Ajax

Dutch giants are in disarray with one crisis following another

- Klaas-Jan Droppert

Ajax are turning back the clock 30 years after hitting an historic rock bottom. In an attempt to solve the enormous crisis at the club, Louis van Gaal and Michael van Praag have been asked to play their part in reviving the Amsterdam giants.

Van Gaal as head coach and Van Praag as chairman were highly successful during the 1990s, leading the Amsterdammers to the top of the club game, clinching the 1992 UEFA Cup and, of course, the 1995 Champions League. Those were the good old days that Ajax and their supporters can now only dream of.

The 72-year-old Van Gaal, who retired after leaving the Netherlands national team following the World Cup last year, will be an advisor to the supervisory board. Many hoped he would accept a more leading role, but he declined, stating that he is mostly living in Portugal and wouldn’t be able to make enough time.

“But my life in Portugal can be combined with my role as an external advisor,” he said. “I am willing to offer my football knowledge to the supervisory board, especially when Michael van Praag is appointed.”

Van Praag was expected to be appointed at a general shareholders meeting on November 17. But how ever the new leadership team shapes up, one thing is for sure: the current state at Ajax is a mess.

Technical director Sven Mislintat was sacked within a few months, new coach Maurice Steijn soon followed him, hooligans forced the abandonment of the match against arch-rivals Feyenoord and, when Ajax were thrashed 5-2 by PSV at the end of October, they were sitting rock bottom of the Eredivisie table, something that had never happened before in the club’s history.