Village ‘Crazy’ Character: Meaning & Impact

• Frank Hettinga

  Ajax follower

While record amounts are coming in at PSV and Feyenoord for players such as Malik Tillman (reportedly 40 million euros) and Antoni Milambo (20 plus 5 million), Ajax puts almost a whole team on sale. Defender Jakov Medić has just left for two million.

De Telegraaf reported on Saturday that seven players are no longer welcome at the first team of trainer John Heitinga. The newspaper mentions the names of Chuba Akpom, Carlos Forbs, Borna Sosa, Kristian Hlynsson, Christian Rasmussen, Jay Gorter and Branco van den Boomen.

VVCS players’ union immediately came up with a statement, in which it expressed his surprise about the “exile”. “These players are explicitly isolated from their colleagues in the first selection. The VVCS regards this as a form of improper employership and unnecessary public damage.”

With the hard setup of Ajax, the phenomenon ‘dressing room 2’ can be stable again. Famous in Amsterdam is the story of trainer Co Adriaanse who in 2001 no longer needed three routiniers – Jan van Halst, Richard Witschge and Aron Winter. They were exiled to the dressing room of the promises.

Now something similar seems to be going on. “In fact, they are a victim of Ajax’s failing policy, which at the time Sven Gefintat (former technical director, ed.) Given free rein,” says VVCS.

Technical director Alex Kroes already announced that this summer he wanted to “rigorous”. Sivert Mannverk and Gaston Ávila are also allowed to leave.

Especially the purchases of Geldintat are in the shop window. At the time, the German bought a dozen football players for around 110 million euros, but except for Josip Sutalo and Anton Gaaei, nobody managed to leave a lasting impression.

However, all remaining players will receive substantial salary increases per next season, as a bonus for achieving Champions League football.

The club leadership is therefore up in advance this summer hard towards superfluous players. That did not happen last season, after which the Italian trainer Francesco Faroli trusted expensive forces such as Owen Wijndal and Chuba Akpom. They then no longer really saw the need to leave.

De Telegraaf wrote this weekend that the seven superfluous players “can only use the field and the gym as the first team has lunch. Heeitinga has a double program, then the seven can only go to the future when the second training ends. In the parking lot for the first team and the staff is no longer room for the cars of the football players”.

The agent of the Croat Borna Sosa responds to the article. “Madness,” says Peter de Waal. “This is character murder of a player. Borna is known as an example pro, but is portrayed as a village crazy.”

“This has a huge impact on such a player. I think he received 200 messages, including from the national coach. In Croatia they think: what did you do, the trainer hit his canis?”

“That Borna does not appear in the plans is not the problem in itself. That is the right of the trainer and the club. And that you then do not find yourself in another dressing room. That has also been known for weeks. The players and the business observers have long and broadly informed: go on the market for a new club.”

De Waal: “But that he is only allowed to train if the A-selection is lunching, that he would not be allowed to park in the parking lot where the players of the first team park, that is complete nonsense. Not true. Borna is just a player of Ajax, he is fully paid for three years.

Nevertheless, SOSA, rented to Torino last season, likes to leave for another club, according to De Waal. “Sure he wants to leave. He wants to play football, not in the stands. And next summer a World Cup is coming again, there he wants to be with Croatia.”

Also the 22-year-old Rasmussen “is considering his future,” says his agent Casper Grønn Spiele. The attacker has therefore received a week longer vacation from Ajax.

“We do not yet know where he will play football next season, but it seems that he will no longer play for Ajax,” said Grønn Spiele about Rasmussen, who made the switch to the Ajax youth training in 2019 at the age of 16.

“There is no further drama or craziness, the relationships with the club have always been good.”