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It was on this date that Ronald Koeman decided he wanted to take a break from management. No one really knew what happened, but one day an American who went under the name "Max Power" was their manager. Was there even a press conference to announce who this manager was?
His only job now was to try to take the title away from PSV. A run in Europe would also aid his cause.
14th April 2004 - Parma
We join the story of Mr. Power after defeating Parma in the quarter final of the UEFA Cup. A lot has changed at the Amsterdam Arena. Power had spent €10.25 million bringing in 18 players.
These players were not really given an opportunity to shine until the winter break. The big names at Ajax were still there. John O'Brien, Rafael van der Vaart, and Tomas Galasek among others were there to revitalize an Ajax side that were 8th going into the new year.
The January transfer window had seen Zlatan Ibrahimovic, John Heitinga, and Jussi Kujala leave the club. Power had decided to cash in on Ibrahimovic with a €16.5 million move to Manchester United. Heitinga was moved to Racing Santander for €1.5 million and Kujala €240 K to Willem II.
The new talent were able to make an impact and it can be seen here.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">3rd January 2004Starting XI v. ADO Den HaagGK LobontDR GrygeraDL Van DammeDC Pasanen (c)DC BurnsDMC O'BrienMR van der GunML SoetaersMC van der VaartFC SonckFC Wamberto</pre>
The result of this match was a 1-1 draw that dropped Ajax to 8th in the league. However, this was still two places above Feyenoord.
Three goals from both Todorov and Pienaar led Ajax to a 6-0 victory at the Amsterdam Arena and an 11-3 aggregate win. Unfortunately, this incredible run of form came far too late in the campaign to catch PSV. The UEFA Cup is the only chance Ajax has of collecting silverware. They threw away a chance of advancing in the Dutch Cup by fielding a reserve side against SC Eindhoven, but at least every other Eredivisie team had fallen out of the cup by now. The final was going to be Eindhoven facing Feyenoord's conquerors in Excelsior.
15th April 2004
The draw for the UEFA Cup Semi Finals was made. Ajax would be facing a tough VfB Stuttgart side in seven days time for the first leg. The other match would see Perugia take on Liverpool.
In league action, Ajax were mainly focusing on securing second place in the league and the Champions League spot that comes with it. A 3-0 at Vitesse put them seven points clear of third placed Heerenveen. Stuttgart came to Amsterdam seeking to win a competition they would likely be playing in next season. Jari Litmanen made a rare appearance on the scoresheet in the 2-0 victory for Ajax. It was one of only five goals he scored all season.
Ajax continued to romp through the league with a 7-0 destruction of Volendam. Six players were on the scoresheet that day. They followed that up with a 3-0 victory over Willem II, Éderson scoring all three goals. Then came the second leg against Stuttgart.
All was going well for Ajax going into injury time. They held a 3-1 lead on aggregate, and Stuttgart would only have three minutes to score three goals. Or so they thought. When Andreas Hinkel scored the goal that put Stuttgart into the final, it came in the eighth minute of stoppage time. The loss was a bitter blow to Mr. Power as his team had summoned unbelievable form over the previous four months. There was still one last important fixture.
Ajax packed it in for the rest of the season only getting one point in their final three fixtures. In the meantime, Ajax had managed to make three signings. Irish Under-21 international Robbie Shields and Australian Mark Viduka would be joining from Leeds for a combined £2 million as Leeds entered administration. Also signing was Dean Marney from Spurs for £550k.
Things were beginning to shake up behind the scenes. Almost nobody knew this, but "Max Power" was appointed manager of Ajax by a secret organization known as The Order. The Order felt the need to spread American superiority over the entire world. One facet of their plan was to win over the hearts and minds of people all over Europe. So having an American leading the biggest football club in Amsterdam to glory would accomplish this goal.
In June, The Order developed another plan involving another mysterious managerial appointment. They wanted to make sure that Manchester United were able to succeed. There was a growing American interest in the Red Devils, both emotionally and financially. The latter had to be protected.
Arsenal were selected to have a manager forcefully appointed. It was an obvious choice for The Order. First, Arsenal ended up winning the Champions League with a 2-0 defeat over Dinamo Kiev. Second, they were United's chief rivals for the title. Finally, they had a French manager and some of the best French players. So when "James McDonald" was appointed as Arsenal's new manager, he had two goals in mind. "Relegate the Gunners and make sure they can never get back up to challenge again." was what he was told.
In north London, Arsenal fans were bewildered by what they saw. The wage bill was spiraling out of control. 31 players were made to leave the club, most of them for not much money at all. Thierry Henry continued to pledge his loyalty to the Gunners as he refused to go to Inter for a cut-price of £3.2 million. The squad was also littered with player-coaches. Des Walker was signed on a free transfer and was making £10,250/week in wages.
Arsenal started the season in spectacular fashion. Four goals from Paul Scholes were part of a 7-0 defeat at Old Trafford to start the season. It was going to be a long season at Highbury.
The next month at Highbury continued to test the patience of the supporters. Arsenal took part in seven matches and came away with a decent record...for a team trying to avoid relegation. Everton came to visit for the second round of Premiership matches. Tomasz Radzinski opened the scoring, but his strike was answered by Lucas Radebe for Arsenal. James McFadden gave Everton all three points in a 2-1 victory.
Next up was a trip to St. Andrews to take on Birmingham. Arsenal brought with them to this match three loan signings from Ajax. Matthew Upson opened the scoring by slotting one past Stuart Taylor. Unfortunately, Birmingham had bought Taylor for £800k from Arsenal. Clinton Morrison equalised within two minutes. In the 71st minute, however, Paulinho got the winner for the Gunners and they had their first three points of the campaign.
