Monday, September 27, 2021 at 4:33 PM

Pierre van Hooijdonk claimed Sunday at Studio Football that Ajax is able to reach the final of the Champions League. Erik ten Hag was asked on Monday afternoon at the press conference prior to the duel with Besiktas what he thought of the analyst’s statement. The Ajax coach speaks of ‘pure opportunism’.

Journalist Willem Vissers confronts Ten Hag at the press conference with Van Hooijdonk’s statement. In Europe, Ajax is one of the few top teams that has lost little or no points in the national competition and after the big win at Sporting Portugal (1-5) the expectations around the team from Amsterdam have also increased internationally. “That is opportunism. Until about four weeks ago, after the Johan Cruijff Scale, we couldn’t do anything about it. Now we’re going for the Champions League final? There is still a lot in between,” says the trainer.

Van Hooijdonk: ‘I really think that Ajax is capable of reaching the CL final’

Pierre van Hooijdonk considers Ajax capable of reaching the final. Read article

Ten Hag is now used to the praise and criticism of journalists. “In the Netherlands we are currently very good at that, rigging little guys in all kinds of talk shows and websites. There must be some realistic analyses, this is pure opportunism”, the trainer refers to the statement Van Hooijdonk, without naming the analyst. However, Ten Hag is not annoyed by the analyzes of his team in programs such as Studio Voetbal, Rondo and Veronica Inside. “I don’t find it annoying. I can look at it with a smile, as long as it goes both ways.”

In general, Ten Hag sees that Dutch clubs are more successful in Europe. Five clubs are represented in the group stages of the European tournaments. “Realism has come,” says Ten Hag. “We also take it more seriously. There was a time when Dutch clubs and coaches did not take it so seriously. Not even in the preparation. We approached the opponents naively, while in Europe no match is easy. again the question what you find. You do not know the opponent and you have to delve into it. We did not do that in that phase. Young coaches have been added, trainers who understand European laws better. Take for example Arne Slot, Pascal Jansen, Thomas Letsch and Roger Schmidt. That did the realism good.”