Van Gaal to the rescue

See it to believe it. In last weekend’s classification of Eredivisiehe Ajaxthe club with the best titles in Dutch football, with a total of four Champions Leagues in its showcases, the cradle where the great stars of world football such as Cruyff, Neeskens, Keizer, Van Basten, Rijkaard, Van der Sar, Davids, Seedorf, Kluivert, Overmarsthe twins De Boer, De Jong either De Ligtamong many others, and inspired by the magic formula of football The Masiawhich is controversial Blaugrana DNAoccupied the last position in a minor league in Europe. Certainly no club on the continent has won as many times (a total of 36), as they did with the team of Amsterdam.

Fortunately, this red lantern changed hands, because after the 2-0 victory of Ajax in a postponed match on Thursday against Volendamit is relegated to the last position, divided by Utrecht. In this match he made his debut on the bench John van’t Schipin one of the first decisions made by the board of directors, advised by Louis van Gaalwho despite putting on his coach’s tracksuit (don’t believe it because he’s done it on other occasions and back) at 72 and in the middle of treatment to fight prostate cancer, couldn’t refuse the desperate appeal. in the club of his life, in a painful situation.

In Holland the fans of Feyenoord and PSV, the historic rivals, it’s a joke that this season you have to read Monday’s newspaper upside down, to understand Ajax’s position. Another victim of this crisis is the former forward Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, with a policy of ups and downs that turned out to be a failure. Along with the march to Fenerbahçe of Dusan Tadicat 34 years old, the last survivor of the squad that reached the semi-finals of the Champions League six seasons ago and in which the figure of a young man stands out Frenkie de Jong. Last summer the team was strengthened, that is, with thirteen additions. The most expensive is the attacker Kuba Akunpomof which 12.30 million euros were paid to Middlesbrough. But at the same time, the same number of football players were not accepted, of which 155 million were accepted. In this section, at least the accounts appear, because the capital gain has a favorable balance of 137.5 kilos. And there are no levers, which some like.

The new mister is an old rocker and one of the favorites of Cruyffwhere the ‘skinny’ won the 1987 Cup Winners’ Cup, with a young team where the presence of a tall and thin ‘9’, but with an impressive technique, called Marco van Basten. He is from the same generation of ’63, where the Koeman, Gullit, Rijkaard either Vanenburgwinners of the 1988 Euro Cup in Germany, the only title of the acclaimed ‘A Clockwork Orange’. A winger with good manners, he played for Ajax until 1994, his year Van Gaal as a coach of a new generation, with Van’t Schipas captain, will win the UEFA Cup, a prelude to the Champions League won in the final of Viennathanks to the single goal from a Kluivert Only 18 years old and Van Gaal celebrated with a spectacular pirouette in the purest style kung fu.

At 59 years old and after training halfway around the world, his final destination is the choice of Greece, Van’t Schipwho retired as a footballer in 1996 in Genoa, has never managed the club of his wishes. An opportunity that comes to him in the twilight of his career, although better late than never, especially if it serves to bring out a historical figure like the beloved Ajax.