Steve Parish hopes Crystal Palace can emulate 'perfectly run' Ajax after Frank de Boer appointment

Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish wants Frank de Boer to bring some of the famous Ajax philosophy to south London and build a legacy at Selhurst Park.

De Boer was appointed Palace manager yesterday and outlined his long-term vision for the club based on the principles of his mentor Johan Cruyff.

Cruyff introduced Total Football in the Seventies and De Boer has been influenced by his time at Ajax, where he spent 11 years as a player and won four Eredivisie titles as manager.

The 47-year-old wants to implement attractive, possession-based football and promote young talent, while ensuring Palace stay in the Premier League.

Parish hopes De Boer, who won 112 caps for Holland and also played for Barcelona, can create something special at Palace after four years of battling relegation.

“Throughout his footballing career Frank has been exposed to the absolute epitome of the perfectly run club in Ajax,” said Parish. “Ajax had lost their way when Frank took over, they had gone seven years without the title, and he went there and won four titles in a row. He not only has experience of how to create a winning club and the respect of world football, but also the knowledge of how a football club really functions well from beginning to end.

“It is going to be difficult if Frank says ‘this is what we did at Ajax’ and for me not to think that is a good idea. If we can implement that slowly over a period of time, that is what we want to do. But that is against the backdrop of the priority being the first team. We want to create a legacy football club that has a security and presence in the Premier League. Hopefully Frank can take us to another level.”

De Boer will impose his style on a squad that was built for survival by Sam Allardyce. “Ajax is famous for Total Football,” he said. “So it is in our DNA to try and play tactical and technical football — to try to dominate. I try to play dominant but also know that you already think defensively. That was the strength of Barcelona in the time of Pep Guardiola, everybody is involved with attacking but also defending, that is what I want to bring here.”

De Boer wants to rebuild his reputation after it was tainted by a short spell at Inter Milan, where he lasted 85 days before being sacked in November.

He will bring Orlando Trustfull, his assistant at both Ajax and Inter Milan, with him to form part of his backroom staff. Sammy Lee, right-hand man to Allardyce, is expected to be retained but De Boer has yet to decide on the rest of the coaching set-up.