Ajax have sacked Alfred Schreuder as manager of the club after a run of seven league games without a win.
The decision was taken after a 1-1 draw with lowly Volendam left Ajax fifth in the Dutch top-flight and seven points adrift of leaders Feyenoord.
Schreuder took over at the club following the departure of Erik ten Hag to Manchester United last year.
“This is a painful decision, but it’s necessary,” said Ajax chief executive Edwin van der Sar.
“Regardless of the good start to the season, we lost a lot of unnecessary points. The football itself was precarious too.”
Ajax’s last win was a 3-1 victory against Rangers in the Champions League on 1 November but they failed to reach the last 16 of the competition and have dropped down into the Europa League.
They followed that game with one loss and six successive draws in the Eredivisie, ending with the most-recent result against third-from-bottom Volendam.
Ajax sold winger Antony and defender Lisandro Martinez last summer, while striker Sebastien Haller, midfielder Ryan Gravenberch, left-back Nicolas Tagliafico and defender Daley Blind also left the club under Schreuder’s tenure.
“We gave Alfred our time and trust to change the way things were going. It became clear to us that he could not change the tide,” added Van der Sar.
“Regardless of the many transfers that took place, we consider the squad fit for a championship. We lost a lot of points over the last few weeks and sadly saw a lack of progression.”
Analysis
Karan Tejwani, author of ‘Glorious reinvention: the rebirth of Ajax Amsterdam’
What went wrong? It’s a mix of different factors. Firstly, you can cut Alfred Schreuder some slack in a way because of how the club has been behind the scenes over the last year. Ever since director of football Marc Overmars’ departure a year ago, which had to happen, the relationship between the top of the club and the football team itself feels quite lost. The replacements for Overmars; the duo of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Gerry Hamstra, haven’t been as competent.
Secondly, there has been a major turnover in the squad. Obviously, in the summer they lost a number of players and then they had the biggest spend of any club in Eredivisie history. The turnover effected the squad quite negatively, the right mix has not been there, some signings felt a bit rushed.
Last night the fans protested, one ultra-group has been saying that the club is suffering from a flu and that they desperately need treatment, so they protested by waving white handkerchiefs during the game.
I don’t think the job Schreuder’s predecessor Erik ten Hag did at Ajax is respected enough in England, it’s seen as ‘he only did it in the Netherlands’ but to have the success he had for so long, especially after Ajax were struggling before he arrived is a massive deal. It was a very impressive Ajax tenure by Ten Hag.
