I’ve got a little something different for the previews this week, in what is arguably La Dea’s biggest game of the early season. I was fortunate to connect with Ajax supporter Dustin Parkes (and part-time Atalanta supporter!) to get his opinions on the upcoming match, Ajax’s recent form, and a bunch of other tidbits about the Dutch giants and Dutch football in general.
Dustin had previously written about soccer for theScore, and had the fortune of being the features editor, which included leading coverage of the 2014 World Cup (the World Cup coincidentally that put soccer on my radar). While he isn’t currently putting pen to paper as frequently as he was as a journalist, he still has plenty of enjoyable musings to share about soccer and sports in general through his twitter account: @dustinparkes
I’ll let Dustin take over from here, as his eloquent responses taught me a lot not just about the Dutch side, the national squad, and Ajax media relations…
Atalanta Passione: How did you start supporting Ajax?
Dustin Parkes: Growing up in Canada, there wasn’t exactly a plethora of soccer coverage. Every Saturday, on the only sports network available at the time, there was a program — the accurately, but somewhat unimaginatively, named Soccer Saturday — that would recap recent matches, mostly English games. I think they would actually broadcast parts of the previous week’s games. Anyway, at the time (mid-1990s), there was a young team from Amsterdam that got some attention with their Champions League success, and given my Dutch background, Ajax was really the only team I could ever support.
AP: Atalanta and Ajax are similar in that they’re both great at scouting and nurturing young talent before selling them off for a profit. Like Atalanta, Ajax probably have to use this model out of necessity, but how do you feel about having to constantly fill huge gaps such as the recent losses of de Ligt, de Jong, Ziyech, and Van de Beek?
DP: If you’re an Ajax fan — and/or yes, an Atalanta supporter — complaining about the sale of young stars to bigger clubs in Europe is futile. It’s like going to a concert (remember those?) and being shocked and appalled over the cost of a drink at the concessions stand. It doesn’t do anyone any good. It’s something you have to just accept and quickly move on from (or risk looking ridiculous). But one thing that kind of bothers me — and I see this a lot from Ajax supporters — is cheering on the club’s bank balance like it’s a separate cup run. I mean, it’s all well and good to cheer smart management decisions: a budget is finite and you should want your team to use its limited resources to make the club better and win more matches, but …. I think there’s a tendency to cheer on (and sometimes even boast about) earnings as though there’s going to be a banner-raising ceremony for record revenues. The whole point of sports is to live vicariously through your heroes on the pitch. If you want to cheer for income, pick a bank or a hedge fund to support (AP- this made me laugh out loud).
AP: Ajax has lost their last two matches against Liverpool and Twente, but still lead in the Eredivisie. Does their recent overall form still bring you confidence of securing a victory Wednesday?
DP: Let’s get a bit dark, here. It’s unfortunate, but there is an arrogance (not to mention, a terrible sense of entitlement) inherent to being an Ajax supporter. As the wealthiest team in the Netherlands, Ajax is supposed to win. I think this warps the perspective of supporters somewhat in that — even more than most football fans — we tend to only ever see one team on the pitch: when Ajax win, they played well; when they lose, they played poorly regardless of anything the other side does. This, however, only applies to our domestic league matches. The moment we play a bigger club from somewhere else, we’re full of excuses comparing wages and broadcast rights.
This is all to say I’m not too concerned about the last two matches. Liverpool, even with their injuries, should beat Ajax, and they did. It would have been a surprise if things went the other way. Twente, on the other hand, executed a smart game plan (Route One, getting behind the Ajax backline) and took advantage of a club that looked like it was ill prepared for any sort of challenge (something Erik ten Hag confirmed in post-match interviews). There’s no excuse for a lack of mental preparation against Atalanta; nor is there a David vs. Goliath narrative on which to rely. Everyone knows what’s at stake. Everyone knows what Atalanta is capable of. Whether or not that makes me confident is a different question, but I do think that Ajax have an advantage in overall talent.
