I came across an interesting article on FC Ajax Amsterdam this morning. Many football fanatics would definitely know what FC Ajax Amsterdam is all about. They are the Holy grail of football youth talents. They are recognized by most as the best youth production line in the world. Coaches travel regularly from all over the world to see how it's done.
Let me share some insight on the current coaching staffs in FC Ajax Amsterdam. Head coach and former Barcelona star Frank De Boer is running the attack versus defence drill. Manchester United treble winner Jaap Stam is telling the central defenders to be more aggressive. Champions League winner and footballing pitbull Edgar Davids is outpassing the midfielders and Wim Jonk, once of Sheffield Wednesday, takes notes.
On the adjacent pitch, Arsenal's favourite Dutchman Dennis Bergkamp - looking as cool and relaxed as ever - works with the strikers, who try to turn in crosses delivered by Bergkamp's good friend, former Nottingham Forest winger Bryan Roy. Frank's brother Ronald de Boer is working with the youth team and Marc Overmars is on a day off.
And on the touchline? A couple of hundred fans, watching in captivated silence as their idols train. So, that's 37 league titles, five Champions Leagues, 51 cup wins and 565 international caps within a 100-metre radius. Even the groundsman probably has a couple of European Cups to his name.
While Bergkamp and Co deal with the hands-on aspects, teaching the traditional Ajax 4-3-3 and developing TIPS (Technique, Insight, Personality and Speed), technical manager Blind deals with the business side and spends his days fielding phone calls from 'bigger' clubs trying to sign his best players - such as the dynamic teenage midfielder Christian Eriksen, Danish slayer of England in a recent friendly international.
The emphasis on youth here is startling, to the point that the first photos you see when you arrive at the ground are not of the first team or the club's four European Cup winning sides, but of the current crop of young players.
Isn't that just amazing folks?
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