De Jong and De Ligt: How it all began

De Jong and De Ligt: How it all began

Frenkie de Jong anota un gol ’made in Ajax’ / | PERFORM

Barcelona are returning to their roots as they try to sign the Ajax duo

"Cruyff's most enduring image as a player is not his scoring, his running or his attacking, it's Cruyff's pointing, all the time, as if he were trying to order his teammates in the space. ‘No, not there, step back a little ... advance two meters ... four meters further to the left’. He looked like a conductor conducting a symphony orchestra.”

David Winner describes the essence of the Dutch school in the book 'Brillant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football'. The concept of the positional game. The determination to be the protagonist. And the coexistence between method and fun.

In that culture two of the most impressive starlets of Dutch football have grown; Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt. The two players who have put Ajax back in fashion and Barça want to sign. "The future is yours," says Koeman, the current Holland coach.

The first, a midfielder who grew up in the academy of Willem II until he arrived at Ajax at 18 years old. De Jong did not always exhibit the minimalist game of 'less is more' that now defines his play.

At Ajax he despaired of more than one coach, because he always liked to improvise. "My quality is my intuition, I can not just ignore that, if I did that I would be one more and there are a thousand of them, I often understand what the coach asks of me, but then I do my thing on the pitch,” he told magazine Voetbal International.

The midfielder still has some tics then: trying a more daring pass or launching the attack by driving with the ball to the opposite area.

He also has a certain indolence when the team does not have the ball. Peter Bosz, who coached him at Ajax, was one of the most demanding. "When we lost possession, sometimes he walked too much,” he said.

The son of a football family, some attributed his name to the group Frankie Goes to Hollywood. One of those groups that had brilliant success in the eighties and then disappeared in record time.

In the Netherlands nobody predicts something similar will happen to De Jong: his career is only just taking off, while waiting for the big leap: Barça and City are his biggest suitors.

There’s nobody better than Jos Bogers, a coach in the youth categories of Willem II, to define it. "He looks like a kid and smiles sweetly, but he's the one on the pitch, he just needs a look, a word, because his teammates always listen to him. It's the same thing that Cruyff had, who at the age of 17 was already directing players older than him and they were accepting it, I see that in Frenkie.”

A DEFENDER FORGED OVER TIME

De Ligt is Dutch but as a child he could have passed perfectly for a character in the movie 'This is England'. His chubby appearance and that face of an eternal teenager earned him the nickname of 'fatty' in his youth.

They say in the Netherlands that his physique put off the Ajax scouts until they observed his father watching the little De Ligt.

The conclusion was clear: over the years his body could improved to become fit for the elite. He was only 8 years old and by 16 he trained with the first team.

Compared often with Jaap Stam, those who know him emphasise his strong mentality. That’s the only way to explain how at only 18 he became captain of Ajax and is gaining records with the Dutch national team.

Also he possesses a work ethic that leads him to work again and again on the weak points of his game. For Ronald De Boer he "plays as if he were 30 years old". And Koeman understands that he wants to try his luck at a big European side.

"You can imagine the level of the Dutch league when you play your first match in the Champions League and then a league match at Excelsior, away from home and on artificial turf. The intensity of the Dutch league is not so good, like the competition.”

With the emergence of De Jong and De Ligt, Barça are looking back to Holland. A constant in the history of the club to reaffirm its identity. It is no coincidence that, after losing several reference points in recent years, the club will return to fill the gaps at Cruyff's school.

Pie de foto | AUTOR FOTO

De Ligt is Dutch but as a child he could have passed perfectly for a character in the movie 'This is England'. His chubby appearance and that face of an eternal teenager earned him the nickname of 'fatty' in his youth.

They say in the Netherlands that his physique put off the Ajax scouts until they observed his father watching the little De Ligt.

The conclusion was clear: over the years his body could improved to become fit for the elite. He was only 8 years old and by 16 he trained with the first team.

Compared often with Jaap Stam, those who know him emphasise his strong mentality. That’s the only way to explain how at only 18 he became captain of Ajax and is gaining records with the Dutch national team.

Also he possesses a work ethic that leads him to work again and again on the weak points of his game. For Ronald De Boer he "plays as if he were 30 years old". And Koeman understands that he wants to try his luck at a big European side.

"You can imagine the level of the Dutch league when you play your first match in the Champions League and then a league match at Excelsior, away from home and on artificial turf. The intensity of the Dutch league is not so good, like the competition.”

With the emergence of De Jong and De Ligt, Barça are looking back to Holland. A constant in the history of the club to reaffirm its identity. It is no coincidence that, after losing several reference points in recent years, the club will return to fill the gaps at Cruyff's school.

Pie de foto | AUTOR FOTO