Ajax will be kicking themselves after electing to choose manager Maurice Steijn over Ange Postecoglou this summer, with the Australian now shining at Tottenham.
That’s according to journalist Süleyman Öztürk, who thinks Ajax would now be second in the Eredivisie rather than 16th if they’d shown faith like Tottenham did.
Postecoglou is currently the rising star of the Premier League football after his arrival at Tottenham in the summer as the permanent replacement for Antonio Conte.
He’s proved to be an instant hit, developing an attractive brand of attacking football that has Spurs sitting top of the Premier League table after eight games and the good vibes flowing.
Ajax, meanwhile, find themselves 16th in the Eredivisie and closer to relegation than a title challenge after a miserable start under new manager Steijn.
He was appointed this summer after Ajax went through ‘several lists’ that also included Postecoglou, but Öztürk believes the mistake was made a long time before that.
“He was scouted ten years too late. He was already a good trainer ten years ago, but he is from Australia and talks a bit strangely,” he said.
“He doesn’t really have a football background, so we can’t take him seriously, many clubs must have thought. He has indeed not played 130 international matches, but he is a very good trainer.
“If he had been scouted in time… He could have worked for number sixteen in the Eredivisie, and then they would have been second.”
