How a Soccer Star is Made--- A view of an American on the Ajax System

[House of Flies]

As described by the title, this article is a journey of an american journalist who visits the famed Ajax system which has brought us the likes of Crujff, van der Vaart, Sneijder, Seedorf, Kluivert, Bergkamp, van der Sar and many others that have brought joy of Oranje in our lives.

The journalist compares the system of Ajax to the system that is practiced in North America and draws many conclusions out of it. We are also introduced to an upcoming Ajax product, van der Wiel, a right back, who is already considered to be a breakthrough star of this upcoming World Cup It is a must read for people who love the game.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/magazine/06Soccer-t.html?pagewanted=1&ref=homepage&src=me

 

[barca96]

good find!
but why is this in the playa's section?

 

[House of Flies]

cause it was about players lol.

but yeh, it was an excellent article.

loved the bit when he was talking to little kids about ajax

 

[Super Pippo]

good find!
but why is this in the playa's section?

Because life is a beach.

 

[Raed]

I read 5 pages, its quite interesting.

 

[beef-supreme]

Because life is a beach.

Lol.

 

[Raed]

It is nice to see someone interview these kids to illustrate that mercenary-ism and emotional detachment is bread in kids at a young age. We are often outraged at players but in reality it is the environment they train makes them that way.

 

[House of Flies]

exactly raed. in North America, you are born and bred to be a part of a team hence stunting their growth... however as highlighted by that article, the Ajax academy kids only care about where they are heading when it comes to their career.

Its so interesting.

 

[dotSC]

I read this the other day from start to finish. Long, but good stuff. I wish there was a similar article on Barca, though.

In the U.S. we have so far to go, our sports culture is just not set up to churn out high quality talent at the rate we should. It's sad because we have kids with the potential. For instance, there is a kid in Hawaii that is scarily similar to a young Messi (skills, growth hormone deficiency, and all) but the coaching isn't up to par. It looks like it's going to be a couple of generations before we can consistently produce quality field players.

 

[Super Pippo]

Lol.

That gag was always a high risk one, it required someone to know Spanish and appreciate my weirdness. Thanks Peter.

 

[beef-supreme]

That gag was always a high risk one, it required someone to know Spanish and appreciate my weirdness. Thanks Peter.

Hahha i guess it was so bad that it was good

 

[Super Pippo]

I do love a shit joke.