April 6, the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals.

Ajax's 51,000-capacity Johann Cruyff Arena was almost full.

The stadium was originally known as the Amsterdam Arena, but on 25 April 2017, Cruyff's 70th birthday, the stadium was renamed the Johann Cruyff Arena.

This is in honour of the legendary Dutch legend who passed away last year, born in Amsterdam and established himself in the city as one of the best players in the history of world football.

And today, countless Ajax fans have come here for a purpose in addition to supporting their home team, and that is to welcome their children home!

Onana, Westerman, De Jong, De Ligt......

It's all from Ajax to join York City!

In addition to Westerman, who is older and at the end of his career, the other three are all young talents for Ajax, and De Ligt is a product of his own academy.

But in the first two years, due to financial hardship, the club had to sell them all for cash.

Now, they have played at their level at York City and have been selected for their respective national teams, which also gives Ajax fans the feeling that their own children have grown up, but they have already taken someone else's surname.

Who makes Ajax's results not so good now?

Last season, they managed to reach the Champions League zone, but they were eliminated in the qualifying stage, and in the end they had to go to the Europa League qualifiers, but fortunately they finally reached the group stage and played so far.

In the Eredivisie, the sworn enemy PSV Eindhoven has always pressed himself, and this season he sees that the championship is about to be handed over again.

The more this happens, the more Ajax fans will wonder what would happen if players like De Jong and De Ligt were still in the squad.

But the club sold them!

Then they played in York City, which of course made the fans a little upset.

It can be said that their current support for De Jong is a manifestation of dissatisfaction with the status quo of the club!

As a result, during the pre-match warm-ups, these former Ajax players became the most popular players on the pitch.

The Ajax fans in the red and white jerseys shouted the names of De Jong, De Ligt, Onana and others, which also made these York City players quite moved.

In particular, De Ligt, a real child of his own, waved to the fans in the stands several times, which also drew a cheering response.

De Jong, a midfielder who is both offensive and defensive, good at scheduling and advancing with the ball, is considered by Ajax fans to be the most lacking in the current team, so many people miss him.

And he was sold because he couldn't play at Ajax!

Dutch TV stations also specially gave De Jong the camera repeatedly during the live broadcast to observe his expression.

However, De Jong did not show any special emotions, and still warmed up meticulously, as if to say:

Here is fun, don't think about it!

——

"We can see that De Ligt, De Jong and others are now very popular in the Netherlands and Ajax!" Lineker laughs in the Sky Sports live room.

Now Lineker's work hours follow Pan Yi.

No, I just went to broadcast the match between Italy and England, and now I have come to explain the match between York City and Ajax.

When it comes to De Ligt, De Jong and others, York City has undoubtedly made a very good deal on them.

Although at the time, such a young player would cost Pan Yi millions or tens of millions of euros, which did not seem to be a good deal, and even more people would think that Ajax took advantage.

But after only one or two seasons, they have all been selected for the national team, and their value in the German transfer market has reached 40 or 50 million euros, which undoubtedly made York City a lot of money.

"How can I say it, Pan Yi's vision is really not picky." Alan Shearer, who was sitting next to Lineker, said with a smile, "I can even suggest that the people in charge of transfers in various clubs should be aware that as long as Pan Yi comes to them to buy someone, then pay attention, that person may be a potential stock!" ”

"Haha......" Lineker laughed, "but you're not absolute. You can't tell whether this potential stock has become a star because of Pan Yi's guidance, or whether it can take root and sprout if it stays in the original team...... If the club listens to you and doesn't sell people, but it smashes your hands, will you lose money if you are looking for you? ”

"Ugh." Shearer froze for a moment, then nodded, "Well, I did ignore that. It is true that some players have not developed well after leaving Pan Yi...... A more typical example is Desiglio, who played so well at such a young age at Milan, but then became more average. It was only recently that he entered the Italian national team and returned to Pan Yi's command, which made people see what he was like back then. ”

"yes. You have to admire Pan Yi for this, he is very successful in running the team and managing the team. Lineker sighed, "Not to mention that York City has become a Premier League team under him, look at coach Scaloni, look at the players Tonali, including today's focus De Jong and De Ligt, these are all things he dug up when they were still unknown." ”

'He's been just as successful commercially, and I've heard that York City FC has already planned a large area around the new home stadium to become the largest commercial district in Yorkshire, and companies are vying to move in. It is conceivable how much revenue this can bring to Yorktown, and even the local residents will have their pockets bulging because of it. ”

Lineker smiled and nodded, "It's a business thing, I don't really understand it." But I think that Pan Yi undoubtedly has a high personality charm in this regard, and he gives his subordinates enough space to display their talents. And I remember that the new president of AC Milan, Li Yonghong, went to York Town to learn from it, and when he went back to give an interview to the media, he said that York City has a lot to learn from him. ”

"Well, in fact, I don't know much about business, maybe Pan Yi is such a genius, not only knows football well, but is also proficient in all aspects of its expansion." Shearer shook his head and said, "Let's turn our attention to today's game. ”

At this point, the screen switches to the players' tunnel at the Johan Cruyff Arena, where players from both sides of the match can be seen preparing to play.

