AFC Ajax: Developing tomorrow's superstars, today

KillerRoo

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AFC Ajax Developing tomorrow's superstars, today

Hello and welcome to my first Football Manager story.
In this story I will be taking control of Dutch powerhouse Ajax.
I will be attempting to replicate Ajax's fantastic youth development.
In order to do this, I will only be allowed to make 1 signing of a player over the age of 22.

As I am fairly new to FM and Story writing, please feel free to give me tips along the way.



Meet The Manager

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Malaka Papadopoulos
Signed by Olympiacos at a young age, Papadopoulos was titled "The Next Karagounis".
Sadly however the young Greek suffered a career-ending injury in his 4th league game.
During his injury, Papadopoulos decided to gain his coaching licenses and has since received his Continental Pro License.


Meet The Players

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Nemanja Gudelj, 23

A fairly young but talented Center Defensive Mid.
Will surely find himself starting most games if he is consistent.


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Davy Klaassen, 22

Another young and talented player. Will be utilized as a Central Attacking Mid.
Is currently generating major interest from the likes of Tottenham and Napoli.


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Jasper Cillessen, 26

A solid Goalkeeper who still has many years to offer to the club.


The Current Wonderkids

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Che Nunnely, 16

A personal favourite, I have seen the beast he can become.
Will be looking to have him playing as an Attacking Winger.


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Abdelhak Nouri, 18

Another player who I have seen become an amazing player in only a couple seasons.
I will be looking to play him in cup games to get him ready for the first team.



I could go through Ajax B and the U19's and show every single player as they all have huge potential. But I shall leave it with just those 2.

In my next update I will show some transfers and hopefully a few friendly matches.
 
Am currently doing an ajax save myself,only signing two u18s per season if i need to(which personally i dont think is needed)and its going well.first season won super cup,dutch cup and eredivisie and managed to reach the first knockout round in champions league.mate you are right,che nunnely is a magician,he is one of our key players and will only get better plus de ligt can become amazing.To get to the point,my save is all about ajax youth academy and whilst i expect to rack up league titles its the champions league that is the achievement here.wish you all the best with your save
 
Cheers guys, hope we can make something of this


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TRANSFERS

So a couple transfers have been made.
I was only given a $4,000,000 Transfer budget to work with
All transfers are shown from their upfront fee.

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Lincoln, 16
Gremio - $1,000,000

Lincoln is a well known wonderkid in the FM community.
At only 16 years of age, Lincoln can find himself as a key First Team player by the time he is 18.
Lincoln will be joining us on the 1st of January as he is too young.



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Saviour Godwin, 18
KV Oostende - $2,500,000

Saviour already posses some good traits, however I will be placing him on the loan list to hopefully get him First Team football elsewhere. I am looking forward to utilizing his pace down the wing.



FRIENDLIES


Ajax v Ajax 'B'
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2-1
PoM: Lasse Schone, 0 Goals, 1 Assist
A Brace from Arkaduisz Milik helped us secure a win against the 'B' team.
Statistically we were the better team, but we struggled to break the young defense.


Ajax v Anderlecht
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0-0
PoM: Silvio Proto
I think when the opposition keeper receives the Player of he Match it shows who was the better team.
Statistically the game was very even, however we defiantly deserved to win this one.


FRIENDLY CUP

SEMI

Ajax v AGF
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2-1
PoM: Lasse Schone, 0 Goals, 1 Assist
A very early goal from a free kick gave us a confident start to the match.
However Veltman being sent off from 2 early yellows certainly didn't make the task any easier.
Fischer put us back into the lead just before half time and the boys defended strongly to secure a place in the final.



FINAL

Ajax v Zenit
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0-2
PoM: Artem Dzyuba, 2 Goals, 0 Assits
Zenit proved to be the fitter team as they scored 2 late goals.
Our finishing was quite poor in this game, we certainly should have tested the keeper more than we did.


