How badly are they missing EtH! Seems he did everything
Edwin van der Sar has been approached to become Director of Football
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
Think they lost Overmars in the same time period as well, pretty sure he was a big influence there.
ETH, his staff, Overmars, a few of their best players. Doesnt take long for the cards to fall down.
The Dutch Gill and Ferguson
Who exactly are you referring to?
Feels like the thread title should be updated.
Ajax only won the league by 2 points last season, given they lost their DOF, manager and some of his staff as well as a number of key players they were likely to have a tough season.
Edwin has been very successful as CEO there, should have plenty of credit in the bank even though Ajax are going through bit of a rough patch.
Edwin has been very successful as CEO there, should have plenty of credit in the bank even though Ajax are going through bit of a rough patch.
So when he comes here and ETH leaves we are just going to crumble?
So is this guy good or what?
If you’re speaking of VDS, he’s starting to make Woodward seem a proactive and forward thinking problem solver. It’s pretty bad. Overmars left about a month or two before ETH, hasn’t been replaced. That then left Hamstra to be tasked with signings and the new manager, things went so bad he resigned out of shame.
Like I've said in years previous, Van der Sar was never in a position at Ajax where he was making decisions on the technical side of their club. And since Overmars left (February 8th, 2022) he (VdS) was put into a position where he for the first time had to make hiring and firing calls, and he's made a right mess according to Ajax reporter Mike Verweij. And more than a year has gone by, and Ajax still don't have a DoF and the contract renewals have stalled according to Mike Verweij.
Their success was down to a combination of Overmars, Henk Veldmate (head of recruitment) Westerveld (head of youth recruitment) and especially the head coach, ten Hag. Van der Sar didn't have any direct involvement in how they operated on the football side of the club. So I'm not sure what kind of credit he had banked, it surely wasn't credit he had banked on the football side of Ajax. Because even Overmars had predated VdS at Ajax and was already at the club working on the football side before VdS arrived with his marketing degree.
So according to the tier 1 Ajax reporter, Mike Verweij. VdS brings in Klaas Jan Huntelaar to assist Gerry Hamstra on the football side of the club a month after Overmars is exposed by the female staff at the club. And that is after Huntelaar just retires from playing the game and is looking for work experience on the technical side of the club. VdS not only gives him the work experience, but he makes him the deputy DoF after Gerry Hamstra. And then to make matters worse, VdS himself decides to appoint the head coach in Schreuder, when the football department was said to be leaning towards Peter Bosz.
Ajax won the title by 2 points last season ahead of PSV and their very good coach Roger Schmidt, who is currently doing very well at Benfica. But their current issues have a lot to do with Van der Sar and his poor decisions on the football side of the club which have contributed towards Ajax making poor choices when hiring technical staff and the head coach. I'm not blaming Huntelaar because he came looking for experience but VdS threw him into the firing line.
VdS has never been someone that has worked on the structural side of a football club at any level. A person who has the experience to be a Sporting director is someone who has experienced directing a group of people on the football side of a club. That person will have experience of knowing who needs to fill in what position.
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I understand the structure fell below him but no one gave Woodward this grace. Maybe we should stop looking at greener grass. As I keep saying the most important position is the football manager.
To a PSV side that has lost it’s top 7 scorers and manager also from last season and are way behind in the table. They’re also losing to a Feyenoord side that lost their top 4 goalscorers from last season as well. Slot has done a magnificent job with the squad given to him at Feyenoord, but if Ajax had been remotely proactive with replacing AS they would probably be first in the table. If it takes Arnold a year to replace Murtough the entire fan base would be baying for his head on a plate, rightly so. He’s done an incredibly bad job, it’s just been covered up by ETH and Overmars.
That’s all cool. He’s learning his way and his hands got dealt a bad card after coming into a good structure.
I just want to know if all the people that wanted him really knew what they were signing up for. Clearly not but are probably the same people preaching best in class and Murtough must be replaced.
They’re equally important. If it weren’t for Overmars unearthing Kudus, I shudder to think where Ajax would be right now. The much lauded Ajax scouting department apparently recommended the signing of Diego Sanchez which if you’ve seen him play
managers need to work with the talent available but if there’s no talent available, not much can be done.Those people obviously don't have a clue what a football structure entails and can't look past one individual (DoF) who they think will come in and cure all the ills. When in reality the example of well run clubs is for all to see, where the people who run recruitment, run the data analytics, run the sports science, run the youth recruitment etc need to be in place for a DoF to adequately support the head coach in this day and age.
It's why It's important to allow the head of football (if you have one) to make the hiring and firing calls on the football side of the club. This is a very simple process that is complicated by people who sit in the boardroom.
Edward’s.. to say he hasn’t learned a thing or two since the days he wasn’t highly rated.
Who is giving Edwin any grace? Everybody is saying that his recruitment on the footballing side has been a disaster: failure to recruit a DoF in over a year and bringing in a shit manager.
