We revealed our away kit for this season on 11th May last year but we didn't wear it in the FA Cup final. We wore our kit for that season like we always have done. I highly doubt we'll be in black for this one - we'll wear blue.
Ajax - Man Utd | EL Final Build-up Thread
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I don't understand the complaints about the busy schedule. Man Utd earns 688 million and Ajax 93. With that in mind, Man Utd should be able to beat them any day of the week, it's looking for excuses for what you might fear..
Guide to Stockholm
Small guide to Stockholm and the Europa League final at Friends arena in Solna
Solna is a suburb to Stockholm.It is located proximately 6 miles from Stockholm city center.
In terms of hotel, I would recommend staying in Stockholm City center, there’s a lot more hotels there than in Solna and there are much more restaurants and pubs there than in Solna.
Friends Arena.
It is a boring all venue stadium. 5 years old. Capacity 50 000. It is an indoor arena with a roof that can be open. It is located in Arenastaden in Solna. It is lots of buildings for work spaces close by and a big mall.
It is the national stadium for football in Sweden. It is also the home to AIK, a team in allsvenskan (Premier league in Sweden. It has three tiers, 20 thousand on the first, 10 on the second and 20 on the third.
Getting there.
Isn’t that hard. There is a station for commuter trains 10 minutes’ walk away called Solna Station. You will walk by or through a big shopping mall called Mall of Scandinavia. Apparently the biggest in Scandinavia.
Travel time from the central station in Stockholm is 8 minutes, so it is not that far.
Getting home is harder. 50 000 travelling from the same station. And since SL, the commuter operator very seldom increases the capacity when there is big arrangements in the city, so you might end up with one train heading for the city every 15 minutes. And probably the mall you walked through on the way there will be closed.
So what is the alternatives?
Subway: There is two subway stations within walking distance. Solna centrum and Näckrosen. Both are on the same line (Blue) and after each other. It takes approx. 20 minutes to walk to the stations. If you are seated on the west or north stand this might be the fastest way.
Buses: It might be buses going from the back of the north stand to either Sundbyberg where you can take the subway or commuter train. Or to Mörby where you can take the subway. These buses have been postponed the last two years when AIK has been playing due to some disagreements between the operator and the passengers.
Taxi: It will probably be very crowded so it might take time to get out of there by taxi. And expensive. Please note that there is taxi market is not regulated, meaning they can charge you what ever they like. Please see this for information regarding taxis in Stockholm and Arlanda https://www.swedavia.com/arlanda/taxi/?_ga=2.259550986.1687637960.1494590858-526696872.1494590858
Tram: There is a tram going from Solna station (The far side) to Sundbyberg. It doesn’t run that frequently though.
Alternative commuter train: Sundbyberg is 35 minutes of walk away.
Use this page to look at rates, cards and so on https://sl.se/en/
Pubs
There is a lot of pubs in Stockholm.
I will here list the ones that are pretty close to the stadium. Since it doesn’t take that long to go by commuter train. All of Stockholm can be a solution. Especially if it close to communications
I will divide this in to a couple of areas.
Close to Friends arena.
Mall of Scandinavia is next to Friends arena. Here you can find 10-15 restaurants. None of which are pubs. The biggest restaurant is O’learys. An American sports bar. Might get crowded in these restaurant with fans and shoppers.
Others close by.
The area Arenastaden where Friends arena is situated holds a lot of work spaces. In Sweden we eat warm lunch on restaurants so that leaves us with a lot of lunch restaurants in the area. I guess a few of them will be open and will have food and beers.
Råsunda.
10 -15 minutes’ walk away from Friends is the area where the old National stadium Råsunda Stadium was. Close to Solna Centrum
Now the place where the stadium was situated are a construction area, before it was a 35.000 stadium that hosted the 1958 world cup final between Sweden and Brasil. When Friends Arena was completed Råsunda was demolished.
There are some pubs and restaurants in this area.
