Dutch football pundits Johan Derksen and René van der Gijp have strongly criticized Ajax Amsterdam for making Spanish manager Míchel their top candidate for the vacant head coach position.
The criticism was aired on the talk show Vandaag Inside on Friday.
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Pundits Question Decision-Making
Van der Gijp questioned the rationale behind targeting Míchel, who recently departed from Girona after the Spanish club suffered relegation from La Liga.
He argued that the club is ignoring successful domestic options who play attractive football in favor of an unpopular choice from abroad.
"Then they put someone at Ajax who just got relegated with Girona. Nobody in Spain wants him," Van der Gijp said.
He pointed out that local managers are currently drawing massive crowds in the Netherlands due to their entertaining playing styles.
"We have two trainers: one from Telstar and one from NEC. The stadiums are full because they play that fun football.
But they prefer not to have them. That's too easy," he added.
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Derksen supported these views by highlighting the practical communication barriers that the Spanish manager would face at the Dutch club.
"Now they have one who doesn't speak English, only Spanish. Nonsense, utter nonsense," Derksen said firmly about Míchel.
Van der Gijp briefly intervened to echo the sentiment regarding the ongoing negotiations, calling it "madness."
Derksen concluded by placing the ultimate responsibility on the leadership structure of the club for giving newly appointed technical director Jordi Cruijff unchecked authority.
"The Supervisory Board is failing again, because they allow everything. Jordi is now canonized again, he can decide everything," Derksen concluded.
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Despite the media backlash, the path to Amsterdam remains clear for Míchel after he officially announced his departure from Girona on Thursday.
