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Special Report: Koeman knows perfectly what they want to hear in Amsterdam

03 December: Amidst loud applause, new coach Ronald Koeman and his new assistant Ruud Krol entered the training pitch at 11:30 this morning. In between walked a laughing Cristian Chivu. "Thank you, thank you!", he said, as if all the applause was meant for him. One and half years ago, Co Adriaanse made the same short journey as new coach, and he also was greeted with applause. But as these things go in soccer: the king is dead, long live the king.

The old king, Co Adriaanse, seems to have dug his own grave with not-so-popular remarks about low expectations ("I want to end in the top-5") and about an all-time Ajax hero, Marco van Basten ("I don't need him"). In today's sports program on AT5, retiring Ajax treasurer Arie van Os confirmed that Adriaanse's poor communication with the media was a central factor in his dismissal, stating that Adriaanse "sometimes even gave answers to questions that were never asked."

Ronald Koeman showed today that he learned from the mistakes his predecessor. An hour before his first training session, he gave a press conference together with the Ajax board introducing himself to the media and the Ajax supporters. With a few one-liners, he immediately tried to steal the hearts of the Ajax board and the supporters: "It's the same feeling as when I moved to Ajax as a 20-year old boy. I'm going to try to bring Ajax back to where the club wants to be."

And about the expectations this season: "We have to compete on all fronts. Since we're out of the UEFA this means: the league and the Amstel Cup. I think that in the league everything is still possible, because I don't think there is one team that is much better than the other."

And when a news reporter asked him about Van Basten and his future at Ajax, Koeman understood the value of this question and the importance of his own response. "Now I have to give a smart answer," he quipped, and then continued: "By accident I met him at a gala last Friday and spoke with him. I know about his desire to do something with soccer again. As coach, I'm willing to do whatever is necessary to make him important for the club."

That was music to the ears of the Ajax supporters and the board. Long had they been waiting for such remarks. Koeman knew perfectly what they wanted to hear and conformed to that. He also conformed to the desire of the Ajax board to take former Ajax player Ruud Krol as his assistant. "I understood that the Ajax board wanted to call back more former Ajacieden to the club, and that's why they wanted Krol," Koeman stated on AT5. He claimed to have been thinking about Krol as his assistant already.

On the training pitch, Koeman didn't show any signs of stage fright, and it looked as if he had been training there for a long time. Together with Krol, he did some position training, shooting on goal, and Koeman being a specialist himself also practised free kicks and penalties. "The training was quite relaxed," Van der Meyde said afterwards. "But a training before a match is always more relaxed. I'm curious how the others will be." Also Chivu said to be pleased with Koeman: "He was a great player and everybody knows him. So it is good to train with him."

Koeman didn't have really much time to get to know his new players. "Five minutes before the press conference, I shook hands with them. And five minutes before the training, I explained the way I work and how I think about discipline." Not much time on the day before the match against Fortuna Sittard. The effort has to come from the Ajax players themselves this time. Van der Vaart is fully aware of this: "Of course Koeman doesn't know us much, so we as a group have to do it. And it is very important, because if we win, we're on top of the table again." (BV)