All posts by Will Burns

Park Ji-Sung returns to PSV

August 8, 2013 Will Burns 1 Comment

Park Ji-Sung has made a return to PSV Eindhoven on loan from English Championship side Queens Park Rangers, they are still awaiting a work permit to be issued.

Voetbal International reported on Tuesday that although PSV wanted to acquire the Korean midfielder on a full transfer, they had to opt for a loan as the Eindhoven side is unable to afford Park’s high salary.

The 32-year-old had previously spent three seasons with PSV Eindhoven from January 2003 under the leadership of Guus Hiddink. The legendary coach signed him after both played crucial roles in taking South Korea on their exceptional run to the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup. In Eindhoven, Park won two Eredivisie titles and reached the Champions League semi-finals. He then transferred to England with Manchester United in July 2005.

PSV coach Phillip Cocu, 43, who played for PSV with Park during the team’s golden age and in an interview with local media, he expressed high hopes for Park. Cocu described him as a versatile player who can slot into numerous positions from midfield to attack, and whose vast experience will be of much use to PSV’s cache of young players.

Back in England, he will pleased to leave the London club after having initially been named as QPR captain, he was then stripped of the armband after a series of niggling injuries and the appointment of Harry Redknapp as manager.

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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUALIFYING: ZULTE WAREGEM 0-3 PSV

August 7, 2013 Will Burns 1 Comment

WEDNESDAY 8TH AUGUST

THIRD ROUND QUALIFYING – SECOND LEG

ZULTE WAREGEM 0-3 PSV

PSV win 5-0 on aggregate

It’s mission accomplished for PSV Eindhoven as they defeated Belguim’s SV Zulte-Waregem 5-0 on aggregate. They now await Friday’s Champions League playoff draw to see who stands in their way of a place in the group stages of the competition. It will be no easy task as the Eindhoven club will have to deal with either Arsenal, Lyon, AC Milan, Schalke or Zenit St. Petersburg if they are to reach groups.

Throughout the first-half, as excepted, looking to reduce their 2-0 deficit, the Belgians were on the attack but PSV held strong and kept another clean sheet.

In fifteenth minute, Philip Cocu’s side had a glorious chance to take the lead. Slovenian striker Tim Matavz, in a good position, tried to round goalkeeper Sammy Bossut and the ball dropped perfectly for Memphis Depay but he dragged the effort wide with the goal gaping.

Matavz, who had a terrible night in front of goal in the first leg, had his own chance to put PSV in the lead, but like last week, fluffed at the opportunity. With the ball played through by Depay, the Slovenian was through on goal with the onrushing Bossut trying to close him down. With time, the striker blasted the shot straight at the keeper’s chest much to the delight of the home supporters.

The teams went down the tunnel for half-time, goal-less but ten minutes into the second-half the game finally started to come together for the Eindhoven side.

Bossut again did well to thwart Depay early in the second period after he was played through by central midfielder Stijn Schaars, but the keeper was finally beaten on 56 minutes.

A scramble occurred inside the penalty area and Depay fired a shot at goal, and with the Bossut stranded out of the goal, Zulte’s Steve Colpaert saved on the line with his hand. German referee Felix Zwayer pointed to the spot and gave the defender his marching orders with a straight red. Matavz slotted the penalty home to give PSV the lead and with Zulte needing four goals with only ten-men on the pitch, the Belgians were heading out of the tournament. The goal was PSV’s 200th in the Champions Cup and their first goal in Belgium after four previous outings without scoring.

The lead was doubled with a beautiful goal from 17-year-old Zakaria Bakkali. The lively Depay whipped in a cross from the left to the back post where the Belgian winger was arriving and volleyed the ball home giving Bossut no chance of saving. The technique was sublime to keep the ball down with such power to make it 2-0.

The final nail was slammed into the Zulte coffin in the dying seconds, when the Dutch side went three up. Adam Maher broke free from his marker and Bruno Godeau aiming the tackle the attacking midfielder ended up sending the ball past his own keeper.

Five goals to nil on aggregate but it will not be this easy in the next round, the youngsters of Eindhoven will have to work hard to clinch that Champions’ League group spot.

