Van Hooijdonk and Vanโ der Vaart Express Concern for Heitinga‘s Future at Ajax
Amsterdam, September 29, 2025 – Former Dutch internationals Pierre van Hooijdonk and โRafael van derโ vaart voiced meaningful doubts about John โคHeitinga’s position as Ajax manager followingโ a lackluster 2-1 victoryโ over โฃNAC Bredaโ on Saturday. The pair shared their concerns during aโ live broadcast ofโข studio football.
Van Hooijdonk โฃstated, “I fear the โฃworst for Johnny,” signaling a pessimistic outlook for the โขcurrentโฃ coach. He elaborated, noting a negative atmosphere within โthe Johan Cruijff Arena, even during the players’ โpost-match acknowledgement of the crowd, describing Heitinga as a “dead man walking.”
Van der Vaart concurred withโ his colleague’s assessment. He โhighlighted the challenging upcoming schedule for ajax,which includes a โขmatch against Olympiqueโ Marseille on Tuesday,followed by โfixtures against Sparta (away),AZ (home),Chelsea (away),and FC Twente (away).
“I wouldn’t get out of bedโค for daysโข tomorrow,” Van der โฃVaart joked,but added a serious note,acknowledgingโค the difficulty Heitinga will face navigatingโ the demanding series โฃof games.
Van der Vaart concluded, “It is very difficult. Johnny is a world โขgoerโฆbut it doesn’t work.โ You notice that. You saw that yesterday and then you win,so then everyone is still a bit happy. You โcan play โbadly, but you should have losing 6-2.”