The news of Edwin van der Sar’s departure from Ajax hits like a bomb. The general manager resigns after a disappointing season in which no qualification for the Champions League was achieved. As a result, the chaos at the Amsterdam club is complete. Reason enough to check the atmosphere among Ajax supporters. “Edwin is and will remain an icon of the club, as a player and as a director.”
Outside the stadium you will not notice the fierce fire that is raging inside Ajax. At the Johan Cruijff Arena there are only a few tourists, who marvel at the high stands and who are waiting before they can enter for the stadium tour. Tina and Paul from Nürnberg are quietly admiring the stadium of the number three in the Eredivisie from a distance. The two are on a cycling holiday from their hometown. They hadn’t heard the big news this morning, despite claiming to be big Ajax fans. “Van der Sar, that’s that keeper, right? Why did he have to leave?”
Willem and Jeroen are slightly better informed. They work near the stadium and take a leisurely stroll past the football temple during their break. “We heard the news this morning in the corridors, yes,” says Willem. “I find it ironic that every time the club does not become national champion, the management and the trainer have to fuck off. Do you think they will automatically become champions next season?” Willem asks a rhetorical question.
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“If they attract a coach with a lot of experience, it might work,” Jeroen replies. The other: “Yes, it could be, but it always takes a while before you as a coach have a bond with your new players and vice versa.” The men think that a lot of knowledge will be lost with the departure of Van der Sar. “I think it’s a waste of Van der Sar’s experience. They had give him another year to see what he’s learned from this.”
For Fabian Nagtzaam, director of Ajax’s supporters association, the departure of the 130-time international did not come entirely as a bolt from the blue. “I spoke to him extensively a week ago, when he was still very combative. So in that sense it was surprising. But if you look at last season, not. I think people deserve a second chance, but that is to himself.”
“I can imagine he was tired, as he himself said. He has been involved with Ajax 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” continues Nagtzaam. As a very involved supporter of the team from Amsterdam, he has few good memories of the past football year. “This season was really one roller coaster. Everything has not gone well. Certainly also on a technical level, of which Edwin was part.”
Ajax DNA
But the director of the supporters association wants to make one thing clear: “Edwin is and will remain an icon of the club, as a player and as a director. He has brought us many successes and always had an eye for the supporters. So we are positive in that respect about him.” He also immediately expresses his wishes for Van der Sar’s successor. “What we hope is that the person has a lot of Ajax DNA. Jordi Cruijff’s name is a lot of people, of course he is forever connected to Ajax through his father.”
“I don’t know whether the leak is now above, whether the problem was with Van der Sar,” says Nagtzaam. “We are all disappointed, but you can’t always win everything in sport. The entire management must now ensure that Van der Sar is followed up properly. The only thing we want is a successful Ajax on the field.”