Nathan Babel

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5 Jul 2029
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Marked for Nathan Babel

94 Edition

The Jong AZ Gazette

15 May 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match13 May 2028

Chaverello Hellings leads the rout of ADO Den Haag

3‑0, and Chaverello Hellings took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Jong AZ tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Match15 May 2028

The season ends: position 4 for Jong AZ

The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 64 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.

Match13 May 2028

The drought breaks for Jong AZ

8 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and ADO Den Haag were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.

Squad15 May 2028

Defences have started doubling up on Jasper Hartog

17 goals and a season average of 7.26 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

The terraces15 May 2028

Jong AZ supporters have found a favourite in Nathan Babel

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 16-year-old it feels ownership of. Nathan Babel has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Player ratings15 May 2028

One of those days for Jasper Hartog

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.50, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad15 May 2028

A row about effort at Jong AZ

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hessel de Wit was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad15 May 2028

Appearance number 100 for Jeremiah Esajas

100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.

The dugout15 May 2028

The manager makes an example of Benjamin Leroy

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

Back issues
90 Edition

The Jong AZ Gazette

17 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match15 Apr 2028

No end in sight to Jong AZ's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Jong AZ has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad17 Apr 2028

Jasper Hartog is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.21 with 15 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

The terraces17 Apr 2028

The crowd has taken to Mathijs Menu

At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Player ratings17 Apr 2028

The afternoon belonged to Mathijs Menu

A mark of 7.56, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.

Squad17 Apr 2028

A falling-out at Jong AZ

Nathan Babel and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout17 Apr 2028

A promise honoured for Hessel de Wit

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Jong AZ told Hessel de Wit something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

The dugout17 Apr 2028

Liam Bossin asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

The dugout17 Apr 2028

Daley Aké: “We have to be better”

“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.

Match15 Apr 2028

Point won or two lost for Jong AZ?

Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Jong Utrecht? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.

In brief

89 Edition

The Jong AZ Gazette

10 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match10 Apr 2028

Jong AZ are in among the leaders

Position 3 and 57 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.

Match8 Apr 2028

The wait goes on for Jong AZ

4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad10 Apr 2028

Liam Bossin in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jong AZ this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad10 Apr 2028

Julian Oerip out for 25 days

The medical room confirms 25 days on the sidelines for Julian Oerip, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Match8 Apr 2028

Jong AZ come up short against MVV Maastricht

MVV Maastricht left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad10 Apr 2028

Hessel de Wit falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout10 Apr 2028

Daley Aké faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Daley Aké after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

Squad10 Apr 2028

Jasper Hartog has had enough of the bench

“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Jong AZ will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.

The dugout10 Apr 2028

Liam Bossin knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Jong AZ, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief