The 2022 departure of Erik Ten Hag for Manchester United has proven to be the turning point for the Dutch side and their bid to return to success.
“The fact that from the top of my head, there’s been eight managers in the last two and a half years, says a lot about the club,” Van der Kraan adds.
“It is not a coincidence that [Ten Hag] has been top of the list last summer. He’s declined the offer now two or three times.”
Among the names that have been in charge since 2022 are Alfred Schuester, Maurice Steijn, Hedwiges Maduro, Johan van’t Schip and Michael Valkanis.
Last season was comfortably Ajax’s best in the post-Ten Hag era under the stewardship of Francesco Farioli.
Ajax spent the final months of the season top of the Eredivisie, but picked up just four points from the final five matches to lose the title by a single point – leading to Farioli’s departure.
Now, just over 15 years on from Cruyff’s column, De Telegraaf republished the article this week – likely linked to the fact that Cruyff’s son, former Manchester United and Barcelona midfielder Jordi, is reportedly set to become the club’s next sporting director.
Jordi also spent seven years in Ajax’s academy prior to signing for Barcelona as a teenager.
Van der Kraal sees the potential return of a Cruyff to the club as a positive move.
“Johann Cruijff has brought so much to the club in the past… he could have a very strong stance on the management of the club and he used to kick against what we’d say was the shins of board members, the shins of the wrong people in the club, and he would kick them out.
“I think the strong ruling of the Cruyff DNA, which is the Ajax DNA, will come back into the club.”
This article is the latest from BBC Sport’s Ask Me Anything team.
