Euro: Champions League Semifinals

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Sanchez has two issues. His marking (or in some cases more defensive awareness - good example the goal conceded against West Ham) and brain farts.

Those two things aside he is sensational. But quite important for a CD to mark and avoid brain farts (ask Titus Bramble).

I haven’t given up on him, but he has a long way to go before he is good enough to play more for Spurs. Foyth is in my opinion already better. Not that one excludes the other. If Sanchez goes Rio Ferdinand and cleans up his game with age Spurs got to excellent young defenders on their hands.

Then why does Poch prefer starting Sánchez over Foyth? In your opinion.

 

[JaymzB]

. I think only Barca rivals their academy and scouting, you know.. the proper way of trying to reach success.

Oh, you mean Ajax south? Yeah they have a pretty good academy

I'd add Sporting Lisbon and Monaco right up there as well.

 

[bluesfan94]

Oh, you mean Ajax south? Yeah they have a pretty good academy

I'd add Sporting Lisbon and Monaco right up there as well.

I feel like Tottenham has to be considered Ajax South given that half their team is from there.

Barcelona is more like Ajax 2.0

 

[Machinehead]

When he scored following his eye injury, Firmino covered his eye.

Now he has a groin injury. What's he gonna do if he scores?

 

[Live in the Now]

When he scored following his eye injury, Firmino covered his eye.

Now he has a groin injury. What's he gonna do if he scores?

You know damn well the shorts are coming off.

 

[Machinehead]

You know damn well the shorts are coming off.

Tbh so are mine if we win the road leg.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

The guy was selling beer in the fountain, which is banned to start with, not that I think what the idiot did is fine but at least it was not some random person walking by

They also tripped another elderly men and hurled racial slurs at him. Times like these I wish Neymar was still here

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

You know damn well the shorts are coming off.

I think Liverpool in general will get pantsed.

 

[Albatros]

Barcelona is more like Ajax 2.0

Overrated because of a few prominent names. A lot of talent goes through their academy for sure, but only a couple of players in their current squad have made it from the academy. Athletic has by far the most efficient academy in Spain, but also Real Sociedad and Villarreal are pretty good.

On the other hand in the Netherlands many clubs have academies comparable to Ajax too, even if none can be said to be better.

 

[bluesfan94]

Overrated because of a few prominent names. A lot of talent goes through their academy for sure, but only a couple of players in their current squad have made it from the academy. Athletic has by far the most efficient academy in Spain, but also Real Sociedad and Villarreal are pretty good.

On the other hand in the Netherlands many clubs have academies comparable to Ajax too, even if none can be said to be better.

In terms of philosophy, though.

 

[YNWA14]

Super nervous for tomorrow. Hope it's an exciting game; would love to score a few.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Super nervous for tomorrow. Hope it's an exciting game; would love to score a few.

Well I’m sure you would. Like most LFC fans. Doubt it tho

 

[Savant]

1-1. Heard it here first

 

[Live in the Now]

2-1 Liverpool. Not seen a better Liverpool team.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

2-1 Liverpool. Not seen a better Liverpool team.

2 goals at the camp nou? I’ll take that bet.

 

[Live in the Now]

2 goals at the camp nou? I’ll take that bet.

Did it before with a team that wasn't particularly good. We shall see.

 

[les Habs]

Nice win for Ajax. They looked superb until the Vertonghen injury (hopefully he's OK, that didn't look good) which I think that delay disrupted the flow of the match. They were still pretty good in the second half, but they didn't create a lot of chances after the interruption from Vertonghen going off.

Aside from the first 20 minutes, this was not the way Ajax usually wins. Glad to see they can win these ugly battles as well. Blind, de Ligt and van de Beek were pretty much the only ones who reached their usual level of play. I thought Veltman and Schöne were weak links and I think Ten Hag will act on that in the return leg.

Yeah Schöne wasn't particularly good. Ziyech, de Jong, Tadic weren't either. Especially the second half. Probably the worst half I've seen them play this season. I think it's all connected. Schöne will remain in the starting 11, though. He's a valuable member when Ajax is in possession.

Ajax should've taken much more advantage today considering the fact the Spurs will field a better roster in Amsterdam. It's still entirely open who goes through.

For me and in no particular order Frenkie, Ziyech, van de Beek and Veltman stood out. I thought apart from Moura turning away from him Frenkie was fantastic.

Overrated because of a few prominent names. A lot of talent goes through their academy for sure, but only a couple of players in their current squad have made it from the academy. Athletic has by far the most efficient academy in Spain, but also Real Sociedad and Villarreal are pretty good.

On the other hand in the Netherlands many clubs have academies comparable to Ajax too, even if none can be said to be better.

So "overrated" but "a lot of talent goes through their academy for sure." OK. And only "a couple of players" in the current squad have made it from the academy? If you count players who have played this season and who are still at the club, the answer is eight. That's more than a couple. You've also got four consistent starters and another player who has started more than the player he rotates with. And I'd love to know all these other clubs the size of Barça, or not for that matter, who have all these academy players. That's not to mention the players who aren't there for various reasons who could and possibly should be in the squad right now, guys like Thiago, Bartra, Deulofeu and Grimaldo. On top of that not only is La Liga full of former La Masia players, but you see them at other clubs as well. So per usual you're wrong.

