ajax
JjMost of
the new
players
weren't
used to
the system
or suffered
language
problems
■PLY THE BEST
|'s class from the past lap up
told Scholten's winner at Ibrox
he Amsterdam side win 1-0 in
tampions League group clash
years after they initially were denied
a place in the line-up.
The manager was right in warning
at the start of the new term that
building a new team takes time.
However, he went a bit overboard,
according to the fans and the media,
when he stated that he would be
satisfied if Ajax finished in the top five
in his first year. Apparently he didn't
realise that the club with the biggest
collection of silverware in Holland is
always obligated to fight for the title,
no matter what the circumstances.
What followed was a campaign
filled with some ups and more downs.
In Adriaanse's opinion the season had
been a success though. The side
leapfrogged into third place and
qualified for the Champions League
on the final day of the campaign.
Furthermore, several youngsters
fulfiled the expectations, while
17-year old Rafael van der Vaart
turned out to be the most consistent
player of the side. But the bad news,
amongst other things, was that
suddenly saw a series of new recruits
arrive from far and wide. Many of the
new players were either not used to
the Ajax system, were confronted with
communication problems due to a
foreign language, were just poor or
suffered from all of the above.
The quick fix did bring the double
to Amsterdam in 1998 and another
Dutch Cup a year later. Since the last
trophy is considered to be more or
less a consolation price in Holland
their sixth place that season was more
significant. The following campaign
Ajax managed to do one better and
finished fifth.
Adriaanse was then given the task of
rebuilding yet another new side last
year. The former director of the youth
academy started hopeful when he
went back to basics and lived-up to his
promise to hand opportunities to as
many home-grown youngsters as
possible. He limited the signing of
'outsiders' to a minimum, while he
brought back several Dutch talents
who had left the club in previous
3 ,-r r
page 36
those five years in which Ajax
underwent a complete makeover into
an inexperienced foreign legion.
The club obviously had to pay a
high price for their tremendous
winning streak. Big spenders from
Italy, Spain and England were soon
luring players and staff away and
within three years not a single
regular of the golden era was left in
Amsterdam. That depletion of the side
could have been expected though, as
this often happens to successful clubs
from smaller countries. Ajax just made
the mistake of giving in to a panic
attack when it happened.
First Morten Olsen and then Jan
Wouters followed in the footsteps of
Louis van Gaal, who had left the club
in 1997. After a short spell of caretaker
manager Hans Westerhof, Adriaanse
then took over the helm last summer.
In an attempt to stop the rot, Olsen
and Wouters had been allowed to go
on an impressive shopping-spree.
The club, which had always been
renowned for its youth academy,
