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You see the strength of the Spanish league, the Premier League, Germany, France, and Italy. The TV revenues are so much higher in those countries.
It's always difficult if you're coming into a new club and new league, especially the English one. It's a very demanding one, can be a very tough one.
You hope to bring your 'A Game' to any game, and of course you do in a final. You hope to bring experience, fitness, communication skills, motivational skills.
You get confidence when you get on a roll. When you are not struggling, and you get your players back, it is bound to make everyone feel better about themselves.
United is a much bigger challenge than Ajax. They're not just a big and famous club but also a worldwide brand, yet when you're inside, it's still a family place.
I always said I wanted to finish my career back at Ajax, but I didn't think I was going to play for so long at such a high level, so that's not going to happen now.
Nothing can replicate the thrill of making a great save at an away ground, or hearing your own fans cheering you, or the atmosphere when you score a goal or win a big game.
Ajax always bring through young players from their academy - we can't pay €20m for a player, so we make sure we develop those players and give them the opportunity to play.
You have to get your motivation from within, and it doesn't matter if you lose in the quarters, the semis, or the final. You must want to have another chance of winning the trophy.
We accept that, in one way now, if you are 27, 28 and still playing for Ajax, you are probably not good enough for the top of Europe because players want to go to the top in Europe.
I remember, when I was 24, I said 34 was going to be the limit I will play to. But as everyone says, the older you get, the longer you want to go on because it gives you so much satisfaction.
When I was 18, I never expected to be what I was - you hope to make your debut, to play for the national team, and I want to achieve something similar off the pitch to what I did on the pitch.
I would like Ajax to be people's favourite second team. Like in Spain, if you are a Real Madrid fan, then you can't be a Barcelona supporter. It's the same in Italy. But you can be an Ajax fan.
At certain times, you start to - maybe not lose the faith - but just wonder how long it will take until someone picks me up. I was thinking, 'Is it just me? Do I think I'm better than any manager does?'
You don't need only your strikers. You need your defenders to be on top of their game. You need a midfield to work hard and track back, and I suppose you need a goalkeeper who makes saves once in a while.
A lot of the guys who played in the 1995 final for Ajax had been there since the age of 12 or 13. Patrick Kluivert and Edgar Davids had been there from age seven or eight, so I had a lot of catching up to do.
I get great respect from the United fans and the directors and the people who are there still when you go there. It is a very warm club, very comparable to Ajax, only they have grown internationally amazingly.
We need a solution for European football. You need to help smaller clubs in European competitions get the right distribution of money so they can invest in coaches and attract talent for the level they can play at.
I went to Fulham for the project they explained to me - but it didn't really work out. I might have been playing at a high level for the national team, but I was starting to miss those European nights and challenging for titles.
I remember that, often, Mike Phelan would just nip down to the touchline for a message to one or two players. It was usually just a tactical thing. But when Sir Alex comes to the touchline, all the players know that it's serious stuff.
For everyone, the World Cup is important. It doesn't matter if you are 21, going for your first one, or 35 and going for your third one. It's the biggest stage you can play on, and every opportunity to experience it is something special.
I was in two successive European finals early in my career, so initially, you think that sort of thing is going to happen regularly. Then suddenly, it dries up, and before you know it, 13 years have passed before you get your next chance.
Matthijs is very mature for his age: he has the physique of a 24-year-old. He is also strong with both feet, has an extremely good range of passing, can head the ball, scores goals, and is a real leader at the back already at the age of 18.
Off the field, Ronaldo was also focusing on everything extensively, such as resting up properly and strengthening his body. After training sessions, he would often work on his free-kicks and then come to me and say, 'Edwin, can you go in goal?'
I think there are always a lot of rumours about players from Ajax. We develop great players, not only in Amsterdam but hopefully also in Cape Town, and there is interest in a lot of our players, but we like to keep them for as long as possible.
Running a marathon is unlike anything I have done. You can recall all those bad weights sessions or the work you had to do in pre-season, but marathon running is worse than any of it, probably the hardest thing I have had to do in my entire life.
It is not always easy for a young player to come through at the club level, because all the clubs are able to buy for 20 million or 30 million and it is hard for young English talent to come through and to get recognition and be able to be part of the squad or start playing.
The leagues in the countries around us are probably more interesting and played at a higher level, but in general, we are happy with the way we have moved things forward with Ajax, together with Marc Overmars as technical director, to establish a squad that can compete at the highest level.
When I left Ajax in 1999, I travelled to Liverpool and spoke to Houllier. I was shown around Anfield and also met with the chairman and a couple of the players. I thought about it, but when Juventus came to the table, I came to the conclusion that it would be a bigger challenge to play in Italy.
I've never had the experience of 10 years at Unilever and five years at Coca Cola. But I'm not the marketing director who only wants 25 per cent a year on the revenues. In the old days, you sold something, and you would be happy. At Ajax, we thought we needed more from that than selling a seat and making five grand.
I'm not going back to Amsterdam, though it would be very comfortable there with Frank de Boer, Danny Blind, and Dennis Bergkamp. When I left 12 years ago, I said I would return, but I did not know then what great years I would have with Manchester United. I might occasionally visit training with them, but I will not be going regularly.
When I was in Dutch and Italian football, a lot of people looked at Manchester United, and when they were asked who was the best player, a lot of them said Paul Scholes. Much of what he did looked simple, but actually it was quite hard. Invariably he controlled the ball instantly and passed it straight on, keeping the game moving. He made inch-perfect passes across the pitch; he saw the gaps and could play the ball through them. So it didn't surprise me that so many top-class international footballers recognized his quality.