Bringing AFC Ajax back to European glory

[dscherdieny]

Hello fellow FM enthusiasts! This is my first time posting in the forum and my first attempt telling the story of one of my saves. I've been a FM player for quite some years - since 2009/10 I think -, and always liked to read about other players stories, but never managed to write down one of my own. The reasons are probably the fact that I never went that much far into a save to be worth telling, apart from one FC Kobenhavn save in FM10 I guess which we lifted the Europa League trophy against Liverpool.

But now my time has come, as I've been playing an Ajax save since 2015. I don't know if that's the wrong place to post it, but since the FM15 forums seems to be quite dead by now, I thought it'd be best to post it here. Please let me know and move this story if any moderator feel like it should be moved. Let me explain some things and give some updates before starting my story:

• At this very day (feb. 2nd, 2018), my save is currently at November 12, 2023, having started at in-game time year 2014. So this means I have plenty of stuff to tell you guys, almost 10 years worth of football history.​

• I'm Brazilian, so I don't expect to write in top notch English, besides loving the idea of telling my story at Ajax I'll use this experience as a way of practicing the use of the language.

• Ever since I started playing FM I've always been fond of both Ajax and Kobenhavn, usually playing with both on every new installment of the game besides saves in the brazilian league. I don't really know why or when I started liking the clubs, but they are surely fun to manage in the game. To be honest, I never had a save with a big European club (i.e. Barcelona, Man Utd, Juventus), sticking mostly to these two clubs.​

• I'm not ashamed of admitting I used to cheat back in the days, reloading matches I lost and stuff. Now I see how stupid it is to fool myself and how the game is so much more fun when you have to deal with losses, players unhappy wanting to leave and stuff. This is another reason I never managed to write a story here, I'd just be posting about a fixed road to glory with an unlikely team and there's no pride in any of it. (also, it's such a unique feeling when your team pulls a comeback out of nowhere in a important match when you play with honesty lol!)​

• Some of you may know, but FM is no longer being sold in Brazil due to legal reasons. Even older versions have been removed from our brazilian steam store. That's why I'm still playing the 2015 installment up to this day, as it is the last one I managed to buy.

• And finally, I'm still playing this save, so who knows where the team will be when I reach 2023 here on this topic!

So, let's start talking about the club and presenting a bit of it's history:

View attachment 1145661​

(Excerpted from Wikipedia)

Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈaːjɑks]), also AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam. Historically, Ajax (named after the legendary Greek hero) has been the most successful club in the Netherlands, with 33 Eredivisie titles and 18 KNVB Cups. It has continuously played in the Eredivisie, the Dutch football top division, since its inception in 1956 and, along with Feyenoord and PSV, it is one of the country's "big three" clubs that have dominated that competition.


Ajax has historically been one of the most successful clubs in the world. According to the IFFHS, Ajax were the seventh-most successful European club of the 20th century and The World's Club Team of the Year in 1992.[4]​ According to German magazine Kicker, Ajax were the second-most successful European club of the 20th century. The club is one of the five teams that has earned the right to keep the European Cup and to wear a multiple-winner badge; they won consecutively in 1971–1973. In 1972, they completed the continental treble by winning the Eredivisie, KNVB Cup, and the European Cup. It also won the first organized UEFA Super Cup in 1972 against Glasgow Rangers (played in 1973). Ajax's last international trophies were the 1995 Intercontinental Cup, 1995 UEFA Super Cup and the 1995 Champions League, where they defeated Milan in the final; they lost the 1996 Champions League final on penalties to Juventus. In 1995, Ajax was crowned as World Team of the Year by World Soccer magazine.

Ajax is also one of four teams to win the continental treble and the Intercontinental Cup or Club World Cup in the same season/calendar year;[5]​ This was achieved in the 1971–72 season.[6]​ Ajax, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Manchester United are the five clubs to have won all three major UEFA club competitions.[7]​ They have also won the Intercontinental Cup twice, the 1991–92 UEFA Cup, as well as the Karl Rappan Cup, a predecessor of the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1962.[8]​ Ajax plays at the Amsterdam Arena, which opened in 1996. They previously played at De Meer Stadion and the Amsterdam Olympic Stadium (for international matches).

Ajax has managed to grab the league title 6 times in the past 15 years, but failed to lift the trophy in the past 3 editions of the Eredivisie and failed to reach group stage phase on Europa League after a shocking aggregate result of 4-2 against Norwegian side Rosenborg in the Play-offs, previously being knocked out on third qualifying round of Champions League against French side OGC Nice. This comes as a surprise following Ajax 2015/16 campaign to the Europa League Final, where they lost 2-0 to Manchester United. None of this happened in my save, as it starts in the year of 2014. Due to a transfer/league update I made prior to starting this save, current league champions are PSV, and in our last European season fans saw Ajax finish third in it's group in Champions League before being knocked out by Dnipro in the Round of 16 in Europa League.

Here's first team at day 1:

Position	Name
GK	Jasper Cillessen
GK	Diederik Boer
CB	Jairo Riedewald
CB	Joel Veltman
CB	Mike van der Hoorn
CB	Nick Viergever
CB	Damon Mirani
LB	Nicolai Boilesen
LB	Mitchell Dijks
RB	Ricardo van Rhijn
RB	Kenny Tete
CM	Lucas Andersen
CM	Nemanja Gudelj
CM	Lasse Schone
CM	Riechedly Bazoer
CM	Daley Sinkgraven
CM	Thulani Serero
CM	Davy Klaassen
CM	Abdelhak Nouri
RW	Robert Muric
RW	Anwar El Ghazi
LW	Amin Younes
LW	Vaclav Cerny
LW	Viktor Fischer
ST	Richairo Zivkovic
ST	Arkadiusz Milik

And I think we're all set to start this trip. Buckle up and in the next post let's analyze how the team did in it's first year and the transfer summaries. I'll probably go deeper into results and infos as I progress into the seasons, as I have very few data left to check for the past seasons (majorly results and who scored, my PC is kinda weak so I keep little cache available to store old data).