Champions League Qualifying Phase Draw

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Drawing Fenerbahce in the Qualifying Phase certainly places us as the favourites, but they are not a team to take lightly. With players like Robin van Persie and Nani, we could be facing a tough two legs


Coming Up

We have 3 more friendlies to be played as well as our Champions League Qualifiers before we kick off the league. 1 or 2 more transfers still need to be finalized and I need to find a way to make these photos more visible (please help)
 
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TRANSFER


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Jonathan Cristaldo, 26
SEP - $600,000
I have gone ahead and used my one transfer of a player over 22 on Cristaldo.
While I'm sure I could have used that 600k elsewhere, I am confident that Jonathan can help mentor the youngsters we have in our first team.


FRIENDLIES



Piacenza v Ajax
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0-3
PoM: Arkadiusz Milik
Another brace from Milik as he is proving his spot in the starting line-up.
Absolutely dominated the game, allowing only 1 shot on target to win our first game away from home.


Basaksehir v Ajax
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2-5
PoM: Doka Madureira, 2 Goals, 0 Assists
One minute after conceding, Cristaldo scores in his first game in an Ajax shirt.
Outstanding performance as we came from behind to decimate our opponents.
18 year old Zivkovic gets a special mention for grabbing a nice brace.


FC Libourne v Ajax
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0-3
PoM: Lasse Schone, 1 Goal, 1 Assist

Another fantastic preseason display. All goals came from some beautiful team play.
Great to see that we have many goalscorers in our team at such a young age.


COMING UP

We have both legs of our Champions League Qualifiers against Fenerbahce to be played, as well as one more friendly before we kick off our first league game against AZ
 
Sorry for the delay, Uni Exams are coming up so the last week was hectic.




CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUALIFIER

Ajax v Fenerbahce
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2-0
PoM: Lasse Schone, 1 Goal, 1 Assist

A good result for the first leg.
We struggled to break the strong Fenerbahce defence, however just before half time, Schone puts a fantastic corner in on the front post that Veltman puts into the back of the net with a solid first time volley. We were lucky to not concede with Cillessen making 2 amazing one on one saves. It was a pretty quiet second half up until the 68th minute when Schone beautifully placed a side-foot shot into the bottom right corner from the edge of the box.


Feberbahce v Ajax
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0-1
PoM: Ricardo van Rhijn, 0 Goals, 1 Assist

A game we didn't even look like losing. We scored early, only taking 16 minutes for Milik to score a nice header to chip the keeper. Having scored one, Milik was very keen for another. He managed to hit the crossbar twice before half time. Schone also managed an amazing freekick into the crossbar. Another well deserved win to take us into the Best Place Play off.



CHAMPIONS LEAGUE BEST PLACED PLAYOFF DRAW


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We draw Lazio
A very strong Serie A team having come 3rd last season. I do however think we can come out on top.





 
I had some problems with my previous save, so I had to redo the last 2 games and the Champions league draw, It took me a but but I've managed to keep everything pretty much the same just with a difference in goal difference.

I have decided to post 1 update per game so I can write more detailed posts. If this isn't efficient please tell me I am still learning.




Eredivisie
Game 1

Ajax v AZ
We start off the season with a away game against AZ. A team that is consistently toward the top of the table. I am very confident coming into this game, we have a very solid squad with no injuries and no fitness concerns. We also have had a very consistent run in our preseason games.

Our line up:

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We will be running with a 4-2-3-1 Wide formation today, one of my personal favourites. We will be playing fairly attacking football with Klaassen playing as a shadow striker.

1st Half:

The first 30 minutes go past with little to no action. We are getting into the attacking third but it breaks down before we can make anything of it.

That is until Jairo Riedewald makes an attacking play down the left flank, he overlaps Fischer and receives a great through ball. Rhijn takes one touch before whipping it into the front post, where Milik beats the keeper to it and cracks it in back of the net with a great half volley to put us up 1-0 in the 40th Minute.

Only 4 minutes later we break again. Milik drops onto the halfway line to receive a pass from Davy Klaassen. Milik holds it up as Klaassen makes his run, with one quick turn Milik plays a beautiful chip through ball that lands perfectly for Klaassen who takes two touches before placing it into the bottom left corner. 2-0

2nd Half:

With nothing but positive things to say at half time, the boys come out looking strong. We dominate in possession making some dangerous attacking plays but failing to find the net.

