John van ‘t Schip wants to aim for fifth place in the last two games of the season, he says Ajax.nl. In this way he hopes to end his term as head coach of the club with a small success. The coach can count on some Ajax players who have returned from injuries.
‘We want to win this match. That is important to hold on to fifth place and to ensure that we qualify for European football,” is the goal for the meeting with Almere City next Sunday. ‘Fifth place is unworthy of Ajax, but if you look at where we come from and how turbulent it has been this season…’
‘Coincidentally, this week I saw a table showing how many points we have achieved since we took over. That is more than Twente and AZ,” Van ‘t Schip continues. ‘I didn’t expect that, especially considering the number of points we dropped after the winter break. That often happened after European matches. It is something we have more or less indicated: that this group is not yet ready for this in terms of maturity and experience.’
In the run-up to the match against Almere City, Ajax has had extensive time to prepare. Nevertheless, Van ‘t Schip does not yet consider himself rich. ‘Almere City has shown this season that it is a difficult team to play against. They enter into battle, play many one-on-one duels and can also handle the long ball and then go for the second ball. That has been their strength all season and will be no different now.’
Ajax infirmary
In recent weeks, the Ajax line-up was often subject to forced changes. Players such as Steven Berghuis and Jordan Henderson are now back and Van ‘t Schip is happy that he can use such veterans again. “That’s a bit late, but better late than never,” he laughs. ‘We have to make sensible choices in this regard. Not all players can play ninety minutes yet, take Berghuis for example.’
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