John Heitinga has been tasked with ensuring Ajax finishes in the top two of the Eredivisie, securing a direct ticket to the Champions League. However, the new coach of the Amsterdam club wants more.
“I want to become champion with Ajax next season,” Heitinga said Thursday in Zeist at his first press conference since returning to the club. “But wanting is different from having to. The objective is to qualify for the Champions League again.”
Under Heitinga’s predecessor, Francesco Farioli, the goal was a place in the top three of the Eredivisie. They finished second, meaning Ajax will return to the Champions League next season after three years.
“I’m really looking forward to that,” said Heitinga, who doesn’t have a specific goal for Europe. “The goal is to play entertaining football. We want to show in a number of Champions League matches who we are as Ajax. And finish as high as possible in the league phase.”
Last season, both Feyenoord and PSV managed to survive that league phase. Heitinga: “Ideally, we would also advance a round further. But let’s wait for the draw first. If we draw Manchester City, FC Barcelona, and Paris Saint-Germain, that will have an impact.”
‘Compliments for Farioli’
Under Farioli, Ajax played in the Europa League, and the Italian often chose to make many changes. “I will rotate less often,” said Heitinga. “But through the frequent rotation, Farioli has gotten a lot out of this group. Compliments for how he did it.”
Heitinga said he has not had contact with Farioli, who signed a contract with FC Porto earlier this month. The former Dutch international, who was assistant coach at Arne Slot’s Liverpool last season, followed Ajax from a distance last season, but didn’t see everything.
“In recent weeks, I’ve watched some matches back, in preparation for this season. What was striking was that there was a close-knit team on the field. Farioli ensured discipline and cohesion. He did that great.”
‘You can judge it later’
Heitinga obviously wants to see that discipline next season as well. But he also wants to play more offensively with Ajax, who scored significantly fewer goals than PSV in the past Eredivisie season (63 to 107).
“In the friendly match last Saturday (6-3 win over Hibernian, ed.) you could already see where we want to go. We want to press high, attack in a controlled manner. Create many chances and thus score goals. And you can judge later how well that succeeds.”