Ajax are starting to reflect Míchel's influence more and more, according to Mundo Deportivo. The Catalan sports daily has been impressed by the recent progress in Amsterdam and believes the team can mount a serious title challenge.
"Míchel's Ajax have reached their cruising speed," Mundo Deportivo headlined on Wednesday. The newspaper says the current side look as if they have been together for years, even though Míchel has only been working on his new project for a few months.
That Spanish analysis follows the convincing 5-1 win over Willem II. Ajax had 70 per cent possession on Tuesday and registered no fewer than 33 shots. They were already 2-0 up at half-time, but kept pressing hard for more after the break.
Mundo Deportivo also highlighted Ajax's output across their last four league matches. They scored four against Telstar, one against PSV and five against both Fortuna Sittard and Willem II.
Across that run, Ajax only lost to PSV, 1-3. The newspaper argues Míchel's side deserved more from that match. In the other three games, they collected nine points and scored 14 goals. Defender Youri Baas also gets a mention for his strong displays at the heart of the Amsterdam defence.
Still, the Spanish paper stresses that the road to the title remains a long one and that reigning champions PSV have enough quality to hold Ajax off. Even so, Mundo Deportivo see clear similarities with Míchel's Girona: "At Girona, we already saw that once the results of a Míchel team match the good football and 'cruising speed' is reached, they can be practically unstoppable."