The signing
"They had been after me for a while. I'd been in Rennes
for four years and I was at the end of a personal cycle. I
had just left the French U-21 team and I was feeling like
discovering something else: European matches, Champions
League.
| I was training
with my former team in Rennes when Pierre
Dréossi called to tell me: 'Everything has been
settled with Ajax. Get on the first
plane!' |
"I saw all French and European teams that were playing
that kind of matches. But I was already aware of the fact
that Ajax had been interested in me eversince the
European U-21 championship and even earlier, during the
qualifiers. Ronald Koeman and Ruud Krol (coach-assistant) had
even attended one of my matches already, against Paris Saint
Germain in Paris, but I never knew about that.
"It's about that time that they officially started
talking to my manager, Bruno Satin. At the end of the
season I quickly summarized the situation with him:
'Which clubs are after me?' I wanted to know more about the
structures of all those potential future clubs: style of
play, coaches, squads, the competitions they were
going to play in the following season...
"And then, right after Cristian Chivu's departure to
AS Roma, Ajax came back to negotiate. We left with Bruno and
my girlfriend Carole to Amsterdam during the month of July. I
came back to Rennes during the pre-season training courses
and immediately had a talk with new head-coach Laszlo
Bölöni. I made things crystal clear with everybody,
and technical director Pierre Dréossi quickly
authorized my departure. I was doing physical training
with my former team in Rennes when Pierre Dréossi
called me one day on my phone to tell me : 'Everything has
been settled with Ajax. Get on the first plane!'
"When I was a kid I used to watch Koeman playing for
Barça. I admired him. For me he was a sort of
reference. The presence of two great defenders like Ruud Krol
and Ronald Koeman has been a key factor in my decision,
because I knew that their advice would be precious, and the
fact that such great former players wanted me was really
pleasant. Even more, it was an honor."
The coach
"One of the first things Krol and Koeman told me was: 'We
saw you playing at the Parc des Princes [home ground of Paris
Saint Germain, ed.] with white boots... No things like that
over here!' Anyway, I was so amazed that I would have done
anything for them...
| One of the
first things Krol and Koeman told me was: 'We saw you
playing at the Parc des Princes with white shoes... No
things like that over here!' |
"Koeman is really clever in his relationship with all the
players. He is watching the team closely to get a better
overview, but in the mean time he is very aware of each
individual player. His speeches are not too long, but he
knows how to make the player feel better with few words.
He also likes to tease us and he makes jokes quite often. He
enters the toros during training, sits at our table during
lunch and sometimes tells us stories about the great
Barça.
"What is great, too, is that when Koeman is managing
training, coach-assistants Krol and Bruins Slot are watching
every move and thusly are able to give him reports after
the end of the training, during debriefing. There is
always a good team spirit during training, as well as after
his match speeches.
"I didn't speak English before, but now I do my best. Many
players here speak French: Hatem Trabelsi, Ruud Krol, the
Belgians Sonck and Van Damme, Wamberto who played in
Belgium too, the medical staff, the general manager. Yes,
Krol and Koeman are really sympathetic. When on a ride in the
forest they know how to have fun. With the ball too.
| Marco Van
Basten is in charge of the reserve team. A few days ago
a guy got an injury during training, and Marco took his
shirt and played. He is still really impressive, and
that's a moment I will remember for a long
time. |
"I don't know how I can explain it, but when it comes
to the relationships within the club it's really
different from France... Over here, before a match, we do not
'go to the country', except for Champions League matches.
[Ajax trains at a secluded camp in Noordwijk on the North Sea
coast prior to big matches, ed.] We meet each other
three hours before the match, the guys are relaxed, they
often pull each other's leg to have fun... Last time Obodai
came with damaged shoes. He heard some good ones about that
for a long time!"
Training
"Quite simply: in Amsterdam you only see former
stars! Great players only. Marco van Basten is in charge
of the reserve team. A few days ago a guy sustained an injury
during training, and Marco took his shirt and played. He is
still really impressive. I will remember that moment for
a long time.
"Ajax represents something really big here. When
I was young I wasn't that much into football, but then there
was the Koeman generation in Barcelona and Ajax's
success in the '95 Champions League with Overmars, Kluivert
and others. I still remember that play: that passing,
that precision, that unconventionality.
"I was wondering how they could produce so many good
players that young. When I came here I was still
puzzled. Now I know. I've found the answer: by working
ceaselessly on it from the youth teams all the way to
the A squad. A few weeks ago I was watching the reserve
team working on its game in movement. It was really simple: I
pass, he passes back, I pass, he passes back... And you never
see a ball lying still!
"Koeman makes me work hard on both of my feet so
that it becomes an instinctive thing to play with each
of them. Control with one foot, pass with the other. And Ajax
still breeds wingers. Even if our team doesn't have real
wingers now, there are two or three Surinam players in Young
Ajax who are really impressive. We work a lot on simple
flat-foot-passes, short and long ones, games in triangle,
through-passes. Recently Ruud Krol criticized me for passing
into the feet of the receiver rather than giving
through-passes.
"In fact there is not a big tactical workload,
just few black board sessions. For the main part it is
more little warm-ups, toros, triangle games. We have
many different little games on the day after a
match, wich is new for me compared to my experiences in the
French championship. We also do sort of little technical
workshops and agility games."
The matches
"Chivu has quite a reputation over here. He was known
to be the leader of the group as a true captain. He was
taking free kicks, penalty kicks and he scored quite often.
He was a real key player. So I quietly tiptoe in the group.
People are sometimes surprised to see a Frenchie here. But I
really have that inner feeling that here is where I belong.
The coach apparently trusts me, as I've played all the
matches since the beginning of the season. I'm making
mistakes like everybody. I learn, too. I didn't come with a
'I'm better than everybody' attitude. It's my role to work
hard and to improve, in order to reach the level of the
other guys. They're used to the Champions League and to
Ajax's style and rhythm. I'm just a newbie trying to match
the model. I'm also discovering the Dutch language.
| I made the
right choice. I'm in a big club that plays attractive
football and that matches my qualities, with a
great group and staff. I'm playing in the Champions
League. |
"Koeman stresses the fact that he will do all his speeches
in Dutch, in order to force players to tryto learn the
language and to mix in to their new country. I made the
right choice. I'm at a big club that plays
attractive football and that matches my qualities, with
a great group and staff. I'm playing in the Champions
League.
"Life here is pleasant. We appreciate that in my family,
and even more when my brother [French ATP tennis superstar
Nicolas Escudé, ed.] comes to visit me. The good thing
in this league is the fact that all teams try to
play decent football, even if there are only three big teams.
You seldomly see long balls and things like that. It's
something I enjoy. And it's a change for me to play for the
'target club': the one everybody wants to beat.
"And last but not least there's the ArenA...
On Champions League nights it's really fabulous:
the atmosphere, the songs, the intensity, the flags and the
match's rhythm. The main idea: we will not adjust to the
opponent's style. Our own is more important."
