Ajaxtalk

We already won a cup in Rottendam, so lets go win a UEFA cup in Eindhoven!

Kow schreef:Whichever final we make it to next season, it will only be a short car ride

I'd rather have a CL run instead. A UEFA final win would be a second choice.

Blind3 schreef:I'd rather have a CL run instead. A UEFA final win would be a second choice.

I disagree on that one...

Admittedly, the UEFA Cup has lost some of its prestige in the past ten years, mainly because the better football countries can now send two, three or four teams into the CL. In the past it was a pretty cool tourney...

PSV in the CL? Ajax and Feyenoord in the UEFA Cup.
Real Madrid in the CL? Barcelona in the UEFA Cup.
Juventus in the CL? AC Milan and Inter in the UEFA Cup.

Made for a very good tournament.

That's kind of different now - and it's also quite bad for the reputation of the UEFA Cup that the numbers three from the CL groups can continue in the UEFA Cup. That makes the UEFA Cup a sort of 'Cup of the Losers'.

But look at AZ and the teams they've played! The UEFA Cup is still a very big trophy and a very prestigious competition. Winning it? I would prefer it over a 'good' Champions League run (without winning it) any time of the day.

K.

Kowalczyk schreef:

Blind3 schreef:I'd rather have a CL run instead. A UEFA final win would be a second choice.

I disagree on that one...

Admittedly, the UEFA Cup has lost some of its prestige in the past ten years, mainly because the better football countries can now send two, three or four teams into the CL. In the past it was a pretty cool tourney...

PSV in the CL? Ajax and Feyenoord in the UEFA Cup.
Real Madrid in the CL? Barcelona in the UEFA Cup.
Juventus in the CL? AC Milan and Inter in the UEFA Cup.

Made for a very good tournament.

That's kind of different now - and it's also quite bad for the reputation of the UEFA Cup that the numbers three from the CL groups can continue in the UEFA Cup. That makes the UEFA Cup a sort of 'Cup of the Losers'.

But look at AZ and the teams they've played! The UEFA Cup is still a very big trophy and a very prestigious competition. Winning it? I would prefer it over a 'good' Champions League run (without winning it) any time of the day.

K.

I'd prefer a Champions' run because it brings more :

* crowd
* money
* experience to the players
* money
* exposure for the club (I'd hate it if PSV would become the 'BIG CLUB FROM HOLLAND')
* did I mention money ?

AND because it is not mutually exclusive : you can play some Champions League games and then fail and be thrown to UEFA cup.

Carcajou schreef:
I'd prefer a Champions' run because it brings more :

* crowd
* money
* experience to the players
* money
* exposure for the club (I'd hate it if PSV would become the 'BIG CLUB FROM HOLLAND')
* did I mention money ?

AND because it is not mutually exclusive : you can play some Champions League games and then fail and be thrown to UEFA cup.

I agree with Carcajou...the money's not important in itself (unless you're the chairman and you're focused on the bonus), but rather it means there's less pressure to sell players...and the strength of the squad is not sapped the following summer.

On the last point...I thought UEFA were changing the rules and stopping the "CL losers walk into the UEFA cup second round" rule...but I could be wrong...

So, Mourinho is in trouble with the UEFA once again, for stating that the linesman 'scored' the only goal of the game for Liverpool...

I did not see the game, so: was it a goal, or hadn't it crossed the line?

And what about Mourinho? He was punished (a fine, I believe) for saying similar things about the referee in the previous round. What to do now? A higher fine, or think of real punishment?

K.

Kowalczyk schreef:So, Mourinho is in trouble with the UEFA once again, for stating that the linesman 'scored' the only goal of the game for Liverpool...

I did not see the game, so: was it a goal, or hadn't it crossed the line?

And what about Mourinho? He was punished (a fine, I believe) for saying similar things about the referee in the previous round. What to do now? A higher fine, or think of real punishment?

K.

Replays from four different camera angles proved inconclusive, it was entirely a judgement call by the official.

I believe that his last punishment included a two game touchline ban.

He's a great coach (I read some of the lengths he goes to in order to prepare his players for each match and I'm surprised that more people don't do that), but he's an arrogant prick, and a very bad loser.

He should just be happy that his goalie didn't get a red card and concede a penalty for barging into Milan Baros on that play. Or that Ricardo Carvalho wasn't sent off for obstructing Barca's goalie when Chelsea scored in the second leg of the Chelsea - Barca tie. In other words, he is the absolute last person to complain about officiating. But he's probably just doing it to keep the pressure off his players.

Anyway, fine him, suspend him for a few more games. I don't think he cares either way.

