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EXCLUSIVE
By Ashish Sharma Stefan Coerts

Ajax coach Frank de Boer has stated his belief that it is impossible for the Amsterdam outfit to compete with the top teams in England, Germany, Italy and Spain again following the changes in European football in the 21st Century.

The Eredivisie giants were one of the biggest teams in Europe midway through the 1990s as they won the Uefa Cup in ’92, lifted the Champions League trophy in ’95, and reached the final again the following year.

However, Ajax have been unable to reproduce their successes from the 20th Century in the wake of the Bosman ruling and De Boer feels that the reigning Dutch champions have developed into a feeder cub in recent years because of the ever-increasing financial gap between the Eredivisie and the bigger leagues.

“A team like Manchester United have players such as Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs, who play their entire career at the same club because there’s no next step after United. They’re already at one of the biggest clubs out there,” De Boer said to Goal.com.

“Ajax no longer have that luxury. The financial difference with the big clubs from England, Italy, Spain and Germany has become so big that we can no longer compete with these teams.

“We have become an academy for those clubs and we realise that. What we see these days is that players leave Ajax in their early twenties for a bigger salary elsewhere.”

De Boer then went on to say that the changes in European football make the club’s youth academy all the more important, but stressed that the presence of experienced players is crucial on the road to success, too.

“That is why our youth academy is so incredibly important for us. And maybe, if we have a bit of luck and have six or seven great youngsters coming through, plus perhaps two experienced players, we could do something in Europe.  

“If you really want to be able to compete with the big clubs in Europe, you need experienced players as well. Like the team that won the Champions League in 1995.

“I only left Ajax at the age of 29, and Frank Rijkaard was 34 or so when we won the Champions League, while Danny Blind, Jari Litmanen and Edwin van der Sar had a lot of experience as well. I was not at the same level when I was 22 that I would be at when I was 29.”

The former Netherlands international used Everton defender John Heitinga, who left Ajax for Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2008, as an example of the changed landscape in Europe that makes life so difficult for Ajax.

“Heitinga was developing into the leader of the team a few years ago and then left the club. We always have to start all over again with some very young players.

“I believe that players get more experienced around the age of 25, but we always have to rely on players who still need to learn a lot. That’s why we can no longer compete with the big teams.”

De Boer also took the time to discuss the internal problems at Ajax and stated that the supervisory board’s decision to approach Louis van Gaal for the position of CEO behind the back of Johan Cruyff was the wrong thing to do.

“He [Van Gaal] has a lot of experience and he would have loved to return to the club. What I did not understand though is that they went behind Johan Cruyff’s back.

“We all know that those two have some problems, so it was not a smart thing to do it like this. It would be fantastic if you could bring those two back together, but that’s almost impossible. It was not the right thing to do to appoint him behind Cruyff’s back.”

Van Gaal’s appointment was eventually prohibited by a local magistrate after Cruyff went to court over the matter and the club’s supervisory board consequently opted to resign.

“We have to find a new board and move on from there. The decision has been made to choose Cruyff’s side and we should follow his plans.”

Article source: http://my.news.yahoo.com/frank-boer-ajax-become-feeder-club-big-leagues-153254216--spt.html

Should ‘Vanishing Spray’ be introduced globally?

The spray, which has been designed to stop defensive walls from encroaching closer than 10 yards to the ball at free-kicks, is set to be discussed at next month’s IFAB meeting

Article source: http://www.goal.com/en/news/1035/copa-del-rey/2012/02/13/2903187/spanish-football-federation-to-decide-venue-for-copa-del-rey

Eredivisie leaders PSV will not take any risks with the health of forward Georginio Wijnaldum in Sunday’s home clash with RKC Waalwijk.

Wijnaldum received a nasty blow to the head in the KNVB-Beker clash with NEC Nijmegen last Thursday and sat out the weekend draw at Heracles.

And while he has shown signs of improvement, PSV coach Fred Rutten will take no chances with the 21-year-old.

He said: “Just after the collision the message was that he should not play for two weeks.

“Gini now has no problems, but we cannot take any risks. We see it day by day. I expect he will available for the away game against Trabzonspor in the Europa League next Thursday but I hope of course he will be okay for Sunday too.”

PSV will definitely be without Bulgarian defender Stanislav Manolev through suspension with Atiba Hutchinson a possible replacement.

PSV lead the table on goal difference from AZ Alkmaar, who moved level on points with last night’s 6-0 thrashing of ADO Den Haag.

AZ coach Gertjan Verbeek said: “We needed that. It was an excellent result and very good for the confidence.”

AZ could be top by the time PSV take the field as they play their weekend fixture, against struggling Excelsior, on Saturday while FC Twente, in third, open the weekend programme on Friday night at home to Heracles.

Ajax play on Saturday and will look to put another week of off-field turmoil behind them when they meet NAC in Breda.

The Amsterdammers today confirmed the club’s supervisory board were to resign en masse along with interim directors Danny Blind and Martin Sturkenboom.

The supervisory board has been split ever since four of the five members appointed Louis van Gaal as chief executive and Sturkenboom as a director.

The fifth member Johan Cruyff claimed he had not been consulted over the moves and filed a lawsuit which was partially upheld by an Amsterdam court on Tuesday.

Van Gaal and Sturkenboom’s appointments were blocked, at least in the short term, which prompted today’s announcement the entire board would leave in the “shortest possible time, once successors are found”.