In the 59th minute, Arkadiusz Milik gets taken down a couple yards outside the box, the free-kick is given. Lasse Schone steps up to take it. Nothing short of perfection follows, only a 3 step run up, Schone connects beautifully with the ball. It soars over the 5 man wall and finds its way perfectly into the top left corner. No keeper in the world could have saved that one. 3-0

For the next 30 minutes we fell under the gun, AZ did not drop their heads and give up, the were pushing to get something back. However, our defense remained stronger, not allowing anything to get through.

Jasper Cillessen was called on to make a great 1 on 1 save in the 90th minute to prove that we dominated in every department today.

Full time:

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PoM: Arkadiusz Milik, 1 Goal, 2 Assists





 
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Eredivisie
Game 2

Ajax v Willem II

We face Willem II in our second league game, a team that often places at the lower end of the table and has been relegated a couple of times in the past few years. This is a game we should take 3 points from comfortably.

Line up:

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4-2-4 Wide
With out Lazio game in 2 days I have decided to rest a couple players. Klaassen is replaced by Cristaldo as we play with 2 up top this week. Zivkovic takes Milik's spot and Fischer is replaced by Sinkgraven.

1st Half:
Straight from the kick off we push forward, some beautiful 1-2 football from our strikers sees Zivkovic in on goal, he connects nicely, gets it around the keeper and it smashes against the post and is cleared off the line. A good start.

Willem II win a 18 minute corner. It gets put on the 6 yard box where Cillessen leaps and punches the ball forward, Schone gets in on the edge of the box and powers forward. Upon beating one of the last two defenders, he gets taken down just past the half way line, free kick.
Our boys set up on the edge of the box, Nemanja Gudelj whips it. Sinkgraven loses his man and finds himself closing on the ball on the corner of the six yard box, he takes one touch and places it into the near corner. 1-0

3 minutes later, we win a corner, Schone gives it short to Jonathan Cristaldo, who plays a lovely cross in to Richairo Zivkovic who beats the defenders trying to push for an offside trap, Zivkovic hits it on the half volley straight into the top right corner. 2-0

2nd Half:
In an effort to keep the boys fit for the Lazio game, we played some possession football. We managed to restrict the number of shots on target to a very low 1, and managed to hit the crossbar 3 times in the space of 4 minutes from fantastic attacking play.

Full Time:
Although we could have scored a couple more goals, I am happy with the performance. The 3 players I brought on to replace in the starting line up proved they deserved the call up and I will definitely be utilizing them more often.

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PoM: Nemanja Gudelj, 0 Goals, 1 Assist

 
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Justin Kluivert , Leeroy Owusu turn out very good mate!
 
Champions League Best Placed Playoff
First Leg

Lazio v Ajax

The last team in our way of reaching the Champions league. Lazio are a very strong Italian side, often at the top end of the table. Playing our first leg in Italy is going to be tough, we shall hope to get a result which we can cement at home in the second leg.

Line up:
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4-2-3-1 Wide

I have decided to go with the line up I used in Game week 1, hoping to get a similar result.


1st Half:
We begin the game dangerously, we push forward hard for the first 10 minutes but are unable to break the
back 4. In the 12th minute, Lazio push forward, a cracking shot from the edge of the box gets blocked by Bazoer, however the ball lands square for Miroslav Klose. Cillessen had been sent the wrong way with the first shot, he rushes back across his goals and makes an amazing one-handed save to keep us level.

By the 25th minute we were under the pump, we had only had 2 shots, none on target; Lazio had 6 on target.
We only seemed to prolong the inevitable with every save Cillessen made. It took 30 minutes before Lazio could get past the inform keeper. A dangerous cross was met by Felipe Anderson's head to put the Italians 1-0 up.

The boys dropped their head for the remainder of the half, Lazio capitalized, racking in another 7 shots. One which found the back of the net in the 44th minute. Felipe Anderson closed in on a rebound to put away his second goal of the game.


2nd Half:

The boys seemed aware they were not playing to the best of their ability and they came out ready to bounce back.

Clearly it was easier said than done. Lazio did not get complacent, they kept us under the pump and brought their total shots up to 25. Ours stayed at a measly 4.

Full Time:
A game we never looked like winning. We came hoping to get a result we could defend at home but it looks like we will need to be at our best to get the much needed goals. Training will be intense and spots are up for grabs for the second leg.

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PoM: Antonio Candreva, 0 Goals, 2 Assists
 
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