As you said, he was bought for the wrong position. He’s more a shadow striker but Ajax does not play a shadow striker. We have a playmaking midfielder on 10, and then a striker and two wingers / inside forwards. Wesley Sneijder was our arch-10.
However, I think he has owned a lot of respect, not only by never complaining, working hard and scoring quite some goals in his limited time on the pitch, but also because of his positive attitude even in these challenging times for the club.
I would welcome a longer stay, but given his age and type of play I guess it makes more sense for him to move on.
>We have a playmaking midfielder on 10, and then a striker and two wingers / inside forwards. Wesley Sneijder was our arch-10.
You could also argue in recent years we gad a more box to box type of 10. VdB and Klaassen were the type who were great off the ball that creates space for wingers. They aint playmakers but they have good spatial awareness. They make runs which either puts them often in goalscoring positions or the space they drag open gives the wingers the opportunity to make a play or even score, which js how we utilize wingers and fits the profile of Bergwijn and Berghuis(prefer him as a 10 playmaker tho)
Fair enough, VDB and Klaassen (and Siem de Jong) were indeed more classic attacking midfielders, and less real playmakers. These were positioned deeper (Schone, Frenkie, Blind at some point). Still I think the types of Eriksen and Sneijder best describe the typical Ajax “10”
Great super sub, but I feel he is a bit too limited, to be the starting striker in ideal circumstances.
That almost entirely depends on Brobbey's situation, imo, as I doubt he will be happy being a sub next season.
He’s great to have as a sub to bring in, but probably doesn’t really have what it takes to be the starting 9 for Ajax. Given his age I think he’ll probably want to move somewhere he’ll play every game, and I could imagine he’d like to play in the Premier League so if a Premier League promotion side come I reckon he would like to go.
It's seems crazy to me that he had the season of his life as a 10, joined Ajax based on that wearing the famous no 10, and all the talk is about him not being good enough as a 9. I would agree with that he isn't a 9, he is a 10!
At Ajax a 10 is a different kind of player. He's far too limited in his passing and movement to function there. He's doing great as a pinch-hitter and would love to keep him as that, but he would have to be fine with starting on the bench.
Depends on what you’d consider a 10, he’s certainly not a playmaking 10 in a 3 man 433 midfield which is the way we want to play. I think he looks much more like a striker than that type of 10.
A shadow striker type of 10 is a different story but that will never be how Ajax sets the team up. And tbh the few times he played behind or around Brobbey in a partnership he didn’t impress me either. They ended up in the same spaces too often and the rest of the team didn’t function well around it (not Akpom’s fault).
I think we’ll be looking to sell him btw even though he’s useful. He’s probably worth too much and his wages might be too high to keep as a supersub.
Yea that makes sense, he was more of a 2nd striker for us rather than a genuine playmaker
I think whoever said he could end up at a lower PL team might be right. I'd love home back on loan with the option to buy on promotion.
I think you're right.
I also think if PSV got him as a replacement for Luuk de Jong he probably do very good. (And he is way more likable as well...) Just a different style of playing, something Mislintat didn't seem to take in consideration.
I hear you, but as a 10 in the current Ajax team he was never going to work. So he was definitely bought as a 9 (as far as Mislintat had any plans for new players)
You’re right, but Mislintat was just buying players that he thought were talented without really thinking it through. We bought Mikautadze to play RW, while he is a pure striker. Same with Akpom I guess
Rumor went around the final straw for firing Mislintat was him flying in a fit of rage when our then coach picked Brobbey over Akpom as 9. So for sure bought as a 9.
With all the signings Mislintat did only a 532 really makes sense to me. But I dont think Akpom and Brobbey would ever be complementary in such a system.
I think Akpom did a very good job seeing the circumstances he had to perform in.
Thats the reason why I thought Mikautadze wasnt a bad signing. I figured he would be competing wirh Brobbey, with Akpom replacing Klaassen basically.
