The Urban Warriors were relegated to the National First Division last season, and have so far struggled in South Africa’s second tier, where they lie 11th on the log with just four wins from their 12 matches played.
Van der Sar, who was in Cape Town at the opening of Ajax’s Lambda Institute recently, admits their feeder club’s relegation was a setback, but backs the club to resurrect their season soon.
“Ajax is all about developing talent, but of course we had the relegation last year for the club here in Cape Town and for us in Amsterdam, it’s not good,” he told snl24.com/kickoff. “But we are dealing now with the situation of playing in the First Division, and hopefully they’ll come up again for the next season.”
Despite their struggles and demotion to the NFD, Van der Sar says the Dutch mother club are still fully committed, citing their financial support for the Lambda Institute as clear evidence of their backing for the struggling South African club.
“The commitment is there,” he said. “We have invested in the Lambda Institute. The idea [Ajax Cape Town] started 19 years ago, and I played in that first match [between Ajax Amsterdam and Ajax Cape Town]. The co-operation between South Africa and Amsterdam sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t work out, but that’s how it goes.
“But I think it’s important because South African football is a good breeding ground for talent and hopefully the Lambda Institute will provide us with more players.”
Van der Sar admits the playing style under axed coach Muhsin Ertugral was not what the Dutch mother club was after, and hopes the Urban Warriors will now better represent the club’s playing style under Andries Ulderink, who was announced as Ajax’s new head coach on Thursday.
“You need to win titles and trophies, and at Ajax we like to do it with good football, with a certain style – 4-3-3 – which is something that has been lacking a bit here in the first team at Ajax Cape Town,” he said. “We need to play in a certain system, and hopefully with the departure of Muhsin there will be a new style of football, and hopefully we will be promoted back to the premier league.”