AFC Ajax - Rise Again!

The Ajax Challenge

Aims of this challenge -
1. One Champions League Final in 3 years
2. No signing players above 18 years of age (after first season)
3. Max. Cap on transfer fees of £4 million
4. Win three consecutive Champions League trophies under 10 years
5. Win a Champions League trophy with a squad of only home grown players
6. Bring an Indian player through the ranks and play him as part of the Champions League squad.
7. Win atleast 5 Champions League trophies in 10 years.
8. If a club bids more than twice the player’s value, I will HAVE to sell him.
9. Bring atleast one player from youth to first team every year.

OOC:

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Squad Analysis

Goalkeepers

Defenders (Left)

Defenders (Centre)

Defenders (Right)

Defensive Midfielder

Central Midfield

Wingers


Striker/Forward

Weak areas/Areas to strengthen: The right defender role/rightback and defensive midfielder positions are two areas that we need to strengthen over the course of time. However, I consider the DM role to be more pressing as Christian Poulsen is already 33 and although he is a good player, I don’t think he will be able to keep up the level of play two or three seasons from now.

Facilities

Kits

Good luck!

Good luck!

Good luck

Frank de Boer fired as Ajax appoint new manager!
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Ajax have just announced that the board has decided to terminate manager Frank de Boer’s contract following statements made by the (former) Ajax manager that he would be keen on taking up the jobs at Liverpool and Tottenham. It is believed that this had upset the board and is believed to be the prime reason behind his firing. Frank had previously led the Ajax team to three Eredivise titles and Johann Cruijff Shield victories, and had a largely successful stay at the Amsterdam Arena. The Ajax board has collectively wished Frank de Boer the best in the future and has stated that although things had to end like this, they will not forget what de Boer had helped the team accomplish in the previous seasons.

But that is not all, the Ajax board has gone ahead and declared who the next Ajax manager will be, picking a virtually unknown Indian as the new person to lead the team ahead. The person in question is Arthas Saturn, a 25 year old Indian who has previously had a stint at the Ajax Youth Academy as a player. However, he never could reach the success everyone hoped he would and had to cut his career short. Arthas then went on to graduate in Statistics and Analytics – which is believed to be another reason behind his appointment as there are hopes from the Ajax board that he can create some sort of a ‘money-ball’ technique to apply in Soccer. Arthas was previously a right winger for Ajax Under17s and was touted as one of the best prospects in the academy. There were high hopes from him, with some calling him the future of Indian football who would lead the national team away from mediocrity, however, Arthas had to cut his career short due to a career ending injury sustained whilst being tackled in an Under17 match. However, with his return to football, the Ajax board will surely be hoping he continues the Ajax tradition and takes the team forward. Whether he can live up to the expectations still remains to be seen.

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Ajax sign young striker
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AFC Ajax have just confirmed the signing of young Argentinian striker Ezequiel Rescaldini from Argentinian club Velez for a sum of £1.6 million. Rescaldini has subsequently signed a three year contract at £10K per week. AFC Ajax were believed to be looking at a number of young strikers including Rescaldini and Swedish sensation John Guidetti, who is currently at Manchester City, in order to replace on-loan Barcelona striker Bojan once his loan deal ends. Barcelona had previously rejected a £7 million bid from Ajax for Bojan (further asking for a stellar sum of £23 million for the 23 year old), and Manchester City too had rejected Ajax's bid for John Guidetti - valuing him at £15 million. In the end, Ajax signed Rescaldini who was said to be new manager Saturn's second choice after Bojan from Velez.

At the press conference for unveiling their new signing, manager Saturn had this to say about Rescaldini: "I am absolutely happy to welcome Rescaldini to Ajax and hope that both of us can grow together in the years to come. I also believe that at £1.6 million, Rescaldini was a huge steal for us considering that he has the ability to transform the game with his goalscoring abilities. I am sure that we can achieve our aims together and hope for him to have a long and successful career here at Ajax".

Pre-Season
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Saturn's Pre-Season Review:
We had a decent pre-season and the Dutch Super Cup made it even better, also giving me my first silverware here with Ajax! (hopefully the first of many to come) However, I think we played not so well in the Dutch Super Cup and were quite honestly lucky to win through the own goal scored by AZ's defender Etienne Reijnen, and will definitely have to up the ante once we face good opposition in future matches.

2014-03-29 16:33#166522 AAN : Good luck!

2014-03-29 18:07#166551 polynike : Good luck

2014-03-29 16:34#166524 jontearonsson : Good luck!

Thanks all three of you

Some nice updates here!

Great signing!

Mate, it's a great signing! I signed Rescaldini at Fiorentina and used him a lot. In 3 seasons his value was around 40m!

2014-03-30 14:11#166653 Josh_MU : Some nice updates here!

Thanks! Hope you enjoy reading this further. This is my first FM Story so I dont really have great expectations from myself

2014-03-30 14:19#166657 jontearonsson : Great signing!

Thanks man! Hopefully Rescaldini will fill in for Bojan

2014-03-30 16:34#166678 AAN : Mate, it's a great signing! I signed Rescaldini at Fiorentina and used him a lot. In 3 seasons his value was around 40m!

Cheers mate! Haha, that sounds great! He is already playing above expectations for me

August 2013 Review

Saturday, 3rd August 2013, 18:45
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Sunday, 11th August 2013, 14:30
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Sunday, 18th August 2013, 14:30
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Saturday, 24th August 2013, 18:45
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Saturday, 31st August 2013, 19:45
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Review: A good start to the season, we picked up four somewhat comfortable victories and a draw and it seems as if the team has hit the ground running.

Player of the Month
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Our player of the month for August would just have to be Moisander. Although it could very well have been Bojan, I picked Niklas because he got us goals despite being a defender and had been totally rock solid as our centreback. He timed most of his tackles to perfection and gave opponent strikers a nightmare. Also, he brings to the field an unfazed and unadultered fire, a fire to win and to keep trying which rubs off on his teammates!

A very good month! Keep it up!