Jong Ajax manager Marcel Keizer faced a tough task again this year as he had to improvise each week to form his best possible outfit for a Jupiler League game, which wasn't an easy mission at all. Ajax, famous for the youth academy, showed again that they have the qualities within the club to work with young players. The Amsterdam outfit was possibly the most entertaining club to watch this season in the Jupiler League, which eventually resulted in the second spot. This was actually way better than expected.
Jong Ajax mainly consisted of promising youngsters and first team players who failed to claim minutes in the Eredivisie. Some of these young individuals showed their class from the first match on to say the least. Abdelhak Nouri, Donny van de Beek, Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong especially impressed the nation and they eventually claimed minutes in the first team as well. De Ligt's rise to the top couldn't have been faster. The 17-year-old defender started in the Jong Ajax team at the start of the season, but he made his debut for the Dutch national side later on and he claimed a starting spot in the Europa League final against Manchester United, becoming the youngest player ever to do so.
Jong Ajax's main quality this year was the creativity and the ability to score goals. The Amsterdam outfit produced 93 goals throughout the season (title holder VVV-Venlo scored 75 goals), which was a fantastic achievement. 'Jong' teams can't seal promotion to the Eredivisie, but Jong Ajax definitely showed that technique, creativity and pace are the perfect ingredients within a team as they produced the best season in Jong Ajax's history.
