The English teams are so cynical when it comes to CL football. I guess Hidink had to play it that way last evening but it was disappointing none the less. One commentator compared it to the Ali Rope-a-Dope strategy. Absorb punishment and tire the other team out then hope for one break. Good keeping denied them the break. We'll see how the other semi-final turns out. I should favor Arsenal because of their tactics but can never get past Wenger's kidnapping underage talent from clubs that have no recourse (Ferguson isn't much better in stealing their promising young Italian striker from Lazio). Looking forward to the final matchday in the Eredivisie!!!!!
The fact that the CL can even make a generally highly entertaining side like Barcelona look bland tells a story. At least the eredivisie still has a soul.
I was pleased to see ManU play attacking football this evening. quite surprising given the run up to the match. Poor Arsenal doesn't have a team without Van Persie and Arshavin. Be fun to see if Van der Saar can hoist another CL cup.
Update with one more game to go: Twente four points ahead of Ajax now, so definitely second. It's the first time in fifty years that none of the traditional top three clubs (Ajax, Feyenoord, PSV) feature in the top two of the eredivisie. PSV now in fourth can still theoretically finish in third but I don't think that'll happen as Twente will likely take it easy in Amsterdam next week what with the cup final coming up. In the relegation zone it's anyone's guess and very exciting on the last match day. Four clubs can still be relegated immediately, from 15th placed ADO, now on 29 points, to last placed Roda, now on 27 points. Note that one club is relegated immediately while a further two get to play play offs against the no. 2 of the eerste divisie and the quarterly title winners in said eerste divisie. I'm still rooting for De Graafschap who won today (hurrah!) and play their last game v Volendam next week. Some amazing stuff today: three games were decided in extra time including the De Graafschap one.
Hey guys, Unprofessional foul asked me to write a round up for the league, hope you'll check it out and leave a comment! Joep's Erevidisie round up
The piece was excellent as was the link to the last day 2 years ago--that was a strange one well done and keep them coming
Nice read Joep! Do you take on writing as a hobby or are you making your profession out of it? Good luck with Roda, hope they make it.
Congrats Joep and good luck in the play offs! The refs tried to screw you out of it but you still made it so well done. I'm also very happy about De Graafschap not getting relegated, I hope they survive the play offs too. The last half hour of playing time was insane, Volendam were up 2-1 and De Graafschap won a draw thanks to a Volendam own goal. My conclusions this season: Overperformers: AZ, Twente, Heracles (that may seem weird but the only club with even less to spend than them were Volendam this season, so they've performed really well) Underperformers: Ajax, Feyenoord, PSV, Utrecht (four out of the five biggest Dutch cities ironically) My standout players of the season: El Hamdaoui, Dembele, Schaars, Suarez (despite the fact that he's a major arse), Wijnaldum, Afellay, Wuytens, Cissé, Berg, Elia, Douglas My personal pleasant surprises of the season: Arnautovic, and there's only Wout Brama. If there's one player I'm proud of as a Twente fan this season it's him. 'Not Elia, not Douglas, not Arnautovic, but Brama would be a brilliant buy for the likes of Ajax and I say that in the certainty that Ajax scouts take no notice of what I'm saying. Congrats to all eredivisie followers for a great season, it was a bit of a shame that AZ were that dominant but otherwise there was fight and struggle, good games and awful games, great goals, dodgy defending, even dodgier refereeing, in short, everything that makes football so entertaining.