Ajax Amsterdam have shocked the world with their run to the UEFA Champions League semifinals. And there’s a stark difference between Ajax and the other semifinalists in the competition: Most of Ajax’s core players originate from the club’s own academy system.
It’s the same academy that produced some of the all-time greats that brought the club its first Champions League title in the mid-90s through the likes of Clarence Seedorf, Edgar Davids and Holland’s third-most-capped player in its history — Frank de Boer.
Now managing Atlanta United, de Boer told media Friday that he hopes to see the United States and Major League Soccer clubs continue down a similar path as Ajax, though he admits it's an easier thing to achieve in a smaller country like Holland.
However, de Boer is a perfect example of how a great sporting foundation can help a player achieve their highest level. Believe it or not, he admits that at one point, he wasn’t good enough.
“You see an attacker that doesn't make it drop back, like me — I was a left winger,” de Boer told media at Atlanta United’s training ground Friday. “I came back in defense because I'm skillful to play, but I could also defend, and that makes me an Ajax player in that moment. We [Atlanta United] want to build up from that — like what Kansas City does.”
De Boer said Sporting Kansas City, who Atlanta defeated 3-0 on Sunday, are “one of the best-playing teams in the US” and credited Sporting for developing the structure that allows the team to establish a consistent, attractive style of play under manager Peter Vermes. Vermes is known for setting up Sporting KC in a 4-3-3 that always aims to play on the front foot and score goals.
That style is something de Boer knows a little bit about. He says that in order to develop such a style and the quality required, Ajax indoctrinates kids at a very young age so that by the time they become ready for the professional ranks, they have “the Ajax DNA.”
“It's all about, in the beginning, the basic things and the technical ability. Not defending,” said De Boer, the most-capped defender in his country’s rich soccer history. “And then it comes to the strength and the discipline of course — it's like the Ajax DNA. It's very strict. Every training has to be better, every pass has to be accurate. And also, in my time, you could see who was an Ajax player and who was not because they already had good education in running and also in passing.
“It's a different culture of course from here or South America, but this is the DNA of Ajax,” said De Boer. “We always kept [our style] and we want to play attractive.”