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NEWS, TRANSFERS

Vitesse loans Chilean wonderkid

August 7, 2013 Will Burns 1 Comment

Chilean left-sided player Cristian Cuevas has become yet another Chelsea player to join Vitesse on a season-long loan.

The highly-rated Cuevas is an 18-year-old Chilean Under-20 international, who joined Chelsea on a five-year deal from O’Higgins in July. He made his first-team debut for his former side in May 2011, having risen through the youth ranks at the club.

Primarily a left-back, he will star as a left-winger at the Arnhem outfit, as club colleague Patrick van Aanholt currently holds the defensive spot.

There are big hopes for Cuevas in his native Chile, with the left footer currently playing two years above his age group and acquitting himself well. He represented the Chilean Under-20 side at this summer’s Under-20 World Cup, helping his side to the quarter-finals where they lost on penalties to Ghana.

Previously this year, Cuevas scored twice in the South American Youth Championships as Chile finished fourth in the tournament after winning Group A.

At Chelsea, Cuevas is almost certainly being viewed as the long-term replacement for Ashley Cole, whose contract expires next summer.

Cuevas, as Van Aanholt and Gael Kakuta has in the past, has been loaned to Vitesse to get valuable first team experience in the Eredivisie. Furthermore when the time is right and if he develops as hoped, Cuevas could challenge current Cole understudy, Ryan Bertrand, for the left-back spot at Stamford Bridge.

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NEWS, TRANSFERS

Piazón set for Vitesse loan

August 6, 2013 Will Burns 1 Comment

Young Brazilian playmaker Lucas Piazón is set to follow his Chelsea teammates Patrick Van Aanholt and Gael Kakuta to Vitesse Arnhem where he join on a season-long deal.

The Europa League champions have already have a strong relationship with the Eredivisie side after sending development players out on loan in the past, and In June saw Dutch international midfielder Marco van Ginkel make a permanent move to Stamford Bridge.

The 19-year-old is highly rated by the London club, and under new manager Jose Mourinho it was thought that he could play a role in the title challenge this year. This experience may have to wait a year as they have decided he is too raw to be thrust into the Chelsea first team squad. Last season, he had a successful six-month spell on loan with Spanish La Liga side Malaga where he made 14 first team appearances.

Piazón has made just one appearance for the Blues in the Premier League, which was during the 8-0 thrashing of Aston Villa. However, the midfielder endured mixed fortunes after arrving as a second-half substitute to lay on an assist for compatriot Ramires, before seeing his penalty saved by Villa ‘keeper Brad Guzan.

In early 2011, Chelsea secured the services of the young Brazilian by means of a pre-contract, having to fight off the interest from a number of the world’s leading clubs, including Serie A giants Juventus. Finally on the 15th of March of that year, São Paulo announced that Piazón could only play for Chelsea senior team after 20 January 2012 when he became eligible to obtain a work visa, but he would join in the 2011 summer transfer window.

If Vitesse can capture this loan deal it will go a long way to fill the gap left by Van Ginkel this past summer.

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EERSTE DIVISIE

EERSTE DIVISIE REPORT: Week 1

August 5, 2013 Will Burns Leave a comment

WEEK 1 – 2nd-5th August 2013

The opening games of the new Eerste Divisie season provided the first matches in professional football for four clubs in the division, and all four new sides ended week one undefeated.

On Friday evening, ten-man FC Dordrecht gained a 2-1 victory at home to an unlucky MVV. The hosts opened the scoring with Jeffrey Fortes after 17 minutes but MVV’s Tom van Hyfte got the leveller before the break. After referee Rogier Honig showed Marvin Peersman the red card on 55 minutes, Giovanni Korte got the winner with twenty minutes remaining against the run of play.

After a goal-less first half, goals from Abdelaziz Khalouta and a Vlatko Lazic own goal in the second period gave Fortuna Sittard a 2-0 win against the travelling De Graafschap. And the game between FC Eindhoven and VVV Venlo ended without either team finding the net.

After just eight minutes into the game, Excelsior‘s Lars Veldwijk and Helmond Sport’s Ferry de Regt collided heads and had to be both substituted. Excelsior took the lead with Lars Hutten on 33 minutes but Helmond replied straight from the restart with a Serhat Koc goal. The visitors went in the break 2-1 ahead when defender Dave Nieskens scored. Jeff Stans got the game’s fourth goal on the hour mark as the teams shared the points.

