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UEFA Coefficients have been revised: new rankings will be shown at end of season.
Cat is out of the bag: Berghuis (33) leaves Ajax for Atlético on a FREE TRANSFER at the end of the season...
Not ideal to lose a player on a free transfer, but being a 33 year old I suppose you can't always expect a big money transfer for him anyway. Good to see the drama sorted quickly, so you know the outcome of the saga and are able to continue with the squad at hand. Only minus is having him for the next 6 months and not having the option to settle the move instantly.
Ferencvaros are certainly surprise winners of the league phase in the Europa League. Did not see that coming. Rangers will be a challenge, but I think I will put my money on Ajax for this one. Interesting draw, good luck with it.
Tough draw there, especially with a former player scoring against you. PSV taking advantage is also bad news. However, I remember from some of your previous Ajax careers that your rivals could sometimes fall into a horrible spell of bad form, so as long as you're still within 4-6 points, I wouldn't count you out just yet.
@JustinCase0110 wrote:Tough draw there, especially with a former player scoring against you. PSV taking advantage is also bad news. However, I remember from some of your previous Ajax careers that your rivals could sometimes fall into a horrible spell of bad form, so as long as you're still within 4-6 points, I wouldn't count you out just yet.
The season objectives were to qualify for UEFA Champions League (1st or 2nd) and quarter finals in both the Dutch Cup and Europa League and at first I thought that was quite a mountain to climb, but now I'm getting more confident that all are doable, not just on what I'm able to do in-game but also from what I see in real life.
Having the upper hand in a rivalry can never be overestimated. That is just special and something to hold on to. Good for Ajax to go undefeated against their rivals and even beat them away from home. Looks like an even match with one side more clinical than the other.
@JustinCase0110 wrote:Having the upper hand in a rivalry can never be overestimated. That is just special and something to hold on to. Good for Ajax to go undefeated against their rivals and even beat them away from home. Looks like an even match with one side more clinical than the other.
Well, it's like the article said: now is crunch time - and it might all end up quite dissappointing (then, at least we had the better of the arch rival), or it could've been the kick start of the period where things really turned up again for Ajax...
Poor result at Ibrox. And a poor performance too, it seems. With 4 attempts for and 22 against, you could probably have lost even bigger.
Still, calling out the right side of your defence with public criticism, I'm not sure what to think of that.
@JustinCase0110 wrote:Poor result at Ibrox. And a poor performance too, it seems. With 4 attempts for and 22 against, you could probably have lost even bigger.
Still, calling out the right side of your defence with public criticism, I'm not sure what to think of that.
It's controversial for sure, it gives the excuse to try something new, only to find out the cure is potentially worse than the illness...
Oooh, what an ending to that fixture! Losing the lead in the 77th, scoring a potential winner after 83, seeing the opponent score twice after that only to secure a point in injury time. Back and forth rollercoaster experience for sure. Too bad you lost a step in the title race. But what is perhaps more concerning is that this probably wasn't what you needed ahead of the 2nd leg in Europe, where you do have a mountain to climb.
@JustinCase0110 wrote:Oooh, what an ending to that fixture! Losing the lead in the 77th, scoring a potential winner after 83, seeing the opponent score twice after that only to secure a point in injury time. Back and forth rollercoaster experience for sure. Too bad you lost a step in the title race. But what is perhaps more concerning is that this probably wasn't what you needed ahead of the 2nd leg in Europe, where you do have a mountain to climb.
Touché... and to make matters worse: another injury and a headstrong manager
An expected exit, unfortunately, after the disastrous first leg. The beauty and horror of cup football, one bad performance can end it...
Glad to see Brøndby making it to the next round in the Conference League though! Last Danish team in Europe now!
@JustinCase0110 wrote:Glad to see Brøndby making it to the next round in the Conference League though! Last Danish team in Europe now!
No, no - FC København got through directly as a Top 8 team in European Conference League - they skip the preliminary round and are in the draw for the actual R16. So, two chances left for Danish glory!
You're in good form. The 3-0 and 4-0 wins are classic Ajax, and beating PSV 2-0 can be seen as a milestone win for your current season.
I like the formation change to seal that, by the way. Funny to see you choose the 3-4-2-1 formation that I tried myself last night with Man United and couldn't make it work against Ipswich Town (live start CM).
