Ajax management ran out of patience and fired the coach. But the problems are much deeper than that!

Ajax are struggling after the departure of Erik ten Hag and Maurice Steijn, who has been dismissed as head coach, has not improved the team either. However, the problems at the club are much deeper than just the head coach position.

Ajax are currently in 17th place with 5 points, which is unthinkable for the fans. They made this clear in the match against Feyenoord, who blew out their rivals 4-0.

But Ajax couldn’t rise even after that, only drawing with AEK Athens and then losing two league games to AZ Alkmaar and FC Utrecht. This was too much for the club’s management and logically a change in the head coach position, which had been expected for some time, had to come.

Dutch coach Steijn is therefore now without a contract after a successful 2022/23 season with Sparta Rotterdam. Out of 11 games, he has only won twice, and that was in the opening three games of the season.

A few weeks ago, the management engaged a club legend as an advisor. Louis van Gaal was supposed to help Ajax up, but even that didn’t help Steijn much.

Ajax’s missteps

However, it can’t be said that it was only his fault. After the departure of ten Hag to Manchester United and also Marc Overmars, who behaved inappropriately towards his colleagues at the club, CEO Edwin van der Sar started making one bad decision after another. In the end, he left the club after a not so good season.

The new faces he appointed were not a happy choice. Moreover, the club let go of one key player after another without bringing in adequate reinforcements. This mixture eventually resulted in what we can currently watch live.

So the way out won’t be easy and it’s certainly not just about the coach, but changes need to come much more. It is therefore interesting to see how a club that everyone thought was a model of success and great conceptual work can fall like a house of cards in a matter of months.

Moreover, the return to the top may be much longer than the fall itself…

Source: Twitter, Ajax, Transfermarkt