The injury time is almost coming to an end, on Sunday in De Kuip, just before half past four. Almost all players from Feyenoord’s reserve bench stand up, join in the excitement of the final phase, in which it is open, there are still opportunities. Together behind the team. It is a contrast to the image behind Ajax coach Alfred Schreuder. His players all remain seated, subduedly waiting for the final whistle.
It is one of the factors behind the dismissal of Alfred Schreuder (50), announced shortly before midnight on Thursday evening after a 1-1 home against FC Volendam. There is a lack of ‘enthusiasm’ and ‘determination”, says general manager Edwin van der Sar in a press conference. Sometimes he saw this again, but not enough. He had no confidence that it would improve.
The many loss of points – Ajax is fifth at seven points from leader Feyenoord – and the team’s “lack of development” have been decisive in terminating the contract. According to Van der Sar, a “strong and champion-worthy selection” has never really started to run under Schreuder, who started in June 2022 – except for a good start to the season.
Vulnerable
It’s been a slow-motion layoff. In the turbulent transfer summer, ten new players arrived and twelve left – including six starters. Schreuder objected, but could not help but accept the dynamics of the transfer market. He was “promised that a maximum of four would be sold,” Schreuder claimed last weekend The Telegraph. Van der Sar acknowledged in the fall that “too many” players have left. “For a trainer who has to start, that was not ideal.”
That does not alter the fact that Schreuder made too little progress and results with the material at his disposal. A poor campaign in the Champions League, with a 6-1 defeat against Napoli, is a far cry from the club’s ambition to structurally join the European top.
He made himself vulnerable by involving his own agent, Milos Malenovic, in bringing in new players. According to Schreuder, he did this to help the club, because after the departure of director of football affairs Marc Overmars, there was little experience in the field of player policy. This is temporarily filled by technical duo Gerry Hamstra and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, under the responsibility of Van der Sar. It is a fact that many – expensive – purchases do not pay off.
Schreuder never seemed to have a full grip on the situation. He shifted players a lot, rarely started with the same eleven, then put Steven Bergwijn in the front left, then Dusan Tadic again. The positional play was shaky, the pace often too slow, rhythm and automatisms were missing. Players who started the season well dropped in level. “The development of certain players is stalling,” said Van der Sar on Thursday.
Communication misses
Schreuder made some communicative mistakes. He was critical of left back Owen Wijndal, bought from AZ for 10 million euros, but often reserve at Ajax. “He can bring more. He knows that too. We push him into that.” After which Wijndal said in the press that Schreuder had “never” spoken to him about this. “I thought it was strange, but we spoke it out.”
Although he emphasized “new energy” after the winter break, it was the conflicting divorce with Daley Blind, who left for Bayern Munich, that overshadowed the resumption. Earlier in the break at RKC, according to Blind, Schreuder said in the AD, asked the attackers how to improve the pressure. “Trainer, be clear and you decide for yourself how we are going to implement it!” said Blind. „You shut up! Shut your mouth and sit down!” was Schreuder’s reaction, according to Blind. He did not say goodbye to Blind, which he later blamed himself for.
During the long winter break, attempts were made to repair and adjust in vain. There was said goodbye to (spare) player who caused negative energy. And Schreuder, who has a good reputation as a field trainer, wanted to take more control, where earlier in the season he left a lot to his players and assistants.
Just with difficulty a draw at Feyenoord, last Sunday, a new bomb burst. Two days before that game, an external mental coach had asked the group of players in a meeting who was bothering the staff, after which all players raised their hands, wrote The Telegraph. Schreuder would also get an extra assistant. But it didn’t come to that.
Collection of banners
The white handkerchiefs had never been seen in those numbers before, Thursday evening in the Johan Cruijff Arena. The new anthem ‘Schreuder rot op’ swelled again and again, each time a little brighter. A collection of banners was displayed from the F-side. Against the club management. To Schreuder.
1-1 is on the scoreboard at the top of the stadium at 11 p.m., when a whistle concert is started. Ajax-FC Volendam, the big capital against the ambitious little brother, more than 189 million net turnover last season against just under 8 million. It all evaporated on a cold January evening, the epilogue of seven months of Schreuder.
The seventh league game in a row without a win, equaling the longest series, last recorded in 1965. The recovery in the second half against both FC Twente (with ten men) and Feyenoord (after a 1-0 deficit) had been encouraging . The team did not fall apart – when it could have.
The draw against FC Volendam was the “drop”, said Van der Sar. Less than an hour after the game, he suspended the coach – a rarity in Dutch football.
Assistant coach Matthias Kaltenbach, who came along at the suggestion of Schreuder, also leaves. Assistant Michael Reiziger will lead the training on Friday, together with staff member Richard Witschge. There is a chance that there will be a new coach for the group on Sunday, from Excelsior, said Van der Sar. He indicated that he also critically assessed his own performance.