I'd love to hear how you're measuring Athletic Club, and it is Athletic Club and not "Athletic", as the most efficient academy in Spain. And since you obviously would never do it, to put Athletic Bilbao into context here they have a "Basque only" player policy.

 

[Ajacied]

I mean, they do develop and scout, but it’s not like they don’t spend. They don’t have the outlay that City or PSG or even Spurs (though Spurs have spent nothing this year basically), but to act like they don’t leverage being a big club over other smaller clubs to attract and get players is selling it a touch short.

There are a number of players they scoop up from smaller clubs or attract to their youth setup, partially because of track record, but also because they can afford to pay more for them or potentially pay them more.

They operate within their means, and they cycle much of what they’re going to get selling their young talents, but they’re not a complete minnow. It’s all relative and the gap between Ajax and their closest rival is surely closer than Ajax to City, but they’re certainly out performing their expectation. I think more of the surprise is based on how young some of their better players are and how many of them maybe had the potential to be great players, but probably in a bit. It seems they’re playing as a pretty good team right now.

I never said they don't spend, of course they do. Every team does at their own scale. The difference between them and big spending teams is that Ajax fields 5/6 youth players each and every game and they are complimented with about 5 players who were well scouted. Rarely costed the latter them more than 10M or even 5M. They absolutely broke the bank for Daley Blind at 17M, the highest paid fee in Ajax history and he was their own youth product. Name me the last team which fielded 6 youth players at these stages of the Champions League?

But Ajax can't afford to drop double digits on someone only to see him turning into a flop. They have to be very cautious and wise with their money and scout their targets much more vigorously than big teams do. Not to mention they have excellent scouts in south America and Scandinavia. When they spend money on someone, it usually ends up as a good buy. And hats of to them since most are still very young and have a lot of question marks to answer. They are having great success this season with results and money income. They want to stay competitive so I foresee some more money spending and perhaps misjudgements more so now than ever. Magallan might be the most recent example.

Being the richest club in their domestic league, it's easy to attract Eredivisie talent. I'm the first to say that they don't deserve much credit for that. They also have strong name, so bigger talents consider Ajax more easily over other teams and don't need much persuasion. Yet they also scout very actively in the 9-12 age group, which is their bread and butter. See who might have that Ajax DNA and develop them further within their own philosophy. Only 10% of the academy is scouted from 16 years or up. In the end, 86% goes on to have a professional career, not necessarily with Ajax of course. So that sets them apart from pretty much every big spending team already, or pretty much any other team. A fine example is how Ajax is up there with the best teams in the world on a consistent base, if not dominating, international youth tournaments in every age group.

 

[Ajacied]

For me and in no particular order Frenkie, Ziyech, van de Beek and Veltman stood out. I thought apart from Moura turning away from him Frenkie was fantastic.

Frenkie was pretty poor. Every paper grades him low as well. Tottenham had their entire game plan focussed on him and Tadic it seemed, they got no room and were continuously well guarded by 2/3 men and pressured. You could tell Pochettino wanted Veltman to have the ball and build up. He was the only one they rarely pressured.

 

[Albatros]

So "overrated" but "a lot of talent goes through their academy for sure." OK. And only "a couple of players" in the current squad have made it from the academy? If you count players who have played this season and who are still at the club, the answer is eight.

Messi, Busquets, Sergi Roberto, Carles Aleñà, Rafinha qualify as home grown, that's five players. Two of them were brought in from South America no less.

Eight is the answer for HG players at Real Madrid by the way.

 

[les Habs]

Frenkie was pretty poor. Every paper grades him low as well. Tottenham had their entire game plan focussed on him and Tadic it seemed, they got no room and were continuously well guarded by 2/3 men and pressured. You could tell Pochettino wanted Veltman to have the ball and build up. He was the only one they rarely pressured.

Actually one of the Barça papers graded Frenkie high as did WhoScored. I thought Frenkie did well with the pressure. A lot of one-touch passing and a couple of really nice examples of that. He also put in a defensive shift. For me was at worst good and not remotely poor. And just doing a quick google search I'm seeing that The Guardian, The Independent, Daily Mail, The Express and the BBC all rated De Jong's performance highly and are pretty much all in line including the first sources I mentioned. I'd say the average rating of the above is about a 7.9. I also just came across this:



Stats don't necessarily equal a good performance, but I just don't see how his performance can be remotely considered poor.

 

[les Habs]

Messi, Busquets, Sergi Roberto, Carles Aleñà, Rafinha qualify as home grown, that's five players. Two of them were brought in from South America no less.

Eight is the answer for HG players at Real Madrid by the way.

You missed Pique, Alba and Puig.

Which has nothing to do with what you posted, but don't let that stop you.

 

[Albatros]

You missed Pique, Alba and Puig.

No I didn't, none of those are HG players currently with the senior team.

 

[les Habs]

No I didn't, none of those are HG players.

They all are:

-Pique spent almost 7 years in La Masia after he joined at the age of about 10
-Alba spent almost 7 years in La Masia after he joined at the age of about 9
-Puig has spent almost 7 years in La Masia after he joined at the age of 13

 

[Albatros]

Puig may become one in the future, but he's currently a B-team player. Pique started his professional career with Manchester United and Alba with Valencia, Barcelona paid transfer fees for both.