Jan Vertonghen believes Ajax have started to take steps towards a much-needed rebuild, though concedes things may get worse before they improve.

The 36-time Dutch champions have made an awful start to 2023-24, taking eight points from their first nine games of the Eredivisie season to sit 15th ahead of Sunday's meeting with Heerenveen.

Maurice Steijn left his role as head coach by mutual consent with the club mired in 17th place last week, just four months after he joined from Sparta Rotterdam on a three-year deal.

Hedwiges Maduro then took charge as Ajax made unwanted history against PSV last Sunday, suffering a fifth successive Eredivisie defeat for the first time in their history as they were routed 5-2.

Ajax responded by appointing former winger John van 't Schip as interim coach this week, and his first game in charge resulted in a 2-0 win over FC Volendam on Thursday.

New boss Van 't Schip represented the club for 11 years as a player between 1981 and 1992, before returning as Marco van Basten's assistant coach in 2008.

While Vertonghen – who began his career with Ajax before leaving for Tottenham in 2012 – knows his old club have a long road ahead of them, he believes they have the right structure in place to bounce back.

"It hurts. Obviously, [Ajax] can't win the league every year, but where they are now is not good," Vertonghen, an Athlete Partner for APEX, told Stats Perform.

"It was bad on every level, but sometimes you have to hit lows to get back up. I think they're getting the structure back right.

"Obviously, they've given a lot of power to someone who wasn't familiar with the culture at Ajax [Steijn]. In three or four months, a lot of damage was done.

"Where they are now doesn't reflect the quality of the squad at all. Bringing in 13 or 14 new players and a new coach, it takes time, and at Ajax you don't get that time. You need to perform. Being second is not good enough.

"They've got some people back at the club with Ajax in their heart, who want the best for Ajax. So, yeah, it will take a while, and hopefully they can get into Europe this year."

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Vertonghen moved to his homeland to represent Anderlecht last September, but he endured a dismal first campaign with the 34-time Belgian champions, who finished 11th in the Pro League.

However, Anderlecht have bounced back under Brian Riemer this campaign, sitting second in the table ahead of back-to-back away games against title rivals Cercle Brugge and Gent.

Asked about Anderlecht's upturn, Vertonghen said: "Last year was a very, very bad and disappointing season, but we had a very good transfer window.

"We made great signings, people that didn't really fit in left, and we brought in some young guys and experienced players; Kasper Schmeichel, for example, guys who want to win.

"That's what we need. The atmosphere in the team is great. We have a very, very strong squad of 20 to 25 players. In Belgium, it works with a play-off system. If you get into the top six, you go through to the championship play-off, and that's our ambition: to be in that top six.

"Whoever's in the top six can be champions. It's important for all the teams who have the ambition to achieve the highest things to be in that top six.

"There are eight or nine teams fighting for that top six, and then we'll see. At the moment, we're second but still only a couple of points from seventh, so now we have two massive games.

"It's massive for us, two away games as well, so if you lose those two games, you can be seventh. That's how close it is, so we have to get at least four points out of those two games."

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