After a four-season absence, record-Dutch champions Ajax are once again playing Champions League football, but unlike on the previous occasion they are outside contenders instead of just being there to make up the numbers.
No one is expecting Erik ten Hag’s men to go all the way such is the fixed hierarchy of European club football, it’s now 14 years since a club from outside Europe’s ‘big five’ leagues has reached the final, but they’ve incredibly given themselves a chance of reaching the final four after stunningly dumping out the reigning champions Real Madrid.
A seismic moment in recent European football club football history, and one cannot underestimate the size of their success, especially going into the lion’s den trailing 2-1 on aggregate. Ajax’s incredible 1-4 victory at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, which has subsequently put everyone on notice, stems largely from the good work done last summer.
Not only did the Amsterdammers retain their crown jewels (i.e. Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong) sporting director Marc Overmars opened the cheque book and recruited smartly. Daley Blind, for example, brings invaluable experience to his boyhood club as well as bolstering their game following the development he made at Manchester United.
He wasn’t Ajax’s only marquee signing. The powers that be in Amsterdam after giving last season’s player of the year Hakim Ziyech their blessing regarding a departure acquired the services of Serbian playmaker Dusan Tadic from Southampton.
However, there was a snag, Ziyech – despite oozing class – wasn’t picked up. AS Roma and Everton were both linked, but neither tickled his fancy. No problem, if anything it keeps them strong (which has made their domestic rivals wary), as well as allowing manager Erik ten Hag to flex his tactical muscles.
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Both, left-footed deep-lying forwards (or number 10s), have quickly established themselves as the club’s newest royal pair. Tadic, who subsequently inherited Ziyech’s number 10 jersey (a prerequisite before signing), has either played from the left flank – with license to drift – or as we’ve predominantly seen in Europe as a false nine to devastating effect.
Ziyech, back to wearing ’22’ the number he donned as Ajax reached the 2017 Europa League final, has rotated between playing a wing role (opposite Tadic) or floating behind the striker. A player of great repute, albeit by Dutch standards, the Moroccan international has in the past drawn comparisons with Mesut Özil due to his acumen and effortless finesse.
His preference to “make a decisive pass rather than score” has earned Ziyech the moniker ‘assist king’. No one created more Eredivisie goals (15) than him last season, and he’s picked up this campaign from where he left off. Of their 82 goals across Ajax’s opening 23 league matches Ziyech has been directly involved in 23 (scoring 14, three of those coming in a 8-0 home league win over De Graafschap, and registering nine assists). Stride for stride Ziyech – playing some of his best football including scoring against Real Madrid home and away – is being matched by his new partner in crime Tadic.
To say the ex-Saint, a streetwise footballer, has hit the ground running is a gross understatement. No stranger to Dutch football, where he still is fondly remembered at FC Groningen and FC Twente, he’s so far been involved in 41 goals (scoring 26 himself and creating a further 15) across 40 matches in all competitions. It means he’s averaging a goal involvement every 83 minutes.
Les tops/flops de Real Madrid – Ajax Amsterdam : https://t.co/ukxzrOAV2y#RMAAJA pic.twitter.com/WsHKe9wXeH
— L'ÉQUIPE (@lequipe) March 5, 2019
His best work has really come in Europe, playing as the aforementioned false nine, he’s Ajax’s leading scorer in the Champions League proper with six goals, a feat last registered in the club’s colours by Jari Litmanen during the 1995/96 season when Louis van Gaal’s side reached a second consecutive final. Tadic’s virtuous performance at the Bernabéu, scoring and creating two more (featuring his first ever assist for a Ziyech goal), earned him a rare ‘perfect 10’ score by reputed French publication L’Équipe.
Goals and creativity to one side it’s their positional and pressing game that is slowly making Ten Hag’s side a daunting experience for those facing them. Ziyech, in particular, currently averages 1.8 tackles won per 90 minutes in the league. This dynamic partnership has fundamentally been the cornerstone behind Ajax’s breakthrough in European football’s premier club competition as well as their chase for a domestic double. A final on May 5 for the Dutch Cup against Willem II secured de Godenzonen will be Eredivisie champions if they win their remaining league fixtures.
Tadic and Ziyech, if anything, symbolise the slick collective spirit Ten Hag has forged. After all football is a team game and the pair are just two pieces on a chess board. Whoever ends up facing Ajax in the quarterfinals will know there are in for a game. Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, who share five of the last six European Cups, can attest.
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