Ajax traveled to Norway today for the important return against Bodø/Glimt in the interim round of the Conference League. After last week’s disappointing 2-2 in Amsterdam, coach John van ‘t Schip realizes that things will have to be a lot better above the Arctic Circle on the Norwegian artificial grass. “We have to stay within ourselves as much as possible.”
At the closing press conference, Van ‘t Schip said that, after the poorer results and the… injury to Steven Bergwijn, has no intention of rigorously changing the game system. “We can change something within our philosophy, but it does not seem wise to change the entire system at once. We have had a bad week. Before that we had a very good series, with good results. Then it is too much for me. far to change everything at once,” says the 60-year-old Ajax coach.
After the elimination from the KNVB Cup by the amateurs of Hercules and the below-par fifth place in the rankings in the Premier League, the Conference League still has to give some color to the season of the Amsterdam team. “That’s how I see it,” said Van ‘t Schip. “We saw that when this tournament was introduced, it was a bit of a joke. This has now become a tournament that has its value. Feyenoord has shown that by playing the final.”
Van ‘t Schip cannot use the services of Steven Bergwijn. The captain did not recover in time from a hamstring injury. Steven Berghuis is fit again and traveled to Norway. The match between Bodø/Glimt and Ajax starts tomorrow at 6.45 pm.