Late Review #1: D’s and Keepers

It may be kinda late to grade out the season, but I am graduate student who has been up to his eyeballs in work until this week, and Euros don’t start for a few more days. Plus, some emotional separation will hopefully allow me to be a little more fair and a little more reasonable. We’ll see how long that lasts in this post, where I opine on the performance of our keeper and defenders.

Beginning at keeper, I cannot find much bad to say about Maarten Stekelenburg. If he has shown inconsistency in the past, he grew up this year. I am not going to say he is elite yet, or that van der Sar needs to be looking over his shoulder this summer. But I will say, as I did before, that Stekelenburg is good enough that we don’t need to panic either in Amsterdam or in the Oranje lineup. He is developing quite nicely. Since he seems happy in Amsterdam and has rebuffed transfer rumors, I expect he will be around again. And we should be happy. As for his backup, Dennis Gentenaar, why not? Three starts and six appearances. If he is happy in Amsterdam, I am happy.

Speaking about the defense in general, we gave up some goals we should not have. 45 goals allowed is not embarrasing, but PSV gave up nearly half that amount. A tighter backline would have been the difference. What was the problem back there?

It was not John Heitinga. His play may have peaked this season, and he got better (and far more important) when Jaap Stam left. Even managing to score a few key goals, Heitinga had a terrific season. Even if KJH leaves, we will probably miss Heitinga more next year. The reason for this is that he was the only consistent center-back we had this season. I don’t have anything against Thomas Vermaelen, but there is really no way to tell how consistent he can be. When healthy, he is at least an adequate option in the back. But I do not think we can depend any longer on him to be healthy. Without Heitinga and Stam, we begin the transfer season with zero top-choice CBs on the roster. Transfers are needed, and Jonatan Maidana is only a good beginning.

Samuel Kuffour was a mistake. While I think his move from AS Roma began as a trial, it seems we decided he was either not good enough or not healthy enough. Either way, it was a bad move. I do think that we needed someone, as Gregory van der Wiel was not ready for that kind of pressure. He showed some promise, but I wonder if his future is not some place further up the field…

Ajax fullbacks had some great moments. Urby Emmanuelson began to attract attention, and his on-the-ball skills showed with some great work overlapping with Suarez on the left. His defensive shortcomings can be frustrating, but this is Ajax. We like to attack. And Urby can do it. On the right, George Ogararu gave way to Bruno Silva after the January window. I see these two as somewhat similar players, with not a terrific difference between them. Bruno won the majority of appearances in the second half due to health initially, and he made them count. Bruno might provide more pace, but both are solid defenders when need be. I am happy lining up with Urby and Bruno defending the flanks next season. I expect Ogararu to look around. He deserves a starting place and is good enough to get it when healthy. If Ogararu does leave, we will need depth again at right back, because even if Jurgen Colin was suddenly good enough for an occasional appearance, the fans would go mad. He may be the most unpopular purchase I can remember. Coming from an English Championship side to Ajax, he had to quickly prove himself to a stadium of doubters. He did not.

Finally, the “Jan Vertonghen in defense” experiment provided the club with conclusive data. Vertonghen will do whatever you ask him to do and give 100%. But if you ask him to do something he is not cut out for, he will not produce results that fit his talents. If we want him to be a defender, we have work to do. If we want him in the midfield, I think we will be pleased.

So, to sum it up
GK: Steks is good to go for years to come.
DC: We need quality reinforcements!
FB: Hold on to Urby, bring in some help from youth or transfers.

Some quick hits
> The Sulejmani deal is still being bandied about, this time with figures attached. It seems to be getting closer, but nothing official yet. I do not see him as a direct replacement for KJH. I want to see Sulejmani burning down the wing myself. But I am not MvB.
> It is good to have my flagship Eredivisie blogger, Mike, back from a break. Now he can cover KJH news, and I can go scouting in Argentina for Marco.

Category: Team News

Tags: Team News

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