And in the footage, you can also see that the players on both sides are also greeting each other, especially Onana, De Ligt and De Jong, who started today, and the old teammates who are familiar with Ajax hug each other and look quite friendly.

'It was the first time in York City's history that they played in a European competition and then they were in the quarter-finals of the Europa League...... If they cross Ajax, they will reach the last four, and they are making a unique and magical history! Alan Shearer laughed.

"Their existence is a legend in itself, Alain!" Lineker reminded with a smile, "Now the results of the Europa League quarterfinals are already the best results of the secondary league teams in Europe!" ”

It will be difficult for teams in minor leagues to qualify for the Europa League or Champions League, let alone the minor leagues.

And even in the five major leagues, such cases are rare.

After all, to play in Europe as a second-division team, you have to win the cup in your home country, which is an extremely difficult thing in itself.

And once such a continuous upset happens, it will be difficult for the secondary league teams to fight on multiple fronts due to their own financial resources and ability problems, and it will be even more difficult to go further in the European competition.

There are few such examples, but there are some.

One of them was the 2008-09 season, when Guingamp was still playing in Ligue 2.

Guingamp made it all the way to the final, where he won the French Cup with a 2-1 win over Rennes and qualified for the 2009/10 Europa League.

However, it is a pity that Guingamp finally regretted that he stopped in the fourth qualifying round of the Europa League that season, that is, he did not even enter the group stage of the main competition.

Another example is England, which is slightly different from Guingamp, Wigan Athletic was originally a Premier League team, but in the 37th round of the 2012-2013 Premier League season, Wigan Athletic lost 1:4 to Arsenal and was relegated one round early.

That season, Wigan Athletic beat Manchester City to win the FA Cup, which meant that in the 2013-2014 season, Wigan Athletic, who were in the English second division of the Championship, could participate in the Europa League as FA Cup winners.

They didn't have to go to the qualifying round and played in the group stage, but what was the result?

In a group made up of less than strong teams such as Rubin Kazan, Maribor and Wilshire, Wigan Athletic finished bottom of the group with 1 win, 2 draws and 3 losses.

This shows how amazing it is that York City was able to achieve such a result today!

"York City's results are of course inseparable from Pan Yi's recruitment. Take a look at their starting line-up today, Scaloni can be said to be the main force! ”

Looking at the roster on the TV screen, Lineker began to introduce the line-ups of both sides:

'The starting line-up for this game was not too surprising, with York City's starting goalkeeper Onana, Cameroon's new international showing great quality in the Championship and being hailed as a modern goalkeeper with particularly good technique at his feet. The right wing-back is Militão, who has also been the main player on the right side of York City this season! ”

'The two centre-backs were Bastoni and De Ligt, with Bastoni impressing in the recent friendly between Italy and England and scoring his first goal for the national team. De Ligt, on the other hand, is an Ajax academy player and is now a member of the Dutch national team. ”

"The left wing-back is Canadian teenager Alphonso Davies, who was brought in by Pan Yi who travelled to North America and quickly integrated into the team when he arrived at York City. There are still three midfielders today, De Rice, Frenkie de Jong and Tonali, and these are three very technical players. ”

"York City's front court trio has been hailed by fans as the magic trident, referring to the tacit cooperation of the front court trio, and at the same time they all have strong individual ability. They are right winger Kulusevski, left winger Rafael Leao, and powerful center Baker! ”

"Look at their bench list, Armand, Lin Liangming, Barella, Scamacca, Tomiyasu, Dimarco...... There are even three Italian internationals who didn't play! And these three internationals also performed well in Italy's big win over England. ”

"It can be said that Scaloni really has happy troubles, and every day he has to think about how to arrange his lineup. This is also to blame Pan Yi, who let this boss get him so many excellent players, haha......"

Lineker said, and he couldn't help but laugh.

"Of course, Scaloni should have sent out the strongest player lineup that he thinks is in the best shape and can cope with today's game, and Ajax must have conducted an in-depth study of York City, how to contain York City's trident, how to break through York City's backline, this is the biggest problem in front of Ajax."

