The Amsterdam Invitational is an annual tradition at Ajax.

Every year at the beginning of the season, Ajax invites European teams to Amsterdam to compete, and in recent years, with the collapse of the Toyota Cup, the Amsterdam Invitational has also wanted to internationalize the tournament, so it has begun to invite South American teams.

In addition to the host country's Ajax, the four participating teams this season include Arsenal from the Premier League, Porto from the Portuguese Super League, and Boca Juniors from Argentina in South America.

Ajax has been carrying out arduous pre-season training in the past nearly a month, especially Yang Yang, who participated in the pre-season training camp for the first time, has practiced particularly hard, but because Yang Yang's training plan is not synchronized with his teammates, he has not played well in several warm-up games before the season.

This has always been expected by the coaching staff and Yang Yang himself.

Even in the Amsterdam Invitational Tournament, Yang Yang still failed to play his form.

In the first game against Boca Juniors, Ajax played very poorly throughout the game and dominated the field, but the attack was slow to play, and in the end, Boca Juniors seized the opportunity to score a goal, and finally lost the game 0-1.

Yang Yang played for 60 minutes and was closely guarded by Boca Juniors, and his performance was relatively average.

In an interview with the media after the game, Yang Yang said that he was recovering.

"I've never believed in the so-called rookie wall, I just need some time."

Ronald Koeman also said in an interview with the media that Yang Yang scored zero goals in the warm-up game, and a very important reason is that he is undergoing pre-season physical reserve training and state adjustment, and everyone should give him more time.

"He doesn't have to prove himself to anyone anymore, he's the best player!"

'I believe he's still the best player in the Eredivisie this season.'

Ajax is also very supportive of Yang Yang, and fans are full of confidence in him, firmly believing that his sluggish form is only temporary, and he will be able to come out soon.

Aaron Moy, a well-known Dutch media personality and host of Football Online, also supported Yang Yang on his radio program, believing that it was not easy for him to recover, adjust, and train hard for the new season in less than a month from the World Youth Championships to the Amsterdam Invitational Tournament.

'In fact, we can see that a lot of the players who did well last season tend to be sluggish in the summer World Cup or Confederations Cup, because every player's form has been up and down.

"Yang Yang is undoubtedly at his trough now, give him some time, I believe he can quickly climb to a higher peak."

Two days later, in the second match of the Amsterdam Invitational, Ajax lost 0-1 again.

Yang Yang's form was clearly on the back burner in the opening 40 seconds, and he had a brilliant back-heel pass just 40 seconds into the game, but Sneijder's follow-up shot failed to score.

Arsenal's problems have also exposed their own problems, namely the transfer of Patrick Vieira and the absence of Gilberto Silva to return to the team, leaving the Gunners weak to protect the edge of the box.

Arsene Wenger used Pire to play in a deep position, but it didn't work out well.

Ajax consciously wanted to take advantage of this area, but Yang Yang and Ashley Cole were entangled, Sneijder was alone, and Ajax's attack failed to work, but in the 87th minute, Hleb assisted, and Arsenal striker Lupoli scored to make it two wins in a row for the Gunners.

According to the rules of the Amsterdam Invitational Tournament, Arsenal won all two games and accumulated six points, plus three goals, a total of nine points, won the invitational tournament, Porto won one win and one loss, leading the number of goals, ranked second, Boca Juniors got the third, and the host Ajax lost both games, no goals, and zero points at the bottom.

The continued slump in warm-up and cup competitions has made Ajax extremely controversial.

In particular, Yaya Toure, who transferred from this summer, replaced the position of captain Galasek, and after starting with De Jong, he did not seem to be very adaptable, which made the team's very stable midfield defense have made some mistakes, and the attack has been slow to open up the situation.

Yang Yang's lack of excitement is only one aspect, and the midfield did not create enough shooting opportunities for him, which is the root cause.

The Dutch Telegraph said in a commentary that Ajax's attacking problems have begun to affect the team's journey for the new season, and Ronald Koeman should solve the problem as soon as possible before the new season officially begins.

Whether it is Ronald Koeman or Yang Yang, the media and fans will no longer question their coaching level and game strength, but now the problem for Ajax is how to solve the team's attack as soon as possible and reactivate Yang Yang's state.

Not only the media and fans pay attention, but even the management attaches great importance to it.

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Head Coach's Office on the second floor.

