Ajax: Creating History with the Future

Hey guys! I’m going to be chronicling my time as manager of Ajax, a team whose history I am fascinated with, and who I always enjoy playing as on FM. I’m sure you’re all aware of the past glory that this team has achieved, with numerous league and domestic cup wins, and success in Europe as recently as the mid-1990s. My aim is to restore Ajax as the dominant team in the Netherlands and as a major player on the European stage, whilst playing beautiful football.

Squad:
Here are the first, second and youth teams at Ajax, with players listed in alphabetical order at each position. There is a lot of versatility in these players, though, so don’t be surprised if any of them play outside of their listed position. Jong Ajax players will often feature in the first team, and Under-19s will on occasion too, as the Eredivisie permits twelve substitutes, and time in the first team will aid their development. I’ll make sure to familiarise everyone with the biggest prospects at the club over time. The players in red are on loan at the club, and the players in grey have been loaned out.

First Team:
GK - André Onana, Peter Leeuwenburgh
RB - Hidde ter Avest, Terry Lartey Sanniez
CB - Matthijs de Ligt, Davinson Sánchez, Joel Veltman
LB - Mitchell Dijks
CM - Nemanja Gudelj, Davy Klaassen, Abdelhak Nouri, Daley Sinkgraven, Donny van de Beek
AMR - Yaclav Cerny, Hakim Ziyech
AML - Anwar El Ghazi, Amin Younes
ST - Mateo Casierra, Kasper Dolberg, Richairo Zivkovic

Jong Ajax:
GK - Jeffrey de Lange, Stan van Bladeren
RB - Damil Dankerlui
CB - Navajo Bakboord, Danilho Doekhi, Deyovaisio Zeefuik
LB - Mauro Savastano, Dragisa Gudelj
CM - Francesco Antonucci, Noa Benninga, Reda Boultam, Dani de Wit, Frenkie de Jong, Carel Eiting, Nathan Leyder
AMR - Che Nunnely
AML - Mees de Wit, Gino Dekker, Justin Kluivert
ST - Kaj Sierhuis, Ezra Walian

Under 19s:
GK - Dennis Bok, Nigel Bouman
RB - Lorenzo Cheuk-A-Lam, Jasper ter Heide
CB - Abdallah Aberkane, Jurgen Ekkelenkamp, Emin Guclu, Ricardo Farcas, Jos Molenaar, Pascal Strujik
LB - Anton Arias, Mitchell Bakker
CM - Peter de Keijzer, Giovanni de la Vega, Dwi Hanafi, Marijn Jacobs, Noa Lang, Hakan Simsek, Frans Theunissen
AMR - Ad Amofa, Aron de Graaf, Azzedine Metgod
AML - Olivér Horváth, Chris Muhl, Melvin Stricker
ST - Martijn Kaars, Richard Metgod

Tactics:
I’ll be employing a Johan Cruyff-esque 4-3-3 formation, using this tactic. I want my team to perform as a solid unit in both attack and defence, pressurise the opposition, and create a lot of goalscoring opportunities. Here’s how my team will line up, using my preferred starting XI:



Philosophy:
Staying true to the classic Ajax philosophy, youth development will be my main priority. If my past experience playing as Ajax is anything to go by, there will be a significant amount of turnover in the first team every season, with the bigger European teams coming in for my players. I am prepared to let players go at the right time and for the right price, and I will look to promote youth prospects in their place at every opportunity. In the event that I don’t have any players in my youth ranks ready to make the step up, I’ll sign a young player from elsewhere who can.

My seasons will be divided into three parts; part 1 being July, August and September, part 2 being October, November and December, part 3 being January, February and March, and part 4 being April, May and June. Part 1 of Season 1 will be posted soon. Stay tuned!

Looking good man, seems I have a bit of a rival for Eredivisie dominance

A very nice introduction to the story mate, I'm looking forward to this. I like the way you've presented it, simple but good!

Thanks for the feedback, guys. Been slightly delayed by Glastonbury and work, but here's Part One!


July:

• Preseason yielded some pleasing results. I wasn't happy with us conceding three goals against our B team, Jong Ajax, in our 5-3 victory over them, but there were no defensive issues to be had after that. The highlights of our friendlies were a 9-0 victory away to Rijnsburgse Boys, and a 3-0 win at home to Manchester City, which greatly boosted my confidence in this team as one which could compete on the European stage this season. Our only preseason loss was a 1-0 defeat away to Slovan Liberec, in which I rested our starting eleven.
  
• I filled out my coaching staff, and hired Iddo Roscher from N.E.C. as my new Head of Youth Development, replacing Said Ouaali. Hopefully this move pays off once youth intake comes around.
• Dani de Wit, Adham El Idrissi and Nathan Leyder were respectively sent out on loan to Jupiler League sides Den Bosch, Dordrecht and Telstar, whilst Peter Leeuwenburgh was loaned out to Eredivisie side Go Ahead Eagles. All of them are season-long loans, so they can get some game time which may not have been as easy to come by in the Jong Ajax team.
• Kenny Tete stated his desire to move to PSG, who are interested in him at the moment, so I agreed to let him leave if they offered £13m for him. I disabled the summer transfer window, so we’ve got him until at least January. Let’s see if they’re still interested in him then.
• We were drawn with AS Monaco in the Best Placed Third Qualifying Round in the Champions League, which was about as difficult a tie as we could have got. We won the first leg, though, 2-0 at home. The young Dane Kasper Dolberg gave us the lead in the sixty-ninth minute on his first-team debut, and vice-captain Joel Veltman doubled it in the eighty-sixth. It was a very pleasing performance, as we dominated possession (69%... nice), passed the ball extremely well (751 times!), and didn’t allow a shot on target, which made for an easy first-team debut for Cameroonian André Onana in goal.

August:

