The fall from grace of Bojan Krkic

Krkic at Ajax Amsterdam

Last summer, Barcelona decided to exercise their buy-back and brought Bojan back home… only to send him on loan to Ajax for the season. This should have been a good move for Bojan, bearing in mind the importance the Eredivisie places on technical ability and that Ajax have one of the best honers of talent in Frank de Boer.

Arriving in the Netherlands as a relatively big name, he was expected to fill the void of creativity that the inevitable departure of Christian Eriksen would leave. Bojan did start his Ajax career well, putting in a good performance in the Johan Cruijff schaal. He was handed starts in the first 5 league games, but his influence seemed to diminish with each game. After a hamstring injury that ruled him out for less than 2 months, Bojan found himself 2nd choice at right wing to Lasse Schone, who functions normally in a deeper midfield role.

Frank de Boer has experimented with Bojan as a striker, a position he is no stranger to playing but too often, he drifts away and out or does not put up much of a fight against defenders, thus shrinking in his ability to change the course of the game. He has managed to notch up three assists and two goals (both as a substitute) in Amsterdam so far, though and his crossing ability as such has been good, though his awareness of his teammates can improve.

Sometimes, he would try to take a shot or take on a dribble rather than pass to a teammate in a better position – quite uncharacteristic of a La Masia graduate, it would seem. In Ajax’s system of constant positional interchange and the obligation it poses to all players of doing their defensive work too, it does seem as though Bojan does not involve himself as much as he should.

Bojan Krkic is still only 23. Though it feels like he has been around for a long long time, his career can still be revived, it may not yet be beyond repair. However, it has been almost 7 years since Bojan debuted against Osasuna but he does not seem to have grown as a player, and that is worrying.

Once touted as a player who would be bigger than Lionel Messi, he is not even a mainstay in Ajax’s first XI. Once touted as a player who would take the world by storm, his past is now replete with ‘if onlys’ and ‘what ifs’, while his future is as unclear as a stormy sky before a tempest.