Rafael van der Vaart is not at all impressed by Ajax’s purchases. That’s what the analyst says Rondo on Ziggo Sports. Van der Vaart saw the team from Amsterdam lose without a chance at FC Twente (3-1) and most of the purchases made a poor impression. “There really is nothing here!”, said the former Ajax player about the purchases of Sven Mislintat.
Van der Vaart is critical of Ajax’s director of football affairs. “That is the great disaster that is happening right now, that Mislintat determines everything. You also see this in the interviews of Maurice Steijn, who says: ‘Listen, I get players of whom I think: we’ll see if they’re any good.’ Ajax has now spent 109 million euros…” Marco van Basten joins in: “For the second year, right! The second year in a row. It was exactly the same last year.”
“There really is nothing here,” says Van der Vaart about the purchases. “Then I understand that you as a trainer despair and don’t actually know what to do.” Van Basten thinks last year’s purchases are ‘no better’ compared to those of this summer. “They were just as bad.” Van der Vaart continues his analysis with Ajax’s field play. The former midfielder was annoyed in front of the television. “Don’t you really think that Steijn, Maduro and Bakkati said: ‘Guys, keep it small, if someone gets the ball in midfield you have to put pressure.’”
“Some FC Twente players were simply given eight meters of space. How is that possible? Quality. If you do get the ball and immediately lose it… Yeah, come on. Boys, passes have gone wrong, then you sit there and watch and think: Gosh Mina, fifteen million euros!“, says Van der Vaart. Van Basten: “It is a foreign legion. There has been no preparation for Ajax. These boys are now seeing each other for the first time. They will now play together, but they do not know each other, there is no leadership and there is no one to take the lead.”