Alan Shearer had to agree with Lineker that "the combination of skills, speed, height and intensity of the York City frontcourt players all have them, which makes them always able to play a strong attack no matter what strong opponent they are facing. Especially in this game, Scaloni specially arranged two technical players behind them, De Jong and Tonali, obviously to maximize the team's attacking ability. ”

"Of course, there is a certain risk because Rice is the only one behind them to defend in midfield, and the defensive line does not play the role of a two-man midfield formation. However, I think the reason why Scaloni used De Jong instead of Barella must have been to borrow from his familiarity with Ajax's style of football and control the game from the start. ”

"The York City players are very technical, especially when they are on the pitch with a fast-paced passing and touching style, which obviously improves the spectacle of the game, so I'm looking forward to it!"

——

Ten Hag sat in the dugout, his hands on his temples and his eyes staring straight at the pitch.

Among the blonde and brunette assistant coaches and substitutes around him, his shiny bald head stood out.

It was only two or three months before he actually became the manager of Ajax.

Ajax played badly in the first half of the season, but they were always under PSV Eindhoven and always finished second.

If it's any other team, then second is good, but not for Ajax.

As the number one football giant in the Netherlands, Ajax's goal in the league is always to be first, to be the champion!

Therefore, during the winter break, Ajax released the original manager Peter Botz from his contract and brought in Ten Hag.

Ten Hag, who had also been in charge of the Eredivisie before, saw Utrecht finish in the top six, a result that caught the attention of the Ajax hierarchy.

However, after taking over, Ten Hag also found that the work of the big teams was still difficult to do.

He led his team to catch up, but he couldn't catch up with PSV Eindhoven.

With only five rounds left after 29 league games, Ajax are still seven points behind PSV Eindhovenda and the title looks set to fall on the sidelines this season.

Considering Ten Hag took over halfway through, Ajax may have given him more time, but Ten Hag is also in desperate need of more wins to prove himself.

The Europa League is the most important of these.

If they can win the Europa League and go straight to next season's Champions League group stage – or even as a seeded team – the position will be much more secure.

What's more, today's opponent is York City, one of the most powerful teams in European football recently, and its owner is still the world's No. 1 coach Pan Yi!

At a time when Ajax fans generally believe that the players sold by the team are doing well at York City, if they can cross the hurdle of York City, it will undoubtedly greatly increase Ten Hag's popularity in the hearts of Ajax fans.

Although it will not be called "Teng Sheng", at least it will not be called "Teng Hi" early and asked to "make room".

And Ten Hag, in fact, barely fought Pan Yi a few years ago.

At that time, Pan Yi was still in Hamburg, and Ten Hag was in Bayern Munich's second team, helping then-manager Pep Guardiola.

However, at that time, Pan Yi led Hamburg, which was far less powerful than Bayern, to victory.

Today, Ten Hag's Ajax are theoretically stronger than York City, and it's up to him to figure out how he can beat a team that was almost single-handedly built by Pan Yi.

But "theory" is "theory" after all.

Indeed, the second place in the Eredivisie will not be worse than the first place in the Championship, right?

The problem is, judging by the opening 20 minutes of the game, you call this TMD a Championship team???

Today's Scaloni seems to be here to "show off his skills", with De Jong, Tonali, and Rice composed of three midfielders, he actually played possession tactics in front of Ajax.

They controlled the ball methodically in midfield, making it difficult for the Ajax players to get their hands on it.

Ajax is also in a 4-3-3 formation today, and it is Donny van de Beek + Schöne + Ziyech who are facing York City in midfield, and it stands to reason that the configuration is not bad.

Donny van de Beek has been in fine form since being promoted to the Ajax first team in 2016 and the Dutch squad is ready to call him up, with Schöne being a Denmark international and Hakim Ziyech being a Moroccan international.

But since the start of the first half, York City has had a lot of chances, but Ajax has been completely pulled by the nose and can't control the rhythm at all.

The opposition players were particularly Frenkie de Jong, the former Ajax player who returned to the Cruyff Arena and showed a strong ability to control the tempo on the pitch.

Passing, splitting, running, intercepting...... It's almost anything. He seemed to be telling the other party that he shouldn't have sold me in the first place!

Ten Hag's face was gloomy and he sensed some anxiety from the players on the pitch, which worried him.

So he also came to the sidelines frequently during this time, signaling that his players should be more stable and try not to cross the line.

But it can be seen that the effect is not very ideal.

——

Unlike the original Pinnacle Barcelona, which played passing and control to the extreme, York City's style of play will be more fast and concise, and it will also pay more attention to physical confrontation.

