Brighton defender Joel Veltman rates themselves as favourites facing Ajax in the Europa League tonight.
Veltman left Ajax for Brighton three years ago and admits his old team is unrecognisable.
"Daley Blind, Dusan Tadic, Davy Klaassen. Everyone has left," he told Algemeen Dagblad. “What people call 'Ajax DNA' is now quite lacking. It is so important that staff members and a few players have this. If I had to choose, I would add DNA."
Veltman still communicates regularly with some Ajax staff members, although he does not ask them about the club's crisis.
“I can also form a pretty good picture without talking to anyone. Everything is going wrong. Technical director Sven Mislintat was fired. Trainer Maurice Steijn left on Monday. That truckload of incoming and outgoing players. Hassle at board level."
Veltman finds it incomprehensible that Ajax's team continues to muddle along.
“At some point, as a player, you have to take responsibility, right? When you play football for Ajax, you have one task: win. But hey, they won't stay as low as they are now. I looked at the schedule. After PSV, they will only encounter 'little ones' in the competition for the time being."
