All eyes on Eriksen? Everything Man United fans need to know about Ajax
Manchester United make the short trip to Amsterdam on Thursday for the first leg of a humbling Round-of-32 Europa League tie. Here's everything you need to know about their opponents courtesy of The Sport Collective's Matt Ogborn.
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Even given the "relative" decline of both teams this season, if this particular continental clash does not get your mouth watering, then nothing will. With United out of the European elite competition, FA Cup and League Cup, Sir Alex Ferguson has the chance to build title confidence for the run-in against neighbours City with the match at the Amsterdam Arena.
But what of the 1992 UEFA Cup winners, who also memorably claimed the ultimate European trophy in 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1995 fuelled by the magician Johan Cruyff?
Tactics/Probable Line-up
An elegant centre-back and former Ajax, Barcelona and Holland favourite, manager Frank de Boer comes from the classic Dutch school - and will have to be on top of his game to counter Ferguson. His situation has not been helped by the ludicrous power struggle at the club that saw Cruyff win a court battle to stop Louis van Gaal becoming technical director and the board resign as a consequence.
Still, De Boer's side won the Eredivisie title last time out and even though their form has been patchy this season, they still have the tools to take advantage of any United lapses during the 90 minutes on home soil.
Kenneth Vermeer may share his name with a famous painter but he has failed to brush off the sceptics after finally getting a decent run in the team following Maarten Stekelenburg's move to Roma. United will want to test the former Dutch U21 custodian early on before the likes of north London transfer target Jan Vertonghen and Belgian stopper Toby Alderweireld settle in.
De Boer faces a difficult choice when it comes to the full-back slots thanks to Gregory van der Wiel's proposed January move abroad falling through and putting a spanner in the works. Nicolai Boilesen is the manager's favoured left-back option leaving Ruben Ligeon and Dico Koppers to duel it out for the other right-back slot.
Vurnon Anita has alerted Premier League scouts with his defensive shielding but he and eitherUruguayan Nicolas Lodeiro or maybe Cameroon international Eyong Enoh, will need every ounce of their energy and nouse to track the likes of Paul Scholes, Michael Carrick and the fit-again Tom Cleverley.
In turn, the occasionally porous United defence will have to keep an eye on Siem de Jong's bursts from midfield. However Reds target Christian Eriksen remains the primary concern. The Dane has seven goals from 31 games this season, and his guile and incisive passing behind the front two makes Ajax tick.
Up front, De Boer will be looking for his multi-national strike force of Serbian Miralem Sulejmani and Russian Dmitri Bulykin to stretch the United defence with young forward Lorenzo Ebilcilio or Aras Özbiliz likely to come off the bench to supplement a lead - or chase down a deficit dependent on which Ajax turns up.
Probable Line-up: Vermeer; Koppers, Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Boilesen; Anita, De Jong, Lodeiro, Eriksen; Sulejmani, Bulykin
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Star man: Christian Eriksen
Along with Lille's Eden Hazard, this young Dane is the talk of Europe. He is not the most physically imposing of players but his vision and weight of pass is second to none and the likes of De Jong, Sulejmani and Bulykin all profit from his classy passes. Eriksen looks set to carry the expectations of Danes in the national team for many years to come.
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Recent Form
After a rollercoaster start to their title defence, De Boer's side stepped up a level towards the back end of 2011 with four league wins - either side of the 3-0 home Champions League hammering by Real Madrid - seeing them handsomely into 2012.
Unfortunately for the Amsterdammers, a tame 1-1 draw at AZ Alkmaar was followed by a shoddy 4-2 reverse at Feyenoord and even more humiliating 2-0 home loss to FC Utrecht. Ajax got back to winning ways last weekend with a 2-0 win on the road at NAC Breda to sit sixth in the table and eight points behind leader PSV Eindhoven.
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Read more from Matt at The Sport Collective or follow @sportcollective on Twitter
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