Jan Vertonghen believes Ajax have started to take steps towards a much-needed rebuild, though concedes things may get worse before they improve.
The 36-time Dutch champions have made an awful start to 2023-24, taking eight points from their first nine games of the Eredivisie season to sit 15th ahead of Sunday's meeting with Heerenveen.
Maurice Steijn left his role as head coach by mutual consent with the club mired in 17th place last week, just four months after he joined from Sparta Rotterdam on a three-year deal.
Hedwiges Maduro then took charge as Ajax made unwanted history against PSV last Sunday, suffering a fifth successive Eredivisie defeat for the first time in their history as they were routed 5-2.
Ajax responded by appointing former winger John van 't Schip as interim coach this week, and his first game in charge resulted in a 2-0 win over FC Volendam on Thursday.
New boss Van 't Schip represented the club for 11 years as a player between 1981 and 1992, before returning as Marco van Basten's assistant coach in 2008.
While Vertonghen – who began his career with Ajax before leaving for Tottenham in 2012 – knows his old club have a long road ahead of them, he believes they have the right structure in place to bounce back.
"It hurts. Obviously, [Ajax] can't win the league every year, but where they are now is not good," Vertonghen, an Athlete Partner for APEX, told Stats Perform.
"It was bad on every level, but sometimes you have to hit lows to get back up. I think they're getting the structure back right.
"Obviously, they've given a lot of power to someone who wasn't familiar with the culture at Ajax [Steijn]. In three or four months, a lot of damage was done.
"Where they are now doesn't reflect the quality of the squad at all. Bringing in 13 or 14 new players and a new coach, it takes time, and at Ajax you don't get that time. You need to perform. Being second is not good enough.
"They've got some people back at the club with Ajax in their heart, who want the best for Ajax. So, yeah, it will take a while, and hopefully they can get into Europe this year."
Vertonghen moved to his homeland to represent Anderlecht last September, but he endured a dismal first campaign with the 34-time Belgian champions, who finished 11th in the Pro League.
However, Anderlecht have bounced back under Brian Riemer this campaign, sitting second in the table ahead of back-to-back away games against title rivals Cercle Brugge and Gent.
Asked about Anderlecht's upturn, Vertonghen said: "Last year was a very, very bad and disappointing season, but we had a very good transfer window.
"We made great signings, people that didn't really fit in left, and we brought in some young guys and experienced players; Kasper Schmeichel, for example, guys who want to win.
"That's what we need. The atmosphere in the team is great. We have a very, very strong squad of 20 to 25 players. In Belgium, it works with a play-off system. If you get into the top six, you go through to the championship play-off, and that's our ambition: to be in that top six.
"Whoever's in the top six can be champions. It's important for all the teams who have the ambition to achieve the highest things to be in that top six.
"There are eight or nine teams fighting for that top six, and then we'll see. At the moment, we're second but still only a couple of points from seventh, so now we have two massive games.
"It's massive for us, two away games as well, so if you lose those two games, you can be seventh. That's how close it is, so we have to get at least four points out of those two games."
'Exceptional' Fernandes can thrive under Amorim, says former Man Utd coach Meulensteen
Ruben Amorim's impending appointment as Manchester United boss will benefit skipper Bruno Fernandes, former Red Devils coach Rene Meulensteen believes.
United confirmed on Friday, four days after they sacked Ten Hag, that Amorim would be coming in as their new head coach.
The 39-year-old, who has won the Portuguese title twice in the space of three years, will join the Red Devils officially from November 11, after serving a notice period with Sporting CP.
United have agreed to pay Sporting around £9.2million (€11m) in compensation, with Amorim signing a contract that will keep him at Old Trafford until June 2027.
He will link up with compatriot Fernandes, who also swapped the Portuguese capital for Manchester back in January 2020.
The skipper has been directly involved in 151 goals since his debut, the most of any midfielder across Europe's top five leagues during that time.
And Meulensteen, who spent 12 years on the coaching staff at Old Trafford, thinks Fernandes will thrive under Amorim, and hopefully cut out some bad habits.
"It's always important, but all managers expect certain things, have certain expectations from Bruno," he told Stats Perform.
"I do think Bruno is an exceptional player. He's been so important in so many goals, in terms of his assists and contributing goals himself.
"Although, there's also another side that we've seen in Bruno - which you don't like to see as a club captain - a little bit of petulant behaviour, like throwing the toys out of the pram if things are not going well.
"Obviously, they're both Portuguese, so that helps them in terms of speaking in their native language.
"It's going to be interesting. The way that he sets up his teams, he doesn't play with out-and-out wingers. He plays far more with people in between the pockets, which [the likes of Bruno] are suited to.
"As soon as he steps over that line and steps through the door, we will see very, very quickly how he's going to shape up the team."
Man Utd must find a way to keep Van Nistelrooy at Old Trafford, says Meulensteen
Rene Meulensteen believes Manchester United must do everything in their power to keep Ruud van Nistelrooy at the club, amid Ruben Amorim's impending arrival.
United confirmed the appointment of Sporting CP boss Amorim on Friday, four days after announcing they had parted ways with Erik ten Hag following a dismal run of form.
The Red Devils currently sit 14th in the Premier League after their first nine games of the season, and welcome Chelsea to Old Trafford this Sunday.
