Ajax' image is crumbling

Monday 04 May 2009

Ajax didn't just lose a place in the Champions League qualifications, they lost so much more.

The image of the club has been eroded to such an extend that not even Dutch players are very eager to sign a deal in Amsterdam.

Such rumors arrived from Enschede straight after the 4-0 defeat at the hands of relegation candidates Sparta Rotterdam.

There FC Twente were celebrating for the second consecutive year that they did qualify and proved stronger than Ajax.

For much wanted talents such as Eljero Elia and Marco Arnautovic better challenges than Ajax lay ahead of them this summer.

They can catch a glimpse of Champions League football in Enschede or develop themselves further under the wings of Martin Jol and his successful Hamburg.

The slaughter in Rotterdam that took place yesterday is one with a big impact.

When the squad arrived at the Amsterdam Arena after the game yesterday they were awaited by some 250 very angry fans who demanded - and got - an explanation from coach Marco van Basten.

To put a finger on Ajax' terrible season and on their main problem one statistic from yesterday's game will do: Sparta was one of many this season who beat Ajax after they had been the first to score.

In 33 league games Ajax only twice managed to turn around a game after they fell behind.

Twice it happened against lowly FC Volendam.

In most the other games Van Basten saw his team get swept away after a set back: 4-0 against Sparta, 5-2 at Heerenveen, 6-2 against PSV and 4-1 against Vitesse.

Long time supporter and team manager David Endt had tears in his eyes in Rotterdam yesterday and Van Basten appeared in front of the TV cameras white as a ghost after the game.

He announced that he will not quit and that he will leave his future at the club to the board.

"No doubt there will be talks with the members of the board," he said.

"That's only natural. There is clearly something not good in the interaction between the technical staff and the players when you suffer defeats such as these. When they are unhappy about me and do not wish to continue with me in the next season I'll be reasonable. It's up to the board."

General Director Rik van den Boog said yesterday that the defeat was "a big disappointment" but that the situation hasn't changed.

The board is said to be behind their coach also because they support the way Van Basten sees things.

"This is a year unworthy of Ajax," Van Basten said.

"It has been that way for years, everybody tells me here. But nothing changes."

What Van Basten means is that only Ronald Koeman managed to win the league with Ajax over the last ten years.

All the other seasons a motley crew of coaches - young, old, experienced and inexperienced - broke their teeth on the fact that Ajax came play a decent game of football when they are given enough time and space, but that they have no other means when they are unable to do with only their football skill.

Last season they lost the league by first getting a hapless draw at relegated VVV and then to lose the next week at relegated Excelsior Rotterdam.

Van Basten hasn't been able to create a team from a squad with now apparent hierarchy and the fact that there is no hierarchy is partly his fault.

He has kept making changes to the squad for too long and that wasn't always because of injuries.

But it is also the case that true leaders are sparse in the Eredivisie.

Ajax would ridicule themselves if they change coaches again, one year after a lengthy report stated that the constant changing of the coach was the main reason for the lack of success in recent years.

For the longer term Ajax are working on changing the way young talents are being scouted and trained.

There will be more focus physical and mental strengths.

Recently Van den Boog called speedskater Sven Kramer a great example for the players of Ajax.

"When Kramer becomes World Champion and pulverizes all kinds of world records at the age of 20, why should it be that a football player can not be ready at the age of 20. It will take some efforts in the way we train and coach them and you should start with that from a very early age."

But on short term it will be hard for Ajax to turn things around dramatically.

Not just because talented players in the Eredivisie no longer see Ajax as the best option, but also because they have to try and get rid of at least ten players.

Van Basten wants to start the next campaign with a squad of only 24 players.

Fixtures - Table