Is Ajax looking too far afield for technical director? RKC’s Allach is doing a good job everywhere’
NOS Football–
“How do you get to someone like that?”, says Arno Vermeulen in Studio Soccer. “England fails and then we find someone in Germany? That’s bizarre. Why do you end up with him? It’s inimitable. He seems to have scouted Robert Lewandowski. Well, brilliant.”
Since the departure of Marc Overmars nearly a fortnight ago, Ajax has been searching for a suitable technical director. Technical manager Gerry Hamstra was allowed to try in conjunction with Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Van der Sar, but that combination proved unsuccessful.
“Van der Sar is a survivor, but has left a huge gap,” Vermeulen said.
‘Everything has to shake up at Ajax, selection is not that good’
The 50-year-old German Mislintat is currently without a club following his departure in late November from VfB Stuttgart and is reportedly already in talks with Ajax. He previously worked as a scout for Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal.
“The situation is really dire,” Vermeulen said. “With this selection, Ajax will not become champions next season either. This selection is not that good. They really need reinforcements and they need to select through. Everything has to be shaken up. There has to be a technical director very quickly and they have to appoint a top coach.”
Ex-Ajacied Rafael van der Vaart does not want to blame Van der Sar for the current problems. “Things have happened that you don’t learn at the Cruyff Academy. I regret that Overmars misbehaved. He was so terribly important, he was the very best. Van der Sar could never catch that.”
Tip from Kramer
At the table at Studio Football sits RKC Waalwijk striker Michiel Kramer and he does have an idea about a good technical director: Mo Allach, now technical director of RKC and previously employed by VVV-Venlo, FC Twente, the KNVB, Maccabi Haifa and Vitesse.
Kramer knows a good technical director: ‘Why is Allach never mentioned?’
“It strikes me that Mo Allach is never mentioned at Ajax, Feyenoord or PSV,” Kramer said. “He got promoted, made it to European soccer, became champion. He has always put down selections that get results.”
Ibrahim Afellay agrees: “Allach has done a good job everywhere. At RKC too, with limited resources”. So should Ajax look closer to home for a technical director?
Watch the clip below about Feyenoord and the regular sections End Signal about Anthony Lurling (by Frank Heinen) and the Wall Layer (by Hugo Borst) about the unproductiveness of strikers in the premier league.
