By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
Champions’ League is monotonous; it has been for a while. Every season there are usual suspects who are guaranteed to make it to at least the semi-finals. They are Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona and perhaps Juventus.
But this season this line up has been altered, and quite significantly. One team who have forced their way through are Ajax of Amsterdam. Like sweet little kids, they have rudely interrupted the European football party and we’ve all loved their daring, playful, stubborn attitude.
To get here, Ajax scored four goals against Bayern Munich at the group stage, five goals in both legs to condemn the serial winners and defending champions Real Madrid, and they beat the Old Lady (Juventus) just enough to get through. This is their story!
Reminiscing over that fantastic 4-1 performance in the Bernabeau, the CEO of Ajax, Edwin Van der Sar, told the Guardian UK: “We reached a level of football that nobody really expected from the outside world.” That is how daring they have been.
With that 1-0 win away to Tottenham, Ajax know they are just 90 minutes away from the final of the Champions’ League. But just getting to the semi-finals is mind blowing, considering the numbers.
Meet the numbers
Ajax have won the European Cup or now the Champions League four times, but financially they have the weakest muscle among the four teams that are in the semis.
According to Deloitte Football Money League Report, Ajax are not even in the top 30 of the richest clubs in terms of revenue. But all the other semi-finalists – Barcelona, Liverpool and Tottenham – are in the top 10.
The average worth of this Ajax team stands at £ 250 million. Their opponents this week, Tottenham Hotspur, are worth three times as much – a whopping £ 750 million.
But the Ajax CEO is not fazed. Edwin Van der Sar – a Manchester United legend – told the Guardian UK:
“In the last 20 years many things have changed in the world of football, mainly on the TV and commercial side. For us at Ajax, it’s all about football.”
Ajax are one of the top teams in the Eredevise League in Holland, but because their league is far behind leagues like the English Premier League in England, La Liga in Spain and even Seria A in Italy, Ajax only earn a meagre 10 million euros in TV rights.
Tottenham earns up to twenty times more on TV rights than Ajax. Not to mention Barcelona and Liverpool who are much bigger clubs compared to Tottenham.
The difference is startling! So how did they get here?
What is their secret?
Ajax have been one of the most successful production lines for top players in the world for decades. Here are some of the names that have cut their teeth in the Dutch club and gone on to dominate elsewhere: Luis Suarez, Edwin Van der Sar, Marc Overmars, Denis Bergkamp, Jap Stam, Jan Vertonghen, Christian Eriksen, and the list goes on.
The emphasis on developing young players through their academy system has paid off. More than half of the current Ajax team are below the age of 24 years and most of them have come through the academy. On average, they are the youngest team in the last four of the Champions’ League this season.
What we are seeing now did not just happen; anyone who has been paying attention to European football would know this could happen, even if it was a distant possibility.
About three seasons ago, this young team went as far as to the Europa League final. They faced Manchester United. Current Captain Mathias de Ligt and Kasper Dolberg were key players in that run. Frankie de Jong came on from the bench that night.
Manchester United won the trophy though, thanks to a horrible anti-football tactics by Jose Mourinho.
This success has been a work in progress for Ajax.
What Ajax have achieved is what football’s filthy rich cliques like Paris Saint Germaine and Manchester City have spent up to US$ 2 billion over the last six to seven years to achieve without success. In the process they have hired and fired managers, assembled and dismantled teams and bought the latest hot thing available. It’s like an obsession. Meanwhile, Ajax have done it with ease, patience and beauty.
The road ahead
Ajax’s model of football success might not happen every season. Realistically, money has washed through football and very few clubs have the patience like Ajax to invest and nurture the next generation of football purists. But at least it is nice to see that it still works.
This is something the club is realistic about, but they are planning to keep themselves up there and be as competitive as possible.
Their CEO said he would be reluctant to sell half of his team by the end of this season. “My idea is not to sell seven players from this team, (we want) to stay competitive and reach this level again next season,” Van der Sar said.
But it is not for him to say. Exciting young talents like Mathias De Ligt, Ruben Neres, Van der Beeker and Andre Onana will be very difficult to keep. The sharks are circling.
Frankie De Jong is on his way to Barcelona next season for 75 million euros. It will be a miracle if they can keep their 19-year-old captain, De Ligt.
Marc Overmars has also been a key figure in this campaign. Like Van der Sar, he is also a former player of the club where he now serves as Sporting Director.
Vander Sar and Overmars are two of the last generation of Ajax players to conquer Europe in 1995. They have carefully guided this side thus far this season with their old hands.
The team have their sight firmly fixed on a treble. But to count it as a treble they will have to pass Tottenham in the Johan Cruyff Arena, as their stadium is called.
Tottenham are no pushovers. They started at elimination position in every match during the second half of their Champions’ League group phase campaign only to find late goals against PSV Eindhoven, Inter Milan and Barcelona in that order to keep their dream alive. They also pulled off a dramatic performance away at Manchester City to get to this point. In short, Spurs are a group of players that don’t know when they are beaten, so Ajax must hold on to the champagne spraying party plans yet.
Whatever happens to their campaign and their wild Champions’ League dream, they have had fun and been entertaining. I am sure they will not be disappointed with themselves, if they lose this tie or the final. Ajax are already over achievers and they have shown us all that systems can be built, not bought.
Long live the beautiful game!
© 2019 Politico Online
