End of season 3 review

So I’d say season 3 was concluding at level par from the starting expectations, finishing 8th in the league may be a slight disappointment to some, a run of 3 draws at the end costing us the chance to finish a little higher. Although looking at the quality of the squads in front of us there’s no automatic claim to have finished higher. Our cup credentials held up really well. The semi finals of the EFLO cup and the quarter finals of the League Cup saw us succumb to Liverpool and Spurs respectively. We’ve shown ourselves to be adaptable to changes in formation and tactics and we got some good results when we’ve set up for specific sides. Successive draws against Spurs and Liverpool showed we can play with much more discipline than we ever used to.

In terms of individual players A_Ahmedov bagged 35 goals in his maiden EFLO season, although his scoring rate slowed significantly in the second half of the season, Lucas_Moura showed he was an excellent foil and returned a personal record of 18 goals for the season. The midifeld unit showed their creative prowess, Evan_Tutal, T_Baart and J_Jaggernath returning 9, 8 and 7 assists respectively. Question marks may sit against J_Valencia though, 36 matches with no assist and a solitary goal is not the kind of returns expected of a 31 rated winger.

In defence 17 year old centre half and skipper S_V_Der_Sloot has made a massive difference, 8 clean sheets in the league this season a great return and A_Onana developing into a keeper on merit with the other top goalies.

The club structure continues to develop well, the Johan Cryuff arena is now holding 75,000 fans and the clubs finances have been nurtured up to 70m from 20m early in the season. We’ve had 5 teenagers off in the development league. French defensive duo Lacroix and Larouci have done really well, versatile centre mid Gravenberch contributing at both ends of the pitch. Centre forward Traore returns as the top rated striker and Marega also in a position to challenge for first team credentials.

Next season continues to show promise for the future, with 8 teenagers starting the season rated 28+ and another 9 players 20-21 years old the feeling that Ajax will have their day is quietly growing, but the fans will be hoping that there is some form of silver wear to come in season 4.