Matthijs de Ligt

[Raketa10]

De Ligt was horrendous tonight !!

2 bad errors in the first 3 minutes and about 7 errors in the first half alone ...

Jees ... terrible passing, bad positioning , poor defensive headers and soooo slow !!!

After one mistake he cameras went straight to an anguishing looking Koeman with his head in his hands

Presumably had a bad night ??

Stop overreacting they won 3-0 against Germany FFS!

 

[Yannik]

Stop overreacting they won 3-0 against Germany FFS!

This is a player thread. Netherlands won 3:0 but he had a bad game today and his performance still has to be singled out.

 

[Messigician]

Dreadful, always a risk with these Ajax players these days being the ultimate flops, Blind, Depay, etc. Everyone looks good in that farmers league.

Big chance they will flip yea the talent exists but do they have the mentality to become world class?

Big risk and if Ajax want 70 million each they can get get lost and let other ckubs buy them we dont need another two Gomes abs Turans around.

Van Dijk at least established himself in the prem, Dutch league isnt as good as it was.

 

[Porque]

Well it is just one game. Inconsistency is expected at this age.

Van Dijk was still at Groningen with no international caps and awaiting his move to the mighty Celtic at this age.

 

[Sorin]

De Ligt recently shut down Lewandowski. I'm not worried about him, he's only 19, it's expected that he has games like these. Mbappe has a lot more matches where he looks bang average compared to De Ligt and this guy is a defender where a mistake looks a lot worse than a striker's/winger's. A defender matures later than a forward too.

Having said these, I was of the opinion that we should make him our priority above Frenkie, and although we need a defender more than a midfielder, I'm starting to think that there are a lot more promising CB than there are players like De Jong. There's Upamecano, Pavard, Tah, Koulibaly is already world class and I'm sure I'm missing a couple more. On the other hand I can't think of that many CM like Frenkie. There's Neves from Wolves and...blank. And even the Portuguese is not exactly like him. He doesn't posses the acceleration of the Dutchman.

 

[raskolnikov]

Dreadful, always a risk with these Ajax players these days being the ultimate flops, Blind, Depay, etc. Everyone looks good in that farmers league.

Big chance they will flip yea the talent exists but do they have the mentality to become world class?

Big risk and if Ajax want 70 million each they can get get lost and let other ckubs buy them we dont need another two Gomes abs Turans around.

Van Dijk at least established himself in the prem, Dutch league isnt as good as it was.

Or Suarez, Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Sanchez? You cant just base this on one match.
Maybe the Barca rumours and scouts being their affected his performance. Remember kid is 18 or something and easily the best defensive prospect out there.
Dutch league got killed due to bosman arrest which put the power to bigger countries.
If the European superleague ever got established I would put a lot of money on Ajax becoming a force again with their academy.
Surely wouldnt be so easy for top clubs to craddle rob them.
They will get 130-150 mil for both of them though. 2 future worldclass players, you can see the talent despite the league.

 

[khaled_a_d]

Or Suarez, Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Sanchez? You cant just base this on one match.
Maybe the Barca rumours and scouts being their affected his performance. Remember kid is 18 or something and easily the best defensive prospect out there.
Dutch league got killed due to bosman arrest which put the power to bigger countries.
If the European superleague ever got established I would put a lot of money on Ajax becoming a force again with their academy.
Surely wouldnt be so easy for top clubs to craddle rob them.
They will get 130-150 mil for both of them though. 2 future worldclass players, you can see the talent despite the league.

I don't really rate Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Sanchez as world class "Barca level" players. Davinson doesn't look like one in his second year in Spurs, Toby took few years after Ajax to develop and wasn't success at A.Madrid, and again never rated Vert as a elite club starter level. Eriksen too took some years to develop with Spurs into world class players.

Honestly Suarez is probably the only one to come from Eredivisie ready for stardom in big club during past years.And he was 24 years old striker who scored 49 goals in 48 matches in his last season. And it was 8 years ago


This is relevant because those players won't be signed as prospects with their price tags, they will signed as a players ready to contribute right away just like Dembele. Expectations always correlates with price and team needs.

IF we signed De Ligt, we won't sign a player in hope for a world class CB in 2 or 4 years, we will want someone ready to challenge Pique right away and take his place, if he isn't ready for that it is a problem for short term that could affect his long term here.

De Jong is likely thought as DM not CM -unlike popular opinion here- and he will be groomed under Busquets wing which could ease his transition, but again would you spend 70M for a player who could need years of development? who might need a loan like Alderweireld?

I am not saying they won't succeed, because with same logic people have thought Neymar is next Robinho,Arthur won't be good because Brazilians don't produce this kind of players etc. But those are truly legitimate concerns that should be seriously taken into accounts,

some people are almost acting like those guys are the saviors that would help solving most of our problems and worth paying anything for. Those need to lower down their expectations a lot.

 

[Sorin]

Oh ffs, let people have their opinions. So what if they are wrong, I swear some of you get off by always being the contrarian. It's like everyone here is a dunce when it comes to players and here comes the expert telling us how it is. It's gets tiring after a while.

We wouldn't have half our legends if it were for some of you, considering every young player not good enough or in need of massive development. Fact is, there are lots of good young players who under the right fucking coach, which Valverde isn't, can be developed very well within 1-2 years tops. Some of them have the skill to contribute right away.