• In the second leg of our Champions League tie with Monaco, we drew 2-2. Dolberg gave us an early lead, but we inexplicably let them score twice on the brink of halftime to take a 2-1 lead into the dressing room. I gave the boys a piece of my mind after that meltdown, and the second half was much better, as Tete equalised in the sixty-second minute, his first goal for the club, to all but secure our progression to the next round. 67% possession away from home was good to see, too.
• We faced a tricky test in our Eredivisie opener, facing arch-rivals Feyenoord at home… and we beat them 9-0. I kid you not. It was possibly the best performance I’ve ever seen on this game. We were up 5-0 at halftime through goals from Jairo Riedewald, Dolberg, Davy Klaassen and an Anwar El Ghazi brace, but it didn’t stop there. We piled on the misery for Feyenoord in the second half, as El Ghazi completed his hat-trick, Dolberg scored a second, Hakim Ziyech converted from the penalty spot for his first Ajax goal, and Mateo Casierra came off the bench to score his first the club in the eighty-fifth minute. Honourable mention to Tete, who registered three assists, and worth mentioning that El Ghazi and Ziyech both got two assists to go with their goals. Hopefully this isn’t the last time the boys produce this sort of performance this season.
• Making three changes to the team, with Lasse Schone, Daley Sinkgraven and Amin Younes coming in for Riechedly Bazoer, Nemanja Gudelj and El Ghazi, we followed that with a 3-0 win away to Roda JC. Dolberg and Klaassen found the net again, and Veltman got the third. Another dominant performance, with 64% possession, 20 chances created, and 718/789 passes (91%!) completed. Worth noting that Abdelhak Nouri made his debut as a substitute in this game. He’s an attack-minded midfielder with a lot of potential, and he should be ready to slot into the starting XI when the inevitable raid on our players comes around.
• Centre-backs Matthijs de Ligt and Pascal Struijk signed professional contracts on their seventeenth birthdays. De Ligt is a hugely promising talent, as I’m sure you’re aware from his involvement in the first and national teams in real life, and it’s no different here. He already has 11 marking, 12 tackling, 13 passing, 12 positioning and 15 jumping reach, to name a few of his attributes that stand out. He just needs to work on his heading, which is 10, but it won’t be long at all before he’s in my first team squad. As for Struijk, his determination is only 1, so he definitely needs tutoring, but I can see him developing into at least a solid squad player here, or a starter somewhere else.
• Our next home game was at home to AZ. Klaassen picked up a knock in training so Gudelj came in for him, and El Ghazi came back into the team for Ziyech, who I decided to give a rest before our Champions League Best Placed Playoff first leg against PAOK next week. After registering an assist against Roda JC, I continued with Schone at DLP and kept Bazoer on the bench, but he let me down with a penalty miss in this game. We won 2-0, courtesy of an own goal and a Tete strike in the sixty-seventh minute, but after our last home performance I expected a little more. 73% possession and 707/803 passes completed was a plus, though.
• Bazoer, Klaassen and Ziyech came back into the side for our game against PAOK, so we boasted a full-strength side. We all but secured our place in the group stages of the Champions League with a dominant 4-1 victory. Klaassen and El Ghazi found the net in the first half before Mame Thiam pulled one back for them, but Schone and loanee Bertrand Traoré scored in the second half to wrap up the win. We completed a season-high 797 passes out of 862 for a 92% completion rate, we had 69% possession and had 29 attempts on goal. The second leg will be a good chance to give my key players a rest.
• Zakaria El Azzouzi, a twenty-year-old striker on loan at Sparta Rotterdam, suffered a torn calf muscle, and will be out for up to five months. To be honest, he didn’t figure in my plans anyway, but it is unfortunate nonetheless.
• We were unchanged for our game on the weekend, away to FC Gronigen. We won 2-0, with Dolberg and a Tom van Weert own goal sealing the three points. We didn’t allow a single shot on goal, which was very pleasing, but we ourselves only had 10 efforts, which disappointed me. Nonetheless, though, a commanding performance.
• In the second leg of our Champions League Best Placed Playoff tie with PAOK, we drew 1-1. A number of players made their first-team debuts: Stan van Bladeren in goal, Terry Lartey Sanniez at right wing-back, de Ligt at centre-back, and winger Che Nunnely and midfielder Frenkie de Jong came on as substitutes. I was frustrated with how many chances we let PAOK create, 14 to be exact, and we went into halftime 1-0 down courtesy of a goal from Diego Biseswar. However, Schone scored from the penalty spot in the sixty-third minute to secure a draw and our advancement to the group stages. Good to give some young players their debuts - Lartey Sanniez, de Jong and Nunnely have particularly bright futures - but a rather inconsequential game apart from that.
• In the Champions League group stage draw, we were drawn with Barcelona, Porto and APOEL. Barcelona will obviously be extremely difficult to overcome, while APOEL should be near-guarantees to finish bottom, but I fancy our chances of getting second place ahead of Porto and progressing to the knockout stages.
• In our final game of the month before the international break, we won 2-1 away to PEC Zwolle. El Ghazi and Gudelj scored in the twentieth and thirtieth minutes to take a two-goal lead into halftime, but we let Queensy Menig, who is actually on loan at PEC Zwolle from us, pull one back at the start of the second half. There was no threat of an equaliser after that, though, especially after Danny Holla was sent off for them after fifty-three minutes. Riedewald was sent off for us in the eighty-sixth, but it was too late to be of consequence. We really should have scored more than two, given that we had twenty-six efforts on goal with thirteen on target. Happy with five wins out of five in August, though, even if we were unable to replicate the Feyenoord scoreline against weaker opposition.

September:

• Our first game of the month saw us beat ADO Den Haag 2-0. No shots allowed on goal, and plenty of chances (23) created by us. Davinson Sánchez came in for the suspended Riedewald for his first league start and put in a solid performance, and with our Champions League game away to Porto in three days, I rested Gudelj and Ziyech, with Sinkgraven and Younes coming in. Younes was the star of the show, scoring both of our goals.
• We suffered our first defeat of the season away to Porto in the opening game of our Champions League group stage campaign, losing 2-1. The first goal was an Onana own goal in the twenty-third minute, as he dealt horribly with a throw-in from near the corner flag. Their second goal also came after a throw-in, as we failed to deal with the danger before Héctor Herrera slotted it home from the edge of the box. Riedewald pulled one back for us in the seventy-fifth minute, heading home a Gudelj corner, and we tried relentlessly to score an equaliser in the final fifteen minutes, but to no avail. Disappointing result, but I rate our chances for when we play Porto at home.
• The following weekend, we won 3-1 at home to N.E.C. We fell behind for the first time in our league campaign in the nineteenth minute, Stefan Mauk scoring for the visitors on the counter-attack with one of their two shots on target, but Dolberg equalised five minutes later, and soon after Ziyech, who set up the first, made it 2-1. Klaassen secured the victory in the sixty-eighth minute, with Gudelj registering his second assist of the game after setting up Ziyech’s goal.
• In the first round of the KNVB Beker, we were victorious 1-0 at home to Jupiler League side Achilles ‘29. We rested our regular starting eleven, but even so, I was slightly underwhelmed by the scoreline. Sanchez scored the only goal of the game with a header from a corner in the thirty-fifth minute. Carel Eiting and Justin Kluivert, two youngsters with very bright futures, made their first-team debuts as substitutes, but apart from that, not much to rave about here.
• Our under-19s coach John Bosman departed for PSG, taking up the same role there. We have more under-19s coaches than we should anyway, so no big loss.
• We won 2-0 at home to Excelsior on the weekend. We came out firing on all cylinders, with Dolberg putting us ahead in the first minute, and Veltman doubling the lead in the sixteenth, both goals set up by El Ghazi. No goals followed, despite a plethora of chances, but as long as we keep winning comfortably, I'm happy.
• Three days later, with an unchanged side, we hosted Barcelona in our Champions League Group Stage fixture… and we won 6-1. I kid you not. The only change I made to my usual tactics was altering my defensive line to be slightly higher, as opposed to higher. I considered moving my wing-backs back to full-back, but my decision to leave them be paid dividends, particularly in the case of Tete, who registered two assists. We found ourselves 3-0 up after nine minutes, with Dolberg opening the scoring before Marc-André ter Stegen and Lucas Digne both scored own goals. Ajax old boy Luis Suárez pulled one back in the nineteenth minute, which had me fearing that a comeback was on the cards, but that would prove to be the only shot on target that we allowed all game. Dolberg got his second in the thirty-seventh minute, and five minutes after El Ghazi found the net in the eighty-first minute, the young Dane completed his hat-trick. Not sure why we’ve only been putting two or three past teams in the league, yet we can score six against one of the best teams in the world, but football is a mysterious game. Perfect way to end the month! Here is proof of our exploits:

That brings the first part of my first season to a close. Here is a brief overview of our results over the past three months:



And here is how the league table is looking at the end of September:



So far, so good. We're winning games comfortably, we're solid at the back and the tactics are working extremely well. With PSV hot on our heels though, and Gronigen to a lesser extent, we need to keep it up. Part Two coming soon!

