This is the longest I have refrained from putting an idea into words. Technically I did do it. I first wrote a version of this on LinkedIn and shared the draft with a dear friend and colleague. He asked me not to publish it because of the flack I might receive as it challenges each and every practice of my own profession. In my head, The first ever version of this blog was purely about the sport I have developed an unexplainable devotion over the last 16 years. This was in 2017. It completely transformed into a different topic when the transfer of Matthijs de Ligt to Juventus was announced in August 2019.

I have never seen a professional football match before 2004. When I moved from my hometown to pursue higher education, my dad bought me my first computer. Being an avid fan of computer games and someone who was utterly starved by the available range of them in my small town, I was very eager to play every game I could get my hands on. Earlier, the only place I could access a computer was in my school lab and I had to beg our teacher for some time after school to play on it. Now, back to 2004. A classmate lent me his bootlegged copy of FIFA 2004. I installed it and started playing the only way I knew. Get the ball, run with it and try to score goals. This is what everyone in my school did and our physical education teacher never told us otherwise. But it didn’t work out. The computer kept beating me. So, I told my classmate that it was an impossible game to play. He disagreed and gave me an advice. Till date, I buy the latest FIFA release every year and it is the only game I play. My most visited website is http://www.espnfc.com. Most of my screen time goes to either watching football or reading about it.

Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I don’t like that attitude. I can assure them it is much more serious than that.

– Bill Shankly

What he told me that day was to watch professional football to understand the game. So, I started watching the English premier league in a 14 inch black and white television. It was the only football telecast in my country at that point of time. Now, I had to pick a team right? I picked the first team in the list of available ones in FIFA 2004. Arsenal. Its was just a coincidence that they were not only the first team when sorted alphabetically but were also reigning champions. Gradually, my interest grew and I started watching every game possible and then started doing what’s love. Analyse. Over the years, I found more teams that I like. Barcelona, Ajax, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, The list keeps changing every year. Because my loyalty now, is for the game, not any particular team. I am mostly going to talk about Ajax FC, Amsterdam’s most prominent football club. Because If I talking about football in general, this blog will end up being really long. On that note, I ran a word count on this and its already 482 words without really getting into the business.

The dutch football is ranked 12th in Europe by UEFA, the football administration body of the continent. In terms of TV and other revenues, there is a huge chasm between the Dutch league and the likes of English premier league, Spanish La liga, German bundesliga and the Italian Sirie A. So, naturally, Ajax is run on a relatively shoestring budget. If a rich club comes to poach their players, they simply cannot refuse. But they still have a glorious history of European dominance. So, how is this possible?

Jong Ajax – Produce, don’t procure. Since they don’t have the financial might of clubs from other countries to hire players who are a finished product, so they have developed one of the most efficient scouting network to identify young talent and them train them. Their youth academy called Jong Ajax (Young Ajax) takes care of both education and football training. Another advantage this brings is that every player is trained to play the ‘Ajax way’ which is total football.

Total Football – Johan Cruyff, the architect of modern Ajax and the person how took them to their pinnacle both as a player and coach embraced the ideas of Jack Reynolds, Jimmy Hogan and Gusztav Sebes. The idea that challenged the age old notion that each player in a football team can only be trained to do one thing. There are no defenders or Midfielders or offensive players in an Ajax team. From childhood each player is monitored to identify the strengths and weaknesses. Accordingly, they are trained for a specific position. This is what all the other clubs do too. The famed La Masia of FC Barcelona and Ballspielverein Borussia of Borussia Dortmund also have excellent scouting network and academies. But Ajax goes one step further, they then teach every player to play in every position. This makes the team extremely flexible and unpredictable on the field, it helps them deal with injuries, suspensions and finally helps them cope when one or more layer leave.

Birds leaving nest – As a club that finds and nurtures talent, Ajax has always faced the problem of their players being poached by richer clubs by offering huge salaries, something that Ajax cannot afford. But they don’t mind it. Because the revenues from player sales help them fund their academy and for every super star sold, they can create 10 more super stars. They never come in the way of their players growth. Its like a family. When a child comes of age and announces that he wants to leave the house, parents don’t get upset, on the contrary they feel proud and happy. This is one reason most of the club administration and coaching staff comprises of their ex-players. Once the players have see the world and quenched their thirst for fame and success, instead of retiring and enjoying their earnings, they always return to help the club out with the next generations.

Leadership ~ Experience? Finally, the most intriguing thing that Ajax does. The only qualification for becoming the captain of the team is to have true leadership qualities. This is where Matthijs de ligt’s story is an example. He became the club captain at the age of 18 years, after having played just 37 games for the senior team and zero games for the national team. That too in a team that consisted the likes of Klaas Huntelaar who was 34 and Daley Blind who was 29 (and the son Danny bling who was an ex Ajax and Netherlands player and coach in addition to being the board member of Ajax). “Age is just a number” is a quote used by many to justify things they do in their old age. But can use the same quote to justify leadership qualities. A person cannot be trained to be a leader. One doesn’t become a leader with experience. A person is born a leader, anyone who pretends otherwise is just play acting.

The reason my friend asked me to refrain from posting the ideas in this blog on LinkedIn was because so called Managers of the corporate world. The ones who hold expensive degrees and certifications in Management will not be able to digest this and will lash out against me. They will see it as something that undermines them. This is where the exact problem lies. Managers are there to serve the organization, not themselves and their egos. Again, we can take a leaf out of the football world here. The salary and net worth of a player follows a bell curve. Mind that almost every football manager out there is a retired player. Now, their salary reaches the highest point when they are in their prime playing days and goes down once they become managers. Yes, in football managers are paid less salaries than most of the players. Yes, the people who do the work are paid more than the people who supervise the work. This happens only in sporting world. This is because the value someone adds to a football team is visible to everyone in plain sight. This visibility ensures that everyone gets the fair compensation.

Now that we have seen some innovative ideas Ajax has brought to their club and football world in general, don’t you think the same principles can be applied to every organization in the world?