It has been suggested that Marijn Beuker take over as Ajax’s next football director. The director, who is 39 years old and presently works for the Scottish club Queen’s Park FC, will be tasked with revamping the city’s technical strategy.
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| Marijn Beuker |
Beuker was born in Nieuw-Vennep on September 21, 1984. He did not finish high school, despite the fact that he is currently pursuing a football career. He stopped between the ages of fifteen and sixteen, after completing HAVO 4.
This was not because I lacked desire. “I aspired to be a technical director in my own unique way.” In this Dutch educational system, I believed such desire was unattainable. For example, I recall one of my instructors telling me that I had no gift for languages. “I now speak six languages,” he stated last year in an interview with De Gelderlander.
Beuker pursued a management education in the culinary sector, among other things, because he believed it would help him improve his language skills. He subsequently attended Cruyff University, where he obtained his graduation from the everlasting number fourteen in 2009.
Meanwhile, Beuker took the jump and asked a number of clubs for permission to go behind the scenes. Spurs, Borussia Dortmund, Espanyol, OGC Nice, and AS Roma all replied enthusiastically. He was even employed as a sports scientist by an Italian top team. Every day, he read the Gazzetta dello Sport, which helped him learn Italian.
Beuker’s career took off when he began working as a talent development coordinator at AZ in 2007. Beuker progressed through the ranks of the Alkmaar youth academy to become director of football development, a post he held from 2013 until 2021. In this position, he is regarded as one of the architects of AZ’s effective training program.
Beuker is not afraid to take bold actions in his pursuit of innovation. For example, he instituted ‘brain tests’ at AZ to assess players’ cognitive abilities. “Boys who score well on that quickly pick up the tactical tips,” he said to Voetbal International. “I joined AZ at the right time,” he told Gelderlander. “I collaborated with Toon Gerbrands. Together with Louis van Gaal. They molded me. I conducted study with sports scientists and neurologists via AZ. I spar often with Jumbo-Visma cycling team sports director Merijn Zeeman, and I’ve visited air traffic control to learn how to relieve tension in football players.”
Van Gaal was blown away by Beuker’s vision. When the KNVB was seeking for a new technical director in 2017, the previous national coach recommended him. The decision finally fell on Nico-Jan Hoogma, although Queen’s Park was only around the corner in 2021.
Beuker had some misgivings at first, thinking it was London’s Queens Park Rangers, but fell for the attractions and vision of Scotland’s oldest team. Lord Willie Haughey, the rich owner of Hampden Park, granted Beuker carte blanche to arrange the club as he saw appropriate, from the junior academy to the first team. It resulted in a promotion, and the club is presently in the second division. Queen’s Park is experiencing a rough season under coach Robin Veldman’s guidance.
Van Gaal, Ajax’s adviser, does not seem to have forgotten Beuker in the meanwhile. On Tuesday evening, De Telegraaf, VI, and Algemeen Dagblad claimed that Beuker is viewed as the right candidate to restructure the top club in difficulty on a technical level.
Problems with future general manager Alex Kroes are unavoidable: the two had a falling out while Kroes was still the owner of SEG and Go Ahead Eagles. Kroes also attempted to internationalize the principles from AZ’s training, plans that were often drafted by Beuker, according to VI. Ajax will also hunt for a ‘transfer guy,’ which should bring administrative peace to the Johan Cruijff Arena.
Source: Voetbalprimeur