Brilliant start to the season, but that result against Barcelona is simply incredible, well done.

I no longer like this story after that 9-0 thumping of Feyenoord

Thanks again guys. Mgriffin, I'm sorry I broke your team. Here's Part Two!


October:

• We began the month with a 2-0 win away to Heerenveen, with Davy Klaassen and Nemanja Gudelj getting the goals from midfield. Dominated every facet of the game as usual, only allowing two shots on goal, enjoying 67% of possession and thoroughly outpassing them (619/710 to their 299/422).
• Anwar El Ghazi signed a new contract, tying him down until 2021. With that said, it does contain a £25 million release clause, which is the best I could do. We'll see whether anyone is willing to pay that for him.
• Heiko Westermann complained about his lack of gametime - understandable, given I haven’t played him at all this season - and I told him he can leave in January. I don’t really have an interest in giving players of his age (33) time on the pitch.
• After the international break, we won 3-0 away to Sparta Rotterdam, who finished the game with nine men after getting two players sent off. Klaassen opened the scoring with another fine effort from outside the box, just like against Heerenveen, before El Ghazi and Kasper Dolberg added to the scoresheet, both goals coming from quick, incisive passages of play from set-pieces. Pleased that we only allowed two shots on goal for the second consecutive game.
• Four days later, we thrashed APOEL 4-0 at home in the Champions League. Dolberg got a hat-trick for the second consecutive game in the competition, and Hakim Ziyech chipped in with a penalty. As long as we can get a result at home to Porto, I’m confident we’ll make it through to the knockout stages.
• The following weekend, we won 2-0 at home to FC Twente. Ziyech missed a penalty against his former team in the twelfth minute, but got another chance to convert from the spot in the twenty-ninth, and fortunately he took it. Klaassen got the second goal, scoring for the third consecutive game. A very comfortable victory, as we finished with a 93% passing accuracy and only allowed Twente to have one shot on goal, but I was somewhat disappointed with the quiet day that Dolberg had, particularly after his hat-trick in midweek. His 6.5 rating was justified.
• A few days later, we rested our usual starting XI in our KNVB Beker Second Round tie against Kozakken Boys. Tim Krul, on loan from Newcastle, made his debut for us in goal, but didn’t have much to do, as we won 3-0, with Donny van de Beek, Amin Younes and Mateo Casierra finding the net. Our tactics aren’t executed quite so well without our starters on the pitch, but all that matters is that we took care of business. Worth noting that midfielder Francesco Antonucci and striker Kaj Sierhuis made their first-team debuts as substitutes in this game. Antonucci is only 17 and needs to develop the mental and physical sides of his game, but technically he is already very impressive for his age, with 17 dribbling, 16 first touch, 16 technique and 14 passing. Sierhuis, 18, needs some time to become a Complete Forward that can fit into our system, but he is also very good technically for his age, with 15 dribbling and first touch, 13 finishing, and 12 heading, passing and technique.
• Van de Beek signed a new contract until 2021. Only a one-year extension on his existing deal, but his agent came to me after the Kozakken Boys game asking for an improved deal, and I didn’t want to upset him. Once Riechedly Bazoer inevitably moves on to a bigger club, van de Beek will slot into his role.
• On the weekend, we won 3-0 at home to Go Ahead Eagles, who had Peter Leeuwenburgh, on loan from us, in goal for them. I wasn’t happy with the amount of chances we let them create, as they finished with 11 shots on goal, but we were excellent in every other aspect of the game. Goals from Joel Veltman, El Ghazi and Dolberg in the first half wrapped this game up by halftime, and we continued to create chances in the second half, finishing with 33 efforts on goal, but couldn’t add to our lead.

November:

• Three days after our game against Go Ahead Eagles, we travelled to Cyprus to face APOEL. The result was the same as our home encounter, as we won 4-0 again, with goals from Dolberg, Klaassen and Ziyech, before Boy Waterman added an own goal in the eighty-seventh minute. Another step closer to progressing from the group.
• Jairo Riedewald informed me that he wants to leave for Manchester City, in light of their interest in him. £14.5 million was the highest asking price that he was willing to accept, so if they come in with that kind of offer, I’ll have to let him go. I don’t want unhappy players at the club, and there are players behind him who could benefit from a spot in the team opening up.
• We were denied victory for the first time in the league this season, in a 0-0 draw away to fourth-placed Vitesse. Ziyech was missing for this game after suffering a groin strain against APOEL, and his creativity could not be replicated by Younes here. We only allowed one effort on our goal, but unfortunately we couldn’t break them down at the other end. Dolberg was particularly disappointing, finishing with a 6.3 rating, and he deserved to come off for Casierra for the final fifteen minutes, because he was offering nothing. Winger Che Nunnely, who has featured off the bench in the KNVB Beker this season, made his league debut as a substitute, hopefully the first of many appearances he’ll make for us going forward.
• After an international break, we made a few changes for our fixture away to Heracles Almelo, with Porto on the horizon. Veltman, Bazoer and Gudelj were rested in favour of Davinson Sánchez, Lasse Schone and Daley Sinkgraven, and Schone opened the scoring with a tremendous free kick in the fifteenth minute, before Gudelj came off the bench to double our lead in the sixty-third minute. Samuel Armenteros pulled one back for the hosts in the seventy-seventh minute with their only shot on target of the game, but there was no threat of an equaliser after that.
• Our strongest starting eleven was restored for our game at home to Porto in the Champions League. I told the boys that revenge was on the cards after our loss in the reverse fixture, and they exacted it, winning 3-1. El Ghazi scored a free kick in the eighteenth minute, before Silvestre Varela equalised for the visitors after we failed to deal with a corner. Ziyech restored our lead with a penalty in the forty-ninth minute, though, and Dolberg put the icing on the cake with a third in the sixty-eighth minute, which was good to see after a few underwhelming performances from the Dane recently. With that victory, we secured our progression to the knockout stages of the competition, which is where we belong at the very least.
• The following day, Bazoer signed a new contract until 2021, following his request for a new deal. It contains a £30 million release clause, so if/when he leaves, it will hopefully be for a premium price. Shortly after, Gudelj also signed a new contract until 2021, which doesn’t contain a release clause, so it will be up to me to decide what price he leaves for.
• On the weekend, we faced arguably our toughest league fixture of the season, away to reigning league champions and arch-rivals PSV. We went into it without Kenny Tete, who was suspended after picking up five yellow cards, but nonetheless won 2-0. Ziyech scored a penalty in the sixty-fifth minute, before Tete’s replacement, Terry Lartey Sanniez, set up Dolberg in the seventy-fifth to put the game to rest. Very pleased to have passed our toughest test of the season so far with flying colours.
• We were right back at it three days later, away to Willem II, in what was the final fixture of our four-game stretch away from home in the league. Riedewald, Gudelj and El Ghazi were rested, with Sánchez, Sinkgraven and Younes coming in, and Younes found the net twice en route to a 3-0 victory, with Pelé van Anholt adding an own goal.
• The month ended with the board rewarding me for our excellent form with a new deal until 2019! I have no intention of leaving, so I’ll happily keep signing any contracts they put in front of me going forward.

