Ajax - An Unexpected Journey

I apologise for what now seems to be a huge wall of text, now the season has started things will be much easier to take in. Hope you guys enjoy it still however, feel free to give me some advice, I've never done one of these before.

I read Zlatan's autobiography recently too, what a man! Great start and solid signings. Eredivise next!

2014-08-05 23:41#188391 MCox93 : I read Zlatan's autobiography recently too, what a man! Great start and solid signings. Eredivise next!

I have so much respect for him it is unreal, it would have been so easy to have just given up given his upbringing.

I love the fact uve read his autobiography (ive read it too) and incorporated it into the story.

well done, ill be following

Top start to your story thus far, enjoying it! Batshuayi obviously picked up a trick or two from Zlatan in training

great start mate! I will be following this!

I’ll take it. That’s how I answered the stupid question the media was always going to ask.
‘Are you happy with your start to the season?’. What did the idiots expect me to say? No? After trouncing AZ in the Supercup we have won 4 further games of a possible 4. Scoring 10 and conceding just 3.

Vitesse 1-2 Ajax
Batshuayi, Kusk

A relatively easy game. I was never worried about this one. Vitesse play an unusual 3-4-3 which is virtually unheard of in the Eredivisie. It’s common, of course, in Italy but that is the home of 1-0 wins and boring matches. With 3 mobile forwards against 3 slow defenders we outplayed and out thought them tactically. With Piazon, their false 9, being marked out of the game. Batshuayi was slipped through by Thomsen and he slotted away to score his first league goal. Kusk made it 2-0 on the hour mark after a goalmouth scramble ended in him tapping the ball home into an empty net. Vitesse got a late consolation but never looked like getting back into it.


Ajax 4-1 Groningen
Veltmen, Batshuayi, Own Goal, Boilesen

Again, I was confident going into this one. Naming an unchanged team, we went out and dominated the match. With over 60% possession and a hatful of chances it could’ve ended 7-1. But it is only early in the season and I don’t expect the players to be as sharp as the can be yet. Seeing Batshuayi’s name on the scoresheet for the third consecutive game is a relief. It can be hard coming to a new club with the expectation you are going to fire the club to the title. But Michy has seamlessly gelled with the squad and is making his job look easy with another fine bit of movement and finish when in a one on one situation.


Twente 1-3 Ajax
Kusk x2, De Jong (pen)

Well, I’d have taken a draw as I stood in the dressing room at half time. We dominated, but they always looked a threat on the counter with the pace they have at their disposal. Kusk scored in the first 30 seconds with a brilliant side footed finish across the goal. A fine assist from Batshuayi as he carved open the defence to play Kusk in behind. Twente got back in it with a decisive break away which ending in them making it 1-1 just before the break. After the restart Kusk scored again after being played through by an audacious back heel by Batshuayi and he duly rifled the shot into the top corner making it 2-1. In the 68th minute Batshuayi was tugged in the box and a penalty was given. None other than the captain stepped up and made it 3-1. A very good result for us in the end against potential title challengers.

Ajax 1-0 Utrecht
Kusk

I fielded a much weaker side, I was confident we would get a result. I started the same XI for 3 games running and I sensed the players were feeling a little jaded. Batshuayi was one player who remained in the starting XI and could have easily bagged himself a hattrick before half time. But a mixture of poor finishing and sensational goalkeeping kept the score 0-0 until I’d had enough. On came Fischer and Kusk, within 3 minutes my decision was rewarded. Kasper took the ball down well on the touchline, made a mockery of the Utrecht fullback before nicely tucking the ball away across the keeper. We made things a lot harder for ourselves tahn we needed to but I will never complain as long as we get the 3 points.

I would have called it a success. I came out of my first month of management with a Trophy, albeit a Mickey Mouse one, and 5 solid wins which we never looked like they were going to go in any other way.

My big signing has 5 goals and 4 assists in his opening 5 matches, whilst another has 4 goals in 4 matches and a brief substitute appearance. Both are in the forerunning for player of the month.

Kusk has shown signs of brilliance so far, most of our play is coming through him. He’s technically very sound with a good footballing brain to go with it. He has the potential to become our first team winger for the foreseeable future, maybe until one of the prodigies in the youth team can challenge him but I can’t see that being the case for a few years.

Batshuayi has been everything I ever wanted in a striker. Tall, quick, strong, great first touch, creative capabilities and an eye for goal. I have him working under Bergkamp at the moment to try and get him to beat the offside trap. Not only will he make runs in behind when on the counter but when we seemingly can’t beat a stubborn defence these types of runs can be the difference between a win and a loss. An excellent example is what Sanchez and Pedro do for Barcelona, making diagonally runs across the defence and into the space as one of Messi or Iniesta slides through a reverse ball into their path.

The Champions League draw is soon, I can’t wait to kick off in the best club competition in the world as a manager. The romance of the Champions League is unmatched, the atmosphere, the passion. It is likely we’ll get a tough draw but if we can get out of the group stages you never know what might happen, I don’t see why we can’t get to at least the quarter finals if we play well. Of course doing well in the league is great, but I want to bring European Glory back to this club, the fans have had to wait too long for success on the world’s biggest stage. I want to win one in 5 years with the club failing that I will take a Europa League title though. I think it can be done, it’s about buying the right players, not the marquee signings we simply cannot afford. And then of course, looking to our youth teams for the stars of tomorrow.

Player of the month, is a toss up between Batshuayi with 2 goals and 4 assists and Kusk with 4 goals. I cannot pick between them but for adapting so well to life here after a big move I’ll have to give it to Michy Bastshuayi, to be quite honest I just called him Michy I can’t pronounce his surname.

Ajax captain, Siem De Jong (pictured above), has said how he is ‘thoroughly looking forward’ to the challenges which await him in the Champions League. With none other than the 9 time winners and the French Champions standing in their way, it’s not going to be easy for Ajax in Europe as they will do exceptionally if they can proceed to the knockout rounds. However Ajax have been made the favourites of the group to qualify for the Europa League, as Steaua the Romanian side should be easy pickings for the other 3 teams within the group.

Ajax, who have got off to a blinder in the league, will be looking to revive the European dominance they enjoyed in the latter part of the last century. The new boss in Amsterdam is said to be targeting a European trophy, however it is more likely it’s going to be a Europa League trophy unless he can pull off a miracle.

Good results, i like your incorporation of the autobigraphy also what did i tell you about michy