If it is up to Frank Rijkaard, John Heitinga will be given the confidence to continue to hold sway at Ajax after this season. The former football player tells this in conversation with The Telegraph. Rijkaard himself played for Ajax from 1980 to 1987 and from 1993 to 1995, but never had final responsibility in Amsterdam. “With the arrival of Heitinga, the results have initially improved. In my opinion, he has done well.”
Rijkaard believes that Heitinga should be rewarded for the fact that he stepped in halfway through the season after the dismissal of Alfred Schreuder. “John took that risk,” said the former coach of Barcelona and the Dutch. “If a manager comes in at a difficult time due to decisions made in the past, I don’t think – even ever – you can judge him well on half a season. So as far as I’m concerned, as a child of the club, he deserves to be head coach to start a new season.”
Rijkaard does advise Heitinga to think carefully about it if the club wants to continue with him. “If I were John, I would only do it if the right conditions can be created. Think of good contact with and the same vision as the technical director (Sven Mislintat, ed.) And that he has a good, strong technical staff to support him. Furthermore, the selection must be strengthened with targeted purchases and John must know what financial resources are available for this.”
If Heitinga is appointed by Mislintat as the new head coach of Ajax, then according to Rijkaard a tough task awaits him. “Taking into account the fact that players may leave, it will be a great challenge to get the Ajax crowd fully satisfied again. But again, I hope for John that he will get that chance from the Ajax top!”, conclude the European champion.