Ajax 1995 Tactics: Van Gaal’s Masterpiece in FM24

Recreate Ajax’s legendary 1995 tactics in FM24 with Van Gaal’s 3-3-1-3, high press, and total football approach.

Recreate Ajax's iconic 1995 tactics in FM24, inspired by Van Gaal’s totaalvoetbal and high-pressing dominance.

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Ajax are a club with a rich history of fantastically technical footballers and playing some of the most attractive football in the world. The Ajax team of 1995 were no exception, as their beautiful football under Louis van Gaal lead them to a Champions League title, beating AC Milan 1-0 in the final. 

In this article, I’ll be providing my brief analysis of the tactics they employed to achieve this, before showcasing my recreation of the tactics in Football Manager 2024 and demonstrating the exceptional results said tactics achieved in testing using a retro 1994/95 database. Firstly, let’s have a look at the core principles of this system.

Diamonds Are Forever

Van Gaal’s tactics at Ajax this season were built around a diamond formation, typically a 3-3-1-3 formation in-possession. The general idea regarding this shape was to always provide the player with the ball with at least three passing options in relatively close proximity, whilst the rest of the team retain a wide, structured shape. 

This shape, along with those principles, created an ideal environment for Ajax’s elite technical capabilities to come to the fore, often resulting in complete domination in games, especially in the Eredivisie.

Smothering High-Press

The Ajax 1995 team were also very well known for being one of the finest, although one of the earliest, iterations of the modern high-pressing team, as they would suffocate their opponents whenever they didn’t have the ball, forcing the opposition, who weren’t used to such intense pressure, into making mistakes or just clearing the ball away from danger. Ajax’s close proximity in possession created ideal conditions for an intense counter-press should Ajax lose possession as Van Gaal demanded his team to have full control of the ball.

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Let’s Break Down the Tactic

In Possession

When Ajax had the ball, their narrow in-possession shape would encourage shorter passes, so shorter passes were naturally prioritised. In order to shift the opposition’s defence, Ajax would supplement their shorter passing with a slightly higher tempo – this is where their ‘totaalvoetbal’ could organically occur as players would rotate positions and link-up with one another. 

Their in-possession ventures would begin from the back, as the team could methodically move from back to front. Finally, when Ajax would reach the final third, they would remain patient and would continue rotating positions and moving the ball around sharply, waiting for gaps to appear – cut-back scenarios could be created in these moments.

In Transition

As aforementioned, when Ajax would lose the ball, their narrow shape would allow them to spring intense counter-presses in an attempt to regain possession immediately. If successful, Ajax would capitalise on the opposition’s lack of organisation and would launch devastating counter-attacks, although these didn’t exclusively appear once they regained possession from a counter-press. From goal-kicks, Van der Sar would distribute short passes to the centre-backs who could begin Ajax’s build-up.

Out of Possession

When Ajax didn’t have possession for prolonged periods, they would hold a very high line that would supplement their incredible high-press. From within this high-press, Ajax would force the opposition into wide areas, in order to close off central progression. Finally, Ajax were very aggressive in their pressing ventures, and would make no bones about being rough in their attempts to regain possession.

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Player Roles

Sweeper Keeper – Attack

Van der Sar’s role in this Ajax system was incredibly tactically advanced and was years before its time. When Ajax had possession, he would push quite high and often offer himself as an outlet if Ajax were being pressed high. 

When Ajax didn’t have the ball, Van der Sar’s very high positioning provided crucial cover for the defence in front of him, allowing them to focus on holding a higher line – this would regularly see him leave his penalty area to sweep through balls in-behind the Ajax defence. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect. No added instructions.

Wide Centre-Back – Support

Both Wide Centre-Backs had huge responsibility, as they would have to move wider to offer the team’s width in deeper areas, whilst also protecting the wide areas against opposition counter-attacks. 

However, there was a slight disparity in their responsibilities when Ajax had the ball, as the right centre-back was typically the more positive of the two and could situationally move higher. Both Wide Centre-Backs would often go longer with their passing to switch the play. Therefore, I felt this role was ideal, with the added instruction:

Central Defender – Cover

The central centre-back, usually Danny Blind, would prioritise his defensive duties and would delegate most of the team’s deeper progression to the two Wide Centre-Backs and the pivot in front. When Ajax didn’t have possession, Blind would often drop slightly deeper to anticipate through balls in-behind. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect. No additional instructions.

