Ajax's revival proves Total Football isn't dead despite Europa League final loss to Man Utd

So, Ajax end the season empty-handed but greater success could very well emerge from this ‘failure’.

In fact, a great success can still be achieved this summer by holding on to the core of this highly talented, yet incredibly inexperienced side.

For, while they were defeated, they produced a performance of promise that suggests better is yet to come from the club of Johan Cruyff. There is serious potential here and it would suit all parties for this collection of players to be kept together.

This has been a re-birth for the Amsterdam club. Jose Mourinho provided a crucial spark to this revolution, as it was after his Real Madrid side admonished Ajax back in 2010 in the Champions League that Cruyff declared in his De Telegraaf column that “he no longer recognised this Ajax”.

He surely would have recognised the Ajax that took on United in the Friends Arena on Wednesday night. For the technical revolution he initiated back in 2012 after was on display.

The key tenant of Total Football remains the ability of its players to operate in all roles within a team. Peter Bosz, a declared and dedicated disciple of the school of Cruyff, witnessed his players react with the poise of a Total Football side after conceding early.

As is his wont, Mourinho’s side defended their lead. They sat deep, invited Ajax onto them and squeezed the space centrally. Bosz’s side reacted. Centre-halves Davinson Sanchez and Matthijs de Ligt took on the role of creators. They both showed admirable composure.

It was the forwards, such as Kasper Dolberg and Bertrand Traore, who had received the big billing but despite losing 2-0, it was the defenders who emerged from the match with their reputations enhanced.

De Ligt was particularly impressive. He is 17-years-old, and it is fair to say that he is pretty sure of himself. Prior to the match, he was in bullish form, dismissing United as a cheque-book team. There was one moment as last man and pressurised by a posse of United players, he slalomed forward past three flailing challenges before releasing Dolberg.

Ajax may have struggled to break down Mourinho’s United as the game progressed. A reality check but also a performance of composure. To be clear, the vastly more experienced United did a job on them. Ajax were dominated – more physically than anything else – at the key moments in the key areas but they remained faithful to the ideals that underpin the club.

It is important at this juncture to remember that Ajax fielded the youngest team in European final history on Wednesday. They are on a learning curve, and will emerge from this defeat better equipped to challenge again.

To say they do not have a Plan B fails to fully appreciate the philosophy; the belief in Plan A is so strong, so impenetrable that eventually it will bear fruit. It may not have done so here, but it represents part of the journey. Total Football represents a continual learning curve; it is about problem solving and the experience drawn from playing against the intransigence of United will only serve only to further their footballing education.

The contrast with Mourinho's United could not be more pronounced. The serial winner concerned only with the here and a side of the future.

And here lies the crucial point: it suits all parties for this side to stay together. There is potential for huge growth as individuals and as a team. These players have a unique opportunity. They find themselves at a unique club with a unique philosophy and there is no guarantee that their form and successes would transfer elsewhere at other clubs, in other environments and other systems particularly at their age. They owe themselves the opportunity to develop.

Just like back in 2010, Ajax lost but they renewed their ideals. Johan Cruyff would not only have recognised this Ajax, he would have approved.