Mourinho is cool. I don't know why, but I really like these kinds of guys. Arrogant bastards that is. :cheer:

We are ajax fans arrogance flows through are veins( and arteries :yes: )

I like Mourinho's ability to mold such a disparate group of players into a well-oiled machine of sorts . I also like that he knows he has an ego, and jokes about it. Last, I still think he just shoots from the lip to focus attention on himself and let the players stick to business.In sum, if I was an owner,he could coach my side anyday. His style must've worked to some degree. Dubbel winners.

As for arrogance at Ajax, I think it is flair and skill to such a high degree ,and throughout the side...very few plodders, that it comes off as arrogance. I have found players confident..Zlatan more than others I spoke with...but not arrogant.

theres a difference between an arrogant as$hole like zlatan (who i like) and a sore loser, full of excuses like mourinho.

Yesterday I finally got around to watching yet another win in the Tub and I really couldn't believe how bad F-Word had become. Take Kuiyt out of the team and my god would they struggle. Its amazing how far the have gone back after winning the UEFA Cup - even further than us.
We now appear to be on the way back, but lets hope that Guillit stays and completes the job he has started. By the time he leaves they should be in the Erstedivisie along with their playmates Excelsior.

Over Pasanens Head schreef: We now appear to be on the way back, but lets hope that Guillit stays and completes the job he has started. By the time he leaves they should be in the Erstedivisie along with their playmates Excelsior.

I don't think so... They know, that they have no chances to finish this season on 2nd place, so maybe they just don't want to play for 100% of their abilities... Maybe it is fear of the injuries, maybe something different... But it will be nice to see Feyenoord in 2nd division :D .

when Gullit took the job, he said "Amsterdam is my city, but Feye... is my club". Now we understand.

philippe schreef:when Gullit took the job, he said "Amsterdam is my city, but Feye... is my club". Now we understand.

"Congratulations Agent Gullit, you have completed your mission, return to base and await further instructions"

Manneken Pis schreef: "Congratulations Agent Gullit, you have completed your mission, return to base and await further instructions"

Hehe we should send Gullits to PSV and few good european clubs and we'll win Champions League every year :D .

Ajax.nl reports that the draw for the third preliminary round of the Champions League (the one we're in) will be on Friday 29 July at noon (CET) in Nyon, Switzerland. Which means we can discuss the draw during Ajax vs Arsenal that evening (Amsterdam Tournament).

K.

Good day for the draw - my 34th birthday :bier: :bier: :bier:

(I just love this beer "Emotion" but I don't see anyone else other than me using it - is that a bad sign - time for self-analysis I'm thinking?!)

SE6Ajacied schreef:Good day for the draw - my 34th birthday :bier: :bier: :bier:

(I just love this beer "Emotion" but I don't see anyone else other than me using it - is that a bad sign - time for self-analysis I'm thinking?!)

Happy Future Birthday to you!

I don't know why people don't use the beer emoticon here. We used it all the time at Soccerpages. Maybe it is because the emoticon is under the "View more Emoticons" tab, and not on the first page. In any event, there is nothing wrong with :bier:, neither the substance nor the emoticon.

:bier:

That was tasty. I think I'll have another one.

:bier:

aveslacker schreef:
Happy Future Birthday to you!

Thanks ! :pepsi: :bier: :whistling:

Many happy returns, SE6Ajacied

Check this page on VI.nl: it's the schedule of the clubs that have already qualified for the Champions League (directly and preliminary rounds):

http://www.vi.nl/vi/show/id=62802/conte ... /sc=3f64e3

Pizza 5: Iceland has a different champion this year, namely the mighty Hafnarfjardar. The are indeed from Reykjavik! :eusa_dance:

K.

I noticed on the vi.nl page above that portugal has 3 champs league spots !! I didn't know that .... How does this allocation work? is it based on the country's fifa rank ? cos I don't think the portuguese league or even the ligue 1 are better than the eredivisie

SoCal Ajacied schreef:I noticed on the vi.nl page above that portugal has 3 champs league spots !! I didn't know that .... How does this allocation work? is it based on the country's fifa rank ? cos I don't think the portuguese league or even the ligue 1 are better than the eredivisie

It's calculated by a country's teams' performances in European competitions over the last 5 years. With Porto winning the Uefa Cup 3 years ago and the CL last year, they got a lot of points. Add to that Sporting's appearance in the Uefa Cup final this year and you can see how they got there (despite two Dutch teams in Semi finals this year). The reality Dutch teams have sucked in Europe for quite some time now..... :sad:

I wouldn't say that, actually... Feyenoord won the UEFA Cup in 2002, Ajax survived two group stages in the Champions League in 2003, PSV failed in the Champions League but made it to the quarter finals of the UEFA Cup for four years in a row and in 2005 we had two semi-finalists (at some point, after the winter break, we had more teams in Europe than any other country).

That's quite good, actually, and it explains why we're directly behind the five big leagues and Portugal. The only country we really have to leapfrog is Greece -- and we almost certainly will, because next season the terribly poor year 1999-2000 will no longer count and push our average down.

K.