Daley Blind Reflects on Ajax's New Era Under Coach Míchel
Daley Blind has walked back into an Ajax he barely recognises – and he loves what he sees.
Fresh from a commanding 1-4 win over FK Vojvodina in the Conference League qualifying round, the 36-year-old defender cut a relaxed but resolute figure as he reflected on a club trying to shake off a turbulent spell. The badge is the same, the expectations unchanged. The atmosphere, though, is new.
“Yes, it was different from how I had left it. That’s true,” Blind told Ziggo Sport after the game. Those are not the words of a sentimental returnee. They are the words of a veteran who has seen Ajax at its best and its most fragile.
A new tone, a new wind
The turning point, in Blind’s eyes, is clear: coach Míchel.
From the moment he stepped back into the dressing room, Blind sensed it. The mood. The standards. The noise.
“From the moment I walked in, the tone had already been set by the coach,” he said. “There was a new wind blowing, there was a lot of positivity in the group.” That wasn’t a throwaway line. It was a deliberate nod to a Spanish coach who has wasted no time imposing himself on a squad still carrying scars from recent seasons.
Ajax have endured “difficult years,” as Blind put it. Everyone felt it. Supporters, who watched the club drift from its usual rhythm, and players, who lived that instability from the inside. The ease and arrogance that once defined Ajax gave way to doubt and disjointed performances.
Now, Blind talks about something much more basic, and far more important: the feeling of being a team again.
Unity, confidence, and the first signs of a lift
“And you hear that from the lads as well,” he said. “They have also been difficult years. For the fans. But also for the players themselves. And that feeling of being a team, of unity, of confidence. Of positivity that goes hand in hand with victories.”
Those last words matter. Positivity is not a slogan at a club like Ajax; it has to be backed by results. The 1-4 win in Serbia, coming on the back of another encouraging performance, gives early weight to the idea that something is building again.
“I think we have been doing well with that over the last two matches as well,” Blind added. Two games do not define a season, but for a side trying to rediscover its identity, they can set the tone. The body language looks lighter. The play more connected. The hierarchy clearer.
Eredivisie on the horizon, job not done
The timing of this mini-renaissance is not lost on Blind. The new VriendenLoterij Eredivisie season is coming fast, and Ajax cannot afford another campaign spent chasing shadows.
“And that has to keep growing and really come alive again,” he said, looking ahead with a quiet certainty rather than bombast. “I think that is moving in the right direction.”
That phrase – “moving in the right direction” – might sound modest, but from someone who has lived multiple cycles at the club, it carries weight. Blind is not easily impressed. He has played under top managers, in high-pressure seasons, and through title runs and collapses. His endorsement of Míchel’s early work will not go unnoticed inside the club or among the fanbase.
Vojvodina all but done, Shelbourne likely next
On the pitch, the immediate task appears straightforward. After Thursday’s 1-4 away win, next week’s return leg against Vojvodina at home already looks close to a formality. Ajax still have to finish the job, but the tie is firmly in their hands.
Waiting beyond that, almost certainly, is Shelbourne FC. The Irish side beat Nomme Kalju of Estonia 5-2 in their own tie and are on course to meet Ajax in the third qualifying round. It is not the kind of fixture that will quicken pulses in Amsterdam, yet it is exactly the kind of hurdle a rebuilding giant must clear without fuss.
For now, Blind’s words hang in the air. A new coach. A new wind. A squad rediscovering unity and confidence. Ajax have been here before, at the start of something, with a sense that the pieces might finally be falling back into place.
The question now is simple: can they turn this fragile optimism into a season that truly feels like Ajax again?