I see you're right about Brøndby not being the final Danish club out there. My mistake, this new format still confuses me a little. I am however happy that clubs don't fall from one competition to the other, qualifying through a 3rd place finish like before. That's a welcome change IMO.
Brøndby losing in an even contest with Real Betis is a respectable exit. Fun to see the Spanish side come up against FC København next. But it also raises questions for Brøndby fans. Whom to cheer for? Should one hope for a win for the Copenhagen side to win important coefficient points for Denmark? Or would the "we beat those that beat you" banter be too much to bear? All rationality aside, VIVA LOS VERDIBLANCOS!
@JustinCase0110 wrote:You're in good form. The 3-0 and 4-0 wins are classic Ajax, and beating PSV 2-0 can be seen as a milestone win for your current season.
I like the formation change to seal that, by the way. Funny to see you choose the 3-4-2-1 formation that I tried myself last night with Man United and couldn't make it work against Ipswich Town (live start CM).
In all honesty, those wins are against the lesser gods in the Dutch Eredivisie: must wins if we want to advance to UEFA Champions League. But it's good to see that we're back to that level, at least
Those alternative tactics are giving me a luxury problem, which is going to be part of the story:
As you probably know by now @JustinCase0110 anyone close to Ajax praises the Total Football concept of 4-3-3, up to the point of fundamental worship and religion, but I get better play and better results with these alternative tactics (three defenders, two strikers) which in turn call for different targets on the transfer market..., but I haven't shaken off Twente fully just yet and the difference between Champions League and Europa League is worth tens of millions.
Meanwhile (as you've predicted), PSV are indeed beginning to drop points (they're prioritzing Champions League clearly) and if we beat Twente, second place will be secure with only five points to PSV and a home game against them in the penultimate round..., tough choices ahead: I have a shortlist what (realistic and real faced) players I want for next season: the defensive part seems easy, but a] I'm in doubt which attackers to get, and b] I doubt I need any: my strikers are doing well and my current tactics don't require any more wingers (even though most are injured right now, anyway).
How would you go about transfers for a next season, with tactics and possible Champions League in mind?
@JustinCase0110 wrote:I see you're right about Brøndby not being the final Danish club out there. My mistake, this new format still confuses me a little. I am however happy that clubs don't fall from one competition to the other, qualifying through a 3rd place finish like before. That's a welcome change IMO.
Brøndby losing in an even contest with Real Betis is a respectable exit. Fun to see the Spanish side come up against FC København next. But it also raises questions for Brøndby fans. Whom to cheer for? Should one hope for a win for the Copenhagen side to win important coefficient points for Denmark? Or would the "we beat those that beat you" banter be too much to bear? All rationality aside, VIVA LOS VERDIBLANCOS!
Yes, not falling back to a lesser tournament seems good indeed. But this new league format is still too easy for the bigger clubs, honestly: money and coefficient points, that is. All one has to do is not be in that bottom third.
As you know, I'm keeping track of the virtual coefficient points and the distances between what are considered bigger and smaller teams are noticeable.
I would therefore elaborate the qualifying route a bit and make the head tournament a bit more congested. That way smaller teams from smaller countries can get their points by getting into that tournament, while bigger teams have much more of a challenge and will be spilling points to one another. That would even out the difference, at least in the rankings: in the end everyone will much rather see an English or Spanish team play, than an anonymous team from a smaller country. But they too deserve a (more equal) shot at glory.
And where do we save games? Well, I like the Nations League and I'd be all for it if that would replace the EURO end-tournament. The team winning the Nations League is allowed to call itself European Champions. And the Nations League in the run up to a World Cup is the qualifying tournament - 8 teams on level A qualify directly, the bottom 8 go to play-offs with the top 8 of level B. It saves two international qualifying rounds and one end-tournament: that's 10-14 games every regular season, up to 21 every fourth year.
And about the Danish team left in my career: I never think according to national sentiment: as an Ajax-fan, I dislike Feyenoord with every football fibre in my body, while I don't consider PSV even to be a club and short of relegation (because then, we wouldn't play them at all) I don't like to see them win anything. So I agree with you @JustinCase0110 (if I were a Brøndby-fan) to support anybody going against FC København.
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