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Dutch Debate: Time’s Ticking For Ajax Playmaker Ismail Aissati

Ajax youngster Ismail Aissati’s development appears to have come to an halt lately. Goal.com’s Stefan Coerts asks whether the gifted playmaker will ever fulfil his huge potential…

Nov 21, 2009 11:00:00 AM

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Ismaïl Aissati, Ajax

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Ismail Aissati

Ismail Aissati joined the ranks of the PSV youth academy at the age of twelve, travelling from Utrecht to Eindhoven on a daily basis. Expectations were quite high at the Dutch powerhouse and it didn’t take the young midfielder too long to get noticed by the technical staff of the Eredivisie giants’ senior side.

After impressing during pre-season, the promising youngster was added to the ranks of PSV’s first team ahead of the 2005-’06 season. Aissati made his official debut for the Eindhoven powerhouse on 28 August 2005 in the away game against Roda. The talented playmaker was only seventeen years and twelve days old when he replaced Phillip Cocu in the dying seconds of the league game.

Hardly two months later, Aissati made his first Champions League appearance against Milan. On 1 November 2005, the young midfielder was part of the PSV team that beat the Italian powerhouse 1-0 and Aissati put in a stunning performance to attract the interest from scouts from some of Europe’s top teams. The pint-sized midfielder made Milan star Andrea Pirlo look like a schoolboy on occasions and pundits from all over the world were convinced that Aissati had a great future ahead of him.

Aissati went on to impress in the remainder of the season and eventually made eighteen league appearances in his debut season at PSV’s senior side. However, the promising youngster failed to win a starting berth in the following season and was farmed out on loan to Twente during the winter break. He quickly became the absolute key man at the Tukkers and expectations were high when he returned to PSV in the summer of 2007.

Nevertheless, the highly rated midfielder yet again failed to make an impact. Aissati made only sixteen league appearances throughout the season, most of them coming off the bench, and frustration about his lack of regular first team action was growing. Nobody expected PSV to let go of their prized asset, though, and many didn’t take Ajax’ offer for Aissati too seriously, when the Amsterdam giants approached PSV about a possible transfer.

Eindhoven decided to cash in on the young midfielder though and Aissati joined Ajax for a reputed fee of €4 million. Head coach Marco van Basten named Aissati as his new number 10 and it appeared as if the playmaker was finally about to fulfill his potential. However, a knee injury prevented him from making an impact until February 2009.

In the remaining ten games of the 2008-’09 season, Aissati proved why he is considered one of the world’s most promising midfielders. The gifted youngster demonstrated his fine technique, superb vision and accurate passing to create several goals for the Amsterdam side, but he couldn’t prevent them from missing out on Champions League football.

Aissati targeted the current season as the campaign he was going to truly make the breakthrough, but the 21-year-old has once again ended up in a situation where he’s finding regular first team action hard to come by. A string of injuries and tactical decisions from new head coach Martin Jol are keeping Aissati out of the Ajax starting XI so far, and many are starting to wonder whether the midfielder has what it takes to succeed at the highest level.

There’s no doubt about his talent and his technical abilities, but Aissati’s failure to make an impact at senior level at both PSV and Ajax appears to indicate that his game lacks something. Modern football requires an attacking midfielder to fulfil his defensive duties and Aissati tends to forget about this on occasions. Added to his injury proneness and his questionable mentality, one could say that the young midfielder’s future isn’t as bright as many expected at the beginning of his career.

The youngster faces stiff competition in midfield at Ajax from the likes of Demy de Zeeuw, Urby Emanuelson, Gabri, Eyong Enoh, Mitchell Donald and Siem de Jong. Jol has so far opted to prefer someone with more physical power like De Zeeuw as his attacking midfielder. Aissati needs a coach who has total faith in him and I don’t see this happening very soon under Jol, meaning that leaving Ajax could be beneficial for his career.

Both PSV and Feyenoord are expected to be in the market for a new playmaker in the not so distant future. Whatever happens, Aissati has always said that he will never forget about his period at PSV and a return would also mean a reunion with head coach Fred Rutten, who was his coach when Aissati shone at Twente.

A transfer to Feyenoord might seem illogical, but head coach Mario Been is known to be a coach who can help someone’s career back on track and there’s no doubt about it that he would welcome a player such as Aissati to De Kuip. It remains to be seen, though, whether Feyenoord have the financial resources to sign the midfielder.

I doubt it whether Aissati is considering his options at Ajax already, but I feel like it would be a wise decision for the kid to move on. It’s not too late for him to make an impact at the Eredivisie, but he needs to realise that time’s ticking and there will come a moment when people have lost all faith in him.

What are your views on this topic? Do you think that Aissati has what it takes to succeed at top level? Goal.com wants to know what you think!

Stefan Coerts, Goal.com

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