Louis van Gaal is working on a foundation on which Ajax can once again build successes. As an advisor to the supervisory board, he is rapidly investigating what is needed to help the club out of the crisis. For example, Marijn Beuker’s name is being bandied about to become Sven Mislintat’s successor at the Amsterdam team.
Many Ajax fans wonder whether Maurice Steijn will still be on the bench with the current number 16 of the Eredivisie after the international break. But Van Gaal takes a broader view. For example, he thinks AZ’s youth academy functions better than that of the club from the capital. “Now you see a foreign legion at Ajax,” he said last month around the presentation of the Eredivisie Oeuvre Award. “That’s not possible, because you would have to train those players yourself. Basically what AZ is doing now.”
Bludger
Van Gaal sees 39-year-old Marijn Beuker as someone who can help Ajax get back on its feet. The Arnhemmer worked on a successful youth academy at AZ when Van Gaal was a trainer there. As national coach of the Dutch national team, he previously recommended Beuker for the position of technical director, but at the time the national association preferred Nico-Jan Hoogma.
Van Gaal appreciates how Beuker links theory to practice. He works methodically, including data and brain tests. But he also approaches esteemed trainers such as Van Gaal to spar. Beuker left AZ two years ago for Queen’s Park in Scotland because he could work there as technical director. In March, Ajax will have a general manager with a past at AZ in Alex Kroes.
If Beuker signs for Ajax, he may have someone next to him who will be responsible for the transfer policy. After the dismissal of Sven Mislintat, Ajax is not only looking at the position of director of football affairs. Since this summer, the club no longer has a head of training, after the departure of Saïd Ouaali. Danny Blind, a good acquaintance of Van Gaal, has already fulfilled that position in the past.
From Prague
By giving Van Gaal a role as advisor to the supervisory board, he can start immediately and the former national coach does not have to wait until Ajax’s new supervisory body with chairman Michael van Praag is appointed next month. It appears that his role is not only advisory. As is often the case, Van Gaal’s will appears to be law.
Last Sunday it was leaked that former player John van ‘t Schip will be given a position in technical management. Just like Johan Cruijff in the past, Van Gaal also thinks that Ajax needs former players who know the club well. This week it was announced that Van ‘t Schip’s wife died after a debilitating illness.