'A farce of epic proportions' – Club warned they risk becoming Manchester United 2.0

Journalist Sjoerd Mossou warns Ajax risk repeating Manchester United's 13-year decline if they cling to past glories rather than build coherent strategy.

Journalist Sjoerd Mossou has cautioned Ajax against following Manchester United's trajectory, comparing the Dutch club's risk of becoming trapped by its history to the English giants' prolonged mismanagement. Speaking to the AD Voetbal podcast, Mossou highlighted Manchester United's current crisis—sitting 18th in the Premier League with just one league win this season—as a cautionary tale of a once-great club unable to remain relevant.

Mossou criticised Manchester United's leadership for their handling of Michael Carrick, who was appointed permanently in the summer after guiding the club to Champions League qualification on an interim basis. Despite a poor transfer window that failed to address squad issues, Carrick was left to face the media alone while club executives remained silent.

Mossou described this as leaving him "hanging in a truly callous way" and called it emblematic of the club's broader dysfunction.

He urged Ajax to avoid the same pitfall: a club that wants to keep one foot in the past while struggling to implement coherent policy or remain competitive in the present. "It's a farce of epic proportions," Mossou said of Manchester United's situation, lamenting that a once-magnificent, exemplary club has lost all moral standing.