Ajax’ Youth System

September 6th, 2010 | by: Jan |

ajax champs

The times aren’t easy for Ajax. They haven’t won a title for quite some time, they are finally back in the CL after years of invisibility and to top it all of, the once mighty Ajax is a cash-poor hand-to-mouth club…

The golden nuggets of the club always were the youthful talents. The youth development produced gold at the coalface. We looked at Ajax’ financials some weeks back, we celebrated their return in the CL, now let’s see where they are in terms of the youth system.

Jan Olde Riekerink, Ajax’ Head of Youth Development, hosts us.

Football Vision

“You can’t catch the youth development in a system. You can define in an attitude. The foundations are fun, passion, confidence and a top sports mentality. These you will need to carry a vision. For all the young Ajax players we have defined the basic skill sets, but then the question remains, how does the player execute it within the system. Jesper Gronkjaer was another type of left winger than Bryan Roy, just like Marc Overmars was different… We put a lot of time and effort in the individual analyses of the players. We basically hardly talk about tactics with the kids. What we do say is this: once we lose the ball, we need it back as quick as possible. We need to have the ball and play together to score a lot of goals. Basically, that’s our vision. In simple terms, for children. It’s our intention. Have the ball, score goals. Period. We also believe the interpretation of the system, more than the actual system. Playing 4-3-3 without allowing the backs to attack is totally different than 4-3-3 with backs trying to reach the byline and crossing the ball in…”

daley

Youth Scouting

“Ajax has a great reputation on terms of youth development, I think we can compete with any club in the world. But we can’t compete against social factors. Whenever a child wants to stay closer to home, we have to simply respect that. We do look at mental strength a lot too, it’s not easy for youngsters to live the life of an Ajax prospect… But, we had many players who started really early at Ajax who made it big, like Seedorf, Kluivert, Sneijder, Nigel de Jong, Urby Emanuelson, Heitinga and Raf van der Vaart… We have defined a territory of a radius of 60 km’s around Amsterdam and have four head scouts working that area. Henny de Regt is their boss and they consult one another constantly. We have our yearly talent-days and we work together with 23 top amateur clubs in Holland. Our foreign scouting team is key as well. We work intensively in Belgium and Scandinavia but we also have good ties into South Africa and China and we have started to work in Russia too. In Holland we also re-kindled out relationship with FC Omniworld.”

young_rafael
Young Rafael van der Vaart

Guidance and coaching

Every youth team has it’s specialists. We have head coaches, physios, linesmen, team managers, mentors, keepers trainers, we work with mental coaches, with video analysts… The youth has technique trainers and from the B- group onwards ex-players like Dennis Bergkamp, Wim Jonk and Bryan Roy work specifically on skills. We also work with athletic and movement coaches and we will start the Athletics Skills Program next year, a customized trainings program for youth players. This is designed for their individual situation, taking their phase of physiological development in account. Really powerful. We have guest families for the foreign youngsters, so they can safely learn about the Dutch culture and integrate well. We also have partnerships with schools allowing the players to combine their studies with football. And we’re proud of that, because 98% of the Ajax players actually graduate. That’s much higher than the national average.”

young_wes
Young Wesley Sneijder

Parents

“We see the parents as partners, not as opponents. It’s important that the parents get the club culture. We make the parents accomplices in our endeavors. In the past, parents were always kept outside, but I think it’s key to create unity for the players. We have information nights, we tour the stadium with them, we tell them about our philosophy. We take this pretty seriously, because we focus on nutrition, personal development plans and such and use the internet to feed the information back to the parents and the players… We need the parents’ support in all this.”

Players who made it

“In the past we had a goal… We wanted to see 1.5 players make it into the first team, but in year one there’s one player and then in the second year there’s none and in year 3 there’s suddenly four players… This objective focused on short term results, which is not what it’s about. Now we have a new goal: to have half of our squad developed at Ajax. We aren’t doing too bad. Last season we had Vertonghen, Vermaelen, Anita, Van der Wiel, Stekelenburg, Emanuelson, Aldenweireld, Eriksen and Enoh, which is pretty remarkable.
Coach Jol got good results with them too, so that’s really stimulating. It’s hard for youngsters to break through though with the big squads clubs have nowadays. Patrick Kluivert didn’t have a problem making his debut at 18 years old in a team that was on it’s way to win the Champions League. Look at all the big clubs, 18 year olds don’t stand a chance. Even at Arsenal or Barcelona, it’s getting harder for talents. The step from the youth to Ajax 1 needs to be easier to make.”

Finances

“We have a budget of 5 million euros for youth development. We will keep on investing in youth, that’s strategic and with Aegon and Adidas as sponsors I think we will be able to do so. We are getting three extra grass pitches and a artificial grass pitch and we’re installing an electronic tracking system to measure developments. We will also introduce the Multi Skill Track to monitor the physiological developments of the kids. We are also working on a project with the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam on a movement hall, which enables us to make movements-analyses of our players. We are heavily investing in youth development. We said it’s key in our vision and we are actually putting our money where our mouth is.”

