in his specific task of being the team’s workhorse?
Then again, workhorse is I think too vague of a term anyway (and perhaps used too often as an excuse for lack of skill).
I see vPersie often working his ass off on the field as well (showing up in defense as well for example) but I’d definitely not catagorize him as a workhorse. The same can be said about Affelay for PSV yesterday and de Zeeuw for Ajax, but are they workhorses? Too vague.
Posted from Netherlands
Sneijder and de Jong in the Holland – Japan game, workhorses? Or bullies? 
Posted from Netherlands
I’d say a workhorse is a player who takes care of someone else’s tasks.
Someone who sacrifices himself for the team, like Gattuso.
I know what we all mean if we call Kuyt a workhorse but as Sol said, it’s too limited. Kuyt has assists, scores goals so he – to me – is more than a workhorse.
Actually, all players should work like horses .
Horses are smarter than men. They have bigger heads!
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I didn’t like de Zeeuw at first because he was one of Marco’s call ups who were clearly not ready for Oranje. I am still not convinced he is international quality but it was a great, sensible signing by Ajax.
Posted from
United States