Ajax's director in charge of technical department Ali van Eden, head coach Ronald Koeman, chief assistant coach Luther Carroll, chief fitness coach Jan Kluittenberg, captain Galasek as the player's representative, the team's number one star Yang Yang, and the core of the midfield Sneijder all sat around.

This is the first time Ajax have invited players to a discussion this season, and it is clear that the coaching staff will also want to hear from the players, especially from Yang Yang, who is the team's number one star.

Last season, Yang Yang scored half of Ajax's goals, and everyone has high hopes for him this season.

But there are also some people waiting to see Yang Yang's jokes, thinking that he will hit the rookie wall.

Losing the Amsterdam Invitational with such a dismal result, Ajax was under a lot of pressure.

Although it was only a warm-up game and no one did their best, Ajax did play too badly, with zero points and no goals.

You know, the special feature of this invitational tournament is that one goal counts as one point, and zero goals are really not good-looking.

The coaching staff took the lead in analyzing the team's situation and believed that the current situation was basically not unexpected by everyone, including Yang Yang, whose state came relatively slowly, which is understandable.

Kruytenberg said that Yang Yang, including himself, does not need to be in a hurry.

"By September, you'll definitely be able to get into the rhythm and form of the new season."

During this period of time, Yang Yang has been strictly following his training plan, without any discount, if Yang Yang's state can't come, then he, the physical coach, will definitely be responsible.

Yang Yang himself said that he felt that his form was gradually returning, and he was full of confidence.

Galasek said that there is no problem in the team's dressing room, even the newly introduced Yaya Toure gets along well with the team without any problems.

As captain and a veteran, Galasek was somewhat embarrassed that he could not play in the main team, but everyone believed in his role in the dressing room, so he is still the captain of the team in the new season.

Sneijder admits that there are some problems in the midfield, but he can't say where the specific problems are, he just feels that it is more awkward to play, with Galasek and De Jong behind him, he can let go of his hands and feet, but now he ......

"Yaya Toure also works the defensive end, but I always feel that something is not quite right and I can't let go."

Luther Carroll intently recorded every word of Galasek and Sneijder, which is also some of the ideas that the coaching staff will have to solve the problem next, after all, the player is the most direct first person on the field, and the feeling will be more profound.

Ronald Coman also nodded, and then turned his head to look at Yang Yang.

"Yang, you can also talk about it."

Everyone immediately looked at Yang Yang.

Don't look at him as only eighteen years old, but he is already the out-and-out pillar of the current Ajax team.

If he says it in front of the media tomorrow, I'm not happy to play and the whole of Amsterdam and even the Netherlands will cause an earthquake, and if it gets worse, Ronald Koeman's position will be shaken.

Because of this, the coaching staff attaches great importance to Yang Yang's opinion, how to make him play comfortably and how to give full play to his strength, which has also become the most important task of the coaching staff at present.

If Yang Yang is not activated, who will score in the new season?

Wesley Sonk is gone, and Charlie Steas is not a scoring center despite scoring in double figures.

Whether it's Niklas Bendtner or Ryan Babbel, they can't pick up this beam for the time being.

Yang Yang also pondered carefully for a while, and then looked at the head coach and Luther Carroll, and with their encouragement, he spoke, "I'll just talk about some of my personal thoughts and feelings in the game." ”

"Well, it's okay, since it's a symposium, of course it's unscrupulous and free to speak." Ali van Eden said.

Ronald Coman also nodded: "It's okay, even if you think our tactics are problematic, just say that everyone can reach a consensus by communicating, right?" ”

Luther Carroll listened with some emotion.

At this time two years ago, Yang Yang was just a hairy boy who had just debuted, but two years have passed in a blink of an eye, and he has now become the pillar of Ajax.

Sometimes when he thinks about it, he has to sigh at the rapid progress and rapid growth of Yang Yang.

But he is also a little worried, for fear that Yang Yang will begin to become no longer humble after the glory of last season, which is definitely a taboo for professional players.

But with so many people present, Luther Carroll could only listen to what Yang Yang wanted to say first.

"Ronald is serious." Yang Yang politely smiled at Ronald Koeman, which is the respect he has always had for the head coach, and Ronald Koeman also responded with a smile, smiling and signaling him to continue.

Obviously, Yang Yang's statement made him feel respected, as long as what he said next was not too shocking, Ronald Coman would listen and even accept it.

But it is precisely because of this that everyone present feels that what Yang Yang said next may be quite serious.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be like this.