Van Nistelrooy, who joined Ten Hag's coaching staff in July, oversaw his first game as interim boss in midweek, earning a 5-2 win over Leicester City in the EFL Cup.
Amorim will officially take charge on November 11, meaning the Dutchman will remain at the helm for United's fixtures against Chelsea, PAOK and Leicester.
The Portuguese arrives at Old Trafford with an impressive resume, having guided Sporting to their first league title in 19 years, and winning the Primeira Liga again in 2023-24.
His 120 victories in the league give him a 76.92% win ratio, which is the best of any Sporting coach on record.
But former United coach Meulensteen believes it is crucial Van Nistelrooy remains at the club, with his experience vital in helping Amorim understand the pressures of the job.
"I think the club will have to manufacture something. It's very clear that Amorim wants to bring his own staff, which I think is very understandable," Meulensteen told Stats Perform.
"He can look at it and say: 'OK, Ruud has got some experience with the players, and he might be able to help me to tell me this and that and the other'.
"That's the conversation he needs to have. If he doesn't see a place for him in and around the first team, then he has to be clear about that as well.
"Because at the end of the day, if you see a little bit of what happened with Erik, let's assume if Amorim had said: 'listen I'm staying in Sporting, I'm not doing it, forget it', then obviously we wouldn't have these conversations.
"Then, it would have been a little bit more quiet, and I would have said to Ruud: 'listen Ruud, you take over for now, right, and see how we go and see how you get on with it'.
"And if that, for instance, started to come off, Ruud would have given the board and Ineos and all those people enough confidence to say: 'listen, I'll be more than capable of carrying on with it'.
"Now they haven't gone that way, so I can also understand if the manager says: 'no, I don't want anybody that I don't know in that setup, because I really want to do my own thing'.
"Ruud made it clear he wants to stay and be part of it, so at least that's a positive for the incoming manager. If the incoming manager has other plans, then the club has to find something different."
Amorim will be United's youngest boss since 33-year-old Wilf McGuinness took charge of them on Boxing Day 1970 against Derby County.
Since March 2020, when Amorim took charge, Sporting have the highest win percentage of any team across Europe's top 10 leagues (77% - 120 wins out of 156 games).
His first game at the helm comes against Ipswich Town after the international break, but it remains to be seen whether Van Nistelrooy will remain alongside him.
Meulensteen cautious over Amorim appointment at Man Utd
Rene Meulensteen sees similarities between Ruben Amorim and Erik ten Hag, so does not want to get carried away about the incoming Manchester United head coach.
United confirmed on Friday, four days after they sacked Ten Hag, that Amorim would be coming in as their new boss.
The 39-year-old, who has won the Portuguese title twice in the space of three years, will join United officially from November 11, after serving a notice period with Sporting CP.
United have agreed to pay Sporting around £9.2million (€11m) in compensation, with Amorin signing a contract that will keep him at Old Trafford until June 2027.
However, former United coach Meulensteen is able to draw plenty of comparisons between Amorim and his predecessor, and that is giving him cause for concern.
He told Stats Perform: "I have a little bit of a careful approach.
"I see a lot of similarities when United got excited about Ten Hag. Ajax played a good style of football, nice to watch, did really well, won the league, did really well in Europe.
"You see the same thing with Amorim. A young manager, not that much experience. He obviously has got a clear idea how he wants to play and he's been able to make Sporting a successful team, winning two league titles, and he does well in Europe.
"But Portugal and the Dutch league are very similar. In [the Netherlands] you've got Ajax, PSV, Feyenoord, in Portugal you've got Sporting, Benfica and Porto. That is about it and against the rest of those teams, you can just turn up and win the game.
"You can have the best ideas and what you want and tactically and all this, but the other number one [thing] is walking into a different competition, which is the Premier League, which is the hardest league in the world.
"He walks into a team that is not his. He walks into a team without pre-season, right? So every game straight away is playing for something, whether it's the league, the cup or in Europe. So he has to hit the ground running.
"He has a very specific way of playing. So he needs to look at the current squad that's in there and say, which players will I be able to use to play that way? But then again the Premier League is not Portugal, and the only way to establish himself is to win games and play well."
Amorim will be United's youngest boss since 33-year-old Wilf McGuinness took charge of them on Boxing Day 1970 against Derby County.
Since March 2020, when Amorim took charge, Sporting have the highest win percentage of any team across Europe’s top 10 leagues (77% - 120 wins out of 156 games).
He was of interest to Liverpool and West Ham earlier this year, but Meulensteen still warned against expecting too much, too soon.
"United will probably think they need somebody with, first of all, a strong personality," he continued.
"I think that is important. From what I hear and read about him, he has a strong personality, but that personality will only be tested in difficult times. But that is where you have to give him the benefit of the doubt.
"But I think it's the same reasons why United went for Ten Hag, because the stats are all weighing up. The stats are good. Plus, obviously, they've spoken to him.
"I'm a little bit more sceptical and careful. because at the end of the day, the proof will be in the pudding.
"Now he comes into a team that's not his. And that takes time. That it's not like something that you can switch on straight away.
"Every manager needs to be given 18 months before he gets to a place where he feels it's his team.
"Sometimes, depending on the players that are there, the support that you get, it can go a bit quicker, but we have to wait and see."
United are 14th in the Premier League after nine games, and face Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Ruud van Nistelrooy will be in charge for their next three matches, with Amorim's first game at the helm coming against Ipswich Town after the international break.
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