Sturkenboom and Blind have also decided to leave following the news they would not be joined by Van Gaal.

Ajax have looked at sea on the pitch as well in recent weeks with no win from their last four games.

Also on Saturday, Roda JC and NEC meet in a mid-table clash while rock-bottom VVV-Venlo host FC Groningen seeking just their fourth league win of the season.

Sunday’s games see Heerenveen go to RKC Waalwijk, Feyenoord host Vitesse Arnhem and FC Utrecht meet ADO Den Haag.

Article source: http://www.soccer365.com/news/european_news/general/10866/weekend_eredivisie_preview

	MADRID (AP) -- Results from the 22nd round of Spain's first-division football
league (home teams listed first):
Saturday's Games
	   Racing Santander 0, Atletico Madrid 0
	   Osasuna 3, Barcelona 2
	   Real Betis 2, Athletic Bilbao 1
Sunday's Games
	   Espanyol 0, Zaragoza 2
	   Rayo Vallecano 2, Getafe 0
	   Malaga 3, Mallorca 1
	   Valencia 4, Sporting Gijon 0
	   Villarreal 3, Granada 1
	   Real Madrid 4, Levante 2
Monday's Game
	   Real Sociedad 2, Sevilla 0
Saturday, Feb. 18
	   Getafe vs. Espanyol
	   Real Madrid vs. Racing Santander
	   Sevilla vs. Osasuna
Sunday, Feb. 19
	   Granada vs. Real Sociedad
	   Athletic Bilbao vs. Malaga
	   Sporting Gijon vs. Atletico Madrid
	   Mallorca vs. Villarreal
	   Levante vs. Rayo Vallecano
	   Barcelona vs. Valencia
Monday, Feb. 20
	   Zaragoza vs. Real Betis

Article source: http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=ap-spanishresults

FEYENOORD

VITESSE

Feyenoord coach Ronald Koeman is without the injured Kaj Ramsteijn and Ricky van Haaren, but doesn’t have any other noteworthy injury worries.

Defenders Stefan de Vrij is fully match-fit again, but will likely start from the bench as Koeman will hold on to Bruno Martins Indi at centre-back.

Vitesse boss John van den Brom will have to make do without the services of Ghana international Anthony Annan and Ivory Coast star Wilfried Bony due to their Africa Cup of Nations obligations.

Additionally, young midfielder Davy Propper is still unavailable due to a knee problem.

• Feyenoord are currently sitting joint-fourth in the Eredivisie table with 37 points from 20 matches. 

• The hosts have won three out of their last four encounters with Vitesse.

• The Rotterdam giants’ first-choice striker John Guidetti (pictured) has the best goals-to-games ratio in the Eredivisie with 14 strikes in as many matches.

• Vitesse are the league’s number seven at the moment with 32 points from 20 games.

• Shot-stopper Piet Velthuizen has already kept eight clean sheets in 15 league appearances.

• The away side have scored only seven goals in 10 Eredivisie games away from their own Gelredome so far.

Article source: http://www.goal.com/en/news/1715/match-preview/2012/02/11/2898115/eredivisie-preview-feyenoord-vitesse

Messi breaks Champions League knockout record

The Argentine, still only 24, is level with current record holders Raul and Andriy Shevchenko, but can surpass the two European greats with a solitary strike at Leverkusen tonight

Article source: http://www.goal.com/en/news/12/spain/2012/02/14/2906006/spanish-football-federation-cannot-force-real-madrid-to-host

Eredivisie leaders PSV were forced to settle for a point in a 1-1 draw at Heracles on Sunday.

Fred Rutten’s side had the chance to move five points clear at the top of the league with a win in Almelo and they looked on their way after just 19 minutes.

Jetro Willems provided the assist for Zakaria Labyad to score the opener and it was an advantage they took into the half-time break.

But Heracles salvaged a point when Everton struck in the 76th minute.

Ajax’s poor season continued as they were stunned 2-0 at home by lowly Utrecht.

Edouard Duplan netted on 40 minutes after a howler from Ajax goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer, and the French winger added a second after a quick counterattack in the second half.

The win was Utrecht’s first away in any competition since September.

Ajax have dropped to sixth in the table following their loss, with 34 points from 20 games.

Meanwhile, goals to Otman Bakkal and Guyon Fernandez helped Feyenoord to a 2-0 triumph at NEC Nijmegen while RKC Waalwijk also won well on the road, defeating FC Groningen 3-0.

Article source: http://sportal.com.au/football-news-display/eredivisie-psv-stay-top-159878

	MADRID (AP) -- Summaries from the 22nd round of the Spanish league (home team
listed first):
Monday's Game
Real Sociedad 2, Sevilla 0
	   Real Sociedad: Carlos Vela (64), Ruben Pardo (68).
	   Halftime: 0-0.
	   Attendance: 19,000.
	   

Article source: http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=ap-spanishsummaries

Brooks Peck

Brooks Peck is a Soccer blogger for Yahoo! Sports.

Article source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/soccer-dirty-tackle/dtotd-samsunspor-bus-hit-train-161324887.html

Brooks Peck

Brooks Peck is a Soccer blogger for Yahoo! Sports.

Article source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/soccer-dirty-tackle/artur-boruc-friday-rage-list-053258483.html