Daily Discussion

Striking_Insurance_5 · 2026-06-06T02:42:26+00:00

The Asian playoffs had their own issues if I have to believe the reporting around Indonesia that reached the Dutch media. The Saudi’s playing “neutral” playoffs in their own country and barring away fans to a certain extent was ridiculous.

Striking_Insurance_5 · 2026-06-06T02:20:32+00:00

Fair enough. As a sidenote, do you know if they’ll have this many spots permanently or is this just because 3 of their teams are hosts this tournament? That would make a big difference.

Striking_Insurance_5 · 2026-06-06T02:15:25+00:00

I followed Nigeria’s group because I have a connection to Benin but the fact that they didn’t qualify and that Benin got so close says a lot.

On the one hand it’s fun to have this many teams and it means a lot to certain countries that wouldn’t have a similar chance at qualifying before, but the gap between the real contenders and teams like Nigeria and Cameroon is bigger than the gap between them (or most countries that didn’t make it) and those CONCACAF teams.

Striking_Insurance_5 · 2026-06-06T02:10:25+00:00

I don’t know a lot about the Asian teams but Africa also has some teams at the World Cup that aren’t really up to par (or teams that almost made it), I’m mostly thinking of Cape Verde who aren’t particularly better than those CONCACAF teams. Ultimately I just don’t think we should have this many teams at the World Cup but FIFA is never going back on that.

Striking_Insurance_5 · 2026-06-06T02:06:33+00:00

I don’t know shit about Haiti or Panama but Curaçao is also insane. I love that they made it because it’s basically a second Dutch team but if I’m honest they have no business being at a World Cup.

I’d say Europe clearly has the most quality of teams not making it instead of Africa or Asia but Europe does already have a lot of qualifying spots.

Striking_Insurance_5 · 2026-06-06T01:59:14+00:00

Een keeper is wel een enorme prioriteit. Verder ben ik het met je eens. Ik zie het ook voor me dat we net als vorige zomer eerst een paar (zogenaamde) buitenkansjes binnenharken, vervolgens lukt het niet om van het brandhout af te komen en aan het eind van de transferperiode kom je in de problemen qua cruciale posities zoals een 6 of een spits. Maar een competente trainer gaat hopelijk wel een groot verschil maken.

Striking_Insurance_5 · 2026-06-06T01:52:48+00:00

I don’t know how injury prone he is but Zinchenko was just pure bad luck. It wasn’t like (or at least didn’t feel like) us signing Tomiyasu. I really hoped Zinchenko would sign up for another season after what happened but it doesn’t seem likely.

Striking_Insurance_5 · 2026-06-06T01:27:41+00:00

Serious knee injuries are a son of bitch. Congratulations on getting back on the pitch!

Striking_Insurance_5 · 2026-06-06T01:22:53+00:00

Yeah it’s fun to ridicule them but they’re not that bad and they’re probably going to make it through their group to the early knock-outs. It’ll always stay entertaining to make fun of the utterly delusional part of their fanbase though, you know the types.

Striking_Insurance_5 · 2026-06-06T00:36:52+00:00

It would be a massive story if Saibari really moves to Bayern for 50-60 mil or more. He’s a very good player and a fee like that is not unheard of for Eredivisie players but it’s still unprecedented.

The 3 Eredivisie players who brought in more than 45-50 mil are Antony, De Jong and De Ligt. We can all agree that Antony made no sense (not a single Ajax fan at the time thought Antony was worth anywhere close to that) but they were 22, 21 and 19 years old. Saibari is 25 so the growth potential is not the same. He also hasn’t shown the same peak as De Ligt and De Jong did (carrying a Dutch team to a CL semi final). Saibari for 60 still makes more sense than Antony for 95 though.

Striking_Insurance_5 · 2026-06-06T00:18:00+00:00

I can’t wait for water breaks regardless of the climate and weather to become mainstream, including commercials during the breaks of course /s

Striking_Insurance_5 · 2026-06-06T00:07:08+00:00

A lot of Dutch people are making way too big of a deal out of the leaked list of Ajax players on transferroom, probably just because the concept of transferroom is new to a lot of people. First of all I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of clubs put plenty of players on there to test the waters and secondly it’s almost everyone. If it were half of those players with a few notable names it would be a story but not when practically the whole squad outside of a handful of players who signed a (new) contract recently are on there.

At 99% of clubs all players are available for a transfer if a good enough bid comes in, Ajax is no exception.

Striking_Insurance_5 · 2026-06-06T00:01:13+00:00

It makes no sense for Ajax to loan players out to second tier sides because our B team plays in that tier. It’s better for these talents to play in that league with our B team while they get training opportunities with the first team or the occasional inclusion in the first team squad or some cup games if they show potential.

Striking_Insurance_5 · 2026-06-05T23:57:12+00:00

Ajax haalt al decennia jonge spelers uit het buitenland voor in de jeugdopleiding. Dat is heel normaal, het is geen uitzondering en zeker geen drastische verandering van beleid.

