Ajax in the doldrums: The decline of the Eredivisie giants may not be well known to domestic fans, but those who know a little about football know that Ajax is the football powerhouse in the Netherlands. They have won the Eredivisie 36 times, the most in the league's history, 12 more than second-placed PSV Eindhoven. However, it wasn't until the end of October this year, when Ajax suffered a 5-2 defeat at PSV Eindhoven, that many fans were surprised to find out that the Eredivisie giants were bottom of the league table. What's going on here?Historically, Ajax, PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord have always monopolized the Eredivisie, and the three of them have taken turns to win the title, while Ajax has always maintained its status as the "big brother".
Since the start of the 2018-19 season, Ajax have won the Eredivisie title almost every season except last season, and even in the 2019-20 season, when the midway part of the league was cancelled due to the pandemic, Ajax was also at the top of the table at that time. Despite a dip in performance last season, Ajax still finished third in the league. However, why did they fall into the relegation zone at one point this season?First of all, the finger was pointed at head coach Mauricesteijn. Because of the team's poor record, he is naturally to blame, but is the problem really on him?To figure it all out, we have to start with a series of "inappropriate" text messages.
Dutch football legend Marcovermars has been Ajax's director of football since July 2012, a role where one of the main responsibilities is to handle player transfers. Overmars has played for three teams, Ajax, Arsenal and Barcelona, so he has a lot of connections in all major leagues. During his 10 years in the club, he has been lauded for his recruitment performances, building a young, dynamic and competitive squad for Ajax. In recent years, the most iconic season has been the 2018 19 season. That season, Ajax showed persuasive prowess under Eriktenhag, knocking out Real Madrid and Juventus in the Champions League to reach the last four for the first time since 1997.
They were still 3-0 up on the 54th minute of the second leg but unfortunately were followed by Tottenham Hotspur scoring three goals in a row on the road and were eventually eliminated by an away goal advantage and missing out on the final. Ajax once boasted young players such as Frenkiedejong, Hakimziyech and Matthijs Deligt, and despite their successive "poaching", the team was able to maintain excellent performances in the following seasons, which proves that Overmars has done a good job of maintaining the strength of the squad. However, Overmars eventually resigned after sending a series of "inappropriate" text messages to female colleagues and sending his own *** to at least one female employee.
Although he apologized in February of the same year, the incident had a negative impact on him and the team. Some fans put up banners at home stadium to show their support for the famous man who once contributed so much to the team. It is worth mentioning that a month after his departure, Overmars became Antwerp's director of football, but the new club lost four sponsors in just one week. Subsequently, through a series of transfer actions, he helped Antwerp win the 66-year Liga1 title in the 2022 23 season. After Overmars' resignation, Ajax were not immediately affected, even after winning the Eredivisie title that season. However, the impact was felt the following season, when Ajax finished third in 2022-23 for the first time since 2008-09.
Considering that the 2019 20 season was cancelled due to the pandemic, and Ajax won the Eredivisie title for 4 consecutive seasons, the gap between the 2022 23 season and the previous one is so big that in addition to the departure of Overmars, there are also team changes. Erik ten Hag is currently under suspicion after taking over the Ajax team in December 2017 and winning all of his following seasons, except for a runners-up finish in his first season. Ten Hag's Ajax win rate is as high as 735%, he not only admires offense and possession, but also defensively. However, since Ten Hag's departure, the number of goals conceded has increased significantly: in 2022 23, Ajax conceded 38 goals in the Eredivisie, more than in any other season under Ten Hag and more than twice as many as the previous campaign.
In addition, a large number of key players have been poached, while the performance of new signings has not been as expected. Ajax's goals scored and goals conceded statistics for the 2022 23 season show a poor performance compared to the last five seasons. They have drawn nine times this season, more than in any other season of Erik ten Hag's tenure (as many as five in the previous five seasons). Frequent drops of points were one of the main reasons why they finished the season 13 points behind champions Feyenoord. In addition to the problems of coaches, the loss of players is also one of the reasons for this phenomenon. After joining Manchester United, Erik ten Hag brought in centre-back Lisandro Martinez and winger Anthony from his former Ajax side during the summer transfer window.
Martinez has been a regular in Ajax's backline over the past few seasons and his departure has undoubtedly dealt a major blow to the defence. Antony, on the other hand, is one of the most important goals and assists in Ajax's frontcourt, and losing him will definitely have a certain impact. It's fair to say that the magic of the transfer market is gone. But the saddest thing for Ajax was the loss of its top scorer, Sebastienhaller. He played for two seasons, scoring 32 goals in 50 Eredivisie appearances and was at the heart of the team's attacking back. Of course, it was another thing for him to develop cancer after moving to Borussia Dortmund.
Goalkeeper Andre Onana joined Inter Milan this season, but the team has also seen the departure of key centre-back Julian Timber and attacking midfielder Mohammedkudus. The loss of so many key players is undoubtedly a headache for Ajax. But we should remember that this Eredivisie side has always positioned themselves as a "** club", they are good at developing new talents, and at the same time they are able to buy low and sell high in the transfer market, both in order to continue to develop. As a result, they never worried about their main squad being poached. The problem is that when O'Marworth left, Ajax seemed to have suddenly lost their way in the transfer market.
Ajax brought in 10 new players last season after a large number of key departures, and 12 new faces were signed this summer, but the team's record has fallen against the trend. When coach Stein was sacked in October, the team had won just two of their 11 Eredivisie games, losing as many as five, a significant step back from the five defeats they had in all of last season. Ajax Football Club has recently been mired in a series of problems due to a poor transfer strategy. The team faced challenges such as the loss of players, the failure to strengthen the squad in a timely manner, the unsatisfactory performance of the new coach and the poor results. The source of this chain of problems can be traced back to the ripple effect that followed Overmars's resignation. When Van der Sar stepped down as CEO of Ajax in May, he said he was exhausted and was taken to the intensive care unit in July for a brain haemorrhage.
During this period, the team struggled, but there was a glimmer of hope after the change of manager, although there were still internal variables. Although the new season was not satisfactory and the team fell to the bottom of the table at one point, the situation improved after Ajax brought in Van Schipp as a firefighting coach again. Under Van Schip's leadership, the team achieved six wins and one draw, quickly moving up to fifth place in the standings. However, despite the upturn in results, they are still 21 points away from PSV Eindhoven at the top of the table and 11 points behind Feyenoord in second place, so it is not optimistic that the team will be able to regain a Champions League place. Despite the team's upturn, Ajax's top management is still not fully stable.
Following Van der Sar's resignation as CEO, midfield veteran Van Halst was appointed to take over the role on a temporary basis, only to be officially replaced by former AZ Alkmaar development director Alex Crews in March 2024. Manager Edwin van Schipp has also taken over on an interim basis, and the mentality of the players is likely to suffer, as was the case when United were replaced by Ralph Rangnick after the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Ajax have deep football roots in the Netherlands, but they didn't expect to be caught up in a series of events that would lead to an unexpected phenomenon in European football. Under the influence of various unfavorable factors, whether they can solve problems one by one and in a timely manner may have a profound impact on the long-term development of the team in the future.
Will Ajax thrive next spring, or will it continue to be mired in chaos?