Van Basten: Ajax’ problems go very deep!

Ajax hosts AZ this weekend. An interview with Marco van Basten:

This season was a learning-year for Marco van Basten. Next season, Ajax will have to do “it”. Marco: “But we do have to make sure our key players stay!”.

Ajax has three games left to secure the CL qualifications. The fans however, feel this is a failure season. General manager Van den Boog says the season is a failure result-wise, but not in terms of learning. What’s your opinion?

MvB: “Same as our general manager…”

But, is there time for so-called “learning-seasons”?

MvB: “Apparently, yes. And listen, this is not new. Ajax hasn’t won the title since 2004. And when you analyze our position, you’ll find our situation is rather complicated. Every coach here has experienced the same thing. Every season, key players leave. You have to start again with new players on key positions. That requires time. Like it or not. And I keep hearing, Van Basten invested 34 million euros, but Ajax also lost 35 million euros worth of players…”

When you started, we didn’t hear you use terms like “learning year” or “need time”…

MvB: “True. We were pretty positive at first. We felt we could do this all pretty quickly, but the reality is different. Our mission now is clear: making sure key players stay! And we may be able to sign two or three good new players.”

How important is the title next season?

MvB: “The pressure will be on, that’s for sure. The longer success stays away, the harder it gets. That’s top sport.”

How different are players today, compared to the time that you played?

MvB: “The world has changed. They are different in team situations. More polite. Less focused. When I got to pick players on training sessions for matches, I never looked at “who’s my mate”. I picked the best players, even if I thought they were dickheads, you know. It was about winning. Now, you see players pick their friends first. I looked at the PSV game recently, on video (the 6-2 loss) and I saw we played well until it was 3-1. And after that, no one in our team rolled up the sleeves to say: “ok, this is where the buck stops! Now we’ll come back into the game.” That’s a mental thing. You have to wage war in those situations. Look at Liverpool… That’s something I can’t get used to.”

Some people say Ajax doesn’t have any leaders. Consistency is key for that, but Ajax had five differentent skippers this season and two first goalies.

MvB: “We want to create clarity and consistency. We want a fixed team and allow the hierarchy to develop. But we may have failed at times and we also had to cope with lots of injuries of our key players. Skipper Huntelaar got injured. Reserve skipper Stekelenburg too. We also missed a number of midfielders. Mostly, the leaders in the field are lads that have been with the club for a while. NEC has Pothuizen, NAC has Penders, Feyenoord has Van Bronckhorst, AZ has Schaars. The player at Ajax with the right history is Spaniard Gabri! And he is not the extroverted type.”

How do you know you can improve?

MvB: “We did play a number of good games in which we played compact football and dominated the game. We scored quickly in those games and didn’t give anything away. So we can do it. But than that whipping against PSV puts us way back again. Losing is always possible, but not with that end-result.”

What could you improve on yourself. You recently said you’re not a real social person.

MvB: “My job is to create clarity and I need to be able to reach players and make them understand what I want. I have to improve on that terrain. We missed consistency. But, when it comes to warmth and personal attention, with Rob Witschge and John van ‘t Schip I feel we have more than enough of that in our staff. I’m more detached, but they compensate me. And listen, the list of names of coaches who weren’t able to win a title here is quite long. Jan Wouters, Co Adriaanse, Danny Blind, Henk Ten Cate, Adrie Koster… So that’s young, old, experienced, inexperienced… the whole shebang. It confirms what I said earlier, the problems go very deep!”

AZ has a young group. What makes them better than Ajax?

MvB: “AZ as a team is together longer. With the same coach. Last year, they had a tough season and with that experienced they’ve grown. That’s very strong. We have to see that we get better next season too. All our players have learned about themselves this season. What does it take to deliver week in week out. It’s about football but also about: what type of sleep rhythm do I need, what food works best, etc.

Is AZ better than Ajax?

MvB: ‘They sure are! They have more points than we have. And that’s the benchmark. Their lead is such that you can’t but conclude that they’re farther than we. Team work, turn arounds, communication, creating opportunities, covering for each other… All that…”

You talk to players about the “route Sneijder” and the “route Babel”?

MvB: “We do. But the names are just examples. But Babel left for a big club right after he made it into the first team. And the result is, he doesn’t play enough. When you’re 22 years old, you need to play games. Lots of games. Sneijder played 5 seasons for Ajax. He came as the big talent, he established leadership, was shot down again and fought back. All within the protection of his club. He had proven himself in Ajax and Oranje and went to Madrid as a big player and is basically a starter there.”

“Players aren’t patient enough. They want to play the big games, but you can wait a year or two. So you can make a difference at the top teams. In the mean time, you still make decent money at clubs like Ajax. I expect my players to plan their career, instead of chasing dreams. When you’re fit, you can play from your 18th year up until you’re 34. When you enter the Spanish or English competition at 24 years old, you can still play at the absolute top for quite some time. And make enough money for the rest of your life and then some…”

What’s with Sulejmani? Bought for 16 million euros?

MvB: “He played well in Heerenveen on the left. He can create chances and he can score. He played with a different striker there (Gerald Sibon) but he will always have a player to bounce off with, whether it was Huntelaar or Cvitanich. I don’t make an issue out of it. The lad is 20 years old. Sneijder and Van der Vaart and Van Persie had their troubles at that age. He needs to adjust to life in Amsterdam and at Ajax. Next season, all will be different for him. Main thing is: the guy is very talented and really wants to succeed. All will turn out well for him.”

Is it fun to coach a club team?

MvB: “In terms of my work environment and the potential, Ajax is great. In terms of results, I need to bite my tongue too much. Sometimes it just hurts. I tend to react like a supporter sometimes, but I’ve learned that that doesn’t help things much…”