­× Over Land and Sea

[kibaxx7]

Ravanelli... The Silver Striker (for turning grey so early). He scored mere months before this in the Champions League final of 1996 against my team, Ajax. Juventus won that final in the end on penalties.
The season after, now without the departed Ravanelli, Juventus again were in our way, this time in the semi finals.


In Netherlands, we use the German word Angstgegner, or 'the opponent you're always afraid of' - those handful of teams that are always the roadblock where it ends. You try left, right, even bass ackwards but they are the type of opponent you just can't defeat. And for Ajax, Juventus is such a team. And in 1996, it was because of Ravanelli.

Great term! The first three I thought of was Mo Salah and Danny Welbeck in a Man United context and Patrick Mortensen from AGF/Aarhus in a Brøndby context. Ironically, two of the three were youth players in the club, they've now come back to haunt.

I would love to know the reasons behind Ravanelli's decision to move to Middlesbrough in real life. He almost scored against me but Seaman was quick to deny him.

[kibaxx7]

[Danimal5981]

I would love to know the reasons behind Ravanelli's decision to move to Middlesbrough in real life. He almost scored against me but Seaman was quick to deny him.

He always wanted to try Premier League and at that time it wasn't really clear who were going to be top dogs: ambitious big money injections were flying all around. Chelsea just had its first money shot, Tottenham were an anonymous midtable club, Liverpool was the definition of 'dry spell/not winning trophies' at the time. If you'd told me Man City were going to be the team to beat in England 30 years ago, I'd laugh in your face. Man United were the team to beat, Arsenal was about to become the challenger, but the biggest expectations came from Newcastle United under Kevin Keegan, now with striker Alan Shearer.


In those days, it seemed the big clubs would emerge based on geographical spread: Arsenal from London, Manchester United from the east, Leeds United in the middle, Portsmouth were very ambitious in the south, while M'boro and Newcastle were fighting who was going to be the top team in the north. Every English team had ambitious plans and it wasn't really clear which ones would float to the top.


In the end, Ravanelli was in a bit of a culture shock - something highly underestimated in football, then and now. A warm-blooded Italian, he just didn't feel in a comfortable place in the north of England.

[RMJH4]

Hell of a tough start. So that's very realistic. Wenger will take time and money to get this right. Phase the old guys out and the alcoholics! So similar to Fergie and Utd

[kibaxx7]

If you'd told me Man City were going to be the team to beat in England 30 years ago, I'd laugh in your face. Man United were the team to beat, Arsenal was about to become the challenger,

As I said earlier, (I have to get there first, but) I'm really torn between giving Man City the money or not. I do not want Man United to fall like it has, though. We will see in the future.

Hell of a tough start. So that's very realistic. Wenger will take time and money to get this right. Phase the old guys out and the alcoholics! So similar to Fergie and Utd

It's going to take some time for sure! (Again, I have to get there first, but) I want to see what I can do when we move to the Emirates, and realistically, we don't have a lot of money to work with.

[kibaxx7]

[JustinCase]

Disappointing to draw against Man City. This may sound weird in younger ears, but some of us remember what club it was before the arab money came and completely altered the club.

I'm really enjoying this nostalgic writeup. If for nothing else, just reading through those lineups with names like Paul Dickov, David Platt and Steve Bould. Some forgotten, some not. But I do enjoy the ride.

[Danimal5981]

Giorgi Kinkladze at Man City... After his spell at Man City (after they were relegated), he moved to Ajax. He succeeded (Michael) Laudrup who quit in summer of 1998, only to be succeeded by another (Brian) Laudrup, a year after in summer of 1999. Though in truth, he was initially signed as successor to Jari Litmanen, but Litmanen stayed which is why Kinkladze had to move to the left flank. That was an unsuccessful experiment and he left as fast as he came...

[kibaxx7]

Disappointing to draw against Man City. This may sound weird in younger ears, but some of us remember what club it was before the arab money came and completely altered the club.

I'm really enjoying this nostalgic writeup. If for nothing else, just reading through those lineups with names like Paul Dickov, David Platt and Steve Bould. Some forgotten, some not. But I do enjoy the ride.

Giorgi Kinkladze at Man City... After his spell at Man City (after they were relegated), he moved to Ajax. He succeeded (Michael) Laudrup who quit in summer of 1998, only to be succeeded by another (Brian) Laudrup, a year after in summer of 1999. Though in truth, he was initially signed as successor to Jari Litmanen, but Litmanen stayed which is why Kinkladze had to move to the left flank. That was an unsuccessful experiment and he left as fast as he came...

Thank you guys. I hope Man City stays in mid-to-low table mediocrity in this universe -- I will do my best to make that happen.

[kibaxx7]