December:

• We returned home on the weekend, hosting FC Utrecht, and won 3-0. More changes were made, with a trip to Barcelona coming up in three days, as Riedewald came back in for Veltman, Tete was rested in favour of Lartey Sanniez, Schone came in for Bazoer, Gudelj replaced Klaassen, and El Ghazi came in for Ziyech. Dolberg found the net twice in the first half, before El Ghazi added a third in the seventy-sixth minute. Notably, we enjoyed 74% of possession, which may well be our highest percentage of the season, and 749/832 passing for a 90% completion rate was very pleasing too.
• Our trip to the Nou Camp ended in a 2-1 defeat, meaning that we finished second in our group. Gudelj put us ahead in the twenty-third minute, but Neymar equalised in the fifty-first, before Gerard Piqué scored the winner for the hosts nine minutes from time. An admirable effort from the boys, though, and I’d have jumped at the chance to finish second ahead of Porto, who were two points behind us, in this group at the start of the season.
• Five days later, we were held 2-2 away to Feyenoord, who were much more competitive than they were in our 9-0 drubbing of them on the opening day of the season. Bazoer put us ahead in the eighth minute with a rocket from outside the box, but we couldn’t make the most of the plethora of chances we were creating, and it cost us when goals from Bilal Basacikoglu and Eljero Elia in the sixty-sixth and seventy-sixth minutes saw us fall 2-1 behind. Fortunately, though, Veltman spared our blushes with an eighty-first minute equaliser from a corner, salvaging a point. I would have taken a 2-2 draw away to Feyenoord at the start of the season, but given the standard of football we’ve displayed this campaign, I can’t help but be disappointed.
• We met FC Utrecht again in the Third Round of the KNVB Beker, and despite resting our starting eleven, and creating less chances than they did, we won 2-0, courtesy of second-half goals from Casierra and winger Yaclav Cerny. Sinkgraven suffered a fractured wrist in this game, but he’s going to play through it for the next six or so weeks. Obviously the league and Europe are our priority, but I enjoy this competition, as it gives our fringe players and youngsters a stage to impress on, so I want to stay in it for as long as possible.
• We were drawn with Dynamo Kyiv in the Round of 16 in the Champions League. Looking at the other teams in the competition, this was probably a best-case scenario for us, but we won’t underestimate them. The home leg is first, so we have to make the most of it.
• In our final game before the Winter break, we thrashed Roda JC 4-0 at home. El Ghazi scored a brace, while Dolberg and Ziyech also got on the scoresheet. A perfect way to end the year and go into the break.

Here is a brief summary of our results from October-December:



And here is how the league table looks going into the Winter break:



We’ve kept up our early-season form, but despite our dominance we’re still having to look over our shoulder at PSV and Groningen. Bracing myself for the inevitable bids for my players in January, but whatever happens, I believe we can keep up our run in the league and in Europe. Part 3 coming soon!

Still going very strong and well done Feyenoord getting a 2-2 draw

Thanks, mgriffin. Frustrating game, that one I'll start getting up to speed with your Feyenoord story this weekend. Here's Part Three!


January:

• Youngsters Conner Blote and Ezra Walian signed new contracts on the first day of the new year, keeping them at the club until 2018. Blote is a right-back in the Under-19s who could develop into a decent squad player, so I want to keep him around and see how much he can progress. Walian, 19, looks promising, with 14 finishing, 12 dribbling and 13 first touch among other good-looking stats, but he has been stuck behind Kaj Sierhuis in the Jong Ajax team, so I’ve loaned him out to MVV for the remainder of the season.
• To keep everyone sharp, we played a friendly away to Borussia Dortmund. We drew 1-1, with Amin Younes getting on the scoresheet for us in the forty-ninth minute after Mario Gotze put the hosts ahead in the thirty-second minute. An encouraging performance, as that's the sort of result I'd be content with in Europe.
• I rejected two bids of £10.5 million and £13.5 million from PSG for Davy Klaassen. Klaassen was unhappy at me rejecting the bid for him, so I told him that he could leave for £15 million, but PSG didn’t come back with another offer.
• I did, however, allow two starters to leave. Jairo Riedewald departed for PSG for £18.5 million, rising to £23.5 million. Juventus were also in for him, and I initially tried to resist, but Jairo made a fuss, so I allowed him to leave. This opens the door for Davinson Sánchez to come into the first team and further develop. Kenny Tete also moved to Manchester United for £10.75 million, rising to £16.5 million. Like Riedewald, Tete forced the issue, and with his contract expiring in 2018, and no intention on his part to renew, it made sense to cash in.
• Heiko Westermann and Thulani Serero both left for Panathainaikos, for £155,000 and £250,000 respectively. I had essentially frozen them out of the first team, so I’m pleased to have got them off the books.
• Young winger Mees de Wit signed a new contract until 2019. He could develop into a squad player if he can develop the mental aspect of his game.
• Arsenal and Manchester United put in bids starting at £1.1 million for Yaclav Cerny, which I rejected. Cerny was initially unhappy about this, but Klaassen convinced him to drop the issue.
• We resumed our league campaign at home to FC Groningen, minus the services of André Onana, Hakim Ziyech and Bertrand Traoré, due to the African Cup of Nations, and the departed Riedewald and Tete. Sánchez and Terry Lartey Sanniez replaced them, whilst Tim Krul and Younes came into the team for Onana and Ziyech. We picked up where we left off with a 4-1 victory, courtesy of goals from Younes, Nemanja Gudelj, Kasper Dolberg, and a Martijn van der Laan own goal. Justin Kluivert and Matthijs de Ligt also made their league debuts as substitutes, coming off the bench for the last twelve minutes, which should be the first of many appearances for them.
• In the KNVB Beker quarter-final, we won 2-0 away to ADO Den Haag. With recent departures opening up some gaps in the team, Carel Eiting made his first start for the club at centre-back, and Deyovaisio Zeefuik made his first-team debut at right-back. Eiting opened the scoring for us in the eighth-minute after capitalising on a goalmouth scramble from a corner, and Abdelhak Nouri wrapped it up for us in the seventy-seventh minute. I took a risk fielding so many young players against a division rival, particularly at the back, but thankfully it paid off.
• Shortly after that game, Arsenal put in a bid worth up to £2.5 million for Zeefuik, but I turned them down. After Zeefuik protested this, I set a price of £5.25 million for him, but thankfully Arsenal didn’t come back in with another offer.
• We were held on the weekend, drawing 1-1 away to AZ. Joris van Overeem put the hosts ahead in the seventeenth minute before Klaassen pulled one back in the thirty-third, but we didn’t create enough chances after that, so a draw was probably justified. Ziyech made his return from the African Cup of Nations off the bench in this game, hopefully Onana will be back soon, as I trust him a lot more as our sweeper-keeper than Krul.
• Bayern Munich bid £11.5 million for Ziyech, which I instantly rejected. I have a feeling the big teams will come back in for him soon, but when they do I want a much higher price.

