– It’s chaos. Complete chaos! They struggle everywhere. On the pitch, off the pitch. Dutch radio personality Jaap Stalenburg is relentless in his description of the Ajax situation in an interview with the AFP news agency. The big club seems to be in free fall. And in the unexpected soup you will find several unusual ingredients. Especially considering that this is a club that has grown big over several decades through smart club management, innovative coaches, world-famous talent development and good sales over a long period of time. – Something is very, very wrong. Now these ingredients seem to have been replaced with personal conflicts, transitions “no one” understands the consequences of, firing of top managers and results that make large parts of the football world close their eyes. And last but not least: Ajax is in a sporting crisis and is all the way down in 14th place after five rounds, already ten points behind league leader PSV. – Something is very, very wrong with Ajax, wrote Dutch BBC football writer Elko Born on X, formerly Twitter, this week. news has been in contact with Born, who does not want to be interviewed to elaborate. IN FREE FALL: Ajax has big problems. Photo: Peter Dejong / AP The problems became apparent already last season and were the start of a historic decline for the Dutch giant. For the first time in 13 seasons, the Amsterdam team ended up outside the top 2 in the Æresdivisjon, which meant that they are also not allowed to play in the Champions League this season. The lack of championship football meant that Ajax had to cut their budgets. In the driver’s seat for that job: The controversial football director Sven Mislintat. The temperamental German was appointed as Ajax’s director of football as recently as May this year, an appointment which, according to The Athletic, surprised rivals in the Dutch top division. The website writes that few would have expected Ajax to hire a man with a notorious temper and, to put it mildly, a long string of failed signings and player sales from the time he had left behind at Arsenal in 2019. UNPOPULAR: Sven Mislintat this week had to realize that he became unemployed. Photo: PHIL NIJHUIS / AFP Now he was supposed to clean up Ajax, which in the last two seasons has sold a number of stars such as Ryan Gravenberch, Sebastian Haller, Lisandro Martinez, Anthony, Mohammed Kudus and Jurrien Timber. According to The Athletic, Mislintat brought in a total of 160 million euros by selling a number of the club’s best players. Not very popular with fans to begin with. “Weird” purchase But it is particularly the way Mislintat has replaced these sales that seriously causes dissatisfaction among Ajax supporters. The Athletic writes that Ajax and Mislintat spent over 12 million euros to bring Chuba Akpom from Middlesbrough, who had been on the transfer list only a year earlier and was struggling to find a new club. Akpom has so far been on the field twice this season and has yet to accomplish anything. DISAPPOINTED: Ajax players Josip Sutalo (left) and Chuba Akpom had to admit that there was another loss on Wednesday. Photo: AFP Mislintat also spent over eight million euros to sign the 21-year-old goalkeeper Diant Ramaj from Eintrach Frankfurt, even though Ramaj only had two games in the Bundesliga to show for his career. And to top it all off: When Ajax’s intended first-choice goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli was injured shortly after signing, coach Maurice Steijn chose to use Jay Gorter in goal instead. The same Gorter who struggled to get playing time when he was on loan at Aberdeen last season and only ended up playing four games… Tadic wanted to leave In July came the surprising news that Dusan Tadic had also finished at the club. According to several reports in the Dutch press, Tadic is said to have been so dissatisfied with the quality in Ajax, and the lack of reinforcements after all the player sales, that he convinced the club to come to an agreement to cancel the contract, which actually extended for another year. GONE: Dusan Tadic and Erik ten Hag were both important contributors at Ajax. Now both are gone. Photo: Peter Dejong / AP Recently came the news that the Dutch broadcaster NOS began to go Frayed at the seams for a potential conflict of interest in connection with one of this summer’s signings. The suggestions were that the director had ownership in a company that indirectly made money from when Ajax brought Borna Sosa from Mislintat’s former employer Stuttgart for eight million euros this summer. Sacked after 129 days This week, Ajax confirmed that the controversial football director has been sacked. After 129 days in the job, he had to leave the post. “Ajax has ended its collaboration with football director Sven Mislintat with immediate