A Quote by Edgar Davids
I played for Barcelona, for Ajax, where it's important to develop and integrate young talent.
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As you can probably tell, the push to develop talent in Africa is personal. I grew up there. I played there. I know how much talent there is. We have to concentrate on building facilities, establishing successful leagues and finding investors to help young players.
I would like Ajax to be people's favourite second team. Like in Spain, if you are a Real Madrid fan, then you can't be a Barcelona supporter. It's the same in Italy. But you can be an Ajax fan.
Ajax have a set model, a defined youth programme - Barcelona have one too, and Juventus. And Atletico Madrid do too. Real Madrid don't - because they alternate developing their own players with signing talent.
I'd love to play with Ajax against Barcelona.
When I was young, the best moment came when I was 10 and I got invited to the academy. I remember getting all this Ajax training gear and suddenly I was able to call myself an Ajax player.
Ajax always bring through young players from their academy - we can't pay €20m for a player, so we make sure we develop those players and give them the opportunity to play.
The important talent is the talent to develop one's talent.
Having coached Ajax, Barcelona, the Netherlands, FC Bayern, and Manchester United like I did, it is difficult for any offer to be interesting.
My first dream as a young boy was to be a gymnast and my first memory of football is of watching Ajax win the European Cup in 1971. It was a time when a great philosophy was being developed at Ajax, making rounded players who were there as a complete team rather than as 11 individuals.
A system depends on the players you have. I played 4-3-3 with Ajax, 2-3-2-3 with Barcelona and a 4-4-2 with AZ. I'm flexible. The philosophy stays the same though. I don't think that you can adapt it to every possible situation. You need the right mindset, and it depends on how the players see the coach and vice versa. The coach is the focal point of the team but you need to have an open mind, and so do all the players. Everyone needs to work together to achieve a common goal.
As a young centre-back at Ajax, I played with Wim Jansen, and of course you learn a huge amount. I made some mistakes, because we Dutchmen want to solve situations by playing football. So we look at the ball, try to judge where it will come.
I thank God for having played for four years in the best Barcelona team in history, but playing in the Premier League is also very important.
I made my debut very early and a lot of things happened to me at a young age, but I was there for the best time in Barcelona's history and played with the best players in the world.
If you play for Barcelona or Ajax or for any top team or top side, they want to see the top players excel every week.
I've played with Jan Vertonghen for Ajax and the national team.
I won the title three times with Ajax; I played in the Champions League final and won the league title with Atletico. I have also played in the World Cup.
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