Jan Olde Riekerink – an old school mate of yours truly – was born in 1963 and played pro football for Sparta, FC Dordrecht and Telstar. Jan worked as youth coach under Louis van Gaal and assisted Jan Wouters with Ajax 1. He coach Jong Ajax and was head coach at Gent in Belgium and coached Emmen in Holland. He assisted Co Adriaanse at FC Porto and Metallurg Donetsk before he returned to Ajax as head youth development.

olderiekerink136

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Comments

Displaying the most recent 25 comments from a total of 294 comments.

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By adrian | September 10th, 2010 at 1:55 pm

do it elsewhere and not here or dont you have any manners? That you dont apologise says enough

By Jalepinho | September 10th, 2010 at 2:10 pm

@adrian, my intentions were not to insult Ajax and i’m sorry if i did. In fact, just like most of us here, i love Ajax. Maybe there is a difference in culture here, i don’t know. But here in the US, we make fun of everything we love. just like how I love my country USA but i can’t resist myself from making jokes about our politicians, our overweight problems, or our giant hogs issue down in the south. this is just part of who i am…

Posted from United States

By adrian | September 10th, 2010 at 2:13 pm

@Eduardo thanks for your reaction,! when i saw this piece I thought of you …at least somebody here does appreciate when somebody posts a big article on Ajax.

Strange you would think others would appreciate it as well, too bad that some people dont bother to read it and comment on it substantively or well, maybe they lack the intelligence.

By adrian | September 10th, 2010 at 2:18 pm

@thanks jaephino I understand now your comment was not made out of spite.

you must understand Ajax is just a small club for many and when dutch people are abroad they get this same old dumb joke eternally, usually from english people.

This is the only place on the web where foreign people talk about ajax and it is not nice when you see foreigners making derogative remarks about our beloved Ajax, as a fan you surely undertsand. It would be nice when this site could be the one place where all ajax and dutch fans ould enjoy a positive atmosphere. Maybe just an illusion, cause the web is a place where people like to insult everything.

By Finnster01 | September 10th, 2010 at 2:22 pm

Adrian: Ajax a small club? I knew immediately you were not a real Ajax fan.

By adrian | September 10th, 2010 at 2:28 pm

@Finn you´re not reading well: I write: small for many…. that means small in the eyes of others

btw a real ajax fan would have read the article but you didnt that says it all

BTW were you ever at de Meer watching Cruijff play ?

By adrian2 | September 10th, 2010 at 2:30 pm

Quote from adrian: “This is the only place on the web where foreign people talk about ajax”

How old are you, little boy? 6, or maybe 7? There are lots of other places in the web to talk about Ajax. I suggest you familiar yourself with the World Wide Web. Maybe try google.com or yahoo.com to start. OK enough with the Internet for today, go take a nap and do your homework.

Posted from United States

By sonneveld | September 10th, 2010 at 2:33 pm

Adrian it would be nice to have a place where people could make jokes

http://www.iraqgoals.net/12759-tsg-hoffenheim-vs-fc-schalke-04-.html

LINK TO HUNTELAAR vs Hoffenheim

By adrian | September 10th, 2010 at 2:35 pm

this comment is so childish you did not even dare to put your own name under it hahaha

By Alex | September 10th, 2010 at 2:57 pm

Does anyone else hear this buzzing…sounds like an endless argument….

Posted from Netherlands

By adrian | September 10th, 2010 at 3:22 pm

@sonneveld, yes its nice to make jokes… at the expense of others… ?

why compare ajax with liquid soap on an ajax blog ? Is that funny? Then maybe yes european and american humour do differ basically.

That looks arrogant and offending to me.
Do it somewhere else.
This is place where people talk who like ajax and dont want to see it mocked.

I used to go here and see what foreigners say and think of Ajax…
I thought they were of one mind eventhough they live abroad… today this place became a little bit less nice.

…..And when you say something about it the same person accuse you of not being a fan… well, where were they when cruijff played in De Meer? I was there.

By eric | September 10th, 2010 at 4:32 pm

Geeez, I’ve come here to read news, but instead got those stupid comments above. What a waste of space! Just keep it simple people, if you don’t like what you’re reading, then just erase it from your memory. Or, better yet, find other blogs or forums that share your thoughts and expressions more intimately. No need to get emotional or get into a verbal fight.