February:

• In a deal which took longer than expected to complete, we signed FC Twente defender Hidde ter Avest on the final day of the transfer window for £3.5 million. Ter Avest, 19, had been a regular for Twente during the first half of the season. He can play both right-back and centre-back, but with Veltman and Sánchez holding down the centre-back positions, he’ll likely battle it out with Lartey Sanniez, who has been very impressive this season, at right wing-back. Excited to have him as part of the team.
• A Dolberg brace secured a 2-0 win away to ADO Den Haag. While we dominated possession and passed it plentifully as per usual, we again didn’t create as many chances as we have in most games this season, which may or may not be related in some way to Tete’s absence at right wing-back, as he was a real force there for us. Nonetheless, a comfortable victory, and a great performance from our young Dane.
• In our next game, we won 3-0 at home to PEC Zwolle. Gudelj put us ahead in the fourteenth minute, before Klaassen and Dolberg got on the scoresheet in the sixty-second and seventy-fifth minutes. A lot more chances created this game, so hopefully the lack of opportunities in the last two games was a false alarm. Worth noting that Onana returned in goal from the African Cup of Nations for this game, but he didn’t have much to do.
• For our home encounter with Willem II, we rested a few players before the first leg of our tie with Dynamo Kyiv in the Round of 16 in the Champions League, namely Riechedly Bazoer, Gudelj and Anwar El Ghazi, with Donny van de Beek, Daley Sinkgraven and Younes coming into the fold. I'm starting to recognise van de Beek as the immediate backup to Bazoer in the CDM position, as opposed to Lasse Schone, who I don't think I'll hold onto after this season. Only fifty-eight percent of possession, which is pretty low by our standards, but we won 2-0 after first-half goals from Klaassen and Joel Veltman, who has quietly popped up with five goals this season, which is pretty impressive.
• Three days later, we hosted Dynamo Kyiv in Champions League action. We went 1-0 down to an Andriy Yarmolenko goal in the nineteenth minute, but Dolberg equalised just before halftime, and a flurry of three goals in three minutes in the second half from Dolberg, Ziyech from the penalty spot, and Veltman saw us race ahead into a 4-1 lead. Denys Garmash pulled one back on the counter for the visitors to make it 4-2 in injury time, which we really could have done without. It’s a scoreline I would have taken before the game, though, and I have faith that we can secure our progression to the quarter-finals in the second leg. Ter Avest had a solid debut in this game at right wing-back too, providing an assist for Dolberg.

March:

• The board approved my request for a stadium expansion, costing £43,000,000. Once work is complete, the capacity of the Amsterdam ArenA will be 60,535, just over 7,000 more than its current capacity.
• We won 3-0 away to Roda JC in our KNVB Beker Semi-Final tie, as my backups and youngsters greatly impressed again. Eiting found the net again in his second start of the season, as did Mateo Casierra, with a Joris Klein-Holte own goal providing the third goal. We’ll meet PSV in the final, so I’ll debate fielding a strong team for that one.
• Sánchez suffered fractured ribs in training, ruling him out for a month. Unfortunate, since he's been stellar since coming into the first team. I’ll start ter Avest along Veltman in the centre of defence over the next few weeks, and continue with Lartey Sanniez at right wing-back.
• On the weekend, we faced Excelsior away, winning 2-0. With Lartey Sanniez ruled out with a thigh strain, ter Avest started at right wing-back, and de Ligt made his first league start at centre-back. De Ligt put in an assured performance, while ter Avest particularly impressed with a 7.8 rating. Ziyech got both goals, the first from the penalty spot in the thirty-fourth minute, before adding a second in the forty-second.
• We rested a few players for our fixture at home to Heerenveen, with the second leg of our Round of 16 tie in the Champions League with Dynamo Kyiv coming up. Van de Beek, Sinkgraven, Younes and Casierra came in for Bazoer, Gudelj, El Ghazi and Dolberg, with whom I’ve been a little frustrated lately. I also kept Lartey Sanniez on the sidelines, resting him for Kyiv and continuing with the same defence as last week. This paid off when de Ligt gave us the lead in the fifty-seventh minute after heading home from a corner, and El Ghazi came off the bench to score in injury time, with Dolberg setting him up. Ironically, El Ghazi himself was injured himself in this game, so despite me not starting him to keep him fresh for the Champions League, now he’s going to miss the game altogether.
• We lost 2-1 away to Dynamo Kyiv, but it was enough to see us through to the Quarter-Finals of the Champions League. Junior Moraes put the hosts ahead in the twenty-seventh minute, which made for a very tense game, but that was relieved when Domagoj Vida scored an own goal in the seventy-fourth minute. Moraes scored another in the eighty-eighth minute, but we stood firm for the last few minutes to secure our progression. Kyiv were certainly more of a handful than I was expecting, so I’m glad to see the back of them. Looking forward to seeing what the Quarter-Final draw brings.
• The youth intake yielded a handful of very promising prospects. Left winger Chris Muhl, centre-midfielder Hakan Simsek, striker Richard Metgod, left winger Melvin Stricker and goalkeeper Dennis Bok, all of whom have at least three stars potential. I also poached four-star (potential, that is) centre-midfielder Peter de Keijzer from FC Utrecht, paying £650,000 in compensation, and three-star right winger Ad Amofa from Heerenveen, paying £600,000 in compensation. De Keijzer is already a good passer of the ball, with his passing rated 13, and 12 first touch, whilst Amofa already possesses 14 first touch, 13 crossing and 12 dribbling, with good work rate and physical stats. Both will join us in June, and should be key players in the first team in the coming years if they fulfil their potential.
• We were reunited with Group Stage rivals Barcelona in the draw for the Champions League Quarter-Finals. Really looking forward to this tie, another 6-1 certainly wouldn’t go amiss!
• In our last game before the international break, we won 2-0 away to FC Twente. We didn't create a whole lot of chances, only getting 10 shots on goal with 8 on target, but we made the most of them, with Dolberg and Younes scoring in the first half.

Here is a brief summary of our results from January-March:



And here is how the league table looks at the end of March:



We're comfortably clear of PSV now, and there's a chance we could go undefeated, which would be incredible. Along with the continuation of our European adventure, the final chapter of the season should be very exciting. Part 4 coming soon!

Great to see you in the Quarter Finals of the Champions League and great to see you signing so many youngsters to new deals and giving them chances!

Running away with the league title! Great to see you doing so well, and seven consecutive clean sheets in the league is fantastic!

Thanks guys. I enjoyed those clean sheets too, Justice, I absolutely conceding! Here's the fourth and final part of my first season.


