Berghuis and the 'heads or tails' fear: Ajax need a clear plan, not just another trophy

Steven Berghuis walked into the game against Telstar with something that had disappeared from Ajax last season: clarity. He said on the club's official channels that there were moments before kickoff when the whole team felt as if they were tossing a coin. Nobody knew which Ajax would show up. Berghuis was not talking about a specific move or a beautiful goal. He was talking about something supporters often struggle to see from the stands: structure and belief. When a big club is in decline, people look for causes in individuals, in the dressing room, in title pressure. But the veteran midfielder wanted to point to a more frightening condition: Ajax did not know what they would look like when they stepped onto the pitch. Last season was a real turmoil. Ajax sacked their head coach twice, but each change failed to create improvement. John Heitinga, Fred Grim and then Óscar García all had reasons to be appointed, but none had enough time and stability to rebuild the most basic things. As a result, Ajax became a lottery team. Heitinga had some positive moments, but his lack of experience in big matches made the team fragile. Fred Grim arrived in an emergency and remained an interim option, so he could not be the long-term answer. Óscar García had tactical ideas but lacked time to impose them on a group that had lost direction. After all that, Ajax players fell into the state Berghuis called heads or tails: depending on which side the coin happened to land. It is a vivid way of speaking, but also very accurate. In top-level football, the difference between winning and losing is not always about player quality. It is about whether the team knows what it needs to do before the match starts. When a team has no clear plan, every pass can become a risk, every pressure can become chaos. Now, under Míchel Sánchez, Berghuis feels Ajax has something different. He no longer worries about which version of Ajax will appear. He believes that if they do what they have trained, Ajax will win, and the team will live up to expectations. This does not mean Míchel Sánchez has created a perfect machine. Football always contains unpredictable variables. But the difference Berghuis describes is that players no longer have to feel their way in the dark. They know how they defend, where they press, how they build up. When the plan is clear enough, players can focus on execution instead of wondering where their teammate will move. This summer, Ajax saw more squad changes. Viktor Tsygankov arrived late in the transfer window, a signing that showed ambition but also raised questions about Berghuis's role. The Dutch midfielder scored once and provided two assists against Telstar, but competition from Tsygankov will make his position less certain. Berghuis could have chosen to worry about being replaced. Instead, he spoke about a bigger goal: bringing Ajax back to its identity. He does not see winning a trophy as the only measure. What he wants is an Ajax that truly competes, a team that makes opponents feel inferior even before the scoreline reflects it. He wants supporters to be proud of the team and wants Ajax to escape the fragility of depending on the form of the day. There is something interesting in the way Berghuis speaks. He does not belittle the importance of trophies, but he questions how Ajax can achieve them. For him, trophies are the result of a proper process. If Ajax has no clarity on the pitch, if players do not know what they are playing for, even a win is only luck. Conversely, if Ajax returns to its identity, if the team controls matches and forces opponents to adapt, trophies will find their own way. His view might sound unambitious to some, especially while Jordi Cruyff keeps insisting that Ajax must compete for the title. But in reality, Berghuis's words are not short of ambition. They reflect a maturity gained from watching Ajax pass through both glory and crisis. Trophies come and go, but a team is truly strong only when it has internal stability. Ajax fans have the right to demand more than pretty football. They want to see their team win. But if we look at the history of Ajax, what made the club special is not only trophies. It is the way Ajax played with a clear philosophy, the way young players were given opportunities inside a well-built system. When the system collapsed, Ajax was just a big name with disconnected individuals. Berghuis has experienced that feeling. He has been part of teams that could play well on ordinary days but disappeared at decisive moments. He understands that elite football does not forgive vagueness. A team without a plan can beat anyone on a single day, but it will struggle to maintain a level across a whole season. Míchel Sánchez gives Ajax something previous coaches could not produce in such a short time: tactical security. Ajax will not always play well, but players know what they are doing. This sounds simple but is extremely important. When players do not worry about where their teammates will stand, they can focus on handling the ball better. When a team knows how to escape pressing with short passes, they become more confident against strong opponents. However, we must stay sober. Berghuis saying that a trophy is not essential could become a double-edged sword. In a demanding environment such as Ajax, where the media and supporters set high standards, such a statement might sound like acceptance of mediocrity. If Ajax begins the season thinking they only need to compete, not to win, will they keep enough hunger to overcome difficult moments? Dutch football has always had teams that play well but fail to win trophies. And there are also teams that win despite being unconvincing. The line between the two is very thin. Berghuis seems to be building another standard for Ajax's success, one based on control of a match rather than the final result. That may be correct in philosophy, but modern football works more cruelly. A coach can build a good style for months, but if results do not come, his seat will still be questioned. Míchel Sánchez needs time to shape Ajax, but the club's history shows that time is the rarest commodity. So Berghuis's statement can be seen as a message to the board: be patient with the process, do not look only at the scoreline. Ajax's story this season is not only about whether they can win the title. It is about whether they can restore belief in themselves. Berghuis once entered many matches feeling like he was playing a game of chance. Now he can feel a clearer path. Whether that path leads to trophies remains unknown. But at least Ajax is no longer walking in darkness. There is a saying people in football often repeat: a group does not collapse just because of one defeat; it collapses when they no longer know what they are playing for. Ajax went through that dark period. Now, under Míchel Sánchez, they are starting to find the answer again. Berghuis may not be the central figure in every plan, but he is perceptive enough to recognize the most important change. Competition from Tsygankov will be an interesting test. Berghuis will have to prove he still has value in a rebuilding team. If he does, Ajax will have another quality option in midfield. If not, Berghuis can still play a major role in the dressing room with his experience. Whatever role he plays, he is showing a respectable attitude: putting the team above personal calculation. In the end, Ajax does not need to rush to declare the crisis over. A few wins over weaker opponents prove nothing. But when an experienced player like Berghuis begins to talk about clarity in the tactical plan, that is a positive signal. Football sometimes does not need grand revolutions, only someone to show the way and others to believe in that way. Ajax is quietly finding itself again. Berghuis's comments may not create sensational headlines, but they reflect an important truth: belief is returning. And once belief returns, other big things will follow. An era does not die because of a defeat. It only dies when people stop believing in their plan. Ajax is proving they still have faith in the road ahead, and that is the most precious thing in this rebuilding period.