On Saturday afternoon, Jong PSV held their own away to Sparta Rotterdam and managed to grab a 2-2 draw. Ninteen-year-old midfielder Mohamed Rayhi put PSV ahead until an Iliass Bel Hassani free-kick levelled the game up on the hour mark. Nine minutes later, Cendrino Misdjan nodded the Sparta in the lead but a Menno Koch header gained a point for the league debutants.

Five goals were exchanged in Almere as FC Volendam came back from behind to beat Almere City by three goals to two. Volendam’s hero was Robert Mühren who scored all three of his teams goals. Tim Receveur and Fabian Serrarens replied for the home side but a 78th minute Mühren goal gave the three points to the visitors.

A ninetieth-minute Wout Weghorst goal for FC Emmen spoiled Achilles ’29 chance to gain all three points in their first game as a professional team. The new boys were looking good after Freek Thoone had gave them a 17th minute lead but Alexander Bannink made the score 1-1 just two minutes later. Frank Hol then gave the underdogs the 2-1 advantage on 76 minutes before Weghorst’s grabbed the last gasp equaliser.

In Sunday’s only game we saw yet another 2-2 draw in Tilburg as Willem II hosted FC Den Bosch. Ruud Boymans had put the hosts in front before Benjamin van der Broek may Willem pay for a defensive lapse. Boymans must have thought he had won the game for his side on 87 minutes when he successfully converted a spot-kick. But it was not to be as two minutes later, Furghill Zeldenrust headed to level the score.

Jong Ajax defeated Telstar 2-0 at the Amsterdam ArenA on Monday evening. Highly-rated Danish prospect Lucas Andersen grabbed both of the Ajax goals with Lesley de Sa providing both assists.

Jong FC Twente dished out an emphatic 3-0 defeat to FC Oss, and they began very strong and scored twice in the first seven minutes. Nils Röseler and Felitciano Zchusschen the scorers with the latter adding a third on 71 minutes.

FULL RESULTS

FRIDAY 2ND AUGUST

FC DORDRECHT 2-1 MVV MAASTRICHT

FORTUNA SITTARD 2-0 DE GRAAFSCHAP

EXCELSIOR ROTTERDAM 2-2 HELMOND SPORT

FC EINDHOVEN 0-0 VVV VENLO

SATURDAY 3RD AUGUST

SPARTA ROTTERDAM 2-2 JONG PSV

ALMERE CITY 2-3 FC VOLENDAM

FC EMMEN 2-2 ACHILLES´29

SUNDAY 4TH AUGUST

WILLEM II 2-2 FC DEN BOSCH

MONDAY 5TH AUGUST

JONG AJAX 2-0 TELSTAR

JONG FC TWENTE 3-0 FC OSS

STANDINGS

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TEAM OF THE WEEK

EREDIVISIE TEAM OF THE WEEK

August 5, 2013 Will Burns 1 Comment

Welcome to our new weekly section at TotalDutchFootball.com – the Eredivisie Team of the Week. Below you will see our ‘Player of the Week’ also – each player will be allocated points and at the end of the season we will declare our ‘Player of the Season’. Each player will be given one point for being named in our team and the ‘Player of the Week’ will gain two points.

WEEK 1

GOALKEEPER

Robbin Ruiter (FC Utrecht) – In between the sticks we have FC Utrecht’s Robbin Ruiter, the 6ft 5in goalkeeper kept his team in the match against Go Ahead Eagles on many occasions and lead his team to a draw.

DEFENDERS

Ricardo van Rhijn (Ajax) – The right-back scored a wonderful goal for his side in their 3-0 home win against Roda JC.

Eric Botteghin (FC Groningen) – An excellent debut performance from the Brazilian who has just recently moved from NAC Breda earlier this summer.

Jop van der Linden (Go Ahead Eagles) – The 23-year-old showed the Eredivisie what he can do, with an tremendous double block and even smashing the post in the dying seconds of the game with a superb free-kick

Jetro Willems (PSV) – See Van Rhijn but for PSV against ADO Den Haag

MIDFIELDERS

Kamohelo Mokotjo (PEC Zwolle) – An excellent display that kept Feyenoord’s Jordy Clasie and Lex Immers quiet throughout, also threatened at times.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK Tjaronn Chery (FC Groningen) – A goal and an assist showed the ADO Den Haag fans what they are missing, currently on a season-long loan at Groningen and will sign permanently in July 2014 when his current deal expires.

