{"id":290544,"date":"2023-10-09T08:23:51","date_gmt":"2023-10-09T08:23:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/?p=290544"},"modified":"2023-10-09T08:23:51","modified_gmt":"2023-10-09T08:23:51","slug":"az-alkmaar-pile-on-misery-for-ajax-as-louis-van-gaal-watches-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/soccer\/az-alkmaar-pile-on-misery-for-ajax-as-louis-van-gaal-watches-on\/","title":{"rendered":"AZ Alkmaar pile on misery for Ajax as Louis van Gaal watches on"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>AZ Alkmaar pile on the misery for Ajax as new director Louis van Gaal watches his team fall into the relegation zone on their return to the Johan Cruyff Arena<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Ajax&#8217;s game vs Feyenoord was postponed as fans threw fireworks on the pitch\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>They finished the match behind closed doors but still lost\u00a0De Klassieker 4-0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The Dutch side are currently having their worst league start in club history\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Ajax returned to the Johan Cruyff Arena after the debacle against Feyenoord only to lose again, this time going down 2-1 to AZ Alkmaar.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Vangelis Pavlidis and Dani de Wit both scored for Alkmaar, with Branco van de Boomen&#8217;s 73rd minute goal proving nothing more than a consolation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This leaves the Dutch giants hanging in the relegation zone, after collecting a mere five points in their six games.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>New director, and ex-Manchester United manager, Louis van Gaal\u00a0was in attendance to watch a team that is spiralling out of control.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Before kickoff the city of Amsterdam labelled the stadium a so-called security risk area, with Mayor Femke Halsema deciding to take this step on Saturday after consultation with the Public Prosecution Service and the police.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/09\/00\/76317311-12608895-image-a-27_1696809103385.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Ajax lost again to AZ Alkmaar, putting them into the Eredivisie relegation zone this season<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/09\/00\/76317307-12608895-image-a-28_1696809142331.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>New director Louis van Gaal watched on as the club he formerly managed continues to spiral<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>Police were reportedly on the lookout for fans carryig fireworks or weapons as unrest in the club supporters continues.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It is a club in complete turmoil, with former sporting director Marc Overmars leaving in disgrace in 2022, and CEO Edwin van der Sar resigned a year later for separate reasons.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, Ajax fired their director of football Sven Mislintat, who had only been appointed in May, in a bid to quell unrest in and around the club due to their disappointing results.<\/p>\n<p>Now manager Maurice Steijn is also now very likely to lose his job according to multiple reports from the Netherlands, with the former Sparta Rotterdam head coach already unpopular before a ball the season started.<\/p>\n<p>Ajax are currently going through their worst league start in history, surpassing the\u00a01964\/65 season and registering\u00a0one win, two draws and three defeats so far.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Speaking after the game Steijn said: &#8216;It&#8217;s very sad.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I didn&#8217;t see [any positives] today, you have to be that realistic. We started well and I saw freshness in the team, but there are things that are going very slowly.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I hope that the fans continue to have confidence in us as a whole. I completely understand the reactions.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;We offer them very little, so they deserve a compliment. We absolutely must be able to do better. I am confident that we as a staff will succeed in turning this around. I see spirit, that gives me confidence. I will do everything I can 24\/7 to take this club back to the top.&#8217;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/09\/00\/76317317-12608895-image-a-29_1696809182640.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Dutch outlets report that manager\u00a0Maurice Steijn is edging ever closer to losing his job<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12608895\/AZ-Alkmaar-pile-misery-Ajax-new-director-Louis-van-Gaal-watches-team-fall-relegation-zone-return-Johan-Cruyff-Arena.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AZ Alkmaar pile on the misery for Ajax as new director Louis van Gaal watches his team fall into the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290543,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - 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