Dick turpin: Probably the most genuine and “famous”. It holds around 200 people. 100 inside and 100 outside. Hopefully it will be noisy
East end company (might have changed name) A big place 50m from Dick Turpin.
Läckergommen: A small cellar restaurant
Texas Longhorn: A meat restaurant
Håkans: A little further up Råsundavägen, a restaurant/pub for the locals.
Backstugan: A little more further up Råsundavägen. Might be described like a beer garden. If the weather is nice then this is a really nice place to be.
In Solna centrum you can find some restaurants. Maybe Offside a sports bar is of interest?
Sundbyberg
With the tram, bus 553 or if there are extra buses as mentioned above it is not far away.
Lots of restaurants and pubs in this small city.
It is possible to walk to Friends Arena as well
Karlberg
One commuter station away closer to Stockholm central is an area with a couple of restaurants
On Rörstrandsgatan for example an Australian bar Bag pipers inn. It is just 2 minutes from the Karlberg station
Fan Zone: There will be a fan zone in Kungsträdgården in the central of Stockholm. There is also a subway station named Kungsträdgården which will take you to Solna Centrum or Näckrosen. To walk to the Central station will take you around 10 minutes.
Buying alcohol in stores
I Sweden you can only buy alcohol at Systembolaget. You can find these stores all over town, but there aren’t that many in the city center. You have to be 20 years old and not drunk to buy in these governmental stores. Please be aware that none of the drinks are cold, just room temperature. But the selection is huge
On food stores you can buy beers up to 3,5%
Drinking in public spaces: No ideas what kind of rules will apply during this day.
Prices for beers:
1£ is approx 11 SEK.
Prices for beer at Systembolaget is between 10-20SEK
In pubs: 40cl of lager 5% will probably be 50-70SEK depending on the place.
We do like all kind of IPA, APA and so on. Buying them will cost you some 10SEK more.
Hope this was of any interest. Please repost this information if you like
Solna is a suburb to Stockholm.It is located proximately 6 miles from Stockholm city center.
In terms of hotel, I would recommend staying in Stockholm City center, there’s a lot more hotels there than in Solna and there are much more restaurants and pubs there than in Solna.
Friends Arena.
It is a boring all venue stadium. 5 years old. Capacity 50 000. It is an indoor arena with a roof that can be open. It is located in Arenastaden in Solna. It is lots of buildings for work spaces close by and a big mall.
It is the national stadium for football in Sweden. It is also the home to AIK, a team in allsvenskan (Premier league in Sweden. It has three tiers, 20 thousand on the first, 10 on the second and 20 on the third.
Getting there.
Isn’t that hard. There is a station for commuter trains 10 minutes’ walk away called Solna Station. You will walk by or through a big shopping mall called Mall of Scandinavia. Apparently the biggest in Scandinavia.
Travel time from the central station in Stockholm is 8 minutes, so it is not that far.
Getting home is harder. 50 000 travelling from the same station. And since SL, the commuter operator very seldom increases the capacity when there is big arrangements in the city, so you might end up with one train heading for the city every 15 minutes. And probably the mall you walked through on the way there will be closed.
So what is the alternatives?
Subway: There is two subway stations within walking distance. Solna centrum and Näckrosen. Both are on the same line (Blue) and after each other. It takes approx. 20 minutes to walk to the stations. If you are seated on the west or north stand this might be the fastest way.
Buses: It might be buses going from the back of the north stand to either Sundbyberg where you can take the subway or commuter train. Or to Mörby where you can take the subway. These buses have been postponed the last two years when AIK has been playing due to some disagreements between the operator and the passengers.
Taxi: It will probably be very crowded so it might take time to get out of there by taxi. And expensive. Please note that there is taxi market is not regulated, meaning they can charge you what ever they like. Please see this for information regarding taxis in Stockholm and Arlanda https://www.swedavia.com/arlanda/taxi/?_ga=2.259550986.1687637960.1494590858-526696872.1494590858
Tram: There is a tram going from Solna station (The far side) to Sundbyberg. It doesn’t run that frequently though.
