The Future of Ajax?

By: Matt | April 7th, 2008

In a world where it is increasingly difficult to hold on to youth and talent, and where the Bosman and Webster rulings won’t make it any easier, what does the future hold for a prestigious team in a less-than prestigious league? Ajax would like to know, and Arsene Wenger may tell them.

According to skysports, Wenger and van Basten casually mention the possibility of Ajax becoming a feeder club to their London counterparts. Presumably, they would get some dibs on the talent leaving Amsterdam in ever-increasing numbers while providing a few quality youngsters a chance to play competitive games regularly. Now, I simply cannot see how this could be a bad thing for Arsenal. They get to see how their youngsters handle real pressure, with Champions League qualification on the line. It beats a season in the Championship surely.

But what would this mean for Ajax? From a practical standpoint, it would be a decent deal. Who wouldn’t like to see Fran Merida cut his teeth in their squad? Other loaners similar to Bendtner a year ago could also prove helpful. A similar deal PSV has with Chelsea gave them Alex (who singlehandedly knocked Arsenal out of the CL last year) and now Alcides. So, it seems such an arrangement would benefit on the short term with cheap talent accessible.

But what about the long term? Look again at PSV. Just as Alex was reaching a high level, he is taken to London. Last year, they survived the first knockout round of the CL. This year, they didn’t last the group stage. The momentum they had built after last year got on the plane with Alex. This year, the year they should have been building on last year’s CL success, they had to start over at defense with a new guy. If it were not for the efforts of Gomes, PSV may not even have toiled through the UEFA Cup as long as they have. The natural build-up of a team that ideally leads to a well-working side was disrupted by the loaner, despite his quality. When you tend someone else’s garden, you rarely get to eat the ripest fruit.

So, if Ajax decides to manage their own garden, there is still the problem of keeping their players long enough to enjoy the spoils. One more year of Sneijder, Babel, and KJH would probably be enough to make some real noise in Europe and knock PSV off the domestic throne. But the players decided to leave, Ajax sold, and two years later we are plowing the fields again. If this cycle simply cannot be broken, then maybe we should take Wenger up on that deal. If we are going to be a feeder club one way or another, we might as well make it official.

After these last few posts, I am so fed up with navel-gazing that I would love some cheap thrills, no matter how ridiculous.
So bring on the playoffs!