Will a fantastic goalkeeper coach be the savior of Ajax Amsterdam?

Ajax Amsterdam has shown interest in Francesco Farioli, the current coach of OGC Nice, as a potential successor for interim coach John van 't Schip. | Image credit: Ajax

Ajax Amsterdam has shown interest in Francesco Farioli , the current coach of OGC Nice, as a potential successor for interim coach John van 't Schip. Farioli is known for his successes at Nice and is also in the picture at clubs such as AC Milan and Napoli, will he be the savior of the devastated football club?

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Can Ajax once again set the tone in Europe with their dominant play?

Ajax Amsterdam is a name that almost everyone in the world knows. Especially if you mention the name of the Amsterdam football club in the same breath as that of Johan Cruijff (25-04-1947/24, 03-2016, the legendary number 14 who is still spoken of with great admiration in many countries.

For a long time, this man was known as the best footballer in the world, but he often had to share this title with Edson Arantes do Nascimento (Três Corações, 23 October 1940 – São Paulo, 29 December 2022) or Pele the wonder footballer from Brazil. These two footballers have made the hearts of many football fans beat faster.

Was Cruyff also a fantastic coach?

Francesco Farioli

Cruijff, the Amsterdam boy from the Amsterdam district of Betondorp, where in his years football could still be played quietly on the streets. On the streets, it was mainly the boys who fell to pieces on the cobblestones. The busy city traffic is now the reason why there is no football on the streets anymore, otherwise there might have been girls playing football by now, don't you think?

Cruijff developed as a footballer at Ajax, FC Barcelona and Feijenoord, Ajax's big rival in Rotterdam, where he ended up after negotiations with Ajax about a new contract broke down. The footballer won almost everything there was to win at those three clubs, even when he later became coach of both Dutch clubs, he still strung the blessings together.

What would Cruyff think of the current affairs at Ajax?

Cruyff was a football legend with a clear vision, one of his legendary sayings was: "if you attack then you can score goals, to win you have to score one more than your opponent." We don't think that at this point in his current career, Farioli should even think about being in the shadow of Cruyff, but it is said that he is also an attacking coach.

People who have previously had the opportunity to work with Farioli at other teams, such as the Dutch youth trainer Fouad El Fidi, who recently worked with Farioli for two years at the Qatari Aspire Academy. What struck him most was that the man was tactically very strong. He argued that Farioli showed good attacking play from the back with a well-groomed defense with the teams he played with before.

Was Cruyff involved in the reconstruction of Ajax from his grave?

Cruijff passed away more than eight years ago after a long illness. In his last years, in which he suffered a lot from his health, he did build up the Johan Cruijff Academy in Amsterdam. This academy taught many young students everything about football and the theoretical aspects behind it. Ajax's newly formed football board currently includes two men who studied at this academy: Marijn Beuker (Director of Football) and Kelvin de Lang (Head Scout). So, you can see that Cruyff will probably continue to reign over his grave at Ajax.

What did Cruyff think about the organization?

Cruyff had a clear vision about leading a professional football club. The world-renowned player and coach believed that a club should be led by people who also knew the tricks of the trade, people who had been active in football before. People who thought and dreamed football. During his time during the "iconoclasm" at Ajax, he immediately attracted a few former players such as: Dennis Bergkamp, Wim Jonk and Van der Sar. He also involved the former right striker Tsjeu la Ling.

At the time, they formed the very high-performing beating heart of the Amsterdam football club.

Will Farioli once again let Ajax's incomparable football legs do the talking?

When we hear the old acquaintances of Farioli speak, it seems as if he still shows a slight resemblance to the old master from Amsterdam. Farioli also wants to show neat attacking play. He is willing to invest a lot in his players if they are willing to do so themselves. He is still very young, but has already shown and worked together a lot and learned from Roberto de Zerbi, the current successful coach of Brighton hove Albion in England