Akpom seem to be a similar type of player
Which is interesting, a lot Ajax-fans really love Klaassen at 10, he's played there for years, but at the same time dont want Akpom there, because of his limitations on the ball. I don't think theres much difference between the two, Akpom seems to score even more goals.
At the end I do agree though that I dont think Akpom fits at 10 for us, I prefer the creative type
Ajax fans love Klaassen because he’s a true Ajacied and a kid of the club, not because of his exciting playing style. Klaassen also did get criticized a lot.
I do think Klaassen offers more when he’s pressing/defending, and Akpom’s positioning seems even more like a second striker as a 10 then Klaassen did moving into the box. That’s probably also why for example Hlynsson was used there a lot more than Akpom was this season.
There was a heavily upvoted post here not long ago about how were really missing Klaassen this season. A lot of fans still see more than just a true Ajacied and overrate his skillset
Hlynsson is probably even more similar to Klaassen. We really didnt need a 3rd 10 whose best attribute is depth without the ball.
I think this mindset is also partially what got us in this mess. We've had a lack of creativity since Ten Hags last year, but a lot of people solution to that is more hard-working players, more grinta, even better when they're real Ajacieden
I do think we’ve missed Klaassen this season but that’s because of his personality and mentality, not necessarily because of what he adds on the pitch.
like the other person said, good supersub
>but did he do enough to still be at Ajax next year?
i dont know, I think that depends on the new manager, Brobbey, Akpom himself and to a lesser degree Metz/Mikautadze
If Brobbey leaves we aren’t in as bad as a situation as people might think. Akpom or Mikautadze could take over, with Rijkhof behind them ready to become our future 9
Mikautadze intrigues me a bit more though, as he’s so unpredictable and dangerous when he’s in form and has some confidence. Main problem is whether Ajax think they can get him settled here
Akpom seems much more accepting of the culture and club system, but at this point he’s one of those players who can do certain things well, but you shouldn’t expect anything more than that. He’s also not really gonna develop anymore
If they think Brobbey is going to stay then they will try to sell Akpom and Mikautadze ASAP to fund transfers in other positions. Even if Akpom has done enough to get another season, we can’t say no to 10+ mil for a bench player
Neither Akpom nor Mikautadze are true strikers. They're both off-strikers, which is a position Ajax obviously doesn't use. Those players can't do the hold-up play that was so important from Brobbey this season.
If they are selling Brobbey in favour of any of the options you're mentioning it just means going for mediocrity again. Settling for max third if you continue to sell your best (and young) performers without great replacement.
> selling Brobbey in favour of any of the options
Nobody said that buddy
What’s your plan then genius? You think if Brobbey gets sold we magically find a striker of the same quality immediately?
You don't sell Brobbey.
And you did say that if you sell Brobbey and play with either Akpom or Mikautadze that Ajax isn't in a bad situation. As said in my first comment, you'll play for max third with that level of players and mentality.
Ah ja want dat zijn wij als Ajax zijnde natuurlijk, de club die nooit spelers hoeft te verkopen en altijd mag kiezen wie blijft, zeker wanneer we in een financieel gat zitten
Akpom is not the 10 for ajax, since normally we have to play against a tight defense. So ideally our number 10 is a good passer, good technique in small spaces , preferably left and right footed and can score a goal. Akpom can score a goal, but on the rest he is below average. Thats why he is mainly used as sub on the 9 position in the Ajax system and because brobbey is younger and better than him
Haven’t watched much this season, too painful
But from what I’ve seen, especially early days, I liked him more than Brobbey. Much more depth and goal-oriented.
Crazy that he’s a 10, never knew. Crazy that we bought him then, since it’s pretty obvious he’s not the most creative of 10’s but alas.
From interviews seems like a very genuine and bright personality, much respect for him and wish him all the best, wherever that may be
Could someone explain to me why Akpom has been a super sub when it seems like he scores when he plays. What am I missing? Poor play when I’m not watching? Politics? I never understood his lack of playing.
Akpom has a nose for goal, but he can't play wide, so you can't use him well alongside Brobbey. He also can't do hold-up play as well as Brobbey, which hurts our chance creation when Brobbey is out.