April:

• In our first game back from the break, we won 2-0 at home to league bottom-dwellers Sparta Rotterdam, with goals from Hakim Ziyech and Anwar El Ghazi in the fourth and fifty-seventh minutes respectively. No shots allowed on goal by us, which was pleasing, but as much as I enjoy passing teams to death, I would have liked more chances and goals on our part, given the nature of the opposition.
• The following weekend, three days before the first leg of our Quarter-Final tie with Barcelona in the Champions League, we hosted Vitesse, where victory would secure the Eredivisie title for us. I rested my entire starting eleven, trusting my backups and youngsters to get the job done, and they did, winning 2-1! Mateo Casierra scored a brace, before Navarone Foor pulled one back for the visitors in the seventy-ninth minute, but we held on for the victory and the title. With the league all tied up, I’ll continue to save my best players for the Champions League as long as we’re still in the competition. The game also marked Frenkie de Jong’s league debut, as he came on as a substitute. Another very promising midfield prospect, who I will look to integrate into the first team as much as I can going forward.
• Three days later, we hosted Barcelona in the Champions League… and won 6-0. It didn’t just happen again, we actually improved on the 6-1, by not conceding this time. Ziyech and Kasper Dolberg each scored a hat-trick, to all but secure our place in the semi-finals. Absolutely incredible.
• After the game, as per his request, Dolberg signed a new contract until 2021. It contains a £25,500,000 release clause, which I was unable to negotiate out of the deal, so sooner or later I’m sure a big European club will meet that price. Hopefully that won’t be for a while, though.
• On the weekend, again fielding a weakened side, we won 4-0 away to Go Ahead Eagles. Casierra, Amin Younes and Yaclav Cerny got on the scoresheet, before de Jong capped it off by coming off the bench to score his first senior goal for the club.
• We lost the second leg of our Champions League Quarter-Final tie 2-1 away to Barcelona, which didn’t matter after the thrashing we gave them at home. Dolberg actually put us ahead in the twenty-third minute, but goals from Gerard Piqué and Luis Suárez secured a consolation victory for the hosts. Onto the semi-finals for us, can't see what the draw brings!
• Abdelhak Nouri signed a new contract, keeping him at the club until 2021. He may have to be patient before fully breaking into the first team, but I’m pleased to have tied him down to a deal for the future.
• We were drawn with Bayern Munich in the Semi-Finals of the Champions League. I would have much preferred Arsenal or Napoli, the other semi-finalists, but we’ll play with the cards we’ve been dealt and give it our best shot.
• On the weekend, we won 4-1 at home to Heracles Almelo. Casierra, Cerny and Younes all got on the scoresheet again, as we found ourselves 3-0 up after twenty-six minutes. Brandley Kuwas pulled one back for Heracles in the thirty-sixth minute, but an own goal from Ramon Zomer on the brink of halftime well and truly wrapped it up for us, with no goals coming in the second half. Our victory put us on 90 points, breaking the record for points in an Eredivisie season, which previously stood at 89, and tying the record for league wins at 29, both of which had been set by us. Unfortunately, though, left-back Nick Viergever suffered strained knee ligaments, which will keep him out for the rest of the season, so I will need to look elsewhere at that position, most likely in Sinkgraven's direction.
• The following weekend, we faced arch-rivals PSV in the final of the KNVB Beker, which was held at De Kuip, home of another one of our fierce rivals, Feyenoord. With the first leg of our Champions League Semi-Final tie with Bayern Munich just three days away, I decided to rest my starting eleven for this game. It looked like a bad move on my part, as Luciano Narsingh put PSV ahead in the fourteenth minute, and we weren’t overly threatening in attack in the first half despite dominating possession. However, Davy Propper saw a red card for the opposition in the sixty-seventh minute, and two late goals from two of our brightest prospects, Matthijs de Ligt and Justin Kluivert - who came on as a late substitute - in the seventy-ninth and eighty-fifth minutes saw us turn it around to win 2-1 and claim the trophy for the first time since the 2009/10 season! This competition has proven that we have strength in depth at the club, and that the future is extremely bright.

May:

• We were unable to replicate our Barcelona heroics at home to Bayern Munich in the first leg of our Champions League Semi-Final, losing 1-0 after a Robert Lewandowski strike in the seventieth minute. Great possession and passing stats as usual, but nothing in attack, with Dolberg not even being able to muster a shot on goal. Unless we can pull off a miracle at the Allianz Arena, our run in the competition may well end at the semi-final stage.
• Centre-back Abdallah Aberkane signed his first professional contract with us, tying him down until 2019. Aberkane has great pace and is already a solid marker and tackler. Some work on his heading, jumping reach and the mental side of his game, and he’ll be in the first team.
• On the weekend, we drew 1-1 away to FC Utrecht. A large number of our young players departed for the Under-21 European Championships, so Aberkane and Darren Sidoel replaced Carel Eiting and de Ligt in defence for their first team debuts, and Lasse Schone and Francesco Antonucci - also making his league debut - came in for Donny van de Beek and de Jong in midfield. Midfielders Noa Lang and Reda Boultam also came off the bench for the last twenty minutes for their first team debuts. Sébastien Haller put the hosts ahead in the thirty-third minute, before Casierra equalised in the seventy-fourth for us, bouncing back after an underwhelming display in the KNVB Beker final.
• Three days later, we drew 2-2 away to Bayern Munich in the second leg of the Champions League Semi-Final, in what was a valiant effort on our part. We were actually 2-0 up after twenty-four minutes courtesy of a brace from Dolberg, but a Joel Veltman own goal and a Douglas Costa strike meant that it was all square going into halftime. That’s the way it stayed for the rest of the game, despite our best efforts, meaning that we lost 3-2 on aggregate. Feeling absolutely no shame, though. We’ve exceeded everyone’s expectations, and cemented ourselves as a European force once again.
• For the final game of the league season, at home to PSV, I continued with our strongest starting eleven, so that they, and the club as a whole, could hopefully end the season on a positive note, break the record for league wins in a season and complete our undefeated league campaign. We did exactly that, winning 3-0 after goals from Nemanja Gudelj, Dolberg and Davy Klaassen, with 72% of possession to boot. Brilliant stuff.
• After the conclusion of the season, Riechedly Bazoer told me that he wanted to move to Chelsea in light of their interest in him, and I told him that they could have him for £20 million.
• I did, however, manage to get Veltman to drop his interest in moving to Manchester City, after Klaassen had a conversation with him.
• In the awards department, Veltman won the Footballer of the Year award, deservedly so after scoring 5 goals in 28 games from defence and boasting a 7.81 rating. Klaassen was runner-up, with his 10 goals and 2 assists in 28 games. I personally expected Ziyech to win, with his 8 goals and 14 assists in 28 games and 7.68 rating, but strangely he wasn’t even in the top three for the award.
• El Ghazi won the Talent of the Year award, after scoring 12 goals and registering 10 assists in 26 games. Kenny Tete and Jairo Riedewald came in second and third respectively, which is pretty impressive considering they left in January! Surprised that Dolberg wasn’t in the running, but he was runner-up for Top Scorer with 18 goals in 30 games, coming behind Groningen’s Tom van Weert, who played two more games and scored 21.
• André Onana unsurprisingly won the Goalkeeper of the Year award, having conceded just 5 goals in 27 games with a rating of 7.22.
• In the Jupiler League, Kaj Sierhuis swept the floor in the awards, winning Player of the Year, Talent of the Year and Top Scorer, after scoring 26 goals and providing 3 assists in 36 games with a rating of 7.30. Che Nunnely and Deyovaisio Zeefuik were second and third in Player of the Year, Nunnely scoring 8 and assisting 9 goals with a rating of 7.36, and Zeefuik scoring 7 from defence with a rating of 7.46, but it was Sierhuis’ goals that won out. Gino Dekker and Zeefuik were second and third in Talent of the Year, Dekker scoring 6 and assisting 12 with a rating of 7.27.

