Manneken Pis schreef:Kowalczyk schreef:
NK Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
FK Mladá Boleslav (Czech Republic)
PFC Lokomotiv Sofia (Bulgaria)
Larissa FC (Greece)
Hammarby (Sweden)
Yes ladies and gents, that's our level these days....
Yes, indeed it is. And it is about time we adopt an attitude that's a bit more humble. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as being humble doesn't mean that it is from now on forbidden to beat people. We are still allowed to do that.
Fact is that since the turn of the century we've suffered deeply humiliating and in most cases fatal defeats in UEFA competition to Lausanne Sports, FC København (twice), Club Brugge, Maccabi Tel-Aviv and Slavia Prague.
The only opponents we beat comfortably in
both legs in recent years were FC Thun and IK Start, and even
they scored two equalizers each against us - and made us look like a bunch of tits for at least 45 minutes.
Conclusion: unless it's the very lowest of the lowest, literally
everybody can give us a hard time and crack our defense at least once in 90 minutes of football.
Again: it's time to be
humble. For a change.
We're going to play one of these five opponents in the first round of the UEFA Cup. We're not "too good" for that. There is absolutely no reason in the world for us to feel superior to any of these teams. We will play them, aware of the fact that we will have to be good and give 100%, and that it would be a nice success if we manage to eliminate them and advance in Europe.
We'll take it from there - and we'll see where it ends. If we crash out against the very first opponent of significance (or not even that)? Well, we didn't expect it to be any better, did we, based on the last five seasons? Perhaps we'll over-achieve and eliminate a proper team or two. That would be fantastic.
This was Ajax's attitude back in 1987, after a long, long series of first round eliminations in Europe. The 1980s were a
dark time. Ajax did not take anything for granted against Bursaspor and Olympiakos Piraeus in the first rounds of the Cup Winners Cup. Not one condescending word. When Ajax made it to the quarter finals (facing Malmö FF) it was on the eight o 'clock news in Holland.
Now
that would be appropriate attitude right now. At the time, in 1987, it suited us well and the story had a pretty happy ending.
But for now, we're not better than
anyone else until the job is done. Period.
So whoever we get: let's not say "We shouldn't underestimate them", for that is a subtly condescending comment in itself. Instead, let's say: "There is absolutely no reason for us to feel superior to this team. We're as much of a dark horse as they are. They qualified for Europe, just like us. All we can do is work hard, give everything and see where it ends."
And we better mean it!
"Jesus, Menno... Doesn't it hurt to speak about Ajax in this manner?"
Yes, it does. It hurts tremendously. But it's the truth. Embrace your pain, be humble, support your club and get on with it.
K.
