Mitchell van der Gaag


Mitchell van der Gaag is a Dutch retired footballer who played as a central defender, and the manager of Jong Ajax.

Playing career

Van der Gaag was born in Zutphen, Gelderland. After graduating from PSV Eindhoven's youth academy, he spent three seasons on loan to NEC Nijmegen and Sparta Rotterdam, returning to Eindhoven for a further three years but never being an important first-team figure, however.
In January 1995, van der Gaag signed with Motherwell. He scored a career-best seven goals in 28 games in his second full season to help the Steelmen narrowly avoid relegation from the Scottish Premier Division, and subsequently returned to the Eredivisie with FC Utrecht.
For the 2001–02 campaign, van der Gaag joined Portugal's C.S. Marítimo, going on to be one of the Madeira club's most influential players as it consolidated in the Primeira Liga. He netted six times in his third year, helping the team finish sixth and qualify for the UEFA Cup.

Coaching career

Van der Gaag retired from football in 2007, having spent one season with Al-Nassr FC in Saudi Arabia. In July of the following year, he returned to Marítimo as a coach and took the reins of its B-team.
In October 2009, after Carlos Carvalhal's dismissal following a string of bad results, van der Gaag was promoted to the main squad. After helping them finish fifth – a place conquered in the last round with a 2–1 away win against Vitória de Guimarães, who were leapfrogged in the process – and qualify for the Europa League, his contract was renewed for a further year.
On 14 September 2010, after collecting only one point in the league's first four matches and being ousted by FC BATE Borisov in the Europa League, van der Gaag was sacked by Marítimo. He returned to management after nearly two years, still in Portugal, signing with second division's C.F. Os Belenenses. In his first season he won the league, thus returning the club to the top flight after three years.
Van der Gaag took a temporary leave of absence in late September 2013 due to heart problems, after feeling unwell during a league game against former club Marítimo. In February 2015, he was appointed at Cypriot First Division club Ermis Aradippou FC, being released after just one month after refusing to renew his contract for the following campaign.
After spending the 2015–16 season back in his country with FC Eindhoven, in the Eerste Divisie, van der Gaag moved to the top flight and successively coached SBV Excelsior and NAC Breda. On 24 May 2019, he returned to the former tier after signing a two-year deal at AFC Ajax's reserves.

Honours

Manager

Belenenses