Ajax - Man Utd | EL Final Build-up Thread

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redsunited said:
When our first choice midfield 3 is in place, we can beat or at least draw any pressing team. We can beat them in their own game with those 3 in getting the ball back and counter attacking. Whoever partnering Sanchez in CD will be the target of Rashford as the other player is in red card suspension.
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That will be De Ligt, the CB talent only 17 years old. Also played from the start against Lyon and Schalke. Sometimes a bit too much enthousiasm what results in free kicks or penalty's but also plays with loads of confidence and really had Lacazette in his pocket in the 4-1 home win. Will be interesting to see him battle against Rashford.

If I had more likes I wanted to post a video of De Ligt vs. Lyon..
 
Daley020 said:
That will be De Ligt, the CB talent only 17 years old. Also played from the start against Lyon and Schalke. Sometimes a bit too much enthousiasm what results in free kicks or penalty's but also plays with loads of confidence and really had Lacazette in his pocket in the 4-1 home win. Will be interesting to see him battle against Rashford.

If I had more likes I wanted to post a video of De Ligt vs. Lyon..
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Drop me a PM and I'll post it here.
 
There's only 8 more sleeps to go and still nobody has reassured me that everything will be ok!! I'm so scared for this game
 
cyberman said:
Have you seen the absolute nail biters Ajax have had in their second legs after taking healthy leads into them? Where does that fall into their tactical brilliance?
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Not, I didn't claim they have tactical omnipotence. They are not good at defending a lead, so they will try to extend the lead. If you're good at attacking, conceding a goal isn't that much of a problem. They're convinced that they can make more goals than the opposition because they play better football. They are frail, but I don't think United is the most likely team to exploit that, and with young players that experience a season like this, they become less vulnerable with every big game. United had two nailbiters too, so how big is that difference? How is a 2-0 home win a more comfortable lead for an attacking team than a 0-1 away win for a defensive team?

NinjaZombie said:
I agree with the gist of your original post but the comments about the Ajax tea lady having more positional awareness than Pogba and your stating that we "always play bad" is what got you the reactions you're getting.

There is a way to put your point across without going into daft, tactless hyperbole.
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I used a hyperbole to get a point across. Their attacking style of play with the emphasis on the positional game and awareness dates back to the sixties. It has evolved an been tweaked and managers have been playing it differently, but it's deep down in the clubs DNA to the extend that the tea lady and the laundry lady know a lot about it. For example 17-year old Kluivert is ahead of 23-year old Younes when it comes to positioning and awareness because Younes has only been two years at Ajax and German football wasn't much of a preparation.

On top of that, Bosz has been working on his version, his interpretation of Ajax-football from august and that was a steep learning curve, losing them the league title early in the season. But they play very well now, you can play very well with limited players and play poorly with excellent players. You can gain a huge advantage over a team of better players by playing more as a team, gel better and be much more fluent. Mourinho didn't work on that since august, and there's no way he could make up for that in 10 days. United could play relatively well as a team compared to earlier matches, but not to the extend Ajax does because that's a full season's work on top of half a century of 'philosophy'. If that wasn't the case, Ajax wouldn't have made it to the final and Ajax wouldn't pose a threat to United at all.

So it's not about the quality of individual Ajax-players, the problem United has to solve is that the Ajax players will be a step ahead because they know where to move earlier.
 
The difference is Ajax went into second legs and let the game get away from them. Those last 8 mins v Celta is basically every second half of Ajax return legs. They fall away in midfield and it just becomes a game of end to end basketball.
You keep bringing up Anderlecht but there's an even lower ranked side we made hard work of, I wonder why they aren't brought up...
 
Rapsel said:
Don't you just love the action on 03:00 where he keeps Lacazette off the ball followed by that throw away gesture? Kid is 17 years old! :D
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For sure! Was in the stadium that game and that happened in 'our' corner. Whole stadium went nuts haha, that's what I meant with his confidence! Great character at 17 :cool:
 
Dr. Funkenstein said:
How can I be put straight on this by TheRelligion who has no clue about the opposition? On a rainy wednesday night in Stoke it might be about the physical strength of Pogba and the tactical set up of that day. But it if it's all about the players and Mourinho's tactical genius, the fact that Anderlecht wasn't trashed but almost got through needs some explaining. When it comes to the positional game and fluency Ajax is on a different level from Anderlecht. The difference in quality between the players isn't that great either, but that's not the main problem United faces. If someone like TheReligion has no idea about the nature of the dangers United is facing, he's not in the position to be condescending about my footballing knowledge.
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@TheReligion have you been a naughty boy? Were you being condescending to the Dr?
 
