Cruyff will have no further involvement in the revamp of the technical structure after failing to see eye to eye with the new board on plans to reform the youth system.

He had been the figurehead of the new regime after the entire board were ousted as the result of a damning club-commissioned report and was expected to take on an official role.

But the 60-year-old on Friday told De Telegraaf: "This is about a professional difference of opinion. There is no personal conflict but I want to see the youth academy at a higher level.

"This is what belongs to Ajax and drastic measures need to be taken. I had made a clear plan about that but my vision is not shared by the people who have to work it out."

Holland boss Marco van Basten, a close friend of Cruyff, will take over as coach at the Amsterdam ArenA after Euro 2008.

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Cruyff announced his decision after a conversation on Friday morning with Van Basten, who later revealed he found the former Barcelona coach's plans "too rigorous".

The ex-Holland striker wants to see how the club's youth programme functions and then assess the situation, rather than immediately revamp the whole system as Cruyff wished.

"It's all too rigorous and too fast for me," Van Basten told www.ajax.nl.

"I am not dissatisfied about how things are going there right now. I first want to see how things are going. I must experience that myself. After that I want to change things my way and at a reasonable pace."