Ajax's collapse post Erik ten Hag and what Brighton can learn from it
Brighton’s expansive team of analysts will have been keeping a close eye on Ajax within minutes of the teams being drawn in the same Europa League group.
Yet there may also be a wider point of interest for Albion because this can easily be framed as a tale of caution from a former forerunner of well-run football clubs to the current darlings of smart strategising.
The Eredivisie giants begin Group B at home to Marseille on Thursday in complete disarray. Four games into their league campaign they sit 12th of 18 and were comfortably beaten 3-1 away to Twente last weekend having drawn 0-0 against Fortuna Sittard in the match before.
But this may not be a blip, simply a continuation of a spiral that began around the same time as Erik ten Hag departed to Manchester United. Except there is far more to their freefall than a change in the dugout.
In Amsterdam they have long talked of three central pillars that the club is built around: chief executive, director of football and head coach. All three have collapsed in the past two years.
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Replacing Ten Hag has been the core issue. Upon his departure, the 53-year-old delivered an interview reminiscent of Sir Alex Ferguson’s farewell speech that sought to reassure fans that he was leaving the club in fine fettle. "We've made progress and become Europe-proof," Ten Hag said. “A foundation has been laid.”
Except, like United post-Fergie, the replacements have been unable to cut it. After Ten Hag came former assistant Alfred Schreuder, who lasted 26 games before being replaced by John Heitinga for the rest of the season. He oversaw a mild uptick in fortunes but new man Maurice Steijn is already under pressure.
Their problems did not begin with Ten Hag deciding to leave, however. The first pillar cracked a couple of weeks before he accepted United’s offer, when Marc Overmars resigned in disgrace after admitting that he sent a number of inappropriate messages to female colleagues.
Maurice Steijn during Ajax's press conference ahead of tonight's game against Marseille in Amsterdam.The director of football had been in place for almost 10 years and Ajax’s recruitment strategy was lauded across the continent throughout his reign.
But he had to go and Edwin Van der Sar, the chief executive, described it as “an appalling situation” as he stressed the need to ensure all staff felt safe in their roles. Overmars, for the record, is now director of football at Royal Antwerp - the Champions League debutants walloped by Barcelona on Tuesday night.
Van der Sar, meanwhile, stepped down from his role this May after the club’s third place league finish, citing an “incredibly tough period.”
Yet crucially in both cases the club had dawdled on appointing replacements.
By the time Ajax explored a replacement for Overmars, Ten Hag had agreed to join United, and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Gerry Hamstra were put in temporary charge of transfers.
The director of football now is former Arsenal guru Sven Mislintat – and earlier this week it was confirmed that the club had opened an investigation in relation to the recent signing of Borno Sosa because of a potential conflict of interest involving a third-party company.
The role vacated by Van der Sar, who was taken seriously ill in July, is currently being occupied temporarily by former midfielder Jan van Halst but he is only keeping the seat warm until spring for Alex Kroes.
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Such upheaval has led to chaos off the pitch. However, beyond the pillars a drain of talent has caught up with them. This summer four players left for London Premier League clubs - Jurrien Timber to Arsenal; Edson Alvarez and Mohammed Kudus to West Ham; and Calvin Bassey to Fulham - for a combined £128m.
Former Middlesbrough striker Chuba Akpom is yet to convince supporters that he can succeed as the focal point of Ajax's attack.Except the quality of player in Steijn’s squad is at its lowest in recent memory. Chuba Akpom was the most notable arrival, from Middlesbrough, but fans are already wondering if he is cut out to lead the line. Stevens Berghuis and Bergwijn offer creativity but there is still a significant drop off from recent years.
For Brighton this is where the parallels come in. Thus far they have been able to replace lost stars with uncut gems. But with Roberto de Zerbi one of the hottest coaching properties around and clubs already certain to target a move for young striker Evan Ferguson in the coming months, the constant regeneration cannot continue forever.
The scales are different, of course, and Brighton can automatically compete with a higher calibre player on account of the Premier League's broadcast riches. Yet the principle is the same.
So while Brighton delight in becoming the 38th English club to appear in European competition with an opener against AEK Athens this evening, the long-term outlook for a selling club can only be considered a massive challenge. Just ask the team they will face in the middle matchdays of this tasty group.
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