THERE’S THAT old phrase, ‘a man’s home is his castle’. (Not mine, mind; I live in a Victorian maisonette in West London.) Well, Ajax Amsterdam FC has taken that old wisdom and given it a modern sprucing by changing ‘castle’ to ‘fortress’. But despite an incredible league record of 16 wins out of 17 home games, 64 scored and only four against, the club isn’t topping the Dutch league.
The club’s home record is nothing short of astounding: What’s even more astounding is that Ajax are currently being held in second place by Steve McLaren’s Twente (below).
Twente’s home record actually matches it’s rivals, though its goal difference an incredible 33 goals worse (45 overall). Ajax are, how you schay… Underdogshs?
Of course, Chelsea went 86 matches unbeaten at home between March 2004 and October 2008 (including the whole of Jose Mourinho’s reign) and Arsenal and AC Milan have gone whole seasons without league defeat – though Steaua Bucharest holds the record run at 104 games. But none of them had a defence which had only conceded four home goals almost across a whole season, and certainly, none of them still failed to win their divisions. Martin Jol’s men have three games to come from behind on England’s worst ever manager.
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