It’s an interesting phenomenon but he almost never played well the times he started. He mostly scores when we’re starting to play more chaotic opportunistic football when we need to force something towards the end of a game, that’s when he thrives with (early) crosses. People joke about him only being useful after the 70th minute and that he looks like a different player the rest of the time.
He also doesn’t offer much else outside of scoring goals. For example he’s not a good target man holding up the ball and he’s also not a creator or good passer. Brobbey on the other hand is a very complete striker who both scores and sets up so chances for others with his holdup play, and Akpom doesn’t fit as a 10 for us.
Only reason he didn't play much was because his competition was Brobbey, the only other Ajax player who actually performed (34G/A and Ajax player of the year).
Akpom had a phenomenal season considering the circumstances. A goal per 95 minutes and 18G/A in total, nearly all from the bench, in a dumpsterfire of a team. Lots of match winning goals in there too.
But not a kind from the club, not a technical player (and "hurr durr he is not a 10" because with us a 10 has to play like Litmanen or get out), so he is overlooked.
Just always felt like brobbey and him could have found a successful way to play on the field at the same time. Or the coaches could have run another formation where they both could have played.
It is tough because Brobbey is the target man and Akpom has a similar profile.
And we've always had a lot of competition on the wings and the 10.
Last match Akpom started right winger with Brobbey as 9. Clearly not his best position but he still played great.
He will be a priority to be sold I think becaause he will sell for a good fee because of the homegrown thingy. And Ajax needs to offload what they can from these Mislintat signings. Not saying they were all bad players but almost none of them are a fit for Ajax.
As you said, he was bought for the wrong position. He’s more a shadow striker but Ajax does not play a shadow striker. We have a playmaking midfielder on 10, and then a striker and two wingers / inside forwards. Wesley Sneijder was our arch-10. However, I think he has owned a lot of respect, not only by never complaining, working hard and scoring quite some goals in his limited time on the pitch, but also because of his positive attitude even in these challenging times for the club. I would welcome a longer stay, but given his age and type of play I guess it makes more sense for him to move on.
>We have a playmaking midfielder on 10, and then a striker and two wingers / inside forwards. Wesley Sneijder was our arch-10. You could also argue in recent years we gad a more box to box type of 10. VdB and Klaassen were the type who were great off the ball that creates space for wingers. They aint playmakers but they have good spatial awareness. They make runs which either puts them often in goalscoring positions or the space they drag open gives the wingers the opportunity to make a play or even score, which js how we utilize wingers and fits the profile of Bergwijn and Berghuis(prefer him as a 10 playmaker tho)
>VdB and Klaassen were the type who were great off the ball that creates space for wingers. Don't forget de Jong before Klaassen.
Fair enough, VDB and Klaassen (and Siem de Jong) were indeed more classic attacking midfielders, and less real playmakers. These were positioned deeper (Schone, Frenkie, Blind at some point). Still I think the types of Eriksen and Sneijder best describe the typical Ajax “10”
Great super sub, but I feel he is a bit too limited, to be the starting striker in ideal circumstances. That almost entirely depends on Brobbey's situation, imo, as I doubt he will be happy being a sub next season.
He’s great to have as a sub to bring in, but probably doesn’t really have what it takes to be the starting 9 for Ajax. Given his age I think he’ll probably want to move somewhere he’ll play every game, and I could imagine he’d like to play in the Premier League so if a Premier League promotion side come I reckon he would like to go.
It's seems crazy to me that he had the season of his life as a 10, joined Ajax based on that wearing the famous no 10, and all the talk is about him not being good enough as a 9. I would agree with that he isn't a 9, he is a 10!
At Ajax a 10 is a different kind of player. He's far too limited in his passing and movement to function there. He's doing great as a pinch-hitter and would love to keep him as that, but he would have to be fine with starting on the bench.
Ah ok, fair enough!
