Darío Cvitanich: Have a Little Faith in Him

Ajax sold their star-striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar to Real Madrid for 20 million euros a few weeks ago. The Galacticos are no doubt pleased, but in Amsterdam, trouble is brewing as it is unclear who will fill Huntelaar’s boots upfront.

The Amsterdam-based club are now linked to several strikers, but apparently Marcus Berg is at the top of the Ajax-shortlist. The Swedish FC Groningen striker has scored 13 goals in 15 appearances this season, after bagging 15 goals in 25 appearances last season.

He would most likely cost Ajax around 10 million euros, which is an utter waste of money if you ask me.

Ajax signed Huntelaar’s replacement last summer. During the summer, they paid Argentine side Banfield six-and-a-half million euros to sign the top goal-scorer of the Argentine league, Argentine-Croatian forward Darío Cvitanich.

The South American forward was meant to act as a stand-in for Huntelaar and didn’t get a lot of playing time this season. When he did play, he was unconvincing and the fans had already written him off as yet another failure.

That was a bit harsh on Darío. The Argentian was hampered by a hamstring injury and when he was fielded, he wasn’t fielded as a central forward but as an attacking midfielder or as a left winger. That is hardly a sign of confidence in your new signing.

It’s really not how a top club should nurture such talents and allow them to blossom. The problem with Ajax is simple: They are a Dutch top club. They have to win all the time, all season long. They haven’t won a title in a few years and the pressure is mounting.

There is a lot of pressure to perform there, and talents and foreign signings are not allowed to have an off-day or make a mistake, at risk of losing their spot in first team.

Young foreign players need confidence; they need to play a series of 10 or more games to build their own confidence and fine-tune their skills. Confidence can make or break a youngster.

Unfortunately, Ajax are dealing with high expectations by their own board and fans. They have to win, so they are more likely to choose a player that performs on a more constant level. They do field youngsters, but foreigners have a harder time breaking into first team because they have more difficulties adapting to the culture and style of play.

As I said before, confidence can make or break a young talent. When a player is given confidence, he can blossom.

The same applies to Cvitanich. Ajax have played three league games since the departure of Huntelaar. Due to a lack of alternatives, Cvitanich was allowed to start as a centre forward in all three. He has re-paid this act of confidence by bagging six goals in these three games.

Remarkable how a bit of confidence can improve a player’s performance, isn’t it?

But let’s get serious. Three games, six goals; that’s an impressive ratio for any striker. His total this season is now six goals in eight appearances, but he was only fielded as a central forward in three of these games, and he only had four starts this season.

It looks like Cvitanich is starting to blossom now that he is receiving a bit of confidence. It would be plain silly to invest heavily in a new striker who wants a spot in first team, and ruin Cvitanich’ brittle confidence in the process.