Wide Centre-Back – Defend

As previously mentioned, both Wide Centre-Backs held huge responsibility defensively. However, unlike his Wide Centre-Back partner, the left centre-back would focus more on the defensive side of his game and would hold his position a lot more. Despite this slight disparity, the left centre-back would also launch long balls at times. Therefore, I felt this role was suitable, with the added instruction:

Defensive Midfielder – Support

In this position, Rijkaard would sit just above the defensive line to sit at the top of the first central diamond to be formed in this system. From here, Rijkaard had full leverage to decide himself whether to join attacks or hold a deeper position. When he would receive the ball to feet, especially in a deeper position, Rijkaard could carry the ball into forward areas. Therefore, I felt this role was ideal, with the added instruction:

(MCR) Central Midfielder – Support

Both central midfielders in this system had very similar responsibilities both in and out of possession. Firstly, in regard to the latter, both midfielders would vigorously press the opposition and were rather aggressive in their tackles. On the other hand, both would initially hold a narrower position, before situationally drifting wider to offer a passing option to the winger on their sides. 

As with the Wide Centre-Backs, there was a slight difference in what both midfielders would do in possession, as Seedorf, usually the right central midfielder, was quite creative and would take more risks in possession to try and pick the locks of the opposition defence. Additionally, he would regularly attempt shots from distance, and this is reflected in the player instructions on this side:

(MCL) Central Midfielder – Support

Edgar Davids, on the other hand, wasn’t so focused on that side of things and prioritised his positioning, movement and the intricacies of his role. Therefore, I felt this role was suitable, with the added instructions:

Shadow Striker – Attack

Litmanen’s role in this system was very intriguing as he’d float around the classic ‘no.10’ zone and next to Kluivert, the striker, to find pockets of space to get into. The Finnish midfielder was less focused on getting the ball, and more focused making blind-side runs to get into goalscoring positions. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect, with the added instruction:

(AML & AMR) Winger – Support

Both wingers in this system had the same job: Hold the width, take on his man and deliver low crosses into the box/outside of the area for Kluivert/one of the midfielders to shoot. This simplicity in the pairs’ roles is reflected by the lack of individual instructions. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect. No added instructions.

Advanced Forward – Attack

Kluivert’s role was also rather simple: Lead the line effectively, get into the box and score the chances presented to himself. He was particularly adept at the latter, scoring 22 goals in all competitions, including the all-important winner in the 85th minute of the UEFA Champions League Final against AC Milan. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect. No added instructions.

Results

DISCLAIMER: I used a retro 94/95 database to test this tactic, so results may vary.

Eredivisie

In the league, we were imperious as we won the Eredivisie unbeaten, whilst accomplishing an astonishing 100% win rate as we won all 34 league games. From our 34 games, we scored a whopping 184 goals whilst only conceding 21 goals, showing our immense control in games to avoid conceding too many, despite using a formation that, at first glance, appears defensively deficient. Our incredible 71% average possession also paints a pretty picture about our levels of control in matches.

Domestic Cups

We began the season as we meant to go on in the traditional season curtain-raiser against fierce rivals Feyenoord in the Johan Cruijff Schaal by winning 6-0 to claim our first silverware. We would, later, make it a treble by winning the KNVB Beker – a 3-1 win against FC Twente sealing the deal in that competition. But could we make it a legendary quadruple in the UEFA Champions League and replicate the history Ajax achieved in 1995?

UEFA Champions League

Of course, we could. A dominant display against Manchester United in the final culminated in a 2-1 win where an early Mark Hughes goal was quickly cancelled out by Justin Kluivert, before Jari Litmanen turned the game around just four minutes later. On our way to the final, we beat AC Milan and PSG 4-9 and 2-10 on aggregate after successfully navigating a group containing Anderlecht, Hajduk Split and Spartak Moscow.

Conclusion

The Ajax squad of 1995 were one of the most advanced teams of their time, as their possession-based philosophy and ‘totaalvoetbal’ took centre stage in the European footballing scene. Their beautiful football, supplemented by their awe-inspiring 3-diamond-3 shape, has since often been described as the closest thing to footballing utopia, and rightfully so. 

If you want a taste of this stunning tactic, make sure to download the tactic using the link attached to this article and follow FM Blog and myself (@AshtonGgmu) on our respective socials. I hope you have enjoyed this article, and I wish you much success with this tactic on your saves! Thanks for reading!