Player Focus: Vermeer's Position as Ajax Sweeper Keeper Under Threat

Dietrich Schulze-Marmeling, the celebrated author, recently penned the first biography of Johan Cruyff in German: Der König und sein Spiel (The King and his game). He concluded that the Dutchman has been the single most influential figure in football history: no one made a bigger impact as a player and manager.

Ajax and FC Barcelona, where he spent the majority of his career, still honour his philosophy – both sides play a possession-based game; dominating in their respective leagues. Both also rank first in their respective leagues when it comes to pass accuracy – what set Cruyff apart was his methodological and cerebral thinking of the specific roles and functions of every player, including the man between the sticks. No role symbolises Cruyff’s impact on the game, as a manager, more so than that of the sweeper-keeper.

It had always bothered Cruyff that keepers just stopped shots. It was a waste of a player, Cruyff thought. He wanted a keeper who could play football. Wouldn’t it be perfect, he thought; if you could have 11 footballers rather than 10, and it just happened that one of them could also keep the ball out? Thus the keeper effectively becomes the eleventh man.

Cruyff demanded his keeper pass the ball out, acting as a sweeper to start moves. Stanley Menzo was ideal for the role. He was fast, courageous two-footed and adept at the one-touch pass. At 6ft 1 he wasn’t the tallest but made up for that with the other facets of his game. Cruyff didn’t mind him being lobbed from 40 yards every now and again; it might make him look silly, but the benefits, both in terms of creating moves and filling the space behind a high-pressing offside line, far outweighed it. Menzo would aid in creating 20 goals for every one he cost his side.

Until recently the role at Ajax was entrusted to Kenneth Vermeer, who took over from Maarten Stekelenburg on a full-time basis in 2011. Both graduated from De Toekomst, the club’s fabled youth academy, so from an early age were educated in the art.

Passing, especially at speed, at a high level is required from every player. Goalkeeper included. Vermeer this season is averaging more passes (26.9) than captain Siem de Jong (26.5) as well as forwards Bojan Krkić (26.1) and Kolbeinn Sigthorsson (20.7). It was this statistic that led former PSV and Oranje ‘keeper Hans van Breukelen to comment: "A goalkeeper should just keep the ball out. Vermeer at Ajax has more touches than the number nine." It’s a reminder that Vermeer’s first job is to make saves at the right time.

However, the situation is slightly different at Ajax. The goalkeeper, in accordance with their philosophy, is central to their ‘circulation football’ approach, particularly when building-up attacks. Instead of launching the ball out to restart moves, a trait commonly seen in most goalkeepers, Vermeer plays it out – either to the central defender or full-backs, or on some occasions bypassing them with a pinpoint pass to either winger. If the ball is played back to him, he recycles possession and keeps it moving, his swift footwork allows the ball to move at a quicker pace. If an error is made, which is always a possibility, the instruction from manager Frank de Boer is to always continue in the same vein.

Vermeer’s pass accuracy in the Eredivisie this season is 86.2%. That figure is better than the average of every other side in the division and unsurprisingly the best of all goalkeepers in the league. In addition, it comes as little shock to see that no other shot stopper has played a lower percentage of their overall pass attempts long than Ajax’s keeper (36.2%).

It can be a lonely world as a goalkeeper, with every mistake scrutinised. Vermeer is no stranger. His performance against PSV – where an error (failing to catch the ball) led to PSV’s opener in their 4-0 defeat – saw calls for him to be replaced by understudy Jasper Cillessen. To some it was the straw that broke the camel's back. It wasn’t his first high profile mistake this season, with a total of 3 errors leading to goals only matched by Heerenveen keeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt this season.

He might have conceded eight goals in his last two games; but according to De Boer there’s collective responsibility. So far this season Ajax have kept one clean sheet in seven league games and conceded 13 goals, a poor return for a side favoured to retain their crown. For many onlookers it’s another case of déjà vu. A common autumn occurrence: due to the breaking up of the previous season’s team in the summer and the process of bedding in new players (including a new central defensive partnership of Niklas Moisander and Stefano Denswil). Coincidently their win ratio under De Boer in autumn is 42.5% compared to 85% in spring.

It’s easily forgotten how well Vermeer played last season; it resulted in him earning an international call-up by Louis van Gaal and since he’s played four times for Oranje, including the home World Cup qualifier against Estonia – a side that was going to surrender possession – in March ahead of Maarten Stekelenburg because he's an "attacking" goalkeeper.

At the start of the season De Boer reiterated Vermeer and Cillessen would have an equal battle. Cillessen has – in his sporadic appearances (normally in the Cup games, like this midweek against FC Volendam) since joining Ajax from NEC in 2011 – shown the wherewithal to carry out the same attacking duties as Vermeer. The very reason why Ajax pursued him was because of those attributes.

In his Friday press conference, ahead of tomorrow's game against Go Ahead Eagles, De Boer confirmed Cillessen will start in goal and is now in possession of the 'number one' position. Vermeer nonetheless has the opportunity "to fight back."

There's a sense we've been here before. De Boer was present at the Stade de l'Abbé-Deschamps in March 1993 when Menzo gave a less than convincing performance against Auxerre: conceding four including one direct from a corner. He was subsequently axed by Cruyff’s soulmate-cum-enemy Van Gaal in favour of the 23-year-old Edwin van der Sar. 'Het Ijskonijn' (Ice Rabbit) as he's affectionately known – due to his easy-going demeanour – in time became the blueprint for the sweeper-keeper. Van der Sar, once presented with his opportunity, never looked back and as a result Menzo was slowly phased out of the club. Two decades on Cillessen – once dubbed as Van der Sar's natural heir – will be hoping to ensure he follows in the footsteps of his esteemed predecessor.

Is De Boer right to have dropped Vermeer? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.