Manchester United may now be on red alert over Mitchell van der Gaag’s future after Ajax suffered yet another defeat this afternoon.
United were able to claim a 2-1 win away from home on Saturday evening, beating Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.
This wasn’t vintage United but Erik ten Hag was able to claim three important points on the road.
The same cannot be said of Ten Hag’s former club Ajax, whose horrendous season lurched to a new low on Sunday.
Ajax slump to another defeat as post-Ten Hag struggles continues
Ajax travelled to Utrecht in desperate need of three points to kickstart their season but went 2-0 down away from home.
Under-fire boss Maurice Steijn must have felt that the tide was turning when his side scored three times in 13 minutes to flip the game on its head.
Sadly for Ajax, they not only conceded a leveller to make it 3-3, but then saw Utrecht bag an injury-time winner in a bonkers game.
The Eredivisie table does not make good reading for Ajax; seven games played, one win, five points.
Ten Hag’s 2022 move from Ajax to United has seriously dented the Amsterdam giants, who struggled last season and seem to only be getting worse this season.
United now on red alert over Mitchell van der Gaag exit
This defeat will only increase the pressure on boss Steijn, who is surely running out of track with Ajax.
Ajax may well be looking for potential replacements and one of their options is thought to be United coach Mitchell van der Gaag.
The Sunday Mirror (15/10, p78) reported just last week that Ajax were already making enquiries into luring Van der Gaag back to Amsterdam.
Van der Gaag serves as Ten Hag’s assistant at United having served in a similar role alongside the Dutchman at Ajax.
Ten Hag would hate to lose his assistant but there is now an ever-increasing chance of Ajax making a move as Steijn goes from bad to worse.
United will hope that Ajax go in another direction, but will now have to keep a close eye on their next move after another damaging defeat.
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