Inside AFC Ajax Academy - Notes from a visit to De Toekomst

One year ago, we had the privilege to be in Amsterdam at the International Course Weekend promoted by Ajax AFC. In three days we made workshops, we saw training sessions, we saw few matches – “Twin Games”, U8, U11, U17 and the senior squad - and we learnt a lot from one of the best football academies in the world.

With this post we want to expose the ideas and believes of the Dutch club, their particularly philosophy that helps them to be one of the most profitable academy in the world.

Besides the development of the players by itself, Ajax it is also known and recognise to have the ability to make a fantastic work in the Scouting area. In the first workshop of the curse, they show us their ideas about the process of talent identification and recruitment.

Ajax younger team – the U8 class – is made up only with scouted players in schools from Amsterdam and surroundings. Everything starts with scouting work!

However, to structure, it is very important that scouts know the level of skills of their players before making an efficient rating of players from the other clubs.

The mainly things that a Ajax Scout search in a football player are the ball mastery, the focus and commitment to the Game, and the fun and joy that the player express when he is in the field. Also, Ajax Scouts gives preference to younger and national players. Beyond this specific profile, talent-searchers seek players that can be capable to play in more than one position on the field.

However, in younger teams, club does not give much importance to playing positions. In that age group, Ajax uses volleyball system to rotate playing positions, giving the children opportunities to experiment different tasks in the field.

The Ajax Scouting system gives a lot of importance to their network. Scouts receive information about talented players and sometimes clubs approach themselves to the scout to present their “wonderkids”.

Grassroots clubs linked with Ajax use their training methodology to help the progression of their wonderkids.

Ajax Scout makes them observations even in training sessions, during the weekly practice.

One of the most beautiful challenges to an Ajax Scout is the ability to predict and to imagine how the player will play in the next three years - period of time determined by scouting department. In other words, Ajax Scout needs to be able to divine the development and capacity in the near future.

One interesting curiosity that Ajax notice in the last few years is the fact that most young players came from poor social background. In their system, they have a lot of players which came from immigrant community, especially from Surinamese, Moroccan and Ghanaian communities.

In this way, club has much concern with parents, giving much importance to the moment of their approach when they are trying to recruit their children. In this particularly point, usually, Ajax has a fantastic relationship with African parents when they want to brought them children to the club. However, when bigger clubs tries to “fish” this Ajax wonderkids, normally the club looses them too. It seams that African parents are very easy to persuade. In the last years, Bobby Adekanye (Nigerian descendent, to Barcelona) and Timothy Fosu-Mensah (Ghanaian descendent, to Manchester United) are good examples of this.   

When everything goes well about the identification of a good player and he is invited to go on trial, he needs time to adapt to the greatness of Ajax. Especially, when he comes from a very small club. 

The core business of Ajax is its Youth Academy. Most people in the club work for its success, trying to improve and develop it every day. That is why if players don’t reach the top and/or first team, something fails in the process. Not players but the programme, coaches or scouts are responsible for that fails.

Academy’s staff helps its players to create a path for the case of club released them. They are the first to worry about the players future when they leave the club.

The organizational structure of the club is based on a horizontal model and is divided in three age groups: U8-12, U13-16 and U17-19.

At the time we were on the course, Ajax had the following directors:

U8/U12 – Michel Hordijk; U13/U16 – Patrick Ladru; U17/U19 – Said Ouaali;

Head of Talent Development – Ruben Jongkind;

Data Analyst – Patrick Oudejans;

Scouting – Jesper van Leewen

Study – Ger Boer

Physical Performance – Gavin Benjafield

Mental Performance – Derk de Kloet

Children recruited to the younger teams - U8 and U9 classes - are the ones who gave more profits to the club when they are sold. Normally they achieve higher performances compared to later recruited players.

Ajax considers the U13-16 stage as the most difficult to work. Parents decide in earlier ages, but at this stage players start to build their personality. Beyond psychological side, body begins to change too. Coordination, flexibility, agility needs to be worked on to adjust body transformation.

At Ajax Academy, when we talking about U8 to U14 teams it is believed that development of players is more important than results. The means to come to an end it’s always the most important. That’s why U17 and U19 teams are based and have their focus on the performance.

However, U18 team is formed to give some players a second chance. To prove they are good enough to continue in the development programme. Players who are recovered from injuries make part of this specific team, too. 

Coaches are chosen taking into account the specificities of each group. They don’t work in different age groups. However, every six weeks coaches rotate inside the age group, being responsible of one team during a six week block.

All teams from the academy uses size 5 footballs. Even the younger teams use size 5 footballs, but in that case it has height adjustment. However, footballs characteristics are so specific even the official sponsor can´t build it for younger teams. For them, instead of Adidas, Ajax uses a brand called Derbystar with unique weight and size adjustments.

Quality of the ball is so relevant that only some models are picked up to use in training sessions: Derbystar, Adidas Passadena and Adidas Rosario. 

Youth players train in different surfaces. They have training sessions in greenfield, sand, concrete and artificial turf. With this choice, coaches aim to stimulate neuronal plasticity of their players, in particular on the younger ones.

