Alisson Becker, Ryan Gravenberch, Cody Gakpo, Ibrahima Konate, Joe Gomez, Wataru Endo, Curtis Jones, Kostas Tsimikas, Harvey Davies, Tyler Morton, Harvey Elliott, Diogo Jota, Caoimhin Kelleher, Federico Chiesa, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dominik Szoboszlai, Johnny Heitinga, Assistant Manager of Liverpool, Vitezslav Jaros, Arne Slot, Manger of Liverpool, Sipke Hulshoff, assistant Manager of Liverpool, Andrew Robertson, Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah, Alexis Mac Allister, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz of Liverpool celebrate the teams victory and confirmation of winning the Premier League title after the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC at Anfield on April 27, 2025 in Liverpool, England.placeholder image
Alisson Becker, Ryan Gravenberch, Cody Gakpo, Ibrahima Konate, Joe Gomez, Wataru Endo, Curtis Jones, Kostas Tsimikas, Harvey Davies, Tyler Morton, Harvey Elliott, Diogo Jota, Caoimhin Kelleher, Federico Chiesa, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dominik Szoboszlai, Johnny Heitinga, Assistant Manager of Liverpool, Vitezslav Jaros, Arne Slot, Manger of Liverpool, Sipke Hulshoff, assistant Manager of Liverpool, Andrew Robertson, Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah, Alexis Mac Allister, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz of Liverpool celebrate the teams victory and confirmation of winning the Premier League title after the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC at Anfield on April 27, 2025 in Liverpool, England. | Getty Images
Liverpool’s Premier League winning assistant coach John Heitinga has been sacked just a few months after leaving Merseyside
Former Liverpool assistant coach John Heitinga has been sacked by Dutch giants Ajax after less than six months in charge of the Eredivisie club.
The 41-year-old former Everton player joined the Reds as Arne Slot’s assistant in 2024 and was part of the coaching staff that helped the Reds win the Premier League title in their first season at the club.
Heitinga earned a Premier League winners medal for his contributions during the 2024-25 campaign, with winning clubs handed 40 medals by the Premier League. Each player who made five or more appearances is automatically given a medal while the club is free to distribute the others how they see fit.
Ajax sack former Liverpool coach John Heitinga
Heitinga had won just five of his 11 league games in charge at Ajax while losing all four of his Champions League games in charge of the club. The decision to dismiss Heitinga came after a 3-0 home loss to Galatasaray on Wednesday night.
A club statement read: “Ajax has suspended John Heitinga with immediate effect. The head coach’s contract was due to run until June 30, 2027, but will now be terminated. The same applies to assistant coach Marcel Keizer. Ajax is looking for a new head coach; in the meantime, Fred Grim will take over Heitinga’s duties.”
Technical director Alex Kroes said: "It's a painful decision. But looking back at the past few months, we must conclude that things have turned out quite differently from what we had envisioned.
“We’ve seen too little progress and have unnecessarily dropped points. We know it can take time for a new coach to work with a squad that has undergone changes. We have given John that time, but we believe it’s best for the club to appoint someone else to lead the team.
“We hope to present a new head coach together as soon as possible. We thank John and Marcel for their efforts and wish Fred the best of luck, starting with Sunday’s away match in Utrecht."
Why John Heitinga made the move to Ajax
Heitinga is one of the few who has crossed the derby divide on Merseyside. He made 140 appearances for Everton during his playing career but opted to join Slot on the red half of Merseyside.
His influence behind the scenes and his former links to Everton made him a favourite at Anfield, with some banners during the Premier League victory parade dedicated to the ex-Ajax player.
Explaining in the summer why he joined Ajax, Heitinga explained: "You never know in football, the most important thing is to keep developing yourself.
"To gain experience and knowledge, now I'm here again [at Ajax]. Educational, amazing really. I gained international experience, got a look behind-the-scenes in perhaps the biggest competition in the world.
"I got to work with two coaches of which one has been around for a long time and the other got to continue Jurgen Klopp's legacy. I think together we built something wonderful there last season. I had a fantastic year there, winning the league was the crown to our work.
"But the conversation I had with Alex (Kroes - Ajax technical director) and Marijn (Beuker - Ajax director of football), the idea behind it all made me very excited to start here.”
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