Of course, this has to do with the difference in individual ability, after all, even if you look at the entire history of football, it is very difficult to find a combination like MSN + Habaib.

The second is that Pan Yi, whether in York City or Italy, instilled more of an efficiency-first concept, rather than obsessed with passing and controlling, which affected the speed of the attack.

In addition, the current group of players in York City, such as Rice and Tonali, are not afraid of physical confrontation and are willing to actively fight, so it is also a very suitable tactic to increase the intensity and control the tempo.

In such a system, Tonali and De Jong will be more attacking, and when the team is in possession, they will more often give the ball to De Jong.

After all, compared to Tonali, De Jong has a higher pass success rate and better game reading ability, making him a rare player with an overall play strategy.

In fact, De Jong also performed well after the opening, he was the heart of the team's attack today, and his team-mates believed in him, and he was the team's most consistent goal.

Ajax is clearly seeing this as well.

Ten Hag wanted to keep an eye on De Jong but couldn't limit him.

It is not uncommon to see two players on the pitch surrounding De Jong, but the latter can always find the right spot around him, whether it is Rice, Tonali next to him, Militão in front, or De Ligt behind him.

When all the players are running, Ajax can't contain De Jong at all, unless they are willing to put a heavy force in the vicinity and cut off De Jong's surroundings from his teammates.

However, York City's front court is stacked with a number of players with super individual ability, and Ajax definitely does not dare to let these players go unpunished.

This is tantamount to an unsolvable problem, to limit De Jong, you have to weaken the defense of the front trident, and to strengthen the defense of the trident, you can't limit De Jong, including Tonali.

Ten Hag is in a dilemma.

He knew very well that there was no absolutely perfect tactic in this world, and there must be a way to overcome this style of play in Kecheng, but unfortunately, he couldn't find it for the time being.

Now where I am, I can only watch my team being led by the nose by the opponent.

And Ten Hag could clearly feel that the mood of the players on the pitch was also getting more and more impatient.

Although the psychological quality of professional players is generally good, once the team is in a predicament, the players' mood will naturally be affected.

And then such mood swings can also affect the performance of the players on the pitch.

In the 35th minute, De Jong received De Ligt's header to clear the ball, leaned lightly on the opponent's defender, and played a beautiful one-two with Rice after receiving the ball, which suddenly went straight near the half.

York City's center Baker leaned on Ajax centre-back Walpole behind him with his body, and the opponent pressed against him.

Beck, who looked up, noticed that the two wings and the nearby Tonali were still some distance away from him, so he leaned over, stopped the ball with his chest, and flicked the ball with his right foot.

When the ball passed through Walpole's left side, he deftly turned and turned past Walpole's right side.

The ball is divided, accelerated, received, and tripped, and has entered the penalty area, forming a single knife!

Ajax's Dutch international Cillessen rushed to the action, but Baker was quick to get on target.

The ball flew straight past Cillessen's side and rolled into the net.

0:1, York City takes the lead away!

"It's so beautiful, it's Baker again! In the 35th minute of the first half, with a beautiful turn, the opponent's central defender couldn't bear him at all, so he could only watch him enter the penalty area, form a single knife, and score! Alan Shearer exclaimed.

Lineker on the side also looked very excited: "We can see from the slow motion that Baker was on the ball at the moment when his head was raised, obviously observing his teammates. When he was sure that there was no one to answer, he chose to go it alone. Then let's take a look at it, the moment he shot the goal with a single knife, he was very calm and composed! ”

Alan Shearer shook his head: "Now that I look at it, Southgate should have recruited Baker into the England national team." Isn't there a strong center forward in the national team now? ”

"But, Alain, you know what? When Baker first arrived at York City, he didn't know anything but headers, and his technique was very rough. Lineker smiled, "Not to mention a pass like today, even shooting with his feet, the hit rate is extremely poor!" But look at the goal just now, tsk, can you tell that this is something that a big man who is almost two meters tall can do? ”

Alan Shearer was a little surprised, "In this way, Baker has made rapid progress in recent years!" It reminds me of our former high-pitched goalscorer Crouch, who is more than two meters tall but can kick upside down the golden hook and ...... Marseille maneuver"

"That's right." Lineker praised it, and then turned on the blowing Pan Yi mode:

"After Pan Yi became the owner of York City, this team is really amazing."

"A player like Baker, I've seen one or two games in League Two before, and I just think he's just a mediocre talent, and at most he's a pure header who can get a foothold in the second and third leagues."

"But now that I look at it, I feel like he might be able to surpass Crouch'......"