Ajax - Man Utd | EL Final Build-up Thread

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Minkaro

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Bailly's going to be a big loss. I know he's still available in the league games, but I wonder if it might be worth playing other players in his place, to see how they get on before the final?
 

Infra-red

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K2K

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"Can Manchester United score? They always score"
I've been a fan because of the style of football played and the attitude and policy towards challenging the best in the world. Of course when that's done right for a very long time you get emotionally attached, but I wouldn't become fan of a club that spends hundreds of millions on the most expensive players in the world to park the bus to only just and luckily get through against Celta de Vigo and Anderlecht and sell it as huge achievement. And I don't think I'm unique and United gained many fans this season.
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You threatened to quit following United long before we had even signed Pogba.

And you are welcome to stop supporting United, it wont be a big loss. For me, supporting United means supporting it whoever the manager is(Which doesnt equate to blindly supporting them no matter what they do, nothing wrong with constructive criticism)
 

Lordyfw

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Ajax have averaged the most possession of any side in this season's Eredivisie and Bosz's Vitesse side did the same in both 2014-15 & 2015-16. His sides like to have the ball and play out from the back.

Decent analysis of their tactical traits here:

http://www.ajaxdaily.com/2017/tactical-analysis-ajax-vs-go-ahead-eagles/
And here is a more background-like story about Ajax's style of play and the 'Velvet Revolution' (reinstalling the Cruiffian style of play).

‘Philosophy’ and ‘style of play’ are terms often maligned by the corporate circus of modern football. However in Amsterdam at the soon-to-be-confirmed Johan Cruyff Arena, their definitions carry a most genuine and almost tactile meaning. A modern take on Total Football has seen 2016/17 herald a renaissance for the Amsterdammers.

http://thesefootballtimes.co/2017/05/10/the-renaissance-of-ajax-a-superclub-back-on-the-map/

I can't wait for the final! Almost directely after the final whistle me and a housemate of mine (studentlife eh) booked in an adrenaline rush two tickets to Stockholm to enjoy the atmospehere there and watch the game in some pub or whatever. I'm hoping for decent play by two strong teams, with in the end Ajax as winners!
 

cyberman

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Ajax have averaged the most possession of any side in this season's Eredivisie and Bosz's Vitesse side did the same in both 2014-15 & 2015-16. His sides like to have the ball and play out from the back.

Decent analysis of their tactical traits here:

http://www.ajaxdaily.com/2017/tactical-analysis-ajax-vs-go-ahead-eagles/
I'd say a lot of sides could average great possession stats in Holland, it doesn't translate to European football (especially games away from home) very well.
Every game or highlights I've seen is end to end, Ajax are not keeping the ball to any high standard. It's you have a go, we have a go and lets see whag happens.

Edit just had a look. At home v Schalke they had 51% possession but in the return tie and over the two Lyon games its down in the 43% range.
Thats just the last two ties. European football is a different ball game.
 
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Eire Red United

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Manchester United schedule

14 May - Spurs (A)
17 May - Southampton (A)
21 May - Crystal Palace (H)
24 May - Ajax (N)

Ajax schedule

14 May - Willem II (A)
24 May - Manchester United (N)
Its a joke us being made play Palace 3 days before a final. I hope Palace don't go into the last game needing a big win to stay up because if we play a hugely understrength team and it affects the relegation places there's going to be a storm kicked up.
 

Ixion

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Its a joke us being made play Palace 3 days before a final. I hope Palace don't go into the last game needing a big win to stay up because if we play a hugely understrength team and it affects the relegation places there's going to be a storm kicked up.
Why not blame UEFA for not playing the game on the Saturday like the CL final is?

I really don't understand the criticisms of the FA and fixtures, why would they adjust the entire calender because an English club might get to a EL final. There are 19 other teams to consider and all the final games have to be played at the same time. Sir Alex took us from an FA Cup final on Saturday to a CL final on the Wednesday after overcoming replays in the Cup and a game every 3 days. Big deal.
 

wolvored

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I don't care how many games we have left if you want to be successful this is the norm and if the manager and players can't get themselves up for this, then they all need bollocking.
 

Dr. Funkenstein

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Having a philosophy isn't a good thing if the philosophy is terrible and that's what LVG's was, what he did in the past was ancient history he was washed up and his philosophy reflected that, a very good manager at his peak but an outdated and negative one at the end.
I believe in went wrong because he overestimated the players and the club. But hiring him at least suggested there was an idea about how to forward in the post-SAF era: More of a continental possession based playing style, more players from the academy and signing relatively young players and players who are comfortable with the ball. I didn't work and then you can tweak it a bit or change it partly, but it has to be replaced by something more than just a choice of manager.

