2008–09 AFC Ajax season

Ajax

2008–09 season
Chairman	Uri Coronel
Manager	Marco van Basten (until 6 May 2009) John van 't Schip (interim)
Eredivisie	3rd
KNVB Cup	Third Round
UEFA Cup	Round of 16
Top goalscorer	League: Luis Suárez (22 goals) All: Luis Suárez (28 goals)
Home colours Away colours
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

During the 2008–09 season AFC Ajax participated in the Eredivisie, the KNVB Cup and the UEFA Cup. The first training took place on Monday July 14, 2008. The traditional AFC Ajax Open Day was on Tuesday August 5, 2008, followed by a testimonial match for the retired former Ajax defender Jaap Stam.

The first training for the 2008–09 season was held on July 14, 2008. In preparation for the new season Ajax organized a training camp in De Lutte, Netherlands at the De Thij Sportpark. During the pre-season, the squad from manager Marco van Basten played friendly matches against VV Noordwijk, CVV Germanicus and Excelsior '31 before traveling to the United Kingdom to play against Cardiff City and Sunderland, then traveling to Spain to play Real Murcia. They then returned to Amsterdam to play Arsenal and Internazionale in the annual Amsterdam Tournament.

Appearances for competitive matches only

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Eredivisie		UEFA Cup		KNVB Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	NED	Maarten Stekelenburg	15	0	12	0	2	0	1	0
2	DF	URU	Bruno Silva	13	0	5+3	0	3+1	0	1	0
3	DF	ESP	Oleguer	37	1	26+1	1	9	0	1	0
4	DF	BEL	Thomas Vermaelen	41	5	31	4	8	1	2	0
5	DF	BEL	Jan Vertonghen	35	5	23+3	4	7	1	2	0
6	MF	SWE	Rasmus Lindgren	32	2	15+7	2	6+2	0	1+1	0
7	DF	SWE	Kennedy Bakircioglü	12	2	5+3	1	2+1	1	1	0
8	DF	NED	Urby Emanuelson	42	4	31+1	4	9	0	1	0
10	FW	SRB	Miralem Sulejmani	34	10	23+4	8	7	2	0	0
11	FW	MAR	Ismaïl Aissati	11	1	8+1	1	2	0	0	0
12	GK	NED	Kenneth Vermeer	31	0	22	0	8	0	1	0
15	DF	NED	Gregory van der Wiel	43	2	31+1	2	8+1	0	2	0
16	FW	URU	Luis Suárez	43	28	30+1	22	10	5	2	1
17	DF	NED	Rob Wielaert	16	1	16	1	0	0	0	0
18	MF	ESP	Gabri	21	1	12+4	1	3+1	0	1	0
20	FW	ARG	Darío Cvitanich	23	9	14+4	9	2+2	0	0+1	0
21	MF	CMR	Eyong Enoh	25	2	17+2	1	5	1	1	0
22	MF	NED	Siem de Jong	16	1	5+5	1	2+2	0	1+1	0
23	FW	BRA	Leonardo	33	4	5+19	2	0+8	2	0+1	0
24	MF	NED	Jan-Arie van der Heijden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
25	MF	NED	Evander Sno	15	1	4+6	1	2+2	0	1	0
26	MF	NED	Jeffrey Sarpong	14	1	6+4	1	2+1	0	1	0
28	MF	ANT	Vurnon Anita	21	1	12+4	0	3+2	1	0	0
29	MF	NED	Mitchell Donald	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
30	GK	NED	Dennis Gentenaar	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31	FW	CRO	Darko Bodul	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
33	FW	ANT	Javier Martina	2	0	1+1	0	0	0	0	0
37	DF	NED	Robbert Schilder	18	0	7+4	0	3+2	0	0+2	0
38	DF	BEL	Toby Alderweireld	8	0	2+3	0	2+1	0	0	0
39	MF	NED	Daley Blind	6	0	0+5	0	0+1	0	0	0
43	FW	NED	Marvin Zeegelaar	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Players sold or loaned out after the start of the season:
9	FW	NED	Klaas-Jan Huntelaar	15	9	10	6	4	2	1	1
11	FW	DEN	Kenneth Perez	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
19	FW	DEN	Dennis Rommedahl	3	0	1+2	0	0	0	0	0
27	MF	BEL	Laurent Delorge	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
34	FW	NED	John Goossens	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
36	GK	RSA	Hans Vonk	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

As of 31 October 2011

Nationality															Total Players
Current squad selection	11	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	-	-	27
Youth/reserves squad in AFC Ajax selection	3	1	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5
Players out on loan	1	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	4

Standing	Matches played	Wins	Draws	Losses	Points	Goals for	Goals against	Yellow cards	Red cards
3	34	21	5	8	68	74	41	60	6

