Marco van Basten has stood down as coach of Ajax after failing to guide the Dutch giants into next year’s Champions League, the club announced Wednesday on its website.The former star striker for the Dutch national side “had reached the conclusion that he had failed to achieve the goals he had set at the start of the season and that he would be unable to do any better next season,” a club statement said.The 44-year-old Van Basten took over at his former club last July after being Dutch national coach for four years, notably at the 2006 World Cup finals and Euro 2008.The former European club champions are currently lying third in the Dutch first division behind unfashionable AZ Alkmaar and FC Twente and with just one game to go cannot grab one of the two spots available for next season’s Champions League.The final straw was a 4-0 defeat away at Sparta Rotterdam last weekend.
Their last game of the season on Sunday against FC Twente will see assistant coach John van’t Schip in charge on an interim basis.
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