Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag faults Ajax for how they handled the scandal surrounding the exit of Marc Overmars ahead of the FA Cup final against Manchester City.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag took a super at his former club Ajax in defence of his friends and former colleague Marc Overmars, whom he believes was thrown under the bus after he got caught sending inappropriate messages to female colleagues.
Overmars was the sporting director at Ajax during Ten Hag's stint at the club. He resigned in February 2022 after admitting to sending a series of inappropriate messages to female colleagues and subsequently receiving a ban from FIFA earlier this year.
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What ten Hag said
Ajax have gone downhill since the era under Ten Hag when they dominated Dutch football and made deep forays into European competition.
They have failed to win the league in the two seasons since the exit of Overmars and subsequently Ten Hag; they have shown regression in the two seasons after, finishing 3rd with 69 points in 2022/23 and 5th with 56 points this season.
Speaking about his former club ahead of the FA Cup final against Manchester City, Ten Hag attributed this struggle to the absence of Overmars, stating that the former Arsenal winger was the brains behind his successful stint at the club.
![Marc Overmars, who played for Ajax, Arsenal and Barcelona, has resigned as sporting director of the Amsterdam club](https://sportal365images.com/process/smp-images-production/ringier.africa/07022022/192cba2f-d58c-4b4a-bb8e-531c3abd7148.jpg?operations=fit(480:))
He believes Ajax handled the scandal surrounding his exit poorly, as they did not do enough to defend Overmars.
"Much of this [decline of Ajax] can be traced back to the dismissal of Marc Overmars. His departure was killing for the club," Ten Hag said, per the Athletic.
"I maintain that I find it scandalous what they did to Overmars. From a club perspective, it was also so stupid how they approached that by throwing him directly under the bus.
"Overmars was the crucial and binding factor in the club management in terms of football."
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