The momentum carried on as Arsenal were able to defeat Stuttgart in Monaco for the European Super Cup. At this point the Champions League groups were drawn. In Group C, Arsenal would be taking on Schalke 04, Porto, and none other than Ajax. The rest of the month turned sour for the Gunners. Defeats to Wolves, Millwall, and Middlesbrough had them sitting 19th. A 4-0 capitulation to Schalke had morale at an astounding low.
Amsterdam
Ajax got their season off to a flyer. They opened with a 2-0 victory over Wisla Krakow and followed that up with a 4-1 win in Utrecht. Then came a bit of history at the Amsterdam Arena as AZ Alkmaar visited. Brazilian international Diego opened the scoring with two goals in the first six minutes. Barry Opdem quickly pulled one back, but it was probably the worst thing they could have done. Ajax attacked with extreme prejudice for the remainder of the match.
Diego restored the two goal advantage on 16 minutes completing his hat-trick. Pie-eating Australian Mark Viduka added two goals making it 5-1 after 24 minutes. Diego grabbed a fourth 13 minutes later and AZ found themselves down 6-1 at the break. After half time, Ajax were effectively shutdown for nearly 15 minutes. Viduka ended up completing his hat-trick on the hour mark. Anatoli Todorov got onto the scoresheet six minutes later, quickly followed by Diego's fifth from midfield. Georgi Kakalov came on for Viduka and added two of his own to finish off an 11-1 victory.
A 4-0 victory against Groningen was next, and Ajax held off a Wisla fightback to advance to the Champions League group phase on away goals after a 4-2 defeat. Heerenveen put up an impressive performance, but came away with no points in a 2-0 defeat in Amsterdam. Newly promoted Helmond fell 8-1 at De Braak. In the Champions League, Ajax started off well with a 2-1 victory over Porto. The month ended with a 3-0 win over NAC Breda.
On a warm September afternoon many of America's elites met to discuss the state of the nation. They agreed that two things had to happen. The growing populist movement had to be stopped, and America had to be the dominant political and military force in the world. At this point they decided to form what would later be called The Order.
The Order quickly gained influence on Capitol Hill as they used their vast financial influence to get their way. Their first attempt at world political influence took place in Cuba. Their support of the Cuban insurrection that was eventually ended in 1896 confirmed that political manipulation was easy nearly everywhere. In 1898, they decided that Spain was going to be the first target of America. By intentionally blowing up the Battleship Maine, The Order had really started the Spanish-American War.
After the war, many in Congress got scared and decided that The Order had to be stopped. They did this by breaking up several of the companies that were owned by top members of the organization. The Order then retreated into the background of American political life, although they would still be involved in world affairs.
In north London, James McDonald was finally sacked as manager of Arsenal. With only six points to their name, the Gunners were 17 points from safety. McDonald decided he needed to head back to America.
The Order had other plans for him though. They could not afford to let him live. As soon as his flight arrived in Boston, McDonald was met by two men in identical black suits. They took him out to a car, and McDonald was never seen again.
Meanwhile, Mr. Power's Ajax side which had begun the season so well was beginning to see their lead trim by PSV. In their first meeting of the season at the Philips Stadion, ten man Ajax nearly manage to salvage a point. Arjen Robben got the winner two minutes into injury time to give PSV a crucial 3-2 victory. The beginning of the end did not really come until a late February clash with bitter rivals Feyenoord.
Ajax's form went downhill from their as they would only win two of their last seven league matches and get knocked out of the Champions League by Milan. So it was another trophyless season in Amsterdam, while PSV pulled off the double by beating Cambuur in the Dutch Cup final.
I know it has been a while since I updated, but I've kept this game going.
Summer 2005
Mr. Power was clueless on ways to topple the PSV empire. Ajax was not quite a glamour club, so he could not effectively use the monetary assistance available to him through The Order. Larger clubs were beginning to show some interest in the players, in particular Rafael van der Vaart. The mass sale began with Jelle Van Damme's £1.7 million move to Newcastle in early June.
In July, John O'Brien was sold to Barcelona for £7 million. Youssouf Hersi was sold to Lyon for half of that amount five days later. Then at the end of the month, Wesley Sneijder was sold for £8.75 million to Bayer Leverkusen and #2 Dutch prodigy van der Vaart was sold to Barcelona for £17 million.
The squad may have seen weakened, but Mr. Power was optimistic about his chances.
"I believe we have what it takes to take the title this season. If [Anatoli] Todorov and [Mark] Viduka can score goals this season, we are definite title contenders."
You have made £35 million from transfers in the close season, yet you have only spent £510K in players purchased. Do you really think that any of these players can have an impact?
"My policy has always been to buy for the future. I must say that I have been pleasantly surprised by Nayef Al-Kherboush. He does not look out of his element in training with the first team."
Your first match of the season is against PSV in the Super Cup. Do you have any expectations for the match?
"PSV are always a tough side to play against. I think we stand a chance as this match will not be as intense as our two league matches this season."
So what about the allegations that there was a secret organization behind your appointment as manager?
"Where did you pull that question from? One of those conspiracy theory websites? Look, I was clearly qualified to take on this job. It isn't like I have taken Ajax from an elite club into a perennial struggler. These accusations aren't being seen at Feyenoord, and they can't even get into Europe now."
It seemed like a strange question to be asked at a pre-season press conference, but it was the beginning of something in the press. It would take a while, however, because the American media does not try very hard.
The American at Ajax 
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