Michael Edwards made mistakes like anyone else but he wasn't at fault for the structural disconnect that occurred prior to Klopp's arrival imo. The blame for that is entirely on Liverpool's board and FSG's man at the club Mike Gordon. The Liverpool fans wanted Edwards gone because they deemed him a inexperienced operator on the football side of the club who had been part of two failed regimes. The article below from September, 2015 sheds some light on the problems created by Liverpool's board which created a lot of problems.
https://www.thisisanfield.com/2015/...-myths-mistakes-liverpools-transfer-strategy/
But the issue was that Liverpool had created a structure on the football side of the club with a fully functional scouting network, data science dept, sports science etc in 2012 and Edwards would be put in charge of the club's football structure. But the Liverpool board would make a silly mistake by hiring a manager who didn't want to work under the club's existing football structure and Brendan Rodgers took the job with the condition that he wanted a direct line to the board and and didn't want to work with Edwards and his team. So the Liverpool board were forced into creating a transfer committee as a compromise where the manager (Rodgers) was constantly at loggerheads with Liverpool's internal sporting structure on which players to sign. And to appease both parties, the board would sign players recommended by both parties and Rodgers would sideline the players signed on the recommendation of the club's internal football structure. It was a complete mess and something Ed Woodward would repeat in 2016, when hiring Mourinho, and the transfer committee was the compromise, which again was a disaster.
Liverpool hired a head coach in Klopp and he came in and worked with Liverpool's existing football structure and guided the recruitment department where the recruitment became centred around Klopp's high tempo/high pressing play style. Liverpool went from a badly run club to a well run club due to the head coach understanding that for him to concentrate on preparing the team for match days he required the internal structure to support him when it comes to recruitment and the development of players and performance.
So Edwards went from being a incompetent fool under the manager model (below article) to a highly competent genius whilst working within a head coach/DoF model.
https://syndication.bleacherreport....ittee-has-been-a-spectacular-failure.amp.html
The fact that people have forever been recommending him and believing he’s good at his job is giving him grace.
It’s this whole super Dof shite again. First we had Ralf stinking up the place then PSG made Twitter trick them into getting a super DoF who is getting it all wrong. Mitchell will be next. Let’s hope he goes Liverpool and brings them a list of Conrad Laimer’s.
So we're switching the "savior" role from a DOF to a Head of Football?
There's isn't a saviour role but rather a way of doing things.
DoF or a head of football is the same thing.
Ah ok. People regarding him as a DoF, super or otherwise, can clearly be ignored as they have no idea what his actual job is.
I think for a club to be successful it’s important that the non-footballing big cheeses make sure the right footballing people are in charge, the manager being almost certainly the key one. If the club has a good recruiting structure aside from the manager then great, but that shouldn’t need a charismatic and public-facing “star” DoF to run it; if anything that’s likely to create ego clashes.
They are still above PSV though but both teams have struggled. That just underlines my point that it’s tough when you lose a manager and players. Mistakes have been made as well but Ajax have two big appointments to make so when and how successful those are will obviously reflect on VDS.
He just quit after Ajax finished 3rd.
Still want him?
Still want him?
Yep. He and Ten Hag make a good team, although I have to say Overmars played a big part in Ajax's (on field) success, even more so than Edwin.
Ruud Van Nistelrooy also quit as manager. Bring him in as well. Maybe the lads learn how to be more lethal.
After winning the title 3 years in a row and having the sense to appoint ten hag? Sure.
Sad day. Yes, the final year was terrible and he should have fired Schreuder sooner but I can't find joy in a club icon being damaged.
It was really Overmars that appointed ETH after working with him at GAE.
He is leaving because the Qatari have offered him a job here.
Sign Edwin as DoF, Ruud as manager and adopt our national anthem as your official club song. What can go wrong?
Just enough time for him to run from the stands down onto the pitch and strike the same pose again!
"Man had bad season after many good. Still want?"
Cannot be a worse option than we have in place currently, knows ETH and has a history of good understanding
Manchester should be annexed by the Dutch
I knew this would be the response after the news broke out.
VDS made his name at Ajax as CEO, not DOF. If we want a new DOF from Ajax, that Overmars guy is more like it.
He sent dickpics to female members of staff. No way he can come here. He took up a position in Belgium and about 5 sponsors cancelled their contracts.
My point was VDS was NOT the DOF people were hyping him to be.
He made Ajax's bank with Anthony sale . Why are fans mad at him ? No one could handle situation at Ajax after Erik and Overmars left
Great club but I can't help myself Schadenfreude them after they milked United every penny last summer despite both club had done good business (before)
Anyway, forget about new CEO, don't think new owner will replace Arnold, not this season. Can VDS still play football? United need Goal keeper here
? No one could handle situation at Ajax after Erik and Overmars leftGreat club but I can't help myself Schadenfreude them after they milked United every penny last summer despite both club had done good business (before)
Anyway, forget about new CEO, don't think new owner will replace Arnold, not this season. Can VDS still play football? United need Goal keeper here
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