Alternative commuter train: Sundbyberg is 35 minutes of walk away.
Use this page to look at rates, cards and so on https://sl.se/en/
Pubs
There is a lot of pubs in Stockholm.
I will here list the ones that are pretty close to the stadium. Since it doesn’t take that long to go by commuter train. All of Stockholm can be a solution. Especially if it close to communications
I will divide this in to a couple of areas.
Close to Friends arena.
Mall of Scandinavia is next to Friends arena. Here you can find 10-15 restaurants. None of which are pubs. The biggest restaurant is O’learys. An American sports bar. Might get crowded in these restaurant with fans and shoppers.
Others close by.
The area Arenastaden where Friends arena is situated holds a lot of work spaces. In Sweden we eat warm lunch on restaurants so that leaves us with a lot of lunch restaurants in the area. I guess a few of them will be open and will have food and beers.
Råsunda.
10 -15 minutes’ walk away from Friends is the area where the old National stadium Råsunda Stadium was. Close to Solna Centrum
Now the place where the stadium was situated are a construction area, before it was a 35.000 stadium that hosted the 1958 world cup final between Sweden and Brasil. When Friends Arena was completed Råsunda was demolished.
There are some pubs and restaurants in this area.
Dick turpin: Probably the most genuine and “famous”. It holds around 200 people. 100 inside and 100 outside. Hopefully it will be noisy
East end company (might have changed name) A big place 50m from Dick Turpin.
Läckergommen: A small cellar restaurant
Texas Longhorn: A meat restaurant
Håkans: A little further up Råsundavägen, a restaurant/pub for the locals.
Backstugan: A little more further up Råsundavägen. Might be described like a beer garden. If the weather is nice then this is a really nice place to be.
In Solna centrum you can find some restaurants. Maybe Offside a sports bar is of interest?
Sundbyberg
With the tram, bus 553 or if there are extra buses as mentioned above it is not far away.
Lots of restaurants and pubs in this small city.
It is possible to walk to Friends Arena as well
Karlberg
One commuter station away closer to Stockholm central is an area with a couple of restaurants
On Rörstrandsgatan for example an Australian bar Bag pipers inn. It is just 2 minutes from the Karlberg station
Fan Zone: There will be a fan zone in Kungsträdgården in the central of Stockholm. There is also a subway station named Kungsträdgården which will take you to Solna Centrum or Näckrosen. To walk to the Central station will take you around 10 minutes.
Buying alcohol in stores
I Sweden you can only buy alcohol at Systembolaget. You can find these stores all over town, but there aren’t that many in the city center. You have to be 20 years old and not drunk to buy in these governmental stores. Please be aware that none of the drinks are cold, just room temperature. But the selection is huge
On food stores you can buy beers up to 3,5%
Drinking in public spaces: No ideas what kind of rules will apply during this day.
Prices for beers:
1£ is approx 11 SEK.
Prices for beer at Systembolaget is between 10-20SEK
In pubs: 40cl of lager 5% will probably be 50-70SEK depending on the place.
We do like all kind of IPA, APA and so on. Buying them will cost you some 10SEK more.
Hope this was of any interest. Please repost this information if you like
Only a crazy dutchman would say something so stupid! Doesn't matter how much your club earns, there are only so many matches players can physically play before fatique and injuries set in. Not many squads or clubs can cope with the amount of matches we've had to play and injuries, and each club has a limit to how many players can be registered for competitions.
Cheers
Still, the squad you have left on the bench is multiple times worth more than that of Ajax.
It is going to be fun, the kids can play but are so naive at back they make neutrals cringe 
Well, I imagine that as a Juventus fan you feel that way watching half the teams out there. That defense spoils everyone else for you.It is going to be fun, the kids can play but are so naive at back they make neutrals cringe
No pun intended, really, we can clearly see some of them will be very good, defenders also enter their prime in their late 20s. I feel for them, I am older than many of them at 24 ffs!
