The Ajax Way: How One Football Club Defines the Modern Game

In 1894 a group of friends had an idea and it led to the creation of Ajax, a football club for the people of Amsterdam. More than one hundred years later and that club has become an institution for youth development, a school of ideas that underpins the modern game and a club synonymous with the Total Football ideal. The Dutch superpower created a way of playing that is now accepted as the norm by European titans AC Milan, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United - as well as a host of national teams. The Ajax Way tells the full history of the club while looking at the reaches of Total Football: the way of playing perfected by Rinus Michels and Johan Cruyff. It traces the club's rise as a social hub for the people of Amsterdam to the creation of a team that would win three consecutive European Cups in the early 1970s; and added a fourth in 1995 under Louis Van Gaal. It reveals a host of footballing greats - players and coaches - who have been undoubtedly influenced by Ajax, from early day pioneers through to current day icons Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp. Packed with tactical insight and social history, it is a story that spans three centuries and stretches across the globe, but at its core is Ajax Amsterdam and their roster of stars.