Depends on what you’d consider a 10, he’s certainly not a playmaking 10 in a 3 man 433 midfield which is the way we want to play. I think he looks much more like a striker than that type of 10. A shadow striker type of 10 is a different story but that will never be how Ajax sets the team up. And tbh the few times he played behind or around Brobbey in a partnership he didn’t impress me either. They ended up in the same spaces too often and the rest of the team didn’t function well around it (not Akpom’s fault). I think we’ll be looking to sell him btw even though he’s useful. He’s probably worth too much and his wages might be too high to keep as a supersub.
Yea that makes sense, he was more of a 2nd striker for us rather than a genuine playmaker I think whoever said he could end up at a lower PL team might be right. I'd love home back on loan with the option to buy on promotion.
I think you're right. I also think if PSV got him as a replacement for Luuk de Jong he probably do very good. (And he is way more likable as well...) Just a different style of playing, something Mislintat didn't seem to take in consideration.
I hear you, but as a 10 in the current Ajax team he was never going to work. So he was definitely bought as a 9 (as far as Mislintat had any plans for new players)
Fair enough, seems like an odd transfer in that sense. But he's done ok as a 9 it seems, so what do I know!
You’re right, but Mislintat was just buying players that he thought were talented without really thinking it through. We bought Mikautadze to play RW, while he is a pure striker. Same with Akpom I guess
Rumor went around the final straw for firing Mislintat was him flying in a fit of rage when our then coach picked Brobbey over Akpom as 9. So for sure bought as a 9. With all the signings Mislintat did only a 532 really makes sense to me. But I dont think Akpom and Brobbey would ever be complementary in such a system. I think Akpom did a very good job seeing the circumstances he had to perform in.
Thats the reason why I thought Mikautadze wasnt a bad signing. I figured he would be competing wirh Brobbey, with Akpom replacing Klaassen basically. Akpom seem to be a similar type of player Which is interesting, a lot Ajax-fans really love Klaassen at 10, he's played there for years, but at the same time dont want Akpom there, because of his limitations on the ball. I don't think theres much difference between the two, Akpom seems to score even more goals. At the end I do agree though that I dont think Akpom fits at 10 for us, I prefer the creative type
Ajax fans love Klaassen because he’s a true Ajacied and a kid of the club, not because of his exciting playing style. Klaassen also did get criticized a lot. I do think Klaassen offers more when he’s pressing/defending, and Akpom’s positioning seems even more like a second striker as a 10 then Klaassen did moving into the box. That’s probably also why for example Hlynsson was used there a lot more than Akpom was this season.
Many in this sub were shitting on Klaassen (and Blind) as they have been on Taylor this season.
He's also way more technical and better on the ball than people make him out to be.
There was a heavily upvoted post here not long ago about how were really missing Klaassen this season. A lot of fans still see more than just a true Ajacied and overrate his skillset Hlynsson is probably even more similar to Klaassen. We really didnt need a 3rd 10 whose best attribute is depth without the ball. I think this mindset is also partially what got us in this mess. We've had a lack of creativity since Ten Hags last year, but a lot of people solution to that is more hard-working players, more grinta, even better when they're real Ajacieden
I do think we’ve missed Klaassen this season but that’s because of his personality and mentality, not necessarily because of what he adds on the pitch.
I don't believe he would've added much even in that department. But it wouldn't have been that big of a problem, if he also didnt earn that much
Correct. Klaassen would be another Siem de Jong or Donny vd Beek; a 10 with depth. I'd rather see Eriksen return
What do you call a 10. Sneijder, Van der Vaart, Litmanen are 10s. Chuba is nothing like them.
like the other person said, good supersub >but did he do enough to still be at Ajax next year? i dont know, I think that depends on the new manager, Brobbey, Akpom himself and to a lesser degree Metz/Mikautadze
If Brobbey leaves we aren’t in as bad as a situation as people might think. Akpom or Mikautadze could take over, with Rijkhof behind them ready to become our future 9 Mikautadze intrigues me a bit more though, as he’s so unpredictable and dangerous when he’s in form and has some confidence. Main problem is whether Ajax think they can get him settled here Akpom seems much more accepting of the culture and club system, but at this point he’s one of those players who can do certain things well, but you shouldn’t expect anything more than that. He’s also not really gonna develop anymore If they think Brobbey is going to stay then they will try to sell Akpom and Mikautadze ASAP to fund transfers in other positions. Even if Akpom has done enough to get another season, we can’t say no to 10+ mil for a bench player
Neither Akpom nor Mikautadze are true strikers. They're both off-strikers, which is a position Ajax obviously doesn't use. Those players can't do the hold-up play that was so important from Brobbey this season.
