Ajax, whose academy was coached by Collymore’s Forest ex-teammate Bryan Roy, have reached the Champions League semi-finals.
In the wake of Ajax’s glorious run to the Champions League semi-finals, Stan Collymore has spoken of how his former Nottingham Forest teammate Bryan Roy gave him an insight into the coaching at the Eredivisie club.
The Amsterdam side followed up their triumph over Real Madrid by knocking out Juventus in the quarter-finals thanks to another great away performance in the second leg as Donny van de Beek and teenage captain Mathijs de Ligt scored at the Allianz Stadium.
Although Cristiano Ronaldo had opened the scoring, Ajax’s high-intensity press and flowing, attacking football ended up downing the Bianconeri and increased hopes that the legendary Dutch side could repeat their triumph of 1995.
Collymore was at Forest between 1993 and 1995, while Roy, a senior Netherlands international during his career, played for the City Ground outfit between 1994 and 1997, and since hanging up his boots he coached Jong Ajax for a number of years.
Responding to a fan’s comment on Twitter, the retired striker shed light on his experiences watching the club’s coaching setup, gave his theories as so why they are so high-calibre, and even made a big admission in that he had learned more there than at any other club.
Up next for Ajax will be either Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City or Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur in the semi-finals of the competition.
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