Dusan Tadic heads back to the Johan Cruyff ArenA with mixed feelings. On Saturday evening, the 37-year-old Serb faces Ajax with NEC, the club that still holds a special place in his heart. Speaking to NU.nl, Tadic admits he is struggling badly with the gulf in level between the two clubs.
For Tadic, it will be an emotional reunion 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? It remains my dream club."
Now filling a leadership role at NEC as well, Tadic says 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 things. With all 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 benefited from the quality of his team-mates, but at NEC his attacking ideas come off less often. "I regularly make the build-up actions and don’t get the ball. Or I don’t get it back after a few touches. Then apparently my brain works too fast."
That leaves the former Ajax captain regularly frustrated. "I find it hard, I am often battling with myself and then there is a storm in my head," Tadic admits.
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 he score against his old love on Saturday evening, Tadic expects to take little pleasure from it. "If I score for NEC against Ajax, it will be the most sadistic goal of my career," he says. He is by no means 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."
Football followers astonished by Tadic interview
Tadic's comments about his own side have gone down badly with various football supporters. "Surely you leave him at home tomorrow after comments like this," Bjorn writes under ESPN's post on X. Sjakie addresses coach Dick Schreuder directly: "Tadic on the bench for the whole game tomorrow, or better still: leave him at home and give him chores. Thanks on behalf of me and many NEC supporters."
Sven also has little understanding for the experienced forward's attitude. "Haha, great team-mate that. Put someone like that straight in the stands. Only makes your team weaker," he says sarcastically. Gon agrees: "That’s nice for you. Imagine having that in your team. So demotivating."
Others mainly question Tadic's self-criticism. "Used to playing at clubs that win trophies? Literally only won some trophies at Ajax, absolutely nothing at the rest of his clubs," Nibor writes. Nick goes a step further: "I’d drop him from the squad, that fool. By the way, he hasn’t played a single good match for NEC either."