The reason why the club has gone nowhere since SAF left is because we appointed two managers who weren't up to the job and both were clueless in the transfer market. That's where the damage was done, Mourinho has been tasked with trying to sort it out, so far he is struggling and he might not be the answer so next season will be make or break.
"Trying to sort it out", that was really his task? Reading the caf almost a year ago suggested his task was to at least challenge for the title and get United up to CL challenging level this season. I don't think Mourinho did much better in the transfer market, but that could also be down to the way he handled the players he signed or inherited.
You threatened to quit following United long before we had even signed Pogba.
No, I was just beeing honest about my expectation that my interest would fade if United become like any other rich club. It's well on it's way.

And you are welcome to stop supporting United, it wont be a big loss. For me, supporting United means supporting it whoever the manager is(Which doesnt equate to blindly supporting them no matter what they do, nothing wrong with constructive criticism)
And I respect that, for me it was a choice, I started watching English football in the early nineties and I liked the playing style of United, but for a lot of people here it has never been a matter of choice, more like they were chosen themselves. That's a beautiful thing but I'm not going to pose as one of that kind, because I respect it, that was the point. But I'm disappointed how ordinary this club and it's supporters turn out to be without SAF, I believed his retirement was an opportunity to take the next step forward, instead of a step back. My criticism might be unfriendly, but as a whole it is constructive criticism, it's just not very helpful to those who want to keep up appearances.
 

Ramshock

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I said played poorly, didn't say lost finals. Sure FA Cup final was under LVG & his monotonous possession football but Crystal Palace were the better team on the day but missed great chances to win it. Utd were dire but we'll ignore this since it was under LVG as I said.
Southampton were by far the better team in the EL Cup final and Utd as I said were poor and if it wasn't for Zlatan, Utd would have easily lost that.
Palace by far the better team but lost the game whilst having an extra man..ok...Soton by far the better team despite going 2 nil down...yep
 

Mihai

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Its a joke us being made play Palace 3 days before a final. I hope Palace don't go into the last game needing a big win to stay up because if we play a hugely understrength team and it affects the relegation places there's going to be a storm kicked up.
Jose, us or any other person with half a brain would surely see the importance of the Europa final compared to a meaningless match against Crystal Palace, because some team is in a relegation battle.
 

Roboc7

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I believe in went wrong because he overestimated the players and the club. But hiring him at least suggested there was an idea about how to forward in the post-SAF era: More of a continental possession based playing style, more players from the academy and signing relatively young players and players who are comfortable with the ball. I didn't work and then you can tweak it a bit or change it partly, but it has to be replaced by something more than just a choice of manager.


"Trying to sort it out", that was really his task? Reading the caf almost a year ago suggested his task was to at least challenge for the title and get United up to CL challenging level this season. I don't think Mourinho did much better in the transfer market, but that could also be down to the way he handled the players he signed or inherited.

No, I was just beeing honest about my expectation that my interest would fade if United become like any other rich club. It's well on it's way.


And I respect that, for me it was a choice, I started watching English football in the early nineties and I liked the playing style of United, but for a lot of people here it has never been a matter of choice, more like they were chosen themselves. That's a beautiful thing but I'm not going to pose as one of that kind, because I respect it, that was the point. But I'm disappointed how ordinary this club and it's supporters turn out to be without SAF, I believed his retirement was an opportunity to take the next step forward, instead of a step back. My criticism might be unfriendly, but as a whole it is constructive criticism, it's just not very helpful to those who want to keep up appearances.
LVG got the job because the club were rudderless and they wanted someone who was the opposite to Moyes, they were scraping the barrel with LVG, football has evolved and LVG had been left behind that philosophy has had its time and no tweaking will change that.

Yes his job was to sort out the mess left behind by the previous two incompetent managers, he may not be up to the job but the team has been left behind in the league and in Europe, that rot set in in the finally years of SAF and was made worse by Moyes and LVG. Of Course everyone wants and expects him to win titles but the reality is we aren't very good and that won't change overnight.

And let's be honest LVG was a disaster in the transfer market, he didn't even play or seem to want his own signings, he was completely out of touch and it showed.
 

TheGame

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Its a joke us being made play Palace 3 days before a final. I hope Palace don't go into the last game needing a big win to stay up because if we play a hugely understrength team and it affects the relegation places there's going to be a storm kicked up.
Who cares? if Palace are crap enough to leave it until the last game then it is their problem.
 

