Ajax of Amsterdam
Wilco Van Buusen – Ajax Youth coach
They have under 9 to U/19. Teams are 14/15 field players plus 2 goalkeepers.
They have a whole facility that has been constructed for the academy.
The youngest players (U/9 – U/14) are selected from the area not more than 60 km from Amsterdam. The older players (U/15) are selected from all over Amsterdam and Europe.
The players in the U/19 squad trains 6 times a week. (Wednesday is the day off) The younger train 5 times a week. The focus for the development of the younger players is on small sided fields i.e. across the pitch in the 9s to 10s and then penalty spot to penalty spot in the 12s to 13s. There is a great deal of focus on small sided games.
Ajax has two talent days that target the U/6s to under 8/s during the holidays. All the Ajax trainers attend this day to identify talent. The best players are then selected to play with Ajax for the next season. The players are invited to attend the talent days from an area of not more than 60kms from Amsterdam. Players from out the area have to go to clubs such as PSV, Fyernord etc.
Ajax has one head coach for each team. A1 has two coaches, one of the coaches from the A2 also helps with the training. Ajax has conditioning trainers… running coaches.
The team structures are as follows
First team
Young Ajax – Made up of players not more that U/23 except for three older players.
Youth team (A1 – 18, 19 year olds plus a few of the better players from the younger age groups)
B
C
D – Under U/12
E – Under 11
F – Under 9
Ajax pays for all expenses.
Why is the Ajax system so good?
History.
A lot of the players want to play with Ajax.
Good facilities – pitches etc
Good trainers.
Generally the best players in the North play for Ajax, the best in the South play for PSV and the best of the west play for Feyanord.
Good tournaments / competition.
Good structure.
The Ajax teams play competitive games as follows;
Under 9 – In the Amsterdam area, play against the year older, the same age group is too easy for them.
Under 10 – In the Amsterdam area, play against under 11’s
Under 11 – In the region, play against U/12
Under 12 - against U/13 in the region
Under 13 – play in the country wide league
Under 14 – C2 country wide
Under 15 – C1 country
Under16 B2 (a year younger group) play in a region a bit bigger than the youngsters against players a year older.
Under 17 B1 (second year of that age group) play in the National comp against their own age.
A2 play against a year older in the Amsterdam region.
A1 play in the National comp against their own age group.
As Ajax tries to get the best players they also try and get the best coaches. Their philosophy is that they need a mix of quality coaches. i.e. not necessarily ex players but school teachers etc. However xx of the xx coaches are ex players.
All the best players and coaches want to come to Ajax. The incentive to work with the most talented players. The development philosophy is not necessarily to win, but to produce players for the first team. Winning is important but not the most important thing. Each year the club strives to produce one or two players are produced for the 1st team.
Each of the teams at Ajax play the 4-3-3 system. This is historical but they believe that this is the best system to produce good technical players and to produce good attractive football. Each player is then used to playing the system from a young age (8 years) which benefits the first team. The club first team changed the system a couple of year ago to a 4-4-2 system to a huge outcry from the fans, media and former players. They quickly reverted back to the system. This system is hugely reliant on 1 v 1 situations and requires 2 highly skilled wingers and an excellent ‘target’ striker. This is why the Ajax system is started so young so that they can produce the type of players to play this system.
The coaches are forbidden to play any other system – they call it total football!
When the senior Ajax team plays against another team in the National League competition there is always at least 1 player in the other team that has come through the Ajax youth system. Vertesse currently has 7 players that have played in the youth academy.
The club aims for 1 or 2 players to play in the first team, there are 5 or so players that are either sold or loaned to another club per year.
Technique training is a major focus of the training – 75%. The older groups of 14 and above then spend a bit more time learning to play in the system. Ajax believes that the 13 to 14 age group is where it is best to start to really focus on the system of play. I witnessed a number of the U/12 session and they were playing with three strikers – two wingers – which suggests that this philosophy of playing is ingrained in the players from an even earlier age.
Ajax believe that unless the players are technically good enough they will not be good enough to play in this system, this is why they concentrate on the technical type of training in the 9 – 13 age group.
The players in the various age groups play approximately 40 games per year. Mostly on Saturdays but also, some on Tuesday evenings against amateur clubs (friendlies). The also play in a number of good quality tournaments – pre-season, post season all over Europe, starting from under 9’s. Approximately D1 C1 and B1 play in 4 or 5 tournaments a year. C2, around 2 per year.
The coaches are generally aligned to one age and do not move with their teams from age group to age group.
National teams start at U/15’s. Regional teams start at U/14. There are four regions - west, east, north and south. The best players from each regions play a tournament which acts as a selection tournament for the U/15 level.
A lot of the Ajax players are picked in the National team.