Arie van Eijden speaks out in VI interview
15 April: Leading Dutch football weekly Voetbal
International published a lengthy interview with Arie van
Eijden this week. In the interview Ajax's general director
(59), who will
step down some time before 01 April 2006, speaks out
about many of the much-discussed events for which he is at
least partly responsibly, according to many. Ajax USA presents
a selection of the most remarkable quotes.
About his imminent departure...
"It was fantastic for me when Ajax asked me to return
to the club in October 2000. That was very emotional [Van
Eijden was banned by the club for five years due to his
alleged involvement in the fiscal 'FIOD case' of the late
1980s, MP]. When I signed I told the club very clearly that I
wanted to think about my future around my 60th birthday.
In late 2004 we started talking about the future structure of
the management. We are still talking about that to the
Board of Commissioners, but I said from the start that I might
not want to be in that future structure. I hadn't taken a
decision yet when I said that, but I felt I was moving
towards the point where it's been enough. The incidents in
the last few months have accelerated that process (...) If you
take a hundred decisions there will always be a few unfortunate
ones. However, people do not seem to understand that all
of our decisions are taken collectively."
About the firing of Co Adriaanse...
"When I returned as general director in October 2001
the Board of Commissioners was already annoyed by the
way Co communicated via the media. We talked about that a
lot. A year later it also started going wrong
sportively. We talked to Co again and concluded together
that there wasn't enough room for improvement. Then we decided
to say goodbye to him. When I see and hear him in the media
nowadays, I think: if only you'd done it the same way at Ajax
at the time."
About Ronald Koeman...
"His spell has been very succesful: two
championships, three times Champions League participation, an
Amstel Cup and a domestic Super Cup. That ain't half bad. If
Cristian Chivu hadn't slipped two years ago in Milan we would
have been in the semi-finals of the Champions League. Ronald's
achievements have helped me a lot in reaching my main goals:
bringing the authentic 'club feel' back and putting Ajax
back on track financially."
About Louis van Gaal's unfortunate return as
technical director...
"We discussed all of the options and most of us
thought Louis was a good candidate. We spent a long time
discussing the potential pitfalls and made a very detailed job
description. Then we informed [head-coach] Ronald Koeman,
[director of youth system] Danny Blind and [Young Ajax
coach] Marco van Basten. They believed in it and we told Louis:
'If you can respect this situation, we go for it.'
That was no problem. (...) Some people have concluded that
Louis found out that he wasn't done yet as a coach. That
he was not yet the understanding type, a shoulder to
cry on for the players. He did great work at De Toekomst,
but it turned out that is was very hard to keep him away from
the first team. Louis felt that he should have more power.
He wanted to claim the right of purchasing players, even
if the head-coach did not really believe in them. Which to us
was unacceptable."
About the 'Zlatan affair'...
"Louis wanted to sell him, but I thought that
Juventus' first bid was unacceptable. On August 30, one
day before the closing of the transfer window, Juventus
raised their bid considerably. So, I contacted Ronald
Koeman. He told me we had a replacement lined up, namely
Arouna Koné, and agreed to the sale. Koné
was on a plane to Ivory Coast at that moment and he had to
return to Holland for his medical test, immediately after
landing. We all know what happened [Koné
returned but failed his medical, MP]. It was August
and we had no Zlatan and no Koné. Berbatov, Koller and
Baros were alternatives, but there was no more time. We could
have blocked the transfer, because Juventus were initially
unable to get it together financially. I told the technical
staff about that option, but they replied that there was also
a conflict going on between Zlatan and Van der
Vaart. That's why we let him go when Juve submitted the
required bank guarantees. We knew Koné had failed his
medical, but in such a situation a general director must do
what his technical people tell him to. (...) I thought
Zlatan was a great lad and a great player, but there are other
forces around me also. As a director you can't always control
those, for example that conversation Van Gaal had with Zlatan,
which was - to put it diplomatically - rather disappointing for
Zlatan."
About the transfers of the last few years...
"Julien Escudé and Zdenek Grygera are doing
alright and I also think Mauro Rosales is having a rather good
first year. Victor Sikora was a failure, unfortunately.
Ronald wanted to have him at all cost. He insisted and the
rest agreed. Sikora was not good enough, we found out
later. Everyone agreed on Wesley Sonck: we just had to buy him.
Turned out that he fits into just one tactical system, not
into any other. Tom Soetaers we bought for a rather small fee,
because we had a sudden problem on the left flank. We only
suffered a minimal loss on that deal, eventually. Yannis
Anastasiou brought us exactly what we were hoping for. Zlatan
and Sonck were injured and we had no striker. Yannis was cheap
and did not ask for an outrageous salary. He did quite well as
a player, but also proved of great value in the dressing room.
Nourdin Boukhari had his good periods. You can't start a season
with eleven players, you need 24. Those 24 can't all be young
players from the youth system or players you've bought for a
lot of money."
About the departure of Van Basten and Van 't Schip
to the KNVB...
"They coached Young Ajax to everyone's satisfaction,
but then the KNVB knocked on our door, asking if they could
have them. If we'd said no the entire country would have been
all over us. That's why we agreed and we became the saviour of
the nation. (...) John and Marco were quite enthusiastic about
the KNVB offer. Who are we in such a case to deny them a step
forward? I would have had two frustrated employees if I'd done
that. And the whole country would have freaked
out on me. We never discussed the possibility of them becoming
the next coaches of Ajax-1, by the way. Koeman still had a two
year deal. We did talk about Haarlem: we were looking into the
options of letting Young Ajax play in the First
Division under Haarlem's name. John and Marco were up for
that, but it wasn't to be."
About Van Gaal and Van Basten...
"Van Gaal had a lot of praise for Van Basten's
vision. He felt that if anyone had the quality to
implement the real Ajax culture, it would be Van Basten.
That the two of them did not get along as people is a different
story. The ideas of Van Gaal on the one hand, and those of Van
Basten and Cruyff on the other, are actually not
that different. The problem is they don't like each
other."
About Ajax's future...
"We will take care of everything and we will do it well. This
month we will present our new director of youth system. We
will need more time to find a new technical director. We're
looking for someone who does not have the desire to be on the
pitch anymore. Those are hard to find. The new TD will have to
accept the head-coach and director of youth system
he's confronted with. That's a fact of life. He must build a
bridge between De Toekomst and the ArenA and not interfere with
the head-coach's work. We will find a capable man and I am sure
the Board of Commissioners will also find a capable successor
for me. Until then, I will be here. (...) If Blind manages to
get the team back on track the dust will settle soon enough.
Our goal is to qualify for Europe and hopefully accomplish
something nice in the Amstel Cup. The youth system works very
smoothly. In spite of the fact that some key positions within
the club are vacant at the moment we really have everything
under control."
Translation: MP / Source: Voetbal
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