"Très bons maillots de l'Ajax" These were the first words uttered by the French commentator Thierry Roland as the second leg of the Dutch side's UEFA Cup tie against Olympique de Marseille at the Amsterdam ArenA kicked off. He's not wrong. Ajax's basic colours and shirt design make up one of the most iconic and aesthetically pleasing strips in football history. Even when playing in Europe, such as on the night in question, and adidas are allowed to add their stripes to the sleeves (what is is about the Dutch and adidas stripes?) the white and red simple image evokes the history of this great club.
Special mention should also go to the ArenA itself. A great stadium and the shirt-coloured goal nets are surely the coolest in history - especially when bulged with an extra-time Marseille winner!
So all in order then? Ajax at home wearing their usual strip, in equal parts traditional and beautiful, l'OM - whose colours are white and blue - rightly in a change strip of gold shirts with black shirts. But why were those the kits worn the previous week when l'OM were the home side?
Blame can possibly be directed at Uefa's door. The current stipulation is that any team participating in European competition should have three playing strips. This generally results in clubs arranging with their sportswear manufacturer, or "technical sponsor", a home kit, a 2nd or away kit and a "European" or "International" third outfit.
The traditional theory is that should two teams' home kits clash then the team playing away should try first their "away" strip and then, in the unlikely event there is still an issue regarding differentiation then a third kit should be resorted to. The reality is that often even a home team can play in whichever strip the club is trying to market that week.
So we have a situation where Marseille have played two high profile matches against - in Ajax - one of Europe's greats and in neither match have they worn their colours. Last season Marseille played Liverpool at home and the teams, who could have easily played in their respective home colours of essentially all white and all red instead wore bright orange and black. I'm a huge fan of the kit l'OM wore and its tribute to the South Winners supporter group but it's still a perverse choice in that situation.
To add to the farce, l'OM (of the three kits, if you'll remember) were forced to play last season's away match at Auxerre in a change strip of the home side as the two they took to the game were deemed unacceptable - reportedly information made clear to them by the referee earlier that week. Obviously the Argentina-styled away that they were looking to play in hadn't been selling as well as they had hoped.
When Celtic released an international kit not so long ago they went with predominantly white with green and gold detail. A beautiful strip but, as Celtic play in a predominantly white home kit, about as useful as the proverbial chocolate teapot.
The fact remains that one change strip is generally sufficient - for practicality if not economics. The unwritten rule that if shirt, shorts or socks clash then the away team should change that item is rarely enforced by referees unless there is an overall identification problem. Back in Glasgow, I once dreamt that Pierluigi Collina had been drafted in to take charge of the Old Firm derby (an idea that was at one stage mooted) and his first input was to order Rangers to change their white shorts to avoid confusion with those of Celtic. I remember my anger as Rangers - inevitably in my warped subconscious - strode onto the pitch in bright orange replacement shorts and matching socks for good measure.
But I digress. The point is that when clubs play on the biggest stage they should wear their traditional and famous colours. Yes, occasionally kits will clash but in most matchups there will be a return fixture where either changing can be reversed. A third set of colours can sometimes also be required but for replica sales why can't this be the previous season's 2nd kit (as is the approach of some clubs) or a training kit? The current trend of sharing out a season's matches between three strips represents a loss of identity so if the worst comes to the worst, why not just turn the shirt inside out?