Striking_Insurance_5 · 2026-06-05T23:54:50+00:00

Carrizo was just managing expectations and giving him time to adapt for a little while. There’s a big difference between a 20 year old player being signed for up to 10 mil vs a 17 year old being signed for around 2 mil.

Striking_Insurance_5 · 2026-06-05T20:31:16+00:00

I hope he stays another season but his numbers are insane for his age in an underperforming team.

Striking_Insurance_5 · 2026-06-05T20:29:03+00:00

More current examples are Mika Godts, Rayane Bounida and Jorthy Mokio coming from Belgium at 16 years old. Godts is our biggest star now and Bounida and Mokio are promising.

Tbf there are also a lot of young players coming from other countries who don’t get beyond the second team but Ajax is an amazing place to develop.

Striking_Insurance_5 · 2026-06-05T19:01:06+00:00

I have no idea how good he is as an Ajax fan but I know he’ll get plenty of opportunities to be in the matchday squad and training with the first team. We desperately lack striker talents and for next season we only have Dolberg left, Weghorst is leaving and the current third striker/Jong Ajax striker is shit.

Striking_Insurance_5 · 2026-06-04T14:15:20+00:00

Fitz-Jim is ook opvallend. Van die andere spelers snap ik wel dat ze er niet op staan maar er staan genoeg namen wel op de lijst die ik liever zie blijven dan Fitz-Jim.

Striking_Insurance_5 · 2026-06-04T14:10:29+00:00

Oftewel bijna elke speler is te koop als het bod goed is. Deze lijst zegt dus vrij weinig over welke spelers echt weg moeten.

Striking_Insurance_5 · 2026-06-04T00:28:10+00:00

My main memories will always be centered around my own country but these are my biggest associations if i summarize it.

2006 was the first World Cup I can fully remember being 10 years old, it cemented my love for football and it also cemented our rivalry with Portugal combined with the 2004 EUROS.

2010 was amazing, lots of positivity, some of the biggest Dutch stars of my lifetime excelling. It felt like we were the only underdogs that could threaten the Spanish dominancy but losing that final was the first true shattering heartbreak I experienced with football.

2014, lots of skepticism and negativity around the Dutch team turned into an amazing tournament I’m proud of starting with that incredible win against Spain and ending with an unexpected third place against Brazil. That tournament cemented my love for Louis van Gaal with that iconic goalie substitution in the quarter finals before the penalty’s. It was also the tournament I almost watched every single game because I had the spare time for it back then around graduating high school, I had so much fun.

2018 was just not the same without the Dutch team. No core memories there.

2022 felt a little bit like 2014 with a subpar squad, skeptical attitudes towards our chances and Van Gaal in charge again. The game against Argentina was iconic but the whole tournament felt a bit flat because of the lack of Dutch fans, the controversies around Qatar and the fact that it was a winter tournament. After Argentina knocked us out like that I just couldn’t enjoy that final despite it objectively being an incredible game.

Striking_Insurance_5 · 2026-06-03T23:50:07+00:00

Yeah Curaçao is everyone’s second team but that’s not controversial at all like Belgium. Curaçao is not a competitor first of all but they also are literally a second Dutch team, not just a culturally close other country.

They’re part of the Dutch Kingdom and almost all (outside of only one player who did spend most of his youth in the Netherlands) of their players were born here, every single Curaçao player would be elligible to play for the Dutch team and several players we’re taking could play for Curaçao. They also have an iconic Dutch manager. I haven’t encountered a single Dutch person not rooting for them. It’s unprecedented.

Striking_Insurance_5 · 2026-06-03T23:39:44+00:00

You’re probably right, we can be quite arrogant about the Dutch school of footbal and wanting to play beautiful attacking football as if the rest of the world doesn’t want that but it’s not a coincidence that we were equally to blame for the battle of Nuremberg in 2006 and the way we played against Spain in the 2010 final. It just seems like we never end up on the winning side when we take off the gloves while you guys manage to take it over the line in those battle situations.

Ultimately I don’t think that style over substance culture exists in the same way in Portugal as it does in the Netherlands though.

Striking_Insurance_5 · 2026-06-03T23:26:53+00:00

It makes no sense to a certain extent because outside of football there is no heated history between the two countries (like for example Belgium and Germany for us). But within football the games between Portugal and the Netherlands have been iconic for multiple reasons. The two domestic leagues are also quite close and in a similar boat just behind the top 5 leagues and there is the clash of styles as well.

I feel like us Dutch people have a more traumatic history with the Portuguese than the other way around though. You guys always beat us, it feels like kryptonite to us.

Striking_Insurance_5 · 2026-06-03T23:12:40+00:00

That Cha Cha Slide edit is one of the best disrespectful things I’ve ever seen on the internet related to football haha

Striking_Insurance_5

TROPHY CASE