Commitment has a crucial role at De Toekomst. It is instilled from an early age. For example, if the player arrives late, it is he who must call to the coach, not he’s parent, and has been through telephone call, not by text message.

Also, was told to us that when a kid needs to go to the 75^th grandma anniversary or some event like that, Ajax doesn’t allow it. It’s all about commitment. 

Anthropometric measures are used in the academy to know if a kid has a stress situation. Results gave crucial data to technical staff act on the player and on the environment that surrounds him.

Ajax provides guidelines about nutrition to players parents with the intention of improving the eating habits of the player and also his entire family.

Ajax was the first club to introduce “Twin Games”. This concept tries to bring to the academy a lot of rules from “street football”.

Random team is invited to play against an academy team who is in league break. There, the players from both teams are divided into two fields and play each other. It can be a 8x8, 9x9, 7x7 match, depending on the number of players that both teams have.

There are no referees and coaches can’t step in or send feedbacks to their players. Players have to self-organize on the pitch adapting their tasks on the number of players that a match can be.

Holland in general and Ajax in particular are very well known to generate talented players. Mainly, when we talk about their ball mastery and their technical ability to “connect” with the ball. In the Talent Development workshop we learned some peculiarities that make Ajax so special.

Team or Individual Development? At De Toekomst it is an ongoing discussion. There are pros and cons to favour one view rather than the other, so it’s better to try to develop both individual and collective sides.

Again, there is an age division to facilitate the development process: 

U9 – focus in the process of Individual Development;

U13 – introduction of Talent Development;

U16 – confusing phase because of puberty;

U17 – specialization in field positions. Speed tests are made to help selecting the best position to players.

Internationally known TIPS is an acronym introduced by Louis Van Gaal to simplify his vision about a good quality football player:

·         T from Technique symbolizes ball mastery;

·         I from Insight represents football intelligence and field awareness;

·         P from Personality is based on creativity, initiative, responsibility, risk taker of a player;

·         S from Speed represents acceleration, fast turning and natural speed.

If the player does not show these four areas does not have the minimum requirements to play at Ajax.

Ajax suggests when your team gets a throw in, put your best player throwing in.  This choice creates more problems for other players.

All kids “should have an equal opportunity to develop their talents”. It’s why that just 42 players are registered in 3 different teams, to give them a chance to play.

To introduce heading technique on younger teams coaches teach their players to head the ball seated. Then, children practice heading technique standing on their knees. And finally, with acquired bases, they train standing up. 

In tactical terms, the distance between players is one of the behaviours most worked at the club. The club believes that this positional relationship allows players to be more effective in their playing actions either when you’re attacking or defending.

Department of physical performance have athletics former world champions among those responsible for the training of motor skills. Much of the physical train is done in an outdoor space, quite colourful and enjoyable to train. One of the most valued behaviours in this department is the running technique. In particular the way as the foot touches the ground. Studies in the academy say that your speed can increase 2 at 10% just with changes of running technique.

Apart from the importance given to their players, Ajax also has a very great concern about their Coaches, about their role at the club and how they’re helping the programme.

For Ajax, manager needs to dominate training and coaching. Top managers need to be excellent as at least one.

Ajax believes that if parents aren’t at the school classrooms, they shouldn’t send feedbacks and talk with their child at the training sessions and in the matches, too. Learning process is up to the coaches, not to parents! 

Take the changing rooms things inside of changing rooms, even in the youth teams. It is not healthy to anyone –club, player, coach - that group’s problems come out of the changing room.

In the match-day, on the side-line, the role of the coaches is to influence players that have not the ball. In other words, the coach’s feedback has to be sent on the teammate who is helping the player with the ball. This behaviour is crucial to not limit the decisions of the player with the ball who needs to think freely.

Coaches’ behaviour needs to be equal when you’re winning or loosing. Is not fair that coaches adjust their conduct depending on match result. It’s essential that they always standing up in a positive posture.  

It is important to be a clown once in a while, and uses reverse psychology in the training process. Training session has to be a funny and happy thing. Players need to be smiling and focus at the same time. At the academy, coaches put funny on the warming up games.

Ajax has preoccupations about social conflicts that happen between a few ethnic groups. Amsterdam is a very multicultural city with a lot of different immigrant communities, including some groups that are in war on their countries of origin. Ajax coaches must be able to minimize any conflict that may be in the players.

Ajax thinks that KNVB needs to focus on the Grassroots Football and not only the elite. It is Grassroots Football who needs more help, not the Eredivisie and Jupiler League teams.

Frank de Boer, the first team coach, knows well every player from the U17 team. In the match that we’re present, Frank de Boer was also there in the assistance. He considers essential that the first team coach has a deep knowledge about the youth players.

Ajax have meeting to discuss the future of youth academy for the next 5 and 10 years. At De Toekomst they believe in a long term development approach, always trying to improve their efforts.

Obviously we would rather have stayed in De Toekomst for an entire season (at least). However, it was undoubtedly one of the best experiences and stages of learning that we were privileged to experience. We hope to visit others in the future...

We have chosen to write this post in English because that was the language used during the course.