Frank de Boer: Ajax have become a feeder club for the big leagues

EXCLUSIVE
By Ashish Sharma & Stefan Coerts

Ajax coach Frank de Boer has stated his belief that it is impossible for the Amsterdam outfit to compete with the top teams in England, Germany, Italy and Spain again following the changes in European football in the 21st Century.

The Eredivisie giants were one of the biggest teams in Europe midway through the 1990s as they won the Uefa Cup in '92, lifted the Champions League trophy in '95, and reached the final again the following year.

However, Ajax have been unable to reproduce their successes from the 20th Century in the wake of the Bosman ruling and De Boer feels that the reigning Dutch champions have developed into a feeder cub in recent years because of the ever-increasing financial gap between the Eredivisie and the bigger leagues.

"A team like Manchester United have players such as Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs, who play their entire career at the same club because there’s no next step after United. They’re already at one of the biggest clubs out there," De Boer said to Goal.com.

"Ajax no longer have that luxury. The financial difference with the big clubs from England, Italy, Spain and Germany has become so big that we can no longer compete with these teams.

"We have become an academy for those clubs and we realise that. What we see these days is that players leave Ajax in their early twenties for a bigger salary elsewhere."

De Boer then went on to say that the changes in European football make the club's youth academy all the more important, but stressed that the presence of experienced players is crucial on the road to success, too.

"That is why our youth academy is so incredibly important for us. And maybe, if we have a bit of luck and have six or seven great youngsters coming through, plus perhaps two experienced players, we could do something in Europe.  

"If you really want to be able to compete with the big clubs in Europe, you need experienced players as well. Like the team that won the Champions League in 1995.

"I only left Ajax at the age of 29, and Frank Rijkaard was 34 or so when we won the Champions League, while Danny Blind, Jari Litmanen and Edwin van der Sar had a lot of experience as well. I was not at the same level when I was 22 that I would be at when I was 29."

The former Netherlands international used Everton defender John Heitinga, who left Ajax for Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2008, as an example of the changed landscape in Europe that makes life so difficult for Ajax.

"Heitinga was developing into the leader of the team a few years ago and then left the club. We always have to start all over again with some very young players.

"I believe that players get more experienced around the age of 25, but we always have to rely on players who still need to learn a lot. That's why we can no longer compete with the big teams."

De Boer also took the time to discuss the internal problems at Ajax and stated that the supervisory board's decision to approach Louis van Gaal for the position of CEO behind the back of Johan Cruyff was the wrong thing to do.

"He [Van Gaal] has a lot of experience and he would have loved to return to the club. What I did not understand though is that they went behind Johan Cruyff’s back.

"We all know that those two have some problems, so it was not a smart thing to do it like this. It would be fantastic if you could bring those two back together, but that’s almost impossible. It was not the right thing to do to appoint him behind Cruyff’s back."

Van Gaal's appointment was eventually prohibited by a local magistrate after Cruyff went to court over the matter and the club's supervisory board consequently opted to resign.

"We have to find a new board and move on from there. The decision has been made to choose Cruyff's side and we should follow his plans."