NAC BREDA SEASON PREVIEW |

NACBreda

After a narrow escape from relegation last term can NAC Breda fans expect a better term this year? Ryan O’Grady predicts it may be more of the same for the Yellow Army.

Last season NAC Breda escaped relegation by the skin of their teeth, they lost 2-0 to PSV on the final day and had RKC Waalwijk won their match by a significant margin then they would’ve overtaken NAC and pushed them into the relegation play-off spot alongside NEC. Breda had many problems last year they score fewer goals than any other team last year, 43, which adds up to an average of 1.23 goals per game. Their top scorer last season was Rydell Poepon with 9 but he was on loan from ADO Den Haag and has now moved to Valenciennes in France. One positive from last year was that although they didn’t score many goals, they did share them around the team, Perica and Buijs got six apiece and Verbeek got 5. The problem is that they were the top 4 goal scorers at the club and they’re all no longer there which means that 26 goals of their meagre total of 43 have left the club. Verbeek has signed for Utrecht, Bujis has signed for Heerenveen and Perica returned to Chelsea following the end of his loan deal although he still could return as the club are in negotiations with Chelsea, but the negotiations are said to be “laborious” according to the club.

These departures will hopefully be offset by the arrival of 20-year old Kingsley Boateng on a free from AC Milan; this is a real coup for the side as he has a bright future. NAC have also signed Swedish wonder kid Isak Ssewankambo on another free transfer, this time from Chelsea. After helping Chelsea to win the FA Youth Cup his coach Adrian Viveash urged Jose Mourinho to give him a chance in the first team, this chance hasn’t materialised and after his contract ran out he got a trial at NAC Breda and impressed everyone enough to earn a contract. NAC chief Nebojsa Gudelj has been quoted as saying “He is a talented and dynamic player who is very strong and can play in many positions”. He has already represented Sweden at various levels including U17, U18 and U21. NAC Breda have lost one of their defensive linchpins in Kwakman to Bidvest Wits, he made 28 appearances last year and contributed 3 goals. To replace him they have brought in Frenchman Rémy Amieux from RKC Waalwijk who he was vital for last year, appearing in every game, and Aleksandar Damcevski from Chernomoretz Burgas who is unproven at this level. NAC have had a very successful winning all 6 of their games including beating regional side DSE 16-0. Although their preseason form has been good, they haven’t come up against any teams of real note, which questions whether they can continue this form into the new season.

Overall NAC Breda have brought in a couple of decent signings but whether this will be enough to replace the goals that have left remains to be seen and in other areas they have merely just replaced players rather than strengthening. This seems to suggest that a similar season to last year is on the cards or possibly even worse if the new signings don’t gel with the rest of the team.

TRANSFERS INS AND OUT

IN: Isak Ssewankambo (Chelsea), Aleksandar Damchevski (Chernomorets), Erik Falkenburg (Go Ahead Eagles), Joeri De Kamps (Heerenveen), Kingsley Boateng (AC Milan), Remy Amieux (RKC Waalwijk).

OUT: Anouar Hadouir (Moghreb Tetouan), Jordy Buijs (Heerenveen), Kees Kwakman (Bidvest Wits), Stuy Rick van den Herik (FC Oss), Rydell Poepon (ADO Den Haag), Stipe Perica (Chelsea).

MANAGER – NEBOJŠA GUDELJ

Gudelj is a former Bosnian Serb footballer who started his playing career off at FK Leotar Terbinje in the Yugoslav Second League. He then moved to FK Partizan Belgrade where he won the title in the 1993-94 season. He then moved to Spain to join CD Logroñés where he only spent one season before moving NAC Breda eight years and made 246 appearances and scored 10 goals. He then spent one final year at Sparta Rotterdam before retiring in 2006. In 2012 he was appointed manager at NAC leading them to a 13^th placed finish in first season before they finished 15^th last year. He also has a son, Nemanja Gudelj, who currently plays for the AZ Alkmaar first team.

KEY PLAYER – KINGSLEY BOATENG

Kingsley Boateng arrived on loan from Serie A giants AC Milan and the 20-year-old, who was loaned out to Catania last term, has started well on pre-season for Breda scoring four times in three games. It seems AC Milan have also been impressed as they said that even though the games are just friendlies they have been really impressed with his form. The talented striker, who can also play on the wings, has stated his desire to play for Ghana, despite featuring for the Italian Under-21 team and is ready to make an impact in the Eredivisie to start an international tug-of-war.