'This season was still too early, but one day I want to return to Ajax'
Dusan Tadic heads back to the Johan Cruyff ArenA with mixed feelings. On Saturday evening, the 37-year-old Serb takes on Ajax with NEC, the club that still has a special place in his heart. Speaking to NU.nl, Tadic admits he sometimes struggles with the gap in level between the two clubs.
It will be an emotional reunion for Tadic with the club he played for between 2018 and 2023. "Ajax were always my dream club. As a child, I had an Ajax shirt hanging in my room. I was captain in a fantastic period, in which we made history and won trophies. Of course Ajax have changed. But honestly? They remain my dream club."
At NEC, Tadic has also taken on a leadership role, but he feels the circumstances are very different. "There are so many things to correct at NEC, but of course that is not possible. So I focus on the most important matters. With all due respect to NEC, but I was used to playing at clubs that win trophies. Ajax were and are my standard," said the Serb.
Tadic has taken the heavy defeats against Cambuur (3-0) and Juventus (5-0) hard. "At Ajax, before every match the question was how many goals we would score. It was painful to experience that Cambuur could easily have scored six against us."
His new surroundings have also taken some getting used to on a personal level. At Ajax he could rely on the quality of his team-mates, but at NEC his attacking ideas come off less often. "I regularly make preparatory actions and do not get the ball. Or I do not get it back after a few touches. Then apparently my brain works too fast."
That often leaves the former Ajax captain frustrated. "I am finding it hard, I am often in a battle with myself and then there is a storm in my head," Tadic admits. Even so, he has no regrets about his move to NEC, partly because he can use the experience in his future coaching career.
Saturday's meeting with Ajax means even more because of his bond with the Amsterdam supporters. Tadic was only recently serenaded loudly after the Conference League tie between Ajax and his former club Vojvodina. "I always had a great connection with the supporters, that feeling runs so deep," he says.
Should Tadic score against his old love on Saturday evening, he does not expect to enjoy it much. "If I score for NEC against Ajax, it will be the most sadistic goal of my career," he says. He is also not ruling out a return to Amsterdam: "Ajax my ex-wife? No, Ajax are still my wife. This season it was still too early, but one day I want to return to Ajax, as a coach."