June:

• Davinson Sánchez talked to me about his interest in a move to Schalke, who are interested in him. The best price I could negotiate was £8 million, but hopefully I won’t have to sell. He was stellar over the second half of the season after taking over from Riedewald, and he still isn't close to reaching his full potential.
• After the Champions League final, in which Arsenal were victorious, Dolberg was confirmed as the top scorer in the competition, with 16 goals, and he made the Dream Team, adding to his growing legend. Hopefully it grows a lot more with us over the next few years.
• I tied a lot of players to new contracts. Antonucci, de Ligt and Nunnely signed deals until 2020, Eiting, Klaassen and Sinkgraven until 2021, and Kluivert, Lartey Sanniez and Eiting until 2022.
• I was finally confirmed as the Manager of the Year after 30 wins, 4 draws, no defeats and a first league title since 2013/14 in the league, which is pretty neat.
• Onana started making rumblings about wanting to move to Benfica, but one conversation with Klaassen later, he thankfully dropped the issue.
• I turned down two bids for Ziyech from Arsenal, rejecting a £15 million offer before turning down £18.5 million.
• Manchester City offered £19 million for Bazoer, which I rejected. Riechedly wasn’t happy about this, and I tried convincing him to stay, but in the end I begrudgingly agreed to make sure he got a move this summer. City also offered £13.25 million for Gudelj, which I also turned down.
• I rejected a £14.5 million bid from PSG for Veltman, which I rejected, and fortunately he didn’t make a fuss about it.
• The month concluded with a flurry of releases, consisting of a mixture of expired contracts and players simply being given free transfers. Schone was the only first-team player to be released after his contract expired, whilst Azor Matusiwa, Pelle Clement, Norbert Alblas, Zakaria El Azzouzi and Zian Flemming were released from Jong Ajax, and Anderson Lopez, Boy Kemper, Giovanni de la Vega, Joe van der Sar, Joey van Gelder, Nick Plomper and Sven Botman were released from the Under-19s. I want to cut down on the sizes of these squads, so that I don’t have a bunch of players sitting around not getting game time.
• Tim Krul and Bertrand Traoré's loan spells also came to an end, so they've returned to Newcastle and Chelsea respectively. Solid backup options over the course of the season, but I had no intention of trying to make their stays permanent.

That brings the final chapter of my first season as Ajax manager to an end! Here is a brief summary of our results from April-May:



And here is the final league table, in all its glory:



Even with us falling just short of a Champions League Final appearance, I couldn’t have asked for a better first season. Hopefully I can keep this group of players together over the summer, and we can replicate our domestic success and take that extra step in Europe next season! Season Two, Part One coming soon!

An insanely good season and another thumping of Barcelona was incredible! Reaching the CL Semi Finals with Ajax is probably the biggest achievement this season though!

Thanks again, mgriffin. Really appreciate the comments Here's Season Two, Part One!


July:

• Nick Viergever left for Montpellier, going for the price of £1.1 million. I really like the look of our Under-19s left back, Mitchell Bakker, who has four-star potential, hence why I let Viergever go. Bakker will be our backup, and eventual starting, left-back going forward.
• I also sold a number of Jong Ajax players that I had no interest in keeping around on the cheap in the early stages of the month. Goalkeeper Indy Groothuizen moved to Heracles Almelo for £37,500, centre-back Leon Bergsma went to Achilles ‘29 for £22,500, midfielders Django Warmerdam and Markus Bay departed for NAC and Volendam respectively for the prices of £58,000 and £30,000, and winger Adham El Idrissi moved to Telstar for £75,000.
• We continued our trophy-winning exploits in preseason by winning a Friendly Cup, beating German side Karlsruhe 4-1 in the Semi-Final, and Turkish side Osmanlispor 2-0 in the Final the next day. Hopefully it won’t be the only silverware we get our hands on this season.
• I kept my promise to Bazoer and negotiated his departure, selling him to Juventus for an initial fee of £16.5 million, potentially rising to £21.5 million. I would have liked to have got a better price, especially with his £30 million release clause, but he wanted to go, and I don’t want to keep any players who will harm the squad harmony. I think I’ll start the upcoming season by dropping Nemanja Gudelj - provided I can hold onto him - into the CDM position, and playing Daley Sinkgraven alongside Davy Klaassen in midfield.
• Queensy Menig was sold to Darmstadt for £900,000. Menig is a pacey, versatile player, and even scored against us during his loan spell at PEC Zwolle last season, but there is too much talent in the team at the moment, and he wouldn’t have got a proper look in, so selling him was the right move.
• Leeroy Owusu, who spent last season on loan at Excelsior, also departed, moving to N.E.C. for £115,000. I already have Hidde ter Avest and Terry Lartey Sanniez at right wing-back, and Owusu’s marking and tackling is not up to scratch, so I was happy to let him go.
• Midfielder Noa Benninga and winger Mees de Wit went out on season-long loans, heading to Den Bosch and NAC respectively. I’m not sure if Benninga has a future at the club, but I’ll give him a season out on loan to develop, whereas de Wit could become a solid squad player.
• PSV offered £6.25 million, rising to £8.5 million, for Davinson Sánchez, which I rejected without a thought. Not selling him for that price if I can help it, and certainly not to PSV.
• I made a few changes to squad numbers for the upcoming season. André Onana will wear the No. 1 shirt, Joel Veltman will move from No. 3 to No. 4 with Mitchell Dijks taking his old number, Gudelj will move from No. 27 to Bazoer’s old No. 6, Kasper Dolberg will lead the line wearing the No. 9 shirt, Amin Younes and Hakim Ziyech will trade the No. 11 and No. 22 shirts, Richairo Zivkovic will wear No. 15, Donny van de Beek will trade No. 30 for No. 16, Frenkie de Jong will take No. 18, Abdelhak Nouri will wear No. 20, Carel Eiting will trade No. 39 for No. 21, Lartey Sanniez will move from No. 31 to No. 23, Matthijs de Ligt will move from No. 32 to No. 26, Che Nunnely will trade No. 35 for No. 24, Justin Kluivert will move from No. 45 to No. 25, Deyovaisio Zeefuik will claim No. 27, Kaj Sierhuis will wear No. 28, Bakker will have No. 29, Francesco Antonucci will wear No. 30, Stan van Bladeren will take No. 31, Abdallah Aberkane will wear No. 32, Gino Dekker will take No. 33, Reda Boultam will wear No. 34, Noa Lang will take No. 35, Navajo Bakboord will claim No. 36 and Damil Dankerlui will wear No. 37.
• July concluded with our season-opener against PSV in the Johan Cruijff Schaal. Thanks to an Anwar El Ghazi goal in the twenty-third minute, we won the trophy for the first time since the 2013/14 season, continuing our domestic dominance. I wouldn’t have minded another goal or two, but we had 75% possession and didn’t allow a shot on goal, which I’m happy with.

