Julien now has his own (modest) web page on Ajax USA:
http://www.ajax-usa.com/team/julien-escude.html

And at the bottom, there is a discussion thread, and in that thread is a translation of an article from L'Equipe, translation by Bertrand.

Here's a tidbit:

"Ajax is a big club that shines in Europe, that offers an incredible quality of play and that is highly likely to take part in the UEFA Champions' League this year," Escudé told French newspaper L'Equipe after his signing. "Within this team, I am sure to progress. I'm only 23 years old and my formation is far from finished."

I just hope he plays like Chivu.... minus a couple of red cards

It will be difficult cause Chris is now a sorta legend...a myth.....But I can ensure you he'll be just perfect...Just give him few months...

I have to give you a little information so that you can appreciate Julien's quote on www.ajaxusa.com :

He was formed in Cannes......"And so what ???" You're gonna say....Then to be perfectly complete i must tell you all that AS Cannes is the club that formed players like Johann Micoud, Patrick Vieira and Zinedine Zidane (not the least technical in the world huh ??)....Then you can be proud of the fact that such a player was impressed by the boys technical quality

This season is beginning like a dream, except i can't wear my jersey (thank you weakhamp)

I was in England last week for the friendlies at Nottingham Forest and Derby County and I saw two guys wearing the new away jersey with number 4 and three letters: SQD. In Dutch your pronounce those three letters exactly as Escudé (in English it would be: es-cue-dee, which still comes close, but it's not as perfect).

I wanted to go for numer 15, Sneijder... But... Difficult, this one...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AFCA 1900
I was in England last week for the friendlies at Nottingham Forest and Derby County and I saw two guys wearing the new away jersey with number 4 and three letters: SQD. In Dutch your pronounce those three letters exactly as Escudé (in English it would be: es-cue-dee, which still comes close, but it's not as perfect).

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vak425
See www.ajaxfotoside.nl for the Derby game to see a photograph of the guys shirt.

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Being the rebel( without a clue) that I am,I'm going for Grygera 23.

This is what Escude said about his first week:

Escudé Over The Moon At Ajax 27/07/03
New Ajax defender Julien Escudé had trouble containing his bliss during his first few practices with the side.

”The day following my arrival I took part in two training sessions and I was impressed by the very good technical quality,” gushed the France U-21 standout to L’Equipe. “You should see the passes, as powerful as strikes.”

”The play is fluent and so quick, with never more than 2 or 3 touches - There is little waste.”

”Everyone tries to play really simply,” explained Escude. “It's a treat! I have the impression of being in a huge school of football."
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It seems like those players can still learn a lot at Ajax.

Important facts you must know about Julien Escudé :

season #matches goals yellow cards red cards
99/00 21 0 ? ?
00/01 28 0 ? ?
01/02 32 0 ? ?
02/03 30 0 5

First of all sorry for that table, it's a mess, I've done a html version with <table> but since html isn't allowed in the posts....Basically it gives the following information :
Escudé doesn't score goals (0 in four years of french championship, which is worse than Captain Cris) but he's only been booked 5 times (and only yellow cards, which is way better than Chivu) in the whole 200-2003 season.

Then I had the fear of my life this morning browsing www.lequipe.fr (the famous french sports papers official website) when I came to read the name of an article : "End of season for Escudé"......"Oh nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo I immediately whined, it can't be !!! He just started to train seriously and played some promising games !!!" It seems that the player is out due to ankle arthrosis and that he will use the season to rest.....

But fortunately (that's sad but it made me happy when i realized...) the player is Nicolas Escudé, the brother of our dear new center back. Good luck to him in the healing process and may Saint Therese of Lisieux protect Julien

This is pretty cool.

Nederman: put this up on your site! Bertrand: check this.

Ronald Koeman on Ajax.nl, commenting on the newcomers: "They have the quality to play for Ajax. I think the best one of them right now is Julien Escudé. The others need some more time - and they will get it from me, because I have no doubts about them. In my opinion Escudé is very sharp defensively, he passes well and is very well concentrated."

Cool, eh?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AFCA 1900
This is pretty cool.

Nederman: put this up on your site! Bertrand: check this.

Ronald Koeman on Ajax.nl, commenting on the newcomers: "They have the quality to play for Ajax. I think the best one of them right now is Julien Escudé. The others need some more time - and they will get it from me, because I have no doubts about them. In my opinion Escudé is very sharp defensively, he passes well and is very well concentrated."

Cool, eh?

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Can I copy your really good "quote of the week" ?
But it would be quite embarrassing to make a sort of "Ajax USA en France", even if it's a proof of quality...

I'm really happy to read this !
I was not really sure about the quality of Escudé until now, because I was wondering why he didn't choose for a "better" league than Eredivisie, and why at 23, he was still in Rennes, even if they didn't want to sell him last year...

But it's great now !

I absolutely hate international weeks as the buzz that normally surrounds Ajax websites turns completely off and takes a break. Thank goodness I bought last season's dvd to watch.

So to try and stimulate some good old discussion going, how about talking about our great new defender - SQD.

I have got nothing but praise for this guy for his defensive capabilities, but have seen little to raise my blood pressure for his attacking.
Where-as Chivu used to bring the ball out of defence (his speed over the first 10 yards was fantastic and would open up the game immediately), SQD in the games I have seen seems content to either pass the ball sideways to Pasanen or a few yards forward to Galasek. I believe that this is one of the things that Ajax this year is missing and thus making them stutter.

Has he got this side of the game in him - I would have thought so as he was/is a left back and appears to have the skill - or is he playing under orders from Ashen Faced Tight Lipped El Supremo ?