AP: Antony impressed me the most out of any player in the last match-up, and is my man to watch for Atalanta’s defense. How’s he looked recently, and is he your key to unlocking the Atalanta defense or someone else?
DP: I think a creative player of Antony’s technical ability is going to cause trouble for any squad. He’s received criticism in the Dutch media recently for some ordinary performances, but there’s something about the Dutch footballing news outlets that equates contrarianism to virtue, whether it’s valid or not: He’s played in four matches without scoring, so obviously the signing is a bust. For me, the most interesting player to watch against Atalanta is going to be Lassina Traore. The Atalanta pressing can be so vicious — both in intelligence and intensity — that I see Traore acting as a Target Man for Onana, Blind and Schurrs. In the second half of the last match, it seemed to me that the swarming of Klaassen took its toll, and Ajax had no one to give the ball to once recovering it in their own end. Traore isn’t going to run behind the Atalanta back line, but watch for him to win aerial battles, hold the ball up in the centre of the pitch, and distribute to the wide players as they make their runs or create space for Tadic or Gravenberch for their own distribution or movement forward.
AP: Besides Papu, who scares you the most from the Atalanta squad?
DP: I’m not so sure any single player scares me as much as the overall flow or creativity of the team. I think part of what makes Atalanta most effective is their interchangeability. Think of the poor defenders facing Atalanta’s forwards. At one moment you’re marking Papu, the next it’s Ilicic or Zapata. All three do things so very differently, and all three can be in any position in the final third, using their size and skill in completely different ways. Having said that, I must admit that it did seem as though Zapata and Schurrs were matched up often on Matchday 2, and it proved to be a nice subplot to the overall game. I hope that battle comes through again on Wednesday; not because I think there’s an advantage one way or the other, but rather, it was incredibly entertaining last time.
AP: Favorite Dutchman on Atalanta (Gosens counts haha)?
DP: I started following Atalanta two years ago — I’m embarrassingly proud of jumping on the bandwagon slightly ahead of everyone else — because of their Dutch players. Despite my Marten de Roon kit (which I hope to proudly wear on Thursdays throughout the early part of the New Year), I have to confess to favouring Hans Hateboer. This didn’t occur until after the pandemic schedule suspension when Hateboer emerged with luscious, flowing locks quite like myself. And it was reinforced after a couple of national team performances in which fans unfairly — to my mind, at least — criticized his performances. The squad was set to have Hateboer overlap on the right side, and supporters seemed angry that he was balking at defensive duties. I think tactics deployed by Frank de Boer were much more to blame than his performance, especially in the match against Italy in which Georginio Wijnaldum was playing an odd sort of advanced playmaker/inverted winger role on the right side ahead of Hateboer.
AP: Last but not least, score prediction
DP: Ajax will win 3-1. An early goal from Tadic will see Ajax absorbing a bunch of pressure for most of the game, but they’ll get another one on the counter from Neres (after a Traore hold-up in the centre of the pitch). Zapata will bring Atalanta back within one, But as the Italian side throw everything forward in the dying minutes, Promes will put the nail in the coffin from off the bench. (AP: agree with the goals scored, but I’m thinking another 2-2 haha!)
Final thoughts from Dustin: While I’m certainly pulling for Ajax, no matter who wins on Wednesday, it will be nice to have a rooting interest in both Champions League and Europa. Since I began following Atalanta a couple years ago, my support has been cemented not just by their play or everything that has happened in Bergamo over the last year, but also the welcoming attitude of the club’s English-speaking online community. I love watching Atalanta matches while keeping Twitter open on my phone or macbook. Despite being mostly in isolation from many of my friends who live close by, it’s been wonderful to connect with new friends around the world while gushing over the play of Papu, admiring the strength and skill of Zapata and looking forward to the future of a player like Cristian Romero. I just hope I’ll be welcomed back into the fold after Wednesday in Amsterdam.
Don’t worry Dustin, you’ll be welcomed back into the fold! A big shout out to him again for taking the time to bring our squads a little closer together, and schooling us on the finer sides of Ajax and Dutch football!