August:

• Centre-back Darren Sidoel and midfielder Dani de Wit went out on loan to FC Twente and Roda JC respectively. Sidoel started two league appearances for us at the end of last season and looked solid, so I’m looking forward to seeing how he fares playing regularly at another Eredivisie club. De Wit spent last season loan at Den Bosch in the Jupiler League, and I’m hoping he will be good enough to be a useful squad player for us after a season of Eredivisie action.
• We began our league campaign with a 4-0 victory at home to ADO Den Haag, with Dolberg scoring all four in a superb individual display. Only six of our twenty-six shots on goal were on target, which was disappointing, but thankfully four of those six went in.
• Robert Muric departed for De Graafschap, who paid £250,000. Muric, who spent last season on loan at Pescara in Italy, is better than his price tag suggests, and can play on either wing, but I have too much talent at those spots, so he would have been on the outside looking in.
• We faced arguably our toughest test of the season in the form of PSV away. Sánchez sustained a dead leg against ADO Den Haag and thus wasn’t fit enough to start, so de Ligt replaced him at the back. In two other changes, Sinkgraven dropped to the bench with Nouri coming in for him, as I’m trying to settle on the best option to start alongside Klaassen in midfield, and Younes replaced El Ghazi, who I decided to rest. We took an early lead in the fourth minute after a Klaassen strike, and looked comfortable almost all game, but our woeful finishing - only 2 of our 19 shots on goal were on target - ended up costing us, and saw me lose my first league game as Ajax manager, after goals from Bart Ramselaar and Jurgen Locadia - both substitutes - in the eighty-first and eighty-seventh minutes. It may have been the most difficult game on our fixture list, but I’m absolutely furious to have thrown the lead away like that, and I let the players know exactly how I felt.
• On the weekend, we faced another fierce rival, hosting Feyenoord at home. It wasn’t quite the 9-0 from last season, but we won 3-1, with Dolberg and El Ghazi finding the net in the first half, and Ziyech getting on the scoresheet in the second half, whilst Michael Pereira scored for the visitors with their only shot on target of the game in the fifty-first minute.
• We won 2-1 away to FC Utrecht, with Dolberg scoring a brace. Sofyan Amrabat pulled one back for Utrecht in the seventy-fourth minute, which made for a tense last fifteen minutes, but we held on. Not happy that we allowed them to create as many chances as they did, though - thirteen to be exact - and our passing accuracy was 83%, which by our standards is a little disappointing.
• Ter Avest suffered a fractured arm in training. He’ll wear protective gear over the next few weeks, so he’ll still be available, but he might not be fit enough to start, so Lartey Sanniez will likely get some games at right wing-back.
• We were drawn with Real Madrid, Tottenham and Club Brugge in the Champions League Group Stage draw. A tougher group for us than last season, as Spurs are a tougher second seed than Porto, but I fancy our chances if we can perform at home the way we did last campaign.
• In our last game before the international break, we won 1-0 away to FC Groningen. Dolberg scored the only goal of the game in the sixty-eighth minute, seven minutes after Yoell van Nieff was sent off for the hosts. Not the most convincing of victories, but happy to get a victory away to the team that finished third in the league last season.
• Arsenal came back in with an offer rising to £5.25 million for Zeefuik, which I rejected. Zeefuik was unhappy about this, but instead of allowing him to leave like I did with Jairo Riedewald, Kenny Tete and Bazoer, I put my foot down and told him he’s not going anywhere, as I see him as a future starting centre-back. His morale is pretty poor at the moment, but hopefully that will improve over time.

September:

• Veltman suffered a stubbed toe in training the day before our game at home to SC Heerenveen, which means that he’ll also likely miss our game with Real Madrid in the Champions League next week. A big blow.
• For our Heerenveen game, I rested Gudelj, Klaassen and Ziyech ahead of our trip to the Bernabeu, with van de Beek, Nouri and Younes coming into the team, and de Ligt replaced the injured Veltman. We won 4-1, Dolberg scoring a brace, before substitute Zivkovic and Klaassen popped up with goals in the last ten minutes to kill the game off after Leon de Kogel had scored for the visitors in the fifty-third minute. Despite Dolberg’s two goals, it was El Ghazi who took home Man of the Match honours for his two assists. Very pleasing team performance.
• We lost 1-0 to Real Madrid in our Champions League Group Stage opener, in what was a solid defensive performance, but poor from an attacking point of view, as we had just four shots on goal with none on target. Toni Kroos scored the only goal of the game in the forty-fourth minute, after Cristiano Ronaldo had seen his penalty saved by Onana earlier in the half. This was always going to be the toughest game of the Group Stage for us, so a 1-0 loss isn’t disgraceful.
• We won 3-1 away to Cambuur, all of our goals coming in the first half. El Ghazi took home Man of the Match again, registering a goal and assist, with Ziyech and Sanchez getting the other two goals. Sander van de Streek pulled one back for the visitors at the start of the second half, but there would be no more goals after that, despite us allowing them to have more chances than we should have.
• Fielding a completely different starting eleven, we won 2-0 at home to HHC Hardenberg in the first round of the KNVB Beker, with Younes and de Jong finding the net. Bakker made his debut for us at left wing-back here, putting in a solid performance. As I mentioned before, he’s the future of the left-back position, so I’m pleased that his path to the first team is underway.
• On the weekend, we thrashed AZ 4-0 at home. With ter Avest, Gudelj, Klaassen, Ziyech and Dolberg getting a rest before we host Tottenham on Tuesday, Sanchez was the unexpected star of the show, getting a goal and two assists from the back, and Nouri, Sinkgraven and Veltman all found the net too.
• We drew 2-2 at home to Tottenham in the second game of the Champions League Group Stage. El Ghazi put us ahead in the twenty-ninth minute, but two Ajax old boys, Toby Alderweireld and Christian Eriksen, struck for the visitors in the forty-fifth and seventy-second minutes to bring us to the verge of defeat. Fortunately, though, Ziyech salvaged a point for us with a tremendous free kick in the eighty-eighth minute. Glad to have avoided defeat, but this is a game we probably would have won on our run to the semi-finals last season.
• For our last game of the month, and last game before another international break, at home to FC Twente, a few key players were rested again after the Tottenham game, namely ter Avest, Gudelj, Sinkgraven and El Ghazi. We won 2-0, with Dolberg finding the net for both. Kasper has definitely been more reliable so far this season than he was last, when he had a fair few quiet games.

That brings the first part of our second season to an end. Here is a brief summary of the results:



And here is how the league table looks at the end of September:



Thanks to our loss to PSV, we’re not top of the table, which feels odd, but I’m confident that we’ll soon be back where we belong. Part Two coming soon!

The goals have dried up a little bit mate