De Tukker has become a bit of an Ajax player, Erik ten Hag said when he said goodbye with the national title. Unassuming, never squeamish, but with more flair and swagger than he came four and a half years ago. On Sunday he is a trainer at his last match in the Netherlands, Vitesse – Ajax.
Where he joins the list of trainers of whom he hung pictures in his office on the Future? Photos of Rinus Michels, for his professionalism, of the phenomenon Johan Cruijff and of Louis van Gaal, the trainer of the innovation.
Others have to decide that, according to Ten Hag. He lets numbers speak. Three titles in a row with Ajax, just like Van Gaal and Michels, one less than Frank de Boer between 2011 and 2014. Two national cups.
No European trophy unfortunately, although it is more difficult to win than in the time of Michels or Van Gaal, because the Champions League is now a bigger competition than the former European Cup I or Champions League. Talented players also leave clubs like Ajax more quickly, to go to European rivals like Barcelona or Chelsea. But Ten Hag will not say out loud that it is more difficult now.
Suppose he could have kept the team from 2019, who knows; the players (Ziyech, De Ligt, De Jong) who did not do well everywhere after Ajax, but who were glorious in Amsterdam. That unique team raised expectations for the following years, which Ajax could not quite meet.
A ‘weird guy’
When he came, Ajax had just been knocked out by Rosenborg in the preliminary round of the Europa League, he said nicely on Wednesday, as he also casually remarked that Ajax won all four competition matches against PSV and Feyenoord this season. Why not a deserved champion?
A ‘weird guy’, general manager Edwin van der Sar casually called him, with a somewhat hoarse voice during the festivities on the field, while Ten Hag was enjoying his 36th title with tearful eyes in his shirt with number 36. After the speech and the awards he received, he walked over to his team who were celebrating in front of the F-side stands. They lifted him up and jonasted him. He flew high, the lightweight in a literal sense.
When he received the Rinus Michels Award, the prize for the best trainer, for the third time at the beginning of this season, more often than Van Gaal and Hiddink, he stated that the prize was only established in 2004, when Van Gaal and Hiddink had already had their heyday. . That modesty again.
The Fieldmate
De Veldmaat is a neighborhood in Haaksbergen, Twente, of hard work and not whining, as he was as a football player. Stubborn too, against the wishes of father and real estate agent Hennie to build up an insecure existence as a football player. Added to his tactical insight and dealing with people, this gave him a solid foundation to succeed, also in Amsterdam. He was always a trainer, in his mind.
He answered cynically on Wednesday to a question about all those opinions in the (football) world, spread via social media or in another way. ‘They start to lead a life of their own and have a polarizing effect.’
He is precisely of the unity, of all qualities and all colors together, of mentality from De Veldmaat and Amsterdam together. He brought resilience and that was necessary, he noted aloud after the shocking defeat against PSV in the spring of 2018, which gave PSV its last title.
At Vitesse, a little earlier that season, he had discovered his new captain despite or thanks to a defeat: Matthijs de Ligt. After a defeat, Ajax players complained about the field, about the referee, about everything. Until the then 18-year-old De Ligt entered the dressing room and shouted with a raised voice that they should not whine like that, his teammates. In the following season, De Ligt almost literally walked through a hearth of fire in Athens, during disturbances. He always led the way, just like Tadic leads the way. Never injured. Always captain.
Disappointments
Ten Hag can be like a father. In the past, he took care of difficult boys such as Elia and Promes, and of Depay at PSV. In a human sense he had to swallow his disappointments at Ajax. He was visibly upset when it turned out that Quincy Promes had not been telling the truth about a stabbing incident in which a cousin was seriously injured. Promes privately swore to him to be innocent. Justice came up with facts.
Director Marc Overmars, his friend, turned out to be intimidating women in the office. After the title, he also thanked Overmars on the field, who ‘stick out his neck’ to bring the Tukker Ten Hag to Ajax. With Overmars he forged top teams and a friend remains a friend no matter what. But he was upset again.
He was proud of Hakim Ziyech’s development. He once said about the creative midfielder: ‘I showed him images. I said: go and smile for the camera.’ Ziyech, the stylist, was the true Ajax footballer in almost everything, yet he was criticized in the Arena because he let men walk, because he sometimes didn’t radiate pleasure. After confronting himself, Ziyech became god of the Arena. Perhaps Ziyech had been given a dash of Veldmaat.
Act normal. Be humble. Not a man of sets, as he called himself. No, a man of work ethic, of team thinking, of winning a competition together, of putting together a selection of leaders, team players and individualists, always with respect for each other. To Noa Lang, another real Ajax player in many eyes, he shouted during a match against Telstar in the cup tournament: ‘It’s our game, not your game.’ The entire Ten Hag is wrapped in that cry from the heart.
Yet he was also the man of beautiful football, of dominance, attack and high pressure, as trainers call it. Just thinking about the next game. Showing beautiful football, best against Dortmund, in last season’s group stage. “Such a high level,” he said on Wednesday, still gleaming at the thought alone.
This is only possible through hard work, repetition and refinement. And football is running, as he taught the acquired talent Mohamed Ihattaren. switch. Defending, and not like Steven Berghuis has done a few times in recent weeks, by letting his man walk, with goals as a result.
The English press wanted to know who Ten Hag is again this week. Hopefully they will convey this one message: that Erik ten Hag needs time, as it was at FC Utrecht and Ajax. He also needs time in England, to pour a sauce of Veldmaat over the worn-out top sports culture at Manchester United.
Building a new selection
Brian Brobbey shouted during the party that he wants to enter the Champions League with Ajax. That they know at Leipzig, who rented him out during the winter break, after they had bought him from Ajax earlier.
Mo Ihattaren hopes for a breakthrough if he starts the new season fit. Kenneth Taylor played the part of a journalist with flair during the championship party, after he established himself as a strong pawn in midfield in recent weeks. Ajax always has talent outside these three, of whom you can never be sure how quickly it will develop, but the club has to look for new players anyway.
With trainer Alfred Schreuder and the duo Klaas-Jan Huntelaar/Gerry Hamstra, which succeeds Marc Overmars in his role as director of football affairs, the technical side is occupied. Now the selection. Noussair Mazraoui leaves for Bayern. He is transfer-free, in the scenario that more and more players are opting for and that is a specter for clubs.
Ryan Gravenberch will probably follow the same route to Munich, although he is still stuck for one year. Ajax, which would like to keep him, is in fact obliged to sell him, because otherwise a lot of transfer value will disappear in one go. Goalkeeper André Onana (Inter) also leaves on a free transfer. There is undoubtedly interest from Jurriën Timber, from his ‘old’ trainer Ten Hag for example, for top scorer Sébastien Haller, for Antony, Lisandro Martinez and Edson Alvarez. Nicolas Tagliafico had almost left during the winter break.
So there will also be purchases. Names fall. Owen Wijndal, Calvin Stengs too, Quinten Timber, who left for FC Utrecht on a free transfer before the season. Many a supporter dreams about the return of Hakim Ziyech, 29, reserve at Chelsea. What is certain: Ajax is certain of participating in the Champions League and does not have to play preliminary rounds, like rival PSV, and be fit, in shape and as complete as possible in the new season. Furthermore, Ajax more or less starts again, just like PSV with trainer Ruud van Nistelrooij and probably many new players. Who knows, Feyenoord will soon have a slight advantage, with a trainer (Arne Slot) starting his second season, possibly with a new European cup in the cupboard.