Schreuder is happy that his new adventure at Ajax has officially begun. As is tradition, Ajax have begun the new season with a training camp in De Lutte. "It's nice to be here and I know the area well," said the new head coach. "Very good to see the young guys at work. We can work well with the staff and introduce certain patterns in the team. Furthermore, it is very nice to be on the field with the boys."
The 49-year-old man from Barneveld does not expect to make many changes from last season. "Ajax showed great things on the pitch last year. We will not change much in that regard. We will continue on the path the club took 4.5 years ago." Several talented players are looking ready to break into the first team. "If younger guys develop well, they will have opportunities, just like with Ten Hag. There is a lot of potential in this squad," said Schreuder on Friday afternoon.
One of these great talents is Naci Ünüvar. Schreuder is very pleased with the nineteen-year-old creative midfielder. "He is making excellent progress. We've been working on some details this week. We would like to see him higher up the pitch and he has handled that well. In the end he has to score goals. Naci works very hard and is a great player, but we have several good players," emphasized the coach.
Schreuder was also full of praise for the development of Mohamed Ihattaren. "He is a very cheerful guy, who loves the game very much. Of course, he has a great left foot. Everyone knows how well that kid can play football and what has happened lately. We should not judge that. We have every confidence that this kid will make it."
Finally, the briefly discussed the goalkeeping situation Ajax. Maarten Stekelenburg sustained a foot injury at the training camp in De Lutte. Schreuder expects that the damage will not be too bad. "But we will wait patiently. Maarten has now gone home." The new head coach emphasized that Ajax had a lot of bad luck last season with injuries. "Let's focus on the positive. In principle we have three very good keepers if they are all fit."