Anyway, back on football topic … was reading Onsoranje earlier today, and it had an interview of Leroy Fer and how he molds his game after Mark Van Bommel. This kid is quite fascinating, very determined yet humbled and soft-spoken. I think it will not be long before he makes a move to a giant club! Thank goodness he didn’t pick Newcastle last month …

By Carlos | September 10th, 2010 at 5:25 pm

I can’t believe the reactions to Finn’s simple and humerous remark ?? Guys lighten up Finn is a Dutch/Liverpool/Ajax fan from way back. An occassional witty smart and funny remark should not offend anyone. Finn is a gentleman who loves Ajax and it seems that only new comers don’t follow his humour. Please don’t make it into a Soap Opera !

Posted from Singapore

By adrian | September 10th, 2010 at 5:28 pm

@Eduardo some more news on ajax:

Acording to german research institute ´Sport Markt ´ Ajax is measured as Europes 15 th most popular club this year, with about 7,1 M fans internationally and 4,3 M fans in Holland. Barca has 57,8 M fans followed by Real Madrid, Manchester United, Chelsea, Bayern Munchen and Arsenal.

Off all the teams in europe only DINAMO kIEV has a wider national appeal than AJAX. About 64 % of the Ukraine support DK.

In het jaarlijkse onderzoek van het Duitse onderzoeks- en consultancybureau Sport+Markt staat Ajax dit jaar op een vijftiende plaats van de ranglijst van Europese voetbalclubs met de meeste aanhangers. Ajax zou kunnen rekenen op 7,1 miljoen fans in Europa. 4,3 miljoen van dat aantal zouden in Nederland wonen. Barcelona heeft met 57,8 miljoen fans de grootste aanhang, gevolgd door achtereenvolgens Real Madrid, Manchester United, Chelsea, Bayern Munchen en Arsenal.

(tekst: AjaxNetwerk).

By adrian | September 10th, 2010 at 5:34 pm

Yes me too I always like finns comments, that was why I was surprised to see him making that joke, and to me in bad taste cos this is an ajax blog and some people might take offense…
what if i go to a Chelsea or liverpool blog and compare their fav club with a deterrent? They would throw me out I think… Surprised to see this reactions on a holland/ajax blog

By ferenc | September 10th, 2010 at 6:22 pm

i don’t know how did they mesure the fan base of the clubs. no one asked me

By Carlos | September 10th, 2010 at 7:34 pm

Sorry Adrian but again you misunderstand . Ajax the Detergent is suppose to be the BEST, the STRONGEST and most POPULAR & WELL KNOWN product in the market. Both the product and Team were named after the bravest Greek Warrior to emphasize this. Hence the correlation. I am a long time Ajax fan and see no problem in the comparisons.
The way Ajax has played in the past 4/5 seasons however a comparison to Bozo the clown is probably a better comparison. I put this fact down more to the Bozo’s in Ajax’s administration.

Posted from Singapore

By Steve | September 10th, 2010 at 8:04 pm

hahaha carlos

Posted from Canada

By adrian | September 10th, 2010 at 9:15 pm

You´re right carlos i should not take it seriously and tahnks for the happy twist. There certainly is a lot of clowns in the board of Ajax, but with vd Boog things have changed, there have been 27 players removed, cost cut at a 15 m EURO and , ajax beat Dinamo Kiev who went to CL 19 years in a row. And Kiev was rated 7th best club by uefa in 2009 so there is optimism and new flair at the club,

I felt since El Hamdaoui was bought things have changed at the club and the new support for ajax is tremendous, they sold over 40 000 season ticket holders this year.

By Carlos | September 10th, 2010 at 9:47 pm

Adrian I used to stay up to watch vBasten & Rijkaard at Milan 2.30/3 am in the mornings – Huge vB fan…..but..think he too was a Bozo for hiring so many clowns on huge wages. Its amazing how your perception of a great player changes once he starts coaching Cruyff/Rijkaard being the exception

Posted from Singapore

By adrian | September 11th, 2010 at 12:02 am

If you liked those old Milan days, lately i found a great Italian documentary ; van basten in Milan, Ajax and Duth team, 20 mins,

youtube: Il cigno de utrecht

By adrian | September 11th, 2010 at 12:10 am

About ´Calcio Totale´ representato per una huomo perfettamente Marco van Basten : Il cigno rossoneri

By Jan | September 12th, 2010 at 6:18 pm

Gee, haven’t been here for a while and you are making arguments about a cleaning deterrent? Ajax is Ajax, isn’t it?

Adrian, let me assure you: no one has more respect for Ajax than Finn. Self-mocking is key in evolution. Finn has it in spades. He has tons of it. Please lighten up.

Finnster is regarded as a demi-God in the Oranje pantheon. Sparta, Ajax, Heracles…they all like him…

You might have enjoyed Ajax games shoulder to shoulder in De Meer for all you know. Finn in his Nees-jersey, still smelling of the former Torro. He’s the guy with the chin up and the straight back. The guy that would protect you – a stranger – from too aggressive supporters. The guy who explained off-side to you, ending his sentence with “son”…

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