Erik ten Hag DEFENDS disgraced Marc Overmars and calls former club Ajax 'stupid' for 'throwing him under the bus' - after director quit after sending inappropriate messages to female colleagues

Erik ten Hag has given ex-director of football Marc Overmars his staunch support two years after the former Arsenal player left his role at Ajax after sending inappropriate messages to women at the club. 

The 51-year-old left Amsterdam in February 2022, and at the time offered a resignation statement which claimed he was 'ashamed' of his 'unacceptable behaviour'. 

'Unfortunately, I didn't realise that I was crossing the line with this,' Overmars had said. 'But that was made clear to me in recent days. I suddenly felt enormous pressure. I apologise.'

Ten Hag himself left the club at the end of the 2021-22 season to join Manchester United, and since the departure of both men, Ajax have struggled to assert their dominance in Dutch football, this season ending their campaign in fifth - 35 points off title-winners PSV Eindhoven. 

The manager pointed his finger at the club's hierarchy over the side's unravelling, and cited Overmars departure as a turning point. 

'I stand firm that I find it a disgrace the way Marc Overmars has been treated,' Ten Hag told VI. 'The departure of Marc Overmars killed Ajax at the time. 

'And from club perspective it was really stupid to throw him under the bus straight away.

'Overmars was the binding factor within the club. He didn’t write a single letter on paper, but every outgoing and incoming line was created by him. 

'He was smart, he had strategic insight. When they got rid of him, everything collapsed.'

At the time, Ten Hag had said that he 'sympathised' with Overmars, but did also offer support to the women involved. 

'I was totally stunned when I heard it,' Ten Hag said. 'This is disastrous. Of course, you sympathise with him. But the first thoughts go to the suffering of the women. It touches us all to the depths of our souls.'

As well as sending inappropriate messages to female colleagues, Overmars also sent pictures of his genitals. 

Shortly after leaving Ajax, he took up the director of football at Belgian side Royal Antwerp, but was forced to take a step back in January when his one-year ban from footballing activities in Holland - handed down in November 2023 - was extended worldwide by FIFA. 

Overmars appealed the decision, but he lost his case in February, and will be sidelined into next season. 

Upon confirmation of FIFA's global ban, Royal Antwerp offered their own support for the executive when the players took to the pitch with a banner reading: 'Overmars, forever behind you'. 

Ten Hag has previously said he would be keen to work again with the former Holland international, calling the idea 'romantic'. 

'We've have been very successful together,' Ten Hag said of their partnership, which first began in 2017. 'It's hard to say it's happening, but it certainly could. 

'That's a romantic thought.'  

Ten Hag's comments came amid a sensational interview published on the day of Man United's FA Cup final against crosstown rivals Manchester City. 

The Dutch manager not only doubled-down on his assertion that INEOS were keen to implement change alongside him rather than without him, but hit out at his critics, saying that Man United fans who aspired to winning titles had 'no sense of reality' with the club at its current juncture.