Sammyjunn

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Yeah I'll be United all the way, but if Ajax end up winning I won't be extrememly gutted and would defnitely enjoy the aftermath. It's a bit of an impossible choice really, as a club we need this trophy so much more than Ajax does - imagine the atmospshere on here if we end the season with just the League Cup, and then having another season of playing Europa League which pretty much kills our chances of competing for the league next year unless we completely ignore Europe (while Ajax still gets a great payday if they lose the final, has got the international recognition now, so many players gained millions in value already, etc.)...

At te same time, Dutch football in general needs this trophy so much more than United as a club, I'm sure you've seen the UEFA-rankings. Eredivisie is in 13th(!) place, behind countries like fecking Switzerland, Cech Republic, Belgium, Ukraine, and the end isn't even in sight if it takes another 15 years before a Dutch club makes an European final, that's just soul-wrenching...
Think that's a fair sentiment, there's multiple things but I will celebrate whoever wins regardless.
 

Eire Red United

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Jose, us or any other person with half a brain would surely see the importance of the Europa final compared to a meaningless match against Crystal Palace, because some team is in a relegation battle.
Yes I know but it's the FA we are dealing with so maybe they won't see it?
 

stepic

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Who cares? if Palace are crap enough to leave it until the last game then it is their problem.
I don't think it would be Palace kicking up a fuss if they have to play a reserve United in order to stay up.

But in any case, the other teams have no right to complain. if they're shit enough to be relying on other results on the final day, then that's their fault. It's luck of the draw at the end of the day.
 

Womp

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I don't think it would be Palace kicking up a fuss if they have to play a reserve United in order to stay up.

But in any case, the other teams have no right to complain. if they're shit enough to be relying on other results on the final day, then that's their fault. It's luck of the draw at the end of the day.
What punishment can the FA actually dish out if we were to play an extremely weakened team btw? I'm assuming just a fine?
 

Mihai

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Yes I know but it's the FA we are dealing with so maybe they won't see it?
They can't be this daft, can they? Jose is moaning since god knows when about the fixtures, nothing has been done, now that we have the biggest game of the season, we need to prioritize a game 3 days before, risking injuries to our players and fatigue?
 

HTG

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Talk about David vs. Goliath. Wow.
 

TheReligion

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But I'm disappointed how ordinary this club and it's supporters turn out to be without SAF, I believed his retirement was an opportunity to take the next step forward, instead of a step back. My criticism might be unfriendly, but as a whole it is constructive criticism, it's just not very helpful to those who want to keep up appearances.
I respect your honesty but calling the club and fanbase ordinary is ridiculous.

There was a Manchester United before Sir Alex and there will be a Manchester United after him. Coming on here making comments like that is inflammatory and insulting to say the least.
 

finndt

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You clearly haven't been watching this Ajax team if you think they're favourites.
Familiar method to me too. I use it if I apply for a new job or something. That's a good way to make the possible dissapointment wasier to digest.

No one could seriously say Ajax are the favourites to win this. I believe and hope we win. Defeat is
 

AXVnee7

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"David" vs "Goliath"
worldcups: 2-2
EC/CL: 4-3
EC II: 1-1
UEFA/EL: 1-0
Supercup: 3-0
None of that matters going into the final. Right now on paper, United are far superior. However the game is played on grass, and Ajax are in the final on merit and will punish United if they are lackadaisical. There can't be any doubt as to who the favourites should be.

Mourinho has played Ajax 6 times and beaten them all 6 times. That doesn't mean anything at all in this game.
 

wolvored

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What punishment can the FA actually dish out if we were to play an extremely weakened team btw? I'm assuming just a fine?
I don't think they can now didn't they change the rules after the wanderers were fined for playing a weakened team against us a few years ago. Now your squad is the pick as it should be
 

PeteManic

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Any word on who is wearing their away kit? And if it's United, any chance it will be the new black one?
 

JeffBoomTetris

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Ajax beat Celta home and away in the group stages. Ajax fan at work viewed them as the weakest team in the semis.

We can beat Ajax, good young team, but this is a step up in class for them.

The remaining three league games should be used to rest the team for the final and gives youth some PL experience
Not sure if they are different class from Celta. Celta played dirty looking for fouls with plenty of playacting and complaining to the referee.

Ajax won't be like that. They will try to play football. And if we can contain them, which I think we easily can, we can win. They won't be defensive and negative like the Galicians. So, we can expose their young defense
 
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