To make the story more enjoyable, I'll make up some newspaper articles about big transfers/match results, some press conferences once in a while and stuff. I'm really looking forward to writing this story and I hope to be able to post as soon as possible. Of course, I hope you guys enjoy the ride too! See you next!

 

[dscherdieny]

2014/15 SEASON

Alright, so we started the 2014/15 season with a few friendly matches. Our first match of course had to be against Ajax B, so players could be evaluated and everyone have their chance to impress me.

View attachment 67800​

First team controlled the game and won 2-0. El Ghazi performance impressed as He scored the first goal of the match and gave assistance to van der Hoorn score the second. Notably, Donny was sent off after a way too harsh tackle considering the match was only a pre-season training.

Ajax played 5 friendly matches in the pre-season. First match occurred July 7th​ against French semi-professional side Beauvais. The match took place in France and ended with a meager 2-1 result after a good start where Ajax managed to score twice within the first 6 minutes. Unfortunately the team struggled to create good chances for the rest of the match, even conceding a goal to the French club before half time.

View attachment 67799

​

El Ghazi again was the man of the match, scoring a brace and securing a win for the club. Considering it’s only pre-season’s first official match, let’s give the boys a break and see how they perform next.

View attachment 67798

​

An unexpected heavy loss against Cruz Azul marked the 9th​ of July of that year. The Mexicans travelled 9,200 kilometers from Mexico City to Amsterdam and faced an apathetic Ajax, way too lost in the pitch to avoid conceding 5 goals in 90 minutes. The match raised concerns about the players and besides the first meager result against Beauvais some changes seemed to be necessary to be made.
After some trainings and twitches to the formation and line-up, Ajax was set to travel to Portugal, where Estoril awaited to face Netherlands runner-ups only 3 days after the heavy 5-0 loss to Cruz Azul. Ajax struggled again to perform well but Viktor Fischer managed to score a single goal and help the dutch claim a victory.

View attachment 67797

​

Ajax then went straight to Russia, where they’d face Anzhi Makhachkala on July the 19th​. The match ended goalless, Ajax once again struggling to create good chances but significantly better at the defense after Nick Viergever took place of van der Hoorn beside Veltman as a starter.

View attachment 67796

​

The last friendly took place back in France, against Evian TG, 7 days after the clash against the Russian side. Ajax finally managed to perform well and ended with a 4-1 victory to start the season in a good mood.

View attachment 67795

​

El Ghazi and Viktor seemed the obvious choice to the wings after the pre-season, scoring most of the club goals after 5 matches. Schone also shined against the French side, being the man of the match.

Definitive first team at the start of the season was: Cillessen (GK), Boilesen (LB), Veltman and Viergever (CB), van Rhijn (RB), Schone (DM), Klaassen and Gudelj (CM), Fischer (LW), El Ghazi (RW) and Milik (ST).

Worries about Milik and his lack of goals, alongside the shortage of attacking pieces in the club made the board start bringing some player to the squad.

View attachment 67794
· Finn Stokkers was the first signing, coming from 2nd​ tier Sparta Rotterdam. The 18 years old striker was under heavy scouting from clubs all over the country after good performances at such young age, getting promoted to the first team in his first spell at the club as a professional. Ajax secured the youngster after both clubs agreed on a €1.1m fee.​

View attachment 67802​

· Ajax also secured another promising player coming from Denmark, the 19 years old center back Jacob Dehn, from 2nd​ tier Danish club Vejle Boldklub for a €700k fee.

View attachment 67801​

· Also coming from Denmark, the 19 years old center forward Yones Felfel moved from FC Vestsjælland to Amsterdam for an undisclosed fee, said to be around €800k.

View attachment 67793​

· The first big signing for the first team was 24 years old Czech player Lukas Vacha from Sparta Praha. The central midfielder could play both as a box to box player and in a defensive role as a DM and was a regular at former club before they accepted a €3.3m offer from Ajax.

View attachment 67803​

· Finishing the first transfer window moves, arrived at the club the versatile Matus Bero. The Slovak 19 years old could play both as a right fullback and a defensive midfielder. The fee agreed by his former side and Ajax affiliated club AS Trenčín revolved around €1m. Albeit being just transferred to Ajax, the player soon departed to join another Slovak side, MFK Ružomberok to play as a starter and gain experience.

View attachment 67804​

· Ajax also bought rising star Valon Ahmedi from Slovenian club NK Celje. The 20 years old right winger was top performer and goalscorer for his club last season and had already attracted the attention from Slovenia’s biggest club Maribor, but decided to sign with Ajax for a fee of €2.2m. That was the NK Celje’s record transfer and made the headlines of most sports newspapers in Slovenia. As a part of the deal, Ajax agreed to loan the player back to NK Celje for the next season before he joined the dutch squad.


Leaving the club on loan, young goalkeeper Indy Groothuizen joined FC Den Bosch for the season to come.

The first match of the season was a decisive one already. Ajax would be facing Belgium’s runner-ups Club Brugge in the Best Placed third round of UEFA Champions League, the first tie drawn to be played away from home.

What to expect after a series of not-so-enthusiastic pre-season matches? We’ll see next post! Thanks for reading so far! Feedbacks are always welcome!