Willem’s columns: Ten Cate dug his own grave

The poker game between Ajax and Real Madrid was amusing. And, I’m happy Ajax won with their bluff. We can’t beat them on the pitch, but we can at the conference table. The way these institutions chuck money around, we will never be able to match that.

Football in Holland is a trade. Alas. It’s reality. We can’t compete with the big clubs in Europe anymore. From a financial perspective, Ajax did well. From a football technical perspective, I am mourning. The worst that can happen to a club, happened. Ajax lost it’s captain, it’s leader and guiding light two days before the important CL qualification match. Is this fair?

The differences between “rich” and “poor” in football get bigger. The Spanish and English clubs defeat all of us. Only AC and Inter Milan and Juventus can compete. In a way, it’s a compliment for our competition and football vision. Relatively speaking, we have a lot of Dutch boys playing for the big clubs. Our scouting works, our youth system works and our coaches do something right. Look at Foppe de Haan and the way he won the EC with a team of players that are not necessarily the top of Europe. But he knows how to get the best out of them. One Royston Drenthe will probably have sent a little bunch of flowers to Foppe. So, we have another great generation a-knockin’ on the door and we have the ability to get strikers like Suarez, Alves and Ari to Holland. That is very good.

I’d like to stress the role Henk ten Cate played for Ajax. Last season, he performed well and got the best out of Sneijder and Babel.
Well done! Although he may have dug his own grave. Because if Ajax doesn’t qualify, he could get the blame. We have changed our clubs into trading houses. But if the first team doesn’t win prices, we suddenly become sports-clubs again and fire the coach.

We need to realize what our role is in World Football. We tend to do a pretty good job. And the whole of Europe knows it and profits from it. In England and Spain, clubs, scouts and coaches follow everything we do. And I assume AZ Alkmaar will see a lot of Spanish and English speaking scouts in this season. Because I think AZ Alkmaar will take another step this season. I think they will be the next champs, with good football. The team is stronger this season, the experience factor increased and our Masters of Ceremony Louis van Gaal holds the reigns…and he knows what he’s doing.