Steijn reveals: Here’s why I left Ajax

Maurice Steijn, former coach of Dutch club Ajax, has revealed the reasons behind his recent departure in an interview with Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.

Steijn claimed that issues pertaining to player recruitment lay at the heart of his decision to leave. He described his desire to bring several players into the Ajax setup including Lang, Tagliafico, Dest, Isco, De Vrij, Schouten, Pavlidis, and Ziyech.

“My vision was to work together with the management, me on the field and them on the recruitment,” he stated. “However, I constantly felt that there was always a reason to not approve my choice of players, while the players brought in seemed to be influenced by economic interests.”

Steijn also expressed his frustration regarding his perceived lack of involvement in the team selection process. In his prior appointments, he had worked closely with the general manager and the technical director, contributing significantly to important technical decisions.

De Telegraaf quoted him as saying, “According to them, as the coaching staff, we didn’t know how to put together a squad and were not supposed to interfere with it. The hierarchy was clear: ‘I am responsible for the team selection, you are responsible for the team.’ For the first time, I thought: I do not belong in this place.”

This dramatic departure exhibits the deep-seated challenges that can arise in managing the dynamics between a coach and the club’s management.

The Ajax management team has yet to issue a response to Steijn’s public comments.