In the event that the match goes to penalties (oh God, please no), who do u think will be our first 5 pk takers?
 
LW - Youness; German youth international hasn't made his debut for Die Mannschaft yet..

Called up for the mannschaft for the Confed Cup. Reus is rested.
 
The Azzurri said:
In the event that the match goes to penalties (oh God, please no), who do u think will be our first 5 pk takers?
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Obviously it depends on who is on the pitch but my guess would be something like: Pogba, Rashford, Mata, Martial and Micky.

I'm not sure about the exact order. I'm making the assumption that Martial will be brought off the bench definitely within extra time, but also the assumption that Mkhi will play the full 120 minutes. Pogba, Rashford and Mata (if he plays) are probably nailed on for the first 5 and the other 2 probably will be dependent. I suppose it's more of a 'What I'd like to see' situation. Let's hope it doesn't get that far though because my heart just wouldn't be able to handle the stress!!
 
The Azzurri said:
In the event that the match goes to penalties (oh God, please no), who do u think will be our first 5 pk takers?
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We must be prepared for any scenario. Players must spend good time practicing on taking penalties for me it should be Herrera-Mata-Pogba-Rooney-Carrick
 
Ugh, didn't know this was on a Wednesday. Just assumed it was Thursday seeing as every single game so far has been.
 
Sorry if discussed already but has Mourinho ever lost a final? I'm not talking about semi friendly competitions like super cups or community shields but actual domestic or European cup competitions. Off the top of my head I can't remember any.
 
djdhrubs said:
Sorry if discussed already but has Mourinho ever lost a final? I'm not talking about semi friendly competitions like super cups or community shields but actual domestic or European cup competitions. Off the top of my head I can't remember any.
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Think he lost a couple in Spain versus Barca.

EdIt: a quick wiki search shows he lost a Copa del rey to Atletico in 2013. Don't know where he lost the other.
Pretty incredible that Mourinho has won all domestic titles on offer in 4 different countries.
 
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djdhrubs said:
Sorry if discussed already but has Mourinho ever lost a final? I'm not talking about semi friendly competitions like super cups or community shields but actual domestic or European cup competitions. Off the top of my head I can't remember any.
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I think someone in another thread said he'd lost one, won 11.
 
Peter Bosz will prepare Ajax as early as possible for the final of the Europa League against Manchester United. Between the last league match and the historic match in Stockholm, there are no less than ten days, but Bosz is just fine.

"Thursday we are going to prepare ourselves for the final," Bosz told Ajax.nl. "It will be hectic days with much attention. We will try to prepare the team as well as possible for our entire major match from Thursday. A final is of course always different, but Ajax played more major matches this season. "Of course it's not a normal match. Meanwhile, of course, the boys have played some of this kind of important matches during the course of this season. We are trying to take that experience into this special match. "

Bosz did not want to play a training match for the final. "We played 55 or 56 official matches this season. That's enough. We think the players can be well prepared by training." To the possible pressure of playing a final, the coach does not worry. "We manage to bring that pressure back in normal proportions."

Whether Zinkgraven will make the final in Stockholm, is still the question. "He has been out for a few weeks and has not played any matches. So the question is how fit he is. That answer will be given in the course of next week." In the run-up to May 24, José Mourinho has already stated that Ajax has more rest for the final, Bosz does not entirely agree. "When I look at his arrangements, he almost plays with two different teams. In the league he plays with a team, and in the Europa League he plays with another team. So if those boys do not play in the league on weekends then they have the same preparation as we have. "
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We'll be doing the same. The Premier league games are mere sidequests. In fact I would surprised if Jose isn't using those games as glorified training matches to test his plans in action against effective opposition.
 
djdhrubs said:
Sorry if discussed already but has Mourinho ever lost a final? I'm not talking about semi friendly competitions like super cups or community shields but actual domestic or European cup competitions. Off the top of my head I can't remember any.
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Out of the top of my head, I think he lost both a Portuguese Cup final (against Benfica) and a Spanish Cup final (against Atlético).
 
Android1974 said:
Out of the top of my head, I think he lost both a Portuguese Cup final (against Benfica) and a Spanish Cup final (against Atlético).
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Atletico are pretty much the only team that can out-Mourinho a Mourinho team.

It's an impressive record though.
 
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