They cost more, but I wouldn't say the true value of many of our players is much greater than those at Ajax.
Doesn't matter. As an English club, and on top of that United with our revenue we are getting charged a lot more than a Ajax / PSV / etc.
Don't get me wrong, I know DDG / Pogs / Bailly etc you can't afford...but we also get way overpriced on players because we're United. On top of that, we are playing so many more games than Ajax in a much stronger league.
Your argument was way off but having lived in Oosterhout for 10 years and played for a great club there I do appreciate what you're saying about certain things!
Same here
Who are 'we' that should watch out for people posting 'we can score goals' on Redcafe.net? What can the consequences be if 'we/you' don't watch them? After watching them, what steps should 'you/we' take to prevent these alarming consequences?
Only 9,500 tickets allocated to United fans out of 50,000 in the stadium.
Pretty disgraceful from the Swedish FA if you ask me
Pretty disgraceful from the Swedish FA if you ask me
Swedish FA has little to do with that, more an UEFA thing. It's the same for every European final nowadays.
Yeah at the end of the day don't see it being any more serious than a fine and even that probably won't happen.
We have 1 Super Cup..
You quoted the whole thing just to type cheers?
I mean, thank you @Benka for the informative post, I'm sure those that are going to the final will really make use of it but still, c'mon Nick.
With so much at stake, I'm very nervous for this match. Our lack of scoring ensures that our games are always tight, and we get very nervy when holding a lead into the latter parts of a match.
Hope we go out to win the match, and not just not to lose. Would like to see us on the front foot for the majority of the match but am not expected that at all which is why I'm concerned.
Come on United!
Hope we go out to win the match, and not just not to lose. Would like to see us on the front foot for the majority of the match but am not expected that at all which is why I'm concerned.
Come on United!
What the feck. Just seen how young their team is. Most of them are barely out of their teens. It could go 2 ways - they could either play with youthful freedom and give our static team a masterclass or they could play with real naivety. I hope our experience prevails. We still have a handful of CL winners playing for us!
Like jose said, we have 15 fit first team players and the rest are reserved and u21 players (and Ajax probably have a better reserve team than us).
Plus we have 3 matches left before the final, Ajax have one this weekend and nothing after that until the final. It's a big difference. Squad / money etc doesnt meana thing if you don't have fit players.
On paper I understand what you're saying, but your confusing paper with the reality of the situation.
Wouldn't it be great if now we have the fallback of this to qualify next years CL we play without any pressure and win our remaining three premiership games, if we do I still think we'll finish top 4. A long shot I know, but I'm not giving up yet.
No idea what to expect from Ajax in this game really, we could boss them with our more experienced players, or they could tear us to shreds with their youthful, fearless approach, neither would surprise me.
No idea what to expect from Ajax in this game really, we could boss them with our more experienced players, or they could tear us to shreds with their youthful, fearless approach, neither would surprise me.
Mourinho had a Real Madrid team in at keast 4 of them I think..
One of those nights I know I'm definitely gonna remember, if things go down fine!
Potentially my first European trophy as a United fan, and while I had started supporting United back in 2007, I slept through the 2008 final, even when my brother tried to wake me multiple times during the game. One of the bigger regrets of my life, this.
Cannot wait.
Potentially my first European trophy as a United fan, and while I had started supporting United back in 2007, I slept through the 2008 final, even when my brother tried to wake me multiple times during the game. One of the bigger regrets of my life, this.
Cannot wait.
How do people think we'll set up? Do a job on them like we did against Chelsea or set the team up to cause them actual problems?
Also I haven't seen Ajax apart from the first leg against Lyon. Where do they compare against what we've already faced?
Also I haven't seen Ajax apart from the first leg against Lyon. Where do they compare against what we've already faced?
