Ajax unsuccessfully approached Zlatko Dalic to succeed Alfred Schreuder as coach in Amsterdam, who was fired on Thursday. That reports The Telegraph Friday in the Kick offpodcast. In total, according to Mike Verweij, the team from Amsterdam approached three trainers who could succeed Schreuder, but Ajax was told ‘no’ three times.
“Contact has been made with Dalic, the national coach of Croatia,” Verweij begins. “They made contact with him to see if he was open to becoming Ajax’s trainer. We understand that a total of three people have been asked to take over from Schreuder if things go wrong, and Ajax has been sold ‘no’ three times. That has of course also been different in the past. Ajax is not doing well at the moment.”
Colleague Valentijn Driessen is not surprised that Dalic does not want to make the switch. “That Dalic will of course finish the season with Croatia anyway, because they have the Final Four (of the Nations League, ed.) in June,” said the journalist. In it, the Croats will first compete against the Netherlands, on June 14 in De Kuip in Rotterdam.
Dalic has been the national coach of Croatia since 2017. With the country he reached the final of the 2018 World Cup, which was lost 4-2 to France. Croatia also did well during the last World Cup, finishing third. Dalic will therefore remain loyal to Croatia for the time being, so that Ajax can draw a line through his name. Earlier on Friday it was already known that John Heitinga will be on the bench at Ajax on Sunday afternoon, when the club will visit Excelsior. How long he continues to fulfill that role will depend on the success of the current number five in the Eredivisie in his search for a new head coach.
Michael Reshke
In addition to news about potential new trainers, Verweij also reports that Ajax has ended up with Michael Reschke in the search for a new technical director, who previously worked at Bayern Munich and Schalke 04, among others. draw a line. “It is an old acquaintance of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, but he also declined the honor,” says Verweij.