Another world-terrible and astonishing news: Due to the terrible issues on the ground, a lot of Ajax players have been suspended disgracefully and in tears.
Owing to the appalling conditions on the field, numerous Ajax players have been shamefully and tearfully suspended.
The scenes looked like they were from a low-budget post-apocalyptic movie. A smartphone video shows several individuals wearing balaclavas and covered in the red smoke of a smoke bomb that appeared on Sunday afternoon. The attackers were seen breaking through a set of glass doors at the Johan Cruyff ArenA.
Ajax against Feyenoord is known to cause crowd disruption, and the Netherlands has recently seen an unwanted resurgence of hooliganism. But what happened at De Klassieker this past weekend wasn’t your usual kind of football brutality. By damaging the club’s property, Ajax supporters were venting their resentment.
Feyenoord’s third goal in a row during the first half had lit the fuse, and the flares that fell all over the pitch after the interval eventually forced an abandonment. Upon realizing that the game would not be finished, riot police and tear gas were sent in to try to scatter the gathering. However, that did not stop some Ajax fans from splintering off from the mob and barging through the stadium’s main entrance. Order was eventually restored, but the harm had already been done, quite literally.
The last straw was an on-field humiliation at the hands of their most formidable opponents, but the board of Ajax and the club’s supporters had been at odds for months. The current state of backstage turmoil at De Godenzonen started in February 2022, when football director Marc Overmars resigned from his position following a “series of inappropriate messages to several female colleagues.”
Overmars left with the following statement: “Last week, I was faced with reports regarding my behavior and how this has come across to others. Sadly, I was unaware that I was going too far with this, but in recent days, it became evident to me. I’m sorry. It is unacceptable behavior for someone in my position, for sure. It’s too late, but I see it now. I believe that leaving Ajax is my only option.”
Overmars was referred to as “the best football director Ajax has had” by supervisory board chairman Leen Meijaard, who also said that it would not have been appropriate for him to remain in his position. At the time, CEO Edwin van der Sar echoed these remarks.
Erik ten Hag left shortly after Overmars did, choosing instead to assume a leadership role at Manchester United in the summer. Ten Hag led Ajax to the Champions League semifinals in 2019 and captured the Eredivisie championship in each of his three full seasons in Amsterdam. Additionally, he assisted in the development of several talented players, such as Donny van de Beek, Matthijs de Ligt, and Frenkie de Jong, who would all be sold to elite European teams for enormous sums of money.
As a result, even though the organization would have preferred that the extremely successful coach stay on, he left Ajax in a really good situation. They were the leading force in their own country in the summer of 2022 and had enough money to improve the team.
Ten Hag proceeded to bolster the position of his previous employer by persuading United to spend a total of €160 million (£139 million/$170 million) on Antony and Lisandro Martinez. In addition to the transfer money acquired for Ryan Gravenberch and Sebastien Haller that summer, they gave Ajax considerably more financial strength to finish their rebuild.
Since Overmars was not replaced, Gerry Hamstra and Klaus-Jan Huntelaar handled transfer negotiations. By Eredivisie standards, the two spent lavishly on Rangers defender Calvin Bassey and RB Leipzig forward Brian Bobbey, as well as a league-record sum to Tottenham for Steven Bergwijn.
Alfred Schreuder was tasked with coaxing a tune out of this new-look squad, and, to make a long tale short, he did not succeed in doing so. His dismissal ultimately resulted from a run of six consecutive league draws between November and January as well as a poor group-stage elimination from the Champions League.
His replacement, Johnny Heitinga, did not fare any better; Ajax ultimately finished a distant third in the Eredivisie, lost to Feyenoord on penalties in the KNVB Cup final, and crashed out of the Europa League knockout phase play-offs to Union Berlin.
Of the big-money summer additions, Bassey became a media laughingstock because of his inconsistent performances, but Brobbey and Bergwijn showed promise without lighting the world on fire. It was obvious that the following summer, something quite extreme was needed.