Going off @Benka's post, please use Uber guys (alternatively only use the companies "Taxi Stockholm" or "Taxi Kurir"). In Sweden there is no law enforcing a maximum price that cab drivers can take out of their customers. This has lead to loads of illegal cabs taking absurd prices and refusing to let passengers out of the car if they don't pay up. I have worked at hotels in Stockholm and this has been a huge problem for tourists.
I think much will depend on who's avaiable and how tired these players will be. I hope Jose rests key players.
Has zero to do with Swedish FA @Ferguson
UEFA ballot away 17,000 "general sale" tickets (90% of which are sold on at a huge profit).
UEFA also keep 11,000 or so for sponsors.
Friends capacity for a EL final due to UEFA rules is around 48,000.
Can't even begin to imagine uber surge pricing that night @podurban2.
My advice would be Taxi Stockholm or taxi 020. Uber will be mind-blowingly expensive, whereas the two cab companies mentioned DO HAVE TAXI METRES.
Hmm Uber will be that affected just by a game? I've never noticed prices surge when there are concerts like Metallica etc, but you may be right. In which case Taxi Stockholm/020/Taxi Kurir would be the way to go.
Can't even begin to imagine uber surge pricing that night @podurban2.
My advice would be Taxi Stockholm or taxi 020. Uber will be mind-blowingly expensive, whereas the two cab companies mentioned DO HAVE TAXI METRES.
Mate, I took a 2am uber from Danderyd to Skarpäng a few weeks back, cost me a ridiculous 497 kr cause of surging.
Would've been 1/2 the price with Taxi Stockholm.
On my receipt it says:
Normal fair: 150
Surge x 3.3
It was a 10 minute ride. Fuxking joke, but that is the uber model.
Indeed Uber is not always the way to go, a 10 minute ride outside of the city centre could be costly. Good thing you can see an approximate price before you book the Uber. Gives you the chance to choose.
Either way, for those going to Stockholm - be very careful of non-legitimate taxis.
Aye, have definitely now learnt my lesson about checking the surge rate before orderingIndeed Uber is not always the way to go, a 10 minute ride outside of the city centre could be costly. Good thing you can see an approximate price before you book the Uber. Gives you the chance to choose.
For sure, top advice.
Pretty sure United will win this. It'll be one of those "underdog tried very hard and can look back on a decent game but in the end they came short" games. Ajax will trouble United but in the end Utd will win it anyway.
Hoping that Mkhi will be dropped for Mata, Fellaini for Carrick and Smalling doesn't play at any cost (he always saves his worst for important games like this). It would make sense to go toe to toe with them and try to play expansive football. We're absolutely useless on the back foot and would be playing into Ajax's hands. We need to wrap Lingard in cotton wool for this game too, he always scores in a final (or is it only Wembley?).
I think we'll win pretty comfortably, they are from a league that made the likes of Janssen and Depay look like Messi and Ronaldo. Our players will also be extra motivated not to get beat in front of millions by a bunch of kids.
I think we'll win pretty comfortably, they are from a league that made the likes of Janssen and Depay look like Messi and Ronaldo. Our players will also be extra motivated not to get beat in front of millions by a bunch of kids.
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I fear people are underestimating Ajax too much in here. It won't be easy at all.
Exciting isn't it?
Til the match starts and you're just bricking it in anxiety. At least that's how all of our finals have felt for me - euphoria for the wins at the end but barely came out of '99 and '08 without a heart attack. Former I was pretty young so I mostly remember how awesome the finish was.
But yeah, I'll be nerves until we have our hands on the trophy.
What an occasion it would be for daley blind, playing a final against his old club. Lvg would also be in attendance as a neutral.
Ajax are young and may be overawed by the occasion. At least I hope so anyway.
He may have done. The point I was making is that history means nothing going in to the game. It'll be decided on the night who is the victor. However on paper we are the favourites and rightly so.
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