After a Spanish interim coach, a Spaniard will once again be in charge of the first team of the fallen top club Ajax. Miguel Ángel Sánchez Muñoz, simply Míchel, signed a two-season contract as head coach of the Amsterdam club on Tuesday. He comes from the Spanish club Girona FC.
The 50-year-old Míchel has been coach of Girona for the past five seasons, a club that has mainly played at the second and third levels in Spain in recent decades. Under Míchel, Girona was promoted to La Liga, the highest level, in 2022. He had previously risen from the second Spanish level to La Liga with Rayo Vallecano (2018) and SD Huesca (2020).
In the four seasons in which Girona played in La Liga under Míchel, the club grew into a stunt club with attractive football. In the 2023-’24 season, the team was in the race for the Spanish title for a long time and eventually qualified for the Champions League with a third place in the competition. That adventure was not a success. In the competitive phase of the elite tournament it only achieved three points. A season later it was relegated from La Liga.
The successes ultimately also led to decline. Top players such as Ukrainian striker Artem Dovbyk and Spanish midfielder Aleix García were sold. Brazilian winger Savinho left for Manchester City, which, like Girona, is part of the City Football Group. A season after participating in the Champions League, relegation followed. Rayo Vallecano and Huesca were also relegated after their success with Míchel, but that happened when the former midfielder himself had already been fired.
With Míchel, Ajax has brought in a trainer who, like many Spanish trainers, emphasizes positional play and ball possession. He prefers patient combination play. He played this with players who, under the leadership of Girona chairman Pere Guardiola, the brother of the recently departed Manchester City coach Pep, were specially recruited for Míchel’s way of playing. They were able to translate Míchel’s football ideas well on the field and many young players managed to develop well.
Negative spiral
With outgoing transfers of several eye-catchers and many players who also hoped for a step up, the situation came to an end. Girona’s play became predictable and the team entered a negative spiral. In the last competition, Míchel’s team lost the last eight games. On the last matchday, they could have avoided relegation with a win, but drew 1-1 against Elche. Ex-Ajax players Daley Blind and Donny van de Beek were part of the selection, although the latter hardly played.
The fact that he worked for the same club in La Liga for five seasons says something about his qualities and his loyalty
Míchel’s arrival cannot be seen separately from the arrival of technical director Jordi Cruijff last winter. Cruijff previously appointed his good acquaintance Óscar García as trainer of Jong Ajax, and shortly afterwards promoted him to the first team. With the appointment of Míchel, Cruijff once again focuses on Spain, where he spent a large part of his youth and his career as a footballer.
Cruijff mentions Míchel in one declaration Tuesday evening “an ambitious and demanding trainer”. “I know him well and have followed him for years. His way of working suits Ajax. The fact that he worked for the same club in La Liga for five seasons says something about his qualities and his loyalty.”
In the same statement, Míchel in turn mentions his good relationship with Cruijff: “He has expressed every confidence in me and together with the other people within the club we are starting a new challenge. The goal is to get Ajax back to where it should be and I am confident that this will succeed.”
Normally Ajax is not very keen on foreign trainers. This century, Francesco Farioli (in the 2024-’25 season) and García were Ajax’s only foreign coaches. With Farioli at the helm, Ajax almost became champions. In the penultimate round, it relinquished the lead. Farioli then surrendered his contract and left for FC Porto.
It was very important to Ajax to quickly present a trainer. Last month it qualified for the preliminary rounds of the Conference League via the Eredivisie play-offs. The first match in the second preliminary round of the third European tournament is scheduled for July 23. Preparation starts at the end of this month.
With the cooperation of Joep de Groot