19, running the show

[patrick42uk]

everyone one has been harping on about vander vaart and robben, and sneijder has often been overlooked. but he was immaculate today. seen him play for ajax a couple of times where he has looked impressive, but to make that step up into international football without looking out of place is amazing. He was involved in four of the six goals today, scoring one himself. He has a sweet right foot, with a powerful shot as well as great crossing. My only worry with him is that he is quite small. But that didnt really seem to hinder him. In holland, i hear they call him a bulldog in the davids mould, with a brain. He did look very inventive today. I am not going to fantasize about arsenal signing him, but am just marvelling at the amount of young talent that holland (especially the ajax youth system) continue to produce.How holland havent acheived more, i will never know

 

[Beany]

everyone one has been harping on about vander vaart and robben, and sneijder has often been overlooked. but he was immaculate today. seen him play for ajax a couple of times where he has looked impressive, but to make that step up into international football without looking out of place is amazing. He was involved in four of the six goals today, scoring one himself. He has a sweet right foot, with a powerful shot as well as great crossing. My only worry with him is that he is quite small. But that didnt really seem to hinder him. In holland, i hear they call him a bulldog in the davids mould, with a brain. He did look very inventive today. I am not going to fantasize about arsenal signing him, but am just marvelling at the amount of young talent that holland (especially the ajax youth system) continue to produce.How holland havent acheived more, i will never know

It is bizzare; if Holland wern't so self destructive they would have as many trophies as Brazil.

 

[nnn]

It was only scotland, although the kid looked very good.

 

[Arjan]

. I am marvelling at the amount of young talent that holland (especially the ajax youth system) continue to produce.How holland havent acheived more, i will never know

Because here in holland everyone thinks that playing beautifull football is more improtant then winning.......
The under 21 squad with all the great talents everybody knows has achieved nothing either.

Like I told you before Sneijder is sheer class, but there is more where he came from.

 

[Taozhe]

I can see many european clubs hunting for his signature ... ajax has been a selling club these few seasons and I wonder how the fans might feel. Do they have so much talent that they can let their players leave for huge transfer fees, then invest them wisely on the youth?

 

[patrick42uk]

Because here in holland everyone thinks that playing beautifull football is more improtant then winning.......

is that such a bad thing? i mean in england youngsters are instilled with grit and determination, which might be a good thing, but will not get you very far. History suggests that is is teams that base football on technique that acheive the most success. Just look at the french team and the clairefontaine academy. The youngsters are taught how to improve themselves on the ball, improving their technical areas, wheras in england those of an equivalent age have a more team based training with focus on mentality. Brazilians and argentinians are naturally gifted with technique hence their successes. The dutch seems to have mastered the art of instilling good techniques in their youngsters but somehow still fall short of success. its baffling really. There is a new generation of players coming through like nigel de jong, robben, van persie, vander vaart, sneijder,heitinga, the left back with the hard to spell name, hofland e.t.c these are players who are all highly rated and sought after. maybe they can change the pattern of underacheivement but then you could argue the kluiverts and the seedorfs should have done that. maybe its a management problem? its hard to explain

 

[Arjan]

IMO the problem with this generation is that theyjst don't want it anymore. Every player last saturday in scotland was already extremely succesfull. But they are so much looked up to, that they think they will win it anyway.

The younger generation grew up with the ajax 95 and feyenoord 01 succes. That is the extra motivation they need to perform.

And it is a management problem. But even Van Gaal, arguably the best coach in the world, didn't manage to get the kluivert, davids and seedorf generation playing.

But holland scored some good marks worldwide now, hopefully they can continue that!

 

[seanconvey66]

He looked good, wish he was english or even better played for my team Ireland!

 

[patrick42uk]

watched him again last night in Ajax's last game before internationals. Ajax won 4-1. guess who scored one and created three, thats right, sneijder. exact copy of his performance against scotland showing it was no fluke. awsome really. Arjan do you have any info on how many assists he's had so far this season in the dutch league? His crossing and set piece deliveries are very accurate

 

[Arjan]

watched him again last night in Ajax's last game before internationals. Ajax won 4-1. guess who scored one and created three, thats right, sneijder. exact copy of his performance against scotland showing it was no fluke. awsome really. Arjan do you have any info on how many assists he's had so far this season in the dutch league? His crossing and set piece deliveries are very accurate

8 games out of the 12, 3 goals, 5 assists, 1 yellow.

He has played just 25 matches in his career.
His debut was less then 10 months ago, 22 dec. 2002, first official goal, 5 march 2003.

He is 170 cm and just 67 kilos

He does not play that often, because Ronald Koeman is affraid to use 2 creative midfielders in 1 squad. Ajax plays with wingers, so he rather uses defensive midfielders.

 

[GoonerGurjit]

Ajax are fantastic at developing young players. They might have sold Mido and Chivu but have still got the likes of Sneijder, de Jong, Zlatan, van der Vaart and Pienaar.

 

[Taozhe]

A good hunting ground for richer clubs perhaps. When will they forge stability within the team?