Johan Derksen partly attributes the development of Ajax to Johan Cruijff. The analyst of Veronica Inside recalled on Friday evening that Cruijff was a great advocate of integrating former football players into all parts of the club, including the board. Derksen thinks Marc Overmars performs well as director of football affairs; this week Overmars extended his contract until mid-2026.
“That is Cruijff’s legacy,” says Derksen about the functioning of the board. “He has always said that Ajax had to copy the Bayern Munich system, with good former football players in the management who have football knowledge. Marc Overmars is running like clockwork.” Yet the analyst is still not impressed by general manager Edwin van der Sar, of whom he is usually critical. “He will do his job quite well. But you don’t want to tell me that he is a figurehead for Ajax?”
Hélène Hendriks does not dare to say whether Van der Sar is doing his job at Ajax well. “It is also easier to work when the club performs well. Ajax has been doing that for a number of years. The millions are pouring in. A lot has of course also happened, such as the incident with André Onana and the failure to register a player (Sébastien Haller for the Europa League, ed.) Maybe Ajax’s performance obscures that a bit, although I can’t fully judge how he does it.”
Derksen also wonders whether Erik ten Hag would do well to leave Ajax after this season. The trainer has hinted that he is open to a new challenge, although he is not chasing one. “If you are a Dutch trainer, Ajax is of course a wonderful club to work for. If you win, you are king. If you lose, then it is accepted, because we have a much smaller budget than the opponents. he takes a step, he has to perform with the knife to his throat. Then you can’t lose. Whether that’s such a party…”