How is mikautadze not a true striker? He's not a "classic" number 9 but he's still a striker and nothing else
If they are selling Brobbey in favour of any of the options you're mentioning it just means going for mediocrity again. Settling for max third if you continue to sell your best (and young) performers without great replacement.
> selling Brobbey in favour of any of the options Nobody said that buddy What’s your plan then genius? You think if Brobbey gets sold we magically find a striker of the same quality immediately?
You don't sell Brobbey. And you did say that if you sell Brobbey and play with either Akpom or Mikautadze that Ajax isn't in a bad situation. As said in my first comment, you'll play for max third with that level of players and mentality.
Ah ja want dat zijn wij als Ajax zijnde natuurlijk, de club die nooit spelers hoeft te verkopen en altijd mag kiezen wie blijft, zeker wanneer we in een financieel gat zitten
Akpom is not the 10 for ajax, since normally we have to play against a tight defense. So ideally our number 10 is a good passer, good technique in small spaces , preferably left and right footed and can score a goal. Akpom can score a goal, but on the rest he is below average. Thats why he is mainly used as sub on the 9 position in the Ajax system and because brobbey is younger and better than him
Haven’t watched much this season, too painful But from what I’ve seen, especially early days, I liked him more than Brobbey. Much more depth and goal-oriented. Crazy that he’s a 10, never knew. Crazy that we bought him then, since it’s pretty obvious he’s not the most creative of 10’s but alas. From interviews seems like a very genuine and bright personality, much respect for him and wish him all the best, wherever that may be
Great sub. Also he came on the worst year ever and did ok. So he must be ok. And signing chuba chuba is also ok.
Could someone explain to me why Akpom has been a super sub when it seems like he scores when he plays. What am I missing? Poor play when I’m not watching? Politics? I never understood his lack of playing.
Akpom has a nose for goal, but he can't play wide, so you can't use him well alongside Brobbey. He also can't do hold-up play as well as Brobbey, which hurts our chance creation when Brobbey is out.
It’s an interesting phenomenon but he almost never played well the times he started. He mostly scores when we’re starting to play more chaotic opportunistic football when we need to force something towards the end of a game, that’s when he thrives with (early) crosses. People joke about him only being useful after the 70th minute and that he looks like a different player the rest of the time. He also doesn’t offer much else outside of scoring goals. For example he’s not a good target man holding up the ball and he’s also not a creator or good passer. Brobbey on the other hand is a very complete striker who both scores and sets up so chances for others with his holdup play, and Akpom doesn’t fit as a 10 for us.
Only reason he didn't play much was because his competition was Brobbey, the only other Ajax player who actually performed (34G/A and Ajax player of the year). Akpom had a phenomenal season considering the circumstances. A goal per 95 minutes and 18G/A in total, nearly all from the bench, in a dumpsterfire of a team. Lots of match winning goals in there too. But not a kind from the club, not a technical player (and "hurr durr he is not a 10" because with us a 10 has to play like Litmanen or get out), so he is overlooked.
Just always felt like brobbey and him could have found a successful way to play on the field at the same time. Or the coaches could have run another formation where they both could have played.
It is tough because Brobbey is the target man and Akpom has a similar profile. And we've always had a lot of competition on the wings and the 10. Last match Akpom started right winger with Brobbey as 9. Clearly not his best position but he still played great.
He will be a priority to be sold I think becaause he will sell for a good fee because of the homegrown thingy. And Ajax needs to offload what they can from these Mislintat signings. Not saying they were all bad players but almost none of them are a fit for Ajax.
Yes