Riveting football season finish

You're thinking I'm referring to the English league, aren't you? With United losing to Arsenal, their previous closest rival, and now facing Chelsea, their new closest rival? Well, you're wrong.

In the Dutch football season, FC Twente, last year's champs and current top seed, face Ajax, trailing them by just one point, this weekend - in the cup final. And next week, they'll face them again - in the very last round of the Dutch league. That's right, these two teams meet twice in two weeks, and both these games will decide who wins the two prizes in Dutch football. Whoever wins this week wins the cup. Whoever wins next week wins the league.

That is tension. Eat that, Premier League!

(By the way, the last game decider of the season has never happened before in Dutch football. A team has ended the season with only one point to spare, IIRC, meaning they had to win to be sure of the title; but that game has never before been against their only rival.)

Richard

Originally posted by Shallow Blue
You're thinking I'm referring to the English league, aren't you? With United losing to Arsenal, their previous closest rival, and now facing Chelsea, their new closest rival? Well, you're wrong.

In the Dutch football season, FC Twente, last year's champs and current top seed, face Ajax, trailing them by just one point, this weekend - in the cup final ...[text shortened]... e of the title; but that game has never before been against their only rival.)

Richard

sounds excellent. nothing beats a winner takes all game for the league. it would never be allowed to happen in scotland. the rangers v celtic last game gets played when the police say. it can never happen if one of them can clinch the league. it happened once years ago then the riots started.😀

Sounds like a nail-biter! Interesting to see if Ajax can make a comeback. How many years has it been since their last title?

Do you support any of the two?

Ajax lost the cup final in the 117th minute by a header of the Austrian striker Janko (2-3) after a 2-0 lead by Ajax. FC Twente deserved the win. What a final it was! The title game will be a cracker again in Amsterdam. Ajax must win. A loss or a draw can take them to the 3rd place when PSV wins theirs and then 'only' the Euro League remains. That will hurt in Amsterdam. Since 2004 they are without a title. All the recent troubles in the board of the club started because of this, the bad choices that were made troughout the years, a whole bunch of inferior players were bought, weird choices of managers (Jol for instance, who has nothing with the Ajax style), finacial troubles and at the end of this season Cruyff played a dubious role in the press and jeopardised the whole club. His idea that the club must stick with the game they got famous with and that begins with the youth. He has a point I believe. Ajax have lost the fight with the european top just because 15 year old talents are bought by the rich european clubs. Wonder if the Ajax glory days will return.

Originally posted by Palynka
Sounds like a nail-biter! Interesting to see if Ajax can make a comeback. How many years has it been since their last title?

Seven, since 2004. Last year Twente won it for the first time in donkey's years. In fact, I believe when they won it before they were still called FC Enschede. Mind you, even if Ajax loses they're still the most succesful club in the League, with 29 titles.

Do you support any of the two?

Not really. For sentimental reasons I support FC Groningen (my family is from that region), but their play varies rather from year to year. Sometimes they do well, sometimes badly; some years they play nice, some years nasty. Mostly they're a mid-table team. This year they were poised to do very well indeed, threatening to end in the second spot, but the last couple of months they haven't been on the ball, and they're now fifth. Still, not bad.
Of the two teams up top, I have a mild preference for FC Twente, based both on their style of play and the fact that they're based in the East of the country, but if Ajax wins it I won't be any less gruntled.

Richard

Originally posted by Sake
All the recent troubles in the board of the club started because of this, the bad choices that were made troughout the years, a whole bunch of inferior players were bought, weird choices of managers (Jol for instance, who has nothing with the Ajax style), finacial troubles and at the end of this season Cruyff played a dubious role in the press and jeopardised t ...[text shortened]... ick with the game they got famous with and that begins with the youth. He has a point I believe.

Cruijff almost always has a point. He is a weird fellow, but by Jove he knows what he's talking about. He is infamous for his confused, hard to follow analyses of games, but when you pay attention you'll notice that predictions he makes about how a game is going to play out very often come true.
He probably still, after all these years, understands football better than anyone else in the Netherlands; his problem is making his opinions understood by others. And, even more importantly in this case, getting along with others and being willing to act on his own advise. If he wants Ajax to go in a certain direction - and he's probably correct about that direction - he should have the honesty to take charge. What he has done lately, sitting on the sideline, sniping (however accurately) at anyone who dares disagree with him no matter how slightly, just doesn't work. Not for Ajax; and not for his own reputation.

Richard

Originally posted by Shallow Blue
but by Jove he knows what he's talking about.

by jove? what age are you? lol

Originally posted by trev33
by jove? what age are you? lol

I'm afraid that this is the product of Europeans watching English day time television.

Originally posted by Shallow Blue
Cruijff almost always has a point. He is a weird fellow, but by Jove he knows what he's talking about. He is infamous for his confused, hard to follow analyses of games, but when you pay attention you'll notice that predictions he makes about how a game is going to play out very often come true.
He probably still, after all these years, understands fo ...[text shortened]... er how slightly, just doesn't work. Not for Ajax; and not for his own reputation.

Richard

Cruyff certainly has a point and is not hard to follow at all with statements like this: 'When you've got the ball, they can not score.'
He wants to invest in the youth. Feyenoord (former european top) for example had a bunch of very promissing youngsters. Bought by Chelsea and Arsenal at age 15 for peanuts. Against the rules, but legal with a trick apperently. It's much more appealing to them to play for a 60.000 crowd every week, to have Drogba as a teammate and play against Rooney. Maybe a chance to play CL against the gods. But for now it's the training court max.
The dutch top clubs can never pay the money the European top pays. And they never should. Dutch clubs are not allowed to have 400 million dept. to get and keep the good players on board. So they leave early and drive a Porsche at 18.
So I'm not that convinced Cruyff's ideas will bring Ajax back to the top.

Originally posted by trev33
by jove? what age are you? lol

Not all that old, but imprimis I have a penchant for literature well before Dickens (my favourite being the late mediaeval period); secundis, I do not think it harms anyone to be exposed to more involved language than one normally hears from the boob tube; and tertiis, I do enjoy exuding a pretense(!) to culture.

Richard

Originally posted by jimslyp69
I'm afraid that this is the product of Europeans watching English day time television.

It's worse than that, mate.

On my car radio, I can (and frequently do) pick up Radio 4.

And yes, I do immediately switch over to Dutch Radio 4 (which is a classical music channel) when I hear Barwick Green.

Richard

Originally posted by jimslyp69
I'm afraid that this is the product of Europeans watching English day time television.

Het zou je sieren om van je luie reet op te staan en ook eens een andere taal te leren.

Originally posted by Sake
Het zou je sieren om van je luie reet op te staan en ook eens een andere taal te leren.

Richard me old china, help me out here, what's he saying?

Originally posted by jimslyp69
Richard me old china, help me out here, what's he saying?

In the spirit of that comment: nope 😉

Richard

Congratulations Ajax