Hakim Ziyech

Henrik Larsson

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On tonight's performance perfectly suited to a number 10 role as well
He mostly played at #10 at Heerenveen, Twente and also in his first year at Ajax when they made the EL Final, so basically his whole career except the last two years.

This is probably also what made many clubs doubt about signing him. More than the fact that he tries crazy passes and as a consequence doesn't have a 90% pass completion rate, it's the fact that he's basically got the same profile as players like James Rodriguez and Ozil. Extremely talented players but hardly undisputed stars over the last years. Those type of creative #10's who can also play right wing don't seem awfully popular in most systems right now I guess.
 

Stadjer

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He might not be "world class" or the most exciting name in football but he is better than Mata, Pereira and Lingard combined.
 

Alfie092

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Does he have a release clause?

Whether he does or not we should be all over him! Seems such a obvious signing :confused:
 

AFC NimbleThumb

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It was a pretty basic reply, not passive aggressive. I think there are some people around who genuinely think Ole only wants British players.
If they are I’m not one of them.

It was a stupid thing to say imo but signing wholly British players is rather obviously impossible.
 

Cassidy

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Hes proven it two seasons in a row in CL, against the best teams in Europe, he was part of an Ajax side that went to the semi finals. Consistent in the Dutch leagues for over 3 years, he is world class.
He isnt world class thats why he is still at Ajax. He is very inconsistent
 

Righteous Steps

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He isnt world class thats why he is still at Ajax. He is very inconsistent
In the Dutch leagues?

He was Ajax player of the year and in the team of the season for 4th year in his career?

Most assists in the dutch league again for the 4th time in his career

One in two scoring record for his national team(14 in 28), how inconsistent can he be?
 

Cassidy

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He’s been scoring and assisting in almost every game he’s been playing.

Isn’t world class because he’s still at Ajax is such a weak argument.
Inconsistent in his play not stats. Memphis also had great stats in that league.

He is a very good player but he is not world class.

Its not a weak argument really. If he was truly world class he would have been bought in the summer when he was available for a reduced fee. Only Sevilla really came in for him.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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I doubt he'd even leave Ajax for us anyway, what a step down.
It's a step down for people who doesn't want to challenge himself and stay in their comfort zone. Of course it's not step down, moving from Eredivisie to Premier League. However, I can see him staying at Ajax since he prefers to stay in his comfort zone.
 

Canagel

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He mostly played at #10 at Heerenveen, Twente and also in his first year at Ajax when they made the EL Final, so basically his whole career except the last two years.

This is probably also what made many clubs doubt about signing him. More than the fact that he tries crazy passes and as a consequence doesn't have a 90% pass completion rate, it's the fact that he's basically got the same profile as players like James Rodriguez and Ozil. Extremely talented players but hardly undisputed stars over the last years. Those type of creative #10's who can also play right wing don't seem awfully popular in most systems right now I guess.
Ozil and James can't play wide. He's more close to the likes of Di Maria or B Silva. And I wouldn't say those players are the typical 10's. They can play any side in the front three or even midfield so the manager has a lot of options for him because of his versatility. He presses well, have a great left foot and basically scores/creates every game. What more can you ask from your creative player?
 

Henrik Larsson

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Ozil and James can't play wide. He's more close to the likes of Di Maria or B Silva. And I wouldn't say those players are the typical 10's. They can play any side in the front three or even midfield so the manager has a lot of options for him because of his versatility. He presses well, have a great left foot and basically scores/creates every game. What more can you ask from your creative player?
In my opinon there's no way he's more close to Di Maria than Ozil, other than in terms of scrawny looks course, Bernardo Silva fair enough though. I was just saying that a player with Ziyech's profile doesn't seem to be that popular at the moment. Guardiola's set-up is not the norm, majority of big clubs seem to like the real pacy types as wingers or prefer workhorses and more traditional cm's in midfield at the moment instead of building their system around a creative player like him. So for me that's probably the biggest factor as to explaining why the real top teams haven't really been fully commited or convinced to sign him up.

Wenger's Arsenal always seemed to have a batch of those technically good attacking midfielders who could play in many positions, he would've fitted really nicely in such a team. Generally speaking I feel the EPL is just about the last league he should go to though, for a whole variety of reasons. Spain would probably be the best fit for him I think. There was some discussion in another thread about Bayern being interested this summer, if I remember it right Ziyech himself confirmed they did sniff around a little bit but he had already renewed with Ajax and they weren't really concrete. With Ten Hag being mentioned as a potential manager next year I could see Ziyech being one of the first people he'd sign up if he got that job.
 

Just shoot me

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Imagine Ziyech taking our free kicks and corners instead of Young or Mata.. Maguire would be on top of the goalscoring defenders table by now.
 

Godfather

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Inconsistent in his play not stats. Memphis also had great stats in that league.

