All the signs were that Ajax would return to their glory days in the 2024/25 Eredivisie season after a completely "off-course" year in 2023/24, when they finished closer to the bottom than to the European places. Ajax led the league from matchday 21 to 32 very consistently, but it all came crashing down in the end.
With five games remaining, Ajax had a nine-point lead over rivals PSV and were considered by virtually all fans to be champions, but an incredible run of negative results against inferior teams ended up undermining their good run, with a goal conceded in the 99th minute on the penultimate matchday being enough to send PSV to the top.
Over the weekend, Ajax's damage was already done regardless of the result and PSV confirmed their title after beating Sparta Rotterdam 3-1, with goals from Perisic, Luuk de Jong and Tillman. It's worth noting that PSV started the year in the lead, but a sequence of just one win between January and March saw Ajax take the lead until the final stretch.
Francesco Farioli could take over Premier League team soon
Ajax's vexatious adventure culminated in the departure of coach Francesco Farioli, whose work was highly rated internally and who had no intention of being sacked, according to reports, not least because the team is considered to be the strongest squad in the Eredivisie at the moment and will be playing in the next UEFA Champions League.
At the same time, the latest information to emerge in the last few hours suggests that Francesco Farioli has been in contact with Bayer Leverkusen, Roma and Tottenham about signing a contract from the 2025/26 season. In other words, everything indicates that the embarrassment suffered in the final stretch of the Eredivise will have been enough for interest from clubs in bigger leagues to wane.
Roberto De Zerbi's former assistant coach opted to create a style of play that was very much influenced by his mentor and whose main characteristic was a very fluid style, with plenty of balance between attack and defense. During attacking phases, it was common to see five players pressuring the opposition, with forwards, winger and wingers circulating close to the ball.