effect. The lack of broad support within the organization is the reason for this decision,” the club wrote in the press release. They deny that the allegations of conflict of interest had anything to do with the firing. IN HARD WEATHER: Sven Mislintat has been fired. The question is how long Maurice Steijn (right) sits safely in the manager’s chair at Ajax. Photo: PHIL NIJHUIS / AFP What was special is that Mislintat’s departure apparently pleased many players. Press “like” According to the newspaper De Telegraaf, the news of the firing received so-called “like clicks” from a number of players connected to the club. Both current Ajax players Brian Brobbey and Steven Bergwijn, as well as former players Dusan Tadic, Davy Klaassen, Daley Blind, Owen Wijndal and Calvin Bassey, clicked “like” on the message that Mislintat had been fired. The sacking also came just days after newspaper De Telegraaf reported that Mislintat, after Ajax’s horrendous start to the season, had marched into the first-team dressing room and threatened the players to sack coach Maurice Steijn if they did not improve their performances. Instead, he himself had to go. FYKEN: Sven Mislintat is without a job after being fired this week. Photo: THOMAS KIENZLE / AFP He is not the only key person who has left the club in recent times. This summer saw the news that goalkeeper legend Edwin van der Sar had finished as managing director after eleven years at the club. Last year, Marc Overmars had to quit as sporting director at Ajax after sending inappropriate text messages to several of the club’s female employees. Now the football director Mislintat has also packed his tie bag in dramatic fashion. – No one seems to be the boss As the Dutch journalist Sjoerd Mossou wrote for Algemeen Dagblad the day after the canceled match: – No one seems to be the boss at the club at the moment, and at the same time everyone seems to be a bit of a boss. AWAY: Marc Overmars and Edwin van der Sar are both out of the club. Photo: PETER BYRNE / Reuters On Wednesday, news was present outside the Johan Cruijff Arena where Ajax was to finish the interrupted match against Feyenoord in front of empty stands. There was a large contingent of press and police present outside the stadium, but almost no spectators. Announced protest The reason why many police officers and journalists had made the trip was that a large group of supporters in Ajax had announced on Tuesday evening that they would appear and carry out a protest against the Ajax management. They never showed up. But later on Wednesday it was announced from Ajax that chairman Pier Eringa is also leaving his post. – I am not deaf to the criticism and not blind to the situation Ajax is in now, says Eringa in a statement. CONCERNED: Ajax supporter Jaden does not like what he sees of his favorite team at the moment. Photo: Haron Hussain / news news met Ajax supporter Jaden (21) outside the stadium on Wednesday. He says that he is fed up with the situation the club is in. – It’s a mess, to be honest. A lot has happened in the last two years, he begins to news. – This is not the Ajax team we are used to. They used to feed us good football and good European football. Now there is not much confidence left, he adds. Ajax director Jan van Halst, who has surprisingly been brought into the club despite his lack of experience, admits that the club is in deep water. – It is a very difficult period. If only it were as simple as that we could flip a switch and change the situation, says van Halst according to AFP. FULL PUB: It was empty inside the stadium, but in one of the pubs outside, Ajax fans had gathered to watch the match on TV on Wednesday. Photo: news Sporting crisis The frustration peaked in Sunday’s classic against Feyenoord at home in Amsterdam. With the score 0-3 to Feyenoord, after three cases of flares being thrown on the pitch, the referee chose to stop the match and send the crowd home. Then it turned into the purest scenes of chaos on the outside, and several videos appeared of supporters kicking glass doors and trying to get into the corridors of the Johan Cruyff Arena. VANDALISM: The Ajax fans showed their displeasure and broke through the glass doors of the stadium after Sunday’s game. Photo: PIROSCHKA VAN DE WOUW / Reuters The match was completed on Wednesday afternoon, and Ajax eventually lost 0-4. PS: Word came on Wednesday that the Norwegian Ajax player Sivert Mannsverk has injured his foot and will be out of action for at least six weeks. National team manager Ståle Solbakken says the following about the situation: – Right now, Ajax are unrhythmic both on and off the field, but now Sivert gets to nurse his injury, so we’ll see how they look when he’s back, Solbakken tells news.
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