Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 26 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Position 19 and 6 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 18 goals between Jong Ajax and De Graafschap, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Jong Ajax can tell you which week it ends in.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑18, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
The dugoutDavid Kalokoh knocks on the manager's door
Looking aheadJong Ajax take on the side everybody is chasing
A 0‑21 beating by FC Eindhoven was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match12 Dec 2026
Nobody could stop scoring
21 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Jong Ajax and FC Eindhoven in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑21 defeat, delivered by Robin Strootman to a room that had heard them before.
“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the Jong Ajax squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.
A 0‑87 beating by Den Bosch was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match5 Dec 2026
Nobody could stop scoring
87 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Jong Ajax and Den Bosch in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Paulo Da Silva. 1‑0 against Helmond Sport, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 23 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Position 19 and 3 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 15 goals between Jong Ajax and Roda, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Nothing about the week ahead is ordinary. Jong PSV on Saturday, a town that has already started talking about it, and a dressing room that does not need telling what it means.
Boardroom23 Nov 2026
Nobody left the Jong Ajax dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑15 Robin Strootman left the room before anybody could ask which.
A side in position 10 visits next. The result will not make anybody’s season and it could quietly break the shape of one, which is why the manager has been watching the video since Sunday.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. David Kalokoh did not need any: 7.77, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
5 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
5 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Match31 Oct 2026
Nobody could stop scoring
17 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Jong Ajax and Willem II in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Nobody left the Jong Ajax dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Robin Strootman after 0‑17, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and David Kalokoh trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for David Kalokoh
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 23 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Jong Ajax can tell you which week it ends in.
Match24 Oct 2026
Nobody could stop scoring
11 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Jong Ajax and Jong AZ in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
0‑10 against Cambuur, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match17 Oct 2026
Nobody could stop scoring
10 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Jong Ajax and Cambuur in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Jong Ajax can tell you which week it ends in.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 27 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
0‑21 to Dordrecht, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 21 goals between Jong Ajax and Dordrecht, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 21 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Beaten 0‑17 by Emmen, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match26 Sep 2026
Nobody could stop scoring
17 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Jong Ajax and Emmen in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑17 defeat, delivered by Robin Strootman to a room that had heard them before.
Every touch weighed, every quote parsed, every mistake replayed. Some players grow into that; some are quietly finished by it; nobody knows which until afterwards.
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑0 against Jong Utrecht, and it could have been more.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
David Kalokoh, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 9.91
A mark of 9.91 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 15 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 10 goals between Jong Ajax and MVV Maastricht, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑10 Robin Strootman left the room before anybody could ask which.
“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 Ajax, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. David Kalokoh is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
A 0‑13 beating by RKC Waalwijk was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match29 Aug 2026
Nobody could stop scoring
13 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Jong Ajax and RKC Waalwijk in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 22 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
0‑9 to TOP Oss, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 9 goals between Jong Ajax and TOP Oss, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
1‑10 to Vitesse, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 11 goals between Jong Ajax and Vitesse, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Nobody left the Jong Ajax dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Jong Ajax have no good answer.