Match day	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	Total
Points	0	3	1	3	0	3	3	3	3	3	3	0	1	3	3	3	3	3	0	0	1	0	3	3	3	1	3	3	3	3	0	1	0	3	68

Match day	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	Total
Points	0	3	4	7	7	10	13	16	19	22	25	25	26	29	32	35	38	41	41	41	42	42	45	48	51	52	55	58	61	64	64	65	65	68	68

Match day	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	Standing
Standing	12th	9th	12th	6th	10th	9th	5th	5th	2nd	2nd	1st	3rd	2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd	2nd	3rd	3rd	3rd	3rd	3rd	3rd	3rd	3rd	3rd	3rd	3rd	3rd	3rd	3rd	3rd

Match day	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	Total
Goals	1	1	2	3	2	1	2	3	2	5	4	0	1	2	3	6	3	4	0	0	2	1	2	2	2	1	3	3	2	7	2	1	0	1	74

• This is an overview of all the statistics for played matches in the 2008-09 season.

	Friendlies	Amsterdam Tournament	KNVB Cup	UEFA Cup	Eredivisie	Total
Matches	7	2	2	10	34	55
Wins	4	0	1	5	21	31
Draws	1	0	0	3	5	9
Losses	2	2	1	2	8	14
Home	0	2	1	5	17	25
Away	7	0	1	5	17	30
Yellow cards	2	2	2	17	60	83
Red cards	0	0	0	2	6	8
2 x yellow in 1 match	0	0	0	1	3	4
Number of substitutes used	47	8	6	27	89	177
Goals for	24	2	2	16	74	118
Goals against	8	4	1	10	41	64
Balance	+16	-2	+1	+6	+33	+54
Clean sheets	3	0	1	4	14	22
Penalties for	2	0	0	2	8	12
Penalties against	0	0	0	0	3	3

Description	Competition	Result
Biggest win	Friendly match	Excelsior '31 - AFC Ajax ( 1 - 8 )
	KNVB Cup	AFC Ajax - FC Utrecht ( 2 - 0 )
	UEFA Cup	FK Borac Čačak - AFC Ajax ( 1 - 4 )
	Eredivisie	AFC Ajax - Willem II ( 7 - 0 )
Biggest loss	Friendly match	VfB Stuttgart - AFC Ajax ( 3 - 2 )
	KNVB Cup	FC Volendam - AFC Ajax ( 1 - 0 )
	UEFA Cup	Olympique de Marseille - AFC Ajax ( 2 - 1 )
	Eredivisie	PSV - AFC Ajax ( 6 - 2 )
Most goals in a match	Friendly match	Excelsior '31 - AFC Ajax ( 1 - 8 )
	KNVB Cup	AFC Ajax - FC Utrecht ( 2 - 0 )
	UEFA Cup	FK Borac Čačak - AFC Ajax ( 1 - 4 )
	Eredivisie	PSV - AFC Ajax ( 6 - 2 )

Friendlies Nr. Name 1. Luis Suárez 5 2. Darío Cvitanich 4 3. Gabri 3 4. Leonardo 2 Kenneth Perez 2 6. Jeffrey Sarpong 1 Albert Luque 1 Jan-Arie van der Heijden 1 Kennedy Bakircioglü 1 Javier Martina 1 Siem de Jong 1 Vurnon Anita 1 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar 1 Total 24

Eredivisie Nr. Name 1. Luis Suárez 22 2. Darío Cvitanich 9 3. Miralem Sulejmani 8 4. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar 6 5. Thomas Vermaelen 4 Jan Vertonghen 4 Urby Emanuelson 4 8. Leonardo 2 Rasmus Lindgren 2 Gregory van der Wiel 2 11. Jeffrey Sarpong 1 Oleguer 1 Siem de Jong 1 Evander Sno 1 Kennedy Bakircioglü 1 Gabri 1 Rob Wielaert 1 Ismaïl Aissati 1 Eyong Enoh 1 Own goals Erik Pieters (PSV) 1 Fernández (N.E.C.) 1 Total 74

KNVB Cup Nr. Name 1. Luis Suárez 1 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar 1 Total 2

UEFA Cup Nr. Name 1. Luis Suárez 5 2. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar 2 Miralem Sulejmani 2 Leonardo 2 5. Jeffrey Sarpong 1 Thomas Vermaelen 1 Jan Vertonghen 1 Kennedy Bakircioglü 1 Eyong Enoh 1 Total 16

Amsterdam Tournament Nr. Name 1. Luis Suárez 1 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar 1 Total 2

	Friendlies	Amsterdam Tournament	KNVB Cup	UEFA Cup	Eredivisie
Status	7 played, 4 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses	4th place	Eliminated in Third Round Last opponent: FC Volendam	Eliminated in Round of 16 Last opponent: Olympique de Marseille	3rd place 68 points in 34 matches qualified for UEFA Europa League Qualifying rounds

• Luis Suárez is voted Player of the year by the supporters of AFC Ajax.
• Gregory van der Wiel is voted Talent of the year by the supporters of AFC Ajax.

All times are in CEST

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		HSV	AJA	AST	ZIL	SLA
1	Hamburger SV	4	3	0	1	7	3	+4	9	Advance to knockout stage		—	0–1	3–1	—	—
2	Ajax	4	2	1	1	5	4	+1	7			—	—	—	1–0	2–2
3	Aston Villa	4	2	0	2	5	6	−1	6			—	2–1	—	1–2	—
4	Žilina	4	1	1	2	3	4	−1	4			1–2	—	—	—	0–0
5	Slavia Prague	4	0	2	2	2	5	−3	2			0–2	—	0–1	—	—

Final standings of the LG Amsterdam Tournament 2008

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	Pts
Arsenal	2	1	1	0	4	8
Internazionale	2	1	1	0	1	5
Sevilla FC	2	0	2	0	1	3
Ajax	2	0	0	2	2	2

For a list of all Dutch football transfers in the summer window (1 July 2008 to 1 September 2008) please see List of Dutch football transfers summer 2008.

• The following players moved to AFC Ajax.

	Name	Position	Transfer type	Previous club	Fee
	Return from loan spell
	Kenneth Vermeer	Goalkeeper	30 June 2008	Willem II	-
	Transfer
	Darío Cvitanich	Midfielder	28 April 2008	Banfield	€6,5 million
	Miralem Sulejmani	Forward	4 July 2008	SC Heerenveen	€16,25 million
	Ismaïl Aissati	Midfielder	19 July 2008	PSV	€4,1 million
	Oleguer	Defender	29 July 2008	FC Barcelona	€3 million
	Evander Sno	Midfielder	21 August 2008	Celtic	€1,5 million
	Free Transfer
	Darko Bodul	Forward	14 June 2008	SC Heerenveen	-
	Eyong Enoh	Midfielder	31 August 2008	Ajax Cape Town	-
	Hans Vonk	Goalkeeper	31 August 2008	Ajax Cape Town	-

• The following players moved from AFC Ajax.

	Name	Position	Transfer type	New club	Fee
	Out on loan
	Donovan Slijngard	Defender	27 July 2008	Sparta Rotterdam	-
	George Ogăraru	Defender	30 August 2008	Steaua București	-
	Albert Luque	Forward	31 August 2008	Málaga CF	-
	Transfer
	Rydell Poepon	Forward	30 May 2008	Sparta Rotterdam	€1 million
	John Heitinga	Defender	15 August 2008	Atlético Madrid	€12 million
	Free Transfer
	Edgar Davids	Midfielder	20 May 2008	—	-
	Marco van Duin	Goalkeeper	21 June 2008	HFC Haarlem	-
	Erik Heijblok	Goalkeeper	30 June 2008	De Graafschap	-
	Ismael Urzaíz	Forward	15 July 2008	—	-
	Jurgen Colin	Defender	20 August 2008	Sporting de Gijón	-
	Michael Krohn-Dehli	Midfielder	29 August 2008	Brøndby IF	-
	Nicolae Mitea	Forward	31 August 2008	Dinamo București	-
	Samuel Kuffour	Defender	1 September 2008	Asante Kotoko	-
	Vito Wormgoor	Defender	2 September 2008	FC Utrecht	-
	Kenneth Perez	Midfielder	4 September 2008	FC Twente	-

For a list of all Dutch football transfers in the winter window (1 January 2009 to 1 February 2009) please see List of Dutch football transfers winter 2008–09.

• The following players moved to AFC Ajax.

	Name	Position	Transfer type	Previous club	Fee
	Transfer
	Rob Wielaert	Defender	22 January 2010	FC Twente	€3,15 million

• The following players moved from AFC Ajax.

	Name	Position	Transfer type	New club	Fee
	Out on loan
	Dennis Rommedahl	Forward	20 January 2009	N.E.C.	-
	Transfer
	Klaas-Jan Huntelaar	Forward	1 January 2009	Real Madrid	€27 million
	John Goossens	Forward	1 February 2009	N.E.C.	€900,000
	Free Transfer
	Laurent Delorge	Midfielder	6 January 2008	Roda JC	-
	Hans Vonk	Goalkeeper	20 January 2009	SC Heerenveen	-

• Ajax Amsterdam Official Website in Nederlandse
• UEFA Website