After their midweek success against English champions Manchester City in their Champions league group match which ended 3-1 to the Dutch side, manager Frank de Boer will feel optimistic that he can transform Ajax back to being a European great.
Ajax FC are four times European champions and are rich in history, but recently they have failed to keep their best players and in return with the lack of spending power they have failed to lure in top players from around the world.
This problem has led to Frank de Boer to take a hands on approach to ensure he can use the youth at Ajax to bring them through into the first team. No one knows the system better than the current manager as de Boer is a former Ajax player who came from the youth system before making over 300 appearances for the senior side.
Unlike the likes of Mancini and Mourinho who like to buy mature and experienced players with the huge funds they have, de Boer now knows he only has a limited spending pot and that he may need to bring through more youngsters to help rebuild Ajax into the giant it once was.
Frank de Boer is excited about the chance and this was evident by the way he set up his team against Man City. He ensured his players had no fear playing the current Premier league champions and he looked to use home advantage count as his team won a crucial match.
The Ajax manager has support from the hierarchy of the club as it is filled with legends of Dutch football. His assistant boss is Dennis Bergkamp and Marc Overmars is the Director of Football at the club. It seems clear that de Boer is following suit with some managers from the Premiership as he looks to bring through youngsters from the academies in the future to transform his team into a side that can emulate Barcelona’s success of bringing through youth.
At the age of only 42 he is a young manager and therefore with full support de Boer can put together a plan for the long term that he can work at to ensure Ajax return to the success that they had back in the 70’s and 80’s.
Daniel Clark
@DanClincs