 

[Moe]

When asked who he would choose between Barcelona and Manchester City, he said Ajax.

Then he was asked which city he would rather visit between Barcelona and Manchester, he said Barcelona because he likes the sun.

 

[Jombi]

Let's not simply assume that their price will be the highest reported price in the tabloids.

They are good players who should contribute the way Arthur is expected to contribute, squad players that will gradually become starters as they age. Not some superstar signing that needs to play every game because of sky high wages.

We desperately need to replace Pique, Busi, Raki and Suarez and there is no way we can pay for four superstar signings from rich clubs to replace those players. We have to focus on buying players from smaller clubs who already is performing at a high level who can hopefully reach elite level in a short period of time. If a player is not good enough to start for us now or need four years to become good enough, they are not for us.

 

[khaled_a_d]

We have to focus on buying players from smaller clubs who already is performing at a high level who can hopefully reach elite level in a short period of time.

So, players like Laporte.Kepa & VVD?
Smaller clubs are no more selling cheaply, you talk a lot about the new market we currently have and how we can't buy superstars etc, but you keep forgetting that now many if not most of most expensive players are sold from smaller clubs.
Players who have the whole world keeping an eye onto usually cost insane amount of money.

Let's not simply assume that their price will be the highest reported price in the tabloids.

It could actually cost more than highest reported price, Ajax sold Davinson with 48M+ when he wasn't even remotely hyped as De Ligt right now, and they had only Spurs making an offer.
Juve,Barca,City,Bayern,Spurs are all trying to sign De Ligt (and won't be surprised if Chelsea,Manu & RM enters the race) and he is hyped beyond any Ajax youngsters in past half decade. Ajax doesn't need money atm but need trophies. If they sell De Ligt it is more than likely will be for an insane "Laporte's" type of offer.

Sure, if he is costing 50M or less it changes the argument (although still a lot for a CB) but that is unlikely.

I agree with rest of your argument, we need to be smart and get players who can be starters in short time. But there is -again- legit concerns whether De Ligt or FDJ will be those guys if the rumored price is true. And whether they are ready to be starters in very short time (especially for De Ligt as we need immediate replacement for Pique)

 

[BarçaBarça]

So, players like Laporte.Kepa & VVD?
Smaller clubs are no more selling cheaply, you talk a lot about the new market we currently have and how we can't buy superstars etc, but you keep forgetting that now many if not most of most expensive players are sold from smaller clubs.
Players who have the whole world keeping an eye onto usually cost insane amount of money.



It could actually cost more than highest reported price, Ajax sold Davinson with 48M+ when he wasn't even remotely hyped as De Ligt right now, and they had only Spurs making an offer.
Juve,Barca,City,Bayern,Spurs are all trying to sign De Ligt (and won't be surprised if Chelsea,Manu & RM enters the race) and he is hyped beyond any Ajax youngsters in past half decade. Ajax doesn't need money atm but need trophies. If they sell De Ligt it is more than likely will be for an insane "Laporte's" type of offer.

Sure, if he is costing 50M or less it changes the argument (although still a lot for a CB) but that is unlikely.

I agree with rest of your argument, we need to be smart and get players who can be starters in short time. But there is -again- legit concerns whether De Ligt or FDJ will be those guys if the rumored price is true. And whether they are ready to be starters in very short time (especially for De Ligt as we need immediate replacement for Pique)

I agree with you. I don't see prices for hyped young players dropping (de Ligt and de Jong fits that category perfectly).
Smaller clubs has come to money, and don't like being pushed around, and therefore prices are insane. To me the 130M for both, which are rumoured wouldn't be a surprising demand from Ajax. Both of the extended their contracts less than a year ago, and have 3/4 years left, so it is hard to have any leverage on Ajax.

 

[soul24rage]

Considering the current market, their age, their potential, the need to improve CB and CM positions and the fact that they have 3-4 years left on their contract, 130M for both is a good deal imo.

 

[Jombi]

So, players like Laporte.Kepa & VVD?
Smaller clubs are no more selling cheaply, you talk a lot about the new market we currently have and how we can't buy superstars etc, but you keep forgetting that now many if not most of most expensive players are sold from smaller clubs.
Players who have the whole world keeping an eye onto usually cost insane amount of money.

Superstars from PSG, City, Man U and Chelsea will be more expensive than players from smaller selling clubs. We dont have 600m euros lying around to buy Kane, De Bruyne, Van Dijk, Verratti etc. Plenty of smaller clubs are selling at far lower prices than huge clubs with no reason to sell. Small clubs need money and their players want to move just as in the past. Nothing has changed in that respect. Selling clubs obviously sell their starters to rich clubs more often. We dont sell our starters unless forced to like Neymar. Its not odd that several of the most expensive players are from smaller clubs give the overall amount of money in the market.

If De Jong and De Ligt are not good enough to play for us until 2023, they are of course useless for us. We should buy players who can improve our squad, not develop players for four years. If their reported price continues to skyrocket further with every passing month, and we are to believe the tabloid prices, we should of course look elsewhere.

 

[Ronaldinho10]

Considering the current market, their age, their potential, the need to improve CB and CM positions and the fact that they have 3-4 years left on their contract, 130M for both is a good deal imo.

Thats if you can get them in that price whose to say Ajax will not up the price again?