He is a very good player but he is not world class.

Its not a weak argument really. If he was truly world class he would have been bought in the summer when he was available for a reduced fee. Only Sevilla really came in for him.
Which makes it even more annoying we weren't even in for him. But what can you expect from this board and manager.
 

Sterling Archer

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If Allegri was here, He'd be our player already.

Ole didn't even try to sign him and relying on Lingard, Mata, Pereira :houllier:
We found out pretty early in the summer that Sancho would not be moving, so I am surprised we didn't even consider it seeing he's done well against English sides in competition as well.
 

Mark Pawelek

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I'd take him on 2 provisos:
  • We sell both Mata and Lingard in same window we get him
  • If PL doesn't workout for him within 6 months, we move him on ASAP.
When SAF got a failed transfer, they were moved on within 6 months to 1 year. We seem to keep players forever hoping they'll suddenly get better. When you have a squad player, not in the 1st team squad, and they're deteriorating, they need to go ASAP.
 

Kicker Conspiracy

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Ziyech plays like a tennis player who goes 100% full on his service, which means a lot of aces but also many double faults. With Hakim there is no middle of the road, its all or nothing.
At Ajax, the supporters in the beginning had difficulties with accepting this, and was the emphasis more on the fumbles and wrong passes. But after some time the fans started to see that the absolute brilliance and genius he displayed was worth the annoyance. So any team which plays with Ziyech has to accept this. If you try to kill Hakim's demons, his angels will die as well.
Ziyech is extremely sensitive and he doesn't compromise. He only wants to leave Ajax for a top club. (and in spite of recent results Man Utd is still considered to be a top club in Holland).
Personally I think his best position is at central midfield as 10, but because of his risky play a lot of managers play him from the right side of the field

Last summer he was to grab for around 30 million but Ajax gave him a new contract and an unprecedented salary for dutch standards (100k a week).
So interested clubs now have pay around 70/80 million. But we in Amsterdam would't mind, if nobody dares to take the risk with him. He can get a lifetime contract with us.
And you can safely trust the judgement from Ajax fans, when we unanimous consider a player to be world class, than he is so. (We've seen/produced enough to know if a player is the real deal).
 
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dutchred

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Ziyech plays like a tennis player who goes 100% full on his service, which means a lot of aces but also many double faults. With Hakim there is no middle of the road, its all or nothing.
At Ajax, the supporters in the beginning had difficulties with accepting this, and was the emphasis more on the fumbles and wrong passes. But after some time the fans started to see that the absolute brilliance and genius he displayed was worth the annoyance. So any team which plays with Ziyech has to accept this. If you try to kill Hakim's demons, his angels will die as well.
Ziyech is extremely sensitive and he doesn't compromise. He only wants to leave Ajax for a top club. (and in spite of recent results Man Utd is still considered to be a top club in Holland).
Personally I think his best position is at central midfield as 10, but because of his risky play a lot of managers play him from the right side of the field

Last summer he was to grab for around 30 million but Ajax gave him a new contract and an unprecedented salary for dutch standards (100k a week).
So interested clubs now have pay around 70/80 million. But we in Amsterdam would't mind, if nobody dares to take the risk with him. He can get a lifetime contract with us.
And you can safely trust the judgement from Ajax fans, when we unanimous consider a player to be world class, than he is so. (We've seen/produced enough to know if a player is the real deal).
This is a really good analysis.
He can be brilliant. He can be frustrating. But he can win you games on his own. We have none who can unlock defenses. He can. I would love to see him here but everyone must have patience. If everything does not work out in the first few games we must have patience.
 

MyOnlySolskjaer

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Ziyech plays like a tennis player who goes 100% full on his service, which means a lot of aces but also many double faults. With Hakim there is no middle of the road, its all or nothing.
At Ajax, the supporters in the beginning had difficulties with accepting this, and was the emphasis more on the fumbles and wrong passes. But after some time the fans started to see that the absolute brilliance and genius he displayed was worth the annoyance. So any team which plays with Ziyech has to accept this. If you try to kill Hakim's demons, his angels will die as well.
Ziyech is extremely sensitive and he doesn't compromise. He only wants to leave Ajax for a top club. (and in spite of recent results Man Utd is still considered to be a top club in Holland).
Personally I think his best position is at central midfield as 10, but because of his risky play a lot of managers play him from the right side of the field

Last summer he was to grab for around 30 million but Ajax gave him a new contract and an unprecedented salary for dutch standards (100k a week).
So interested clubs now have pay around 70/80 million. But we in Amsterdam would't mind, if nobody dares to take the risk with him. He can get a lifetime contract with us.
And you can safely trust the judgement from Ajax fans, when we unanimous consider a player to be world class, than he is so. (We've seen/produced enough to know if a player is the real deal).
Very good analysis. Thanks for your input mate :)

So that begs the question. Is he world class for you?