Good afternoon everybody. It’s a lazy Saturday and I’m coming to you from sunny Florida. I am on vacation but that doesn’t mean I won’t be posting from here. I will post something this afternoon but for now you can use this post to discuss any soccer topics you wish (including last night’s embarassing display by the Red Bulls). Share your thoughts below.
Joe B.
That’s cool. The Bosman ruling really killed that Ajax team of the mid-late 90’s. They still produce top players year after year (I’m a huge fan of Ryan Babel obviously and Jari Litmanen was an absolute legend). Ajax actually might very well be the place for Michael Bradley right now because he could develop so much in a few years then move on to a bigger club.
I was born in New Jersey and at the age of 6 my dad got a job in England so we moved and I grew up as an English lad. I decided to come back and try the US College experience and loved it to bits. So I have no idea what I am, an English American I guess? As I said I’m a die hard Liverpool fan, its in me blood but Ajax does hold a special place for me and I love Dutch football. I saw a match at the ArenA in 2002, a pre-season match in the Amsterdam tournament, fantastic stadium. I do follow the US and English national teams closely obviously and of course since England couldn’t qualify for Euro 2008 (its funny!) I was pulling for Van Basten’s boys but was happy Spain won.
Geoff,
Ajax is my team. Even now, as bad as they’ve been playing recently. I’m not big on Van Basten, but hopefully he can do something with them. I’ve been to Amsterdam— in the off-season though and I got to check out the ArenA. It was fantastic! Hopefully I can go back and actually watch a game. I also hope Bradley ends up there. They could really refine his game. I’ve been an Ajax fan since The early-nineties when the US got back into the game with the World Cup in ’90. Not in their Champions League Winning season, but during the UEFA Cup campaign I think two years earlier, since the only time I could watch them was on RAI when they played against Torino and won the Cup. I was still proud when they went out to Juve in the ’97 CL. Of course only for Juve to get swept away by Dortmund. I obviously like and follow other teams, Like AS Roma, Man UTD., Barca, B. Dortmund, etc. but Ajax is the ship that I go down with. They’re my team!
Oh yeah, where are you from Geoff?
Kaiser,
I hear you out there, but I think Ol’ Hogdson can use his magic and turn Johnson into something functional just yet. Sooner or later he may want to score a few goals to stay on the first team. If he can’t get it together by the end of this year, he’s done. Heck, he’s done if others like Cooper, Buddle and yes, bring back Conor Casey can show something against the top teams…
@Joe B
You may not want to say dump Johnson, so I will say it for you…DUMP JOHNSON!!!!
At first I liked the kid, but the more I watch Eddie the more I see one thing…he is a fast guy who never runs. He’s not a creator, and he’s not a great finisher, but if he were at least a hustler, with his size and speed, he would be a great choice for the national team. I agree that we need to give a chance to some of our other strikers, not just called in Eddie who I don’t ever see improving.
Joe B,
I had no idea that http://www.ajaxusa.com was defunct! I haven’t been on that site in years! I would say that ajax.nl English version the best on info for the club. Apart from that, I don’t think I can help you mate. There is fan sites I know for sure, but don’t know any off the top of my head. I’m sure if you google them you might find something. And they’ll have and English speaking section because the Dutch speak English better then we do! You an Ajax fan mate?
Geoff,
Do you get any decent daily info on Ajax besides Ajax.nl, now that ajaxusa.com is now defunct?
Thanks, at least I know I’m not alone out there!
Sunny Florida? You must be staying in a tanning parlor then! 😉
I’m glad you got away even if its a short holiday Ives. You deserve it. Its amazing how much time and effort it takes to cover the beautiful game and I think I speak for everyone who reads your blog and articles daily that you do a fantastic job and your break is fully deserved.
Joe B.
I’m actually a Liverpool fan but Ajax has always been a club thats been close to my heart. I was a huge supporter when Ronald Koeman was manager and John O’Brien played regularly in. Obviously I was a Liverpool fan then as well and have been all me life but I liked that Ajax team and I’m in awe of how many great players that have come from their youth system, today, 40 years ago and everywhere in between. So I can answer any questions regarding Ajax Amsterdam. My personal opinion: the Dutch have the best youth set up in the world. No other country that size (population wise and land wise) has done better in developing young talent. Its just a shame they haven’t won a major trophy apart from Euro 88.
I saw the repeat of the US vs. Argentina game. Seeing it again, I think we did very good. I hope Mastroeni stays with the team even though he seems to be a red card magnet. Kljestan (if I spelled that right) was better in this game than in the second Barbados game. We just need a finisher. I’m not saying dump Johnson completely, he’s coming along, but let’s give Cooper, Buddle a shot next time.
As for the Red Bulls. Remember when we had Dunivant? Is he still in Toronto? Maybe we shoud get him back. And uh… yeah Reyna—great player that he was—is a bust.
Any Ajax fans out there?
The rest of us supporters aren’t happy with much of what’s going on either… We all knew this team would struggle at times, but anything like this I don’t think we envisioned at all.
Very frustrating to see results like this come so frequently… we’ve lost 2 matches in the last 5 weeks by 4 goals. We’re a team that will only win 1-0, and if we are extremely lucky we may sneak one 2-1. Once we allow our opponent to score more than a single goal our chances of taking points from the match are all but dashed.
As a suffering Rapids fan, last night’s game was a great remedy to the past month. The Red Bulls were awful… dare I say the worst team in the league based on last night’s performance. Angel can’t be happy with the hacks surrounding him.