Christian Eriksen (Ajax) – Ran the show in Friday night’s 3-0 victory, a devastating set-piece display in the opening ten minutes.

ATTACKERS

Andreas Kirm (FC Groningen) – Like Chery, a goal and an assist that helped Groningen defeat NEC 4-1 on Saturday evening.

Georginio Wijnaldum (PSV) – The new captain of PSV seems to be settling in nicely scoring a brilliantly taken goal against ADO.

Alfred Finnbogason (Heerenveen) – The Icelandic hitman is back to his old tricks, scoring twice in an impressive 4-2 win over AZ Alkmaar.

Thanks to Peter McVitie for his input in selecting the best eleven this week.

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EREDIVISIE

EREDIVISIE REPORT: Sunday 4th August 2013

August 4, 2013 Will Burns Leave a comment

WEEK 1 – Sunday 4th August 2013

It was a hot summer’s day today in the Eredivisie, with water breaks introduced by the league halfway through each half. The action did not cool down either so please feel free to take a break yourself half way through the review.

SC CAMBUUR 0-0 NAC BREDA

Sunday’s games kicked off with one of the Eredivisie new boys as Cambuur stepped into the Dutch top flight for the first time for thirteen years, and were roared on by a lively crowd inside the Cambuur Stadion. After an even first-half, the home side came out the better side, in according to the pundits, a battle of the two relegation contenders.

Dwight Lodeweges will be proud of his side’s performance and how they held their own against NAC Breda. None of the eleven players selected have scored at the highest level. Jody Lukoki, on loan from champions Ajax, appeared as a half-time substitute and looked the most likely to make things happen, but the goal did not materialise.

FC UTRECHT 1-1 GO AHEAD EAGLES

After an embarrassing exit from the Europa League in midweek against Luxembourgian side FC Differdange 03, FC Utrecht had to shrug the disappointment off and pull their socks up to entertain the newly promoted Go Ahead Eagles.

On a baking hot day in Utrecht, Jan Wouters side did look to have put the defeat behind them as they dominated the first-half proceedings and found a breakthrough in the 15th minute. Australian midfielder Tommy Oar crossed in from a right-wing free-kick and Dave Bulthuis rose above everyone to nod his team ahead.

Utrecht pressed for a second as Japanese playmaker Yoshiaki Takagi was pulling the strings for Jens Toornstra and Jacob Mulenga but Go Ahead keeper Eloy Room kept the danger men at bay.

The game became a tale of two halves with the new boys dominating the second half and drew level within a minute of the restart. Xander Houtkoop, who scored sixteen goals last year in Eerste Divisie, bursted forward down the left and smashed the finish past Robbin Ruiter.

The disgruntled home crowd got on their teams’ back as Go Ahead smelt blood and went for the kill. Unfortunately the goal never arrived for them and it was mainly due to the fact Ruiter was in the Utrecht goal. Ruiter was pulling out stops from Marnix Kolder, Jarchinio Antonia and Houtkoop.

The draw look to be on the cards until we reached added time at the end of the ninety. Jop van der Linden struck the post with an excellent free-kick two minutes into stoppage time.

The boos rang out at full-time inside the Stadion Galgenwaard, Wouters will be beginning to feel the pressure even inside the opening game of the season.

VITESSE 3-1 HERACLES

New Vitesse coach Peter Bosz faced his old side Heracles Almelo and although he lost his two major stars in Wilfried Bony and Marco van Ginkel in the summer, his side performed well and gained a great 3-1 victory.

In a lovely sign of respect, the away displayed the banner shown below to appreciate what Bosz and his assistant Hendrie Kruzen had done for Heracles under their leadership.

Vitesse debutant Kelvin Leerdam, on his first start for the club since his move from Feyenoord, grabbed the lead for his new side on 26 minutes when he deflected Theo Janssen’s shot past Remko Pasveer in the Heracles goal.

The lead was doubled four minutes later as the tricky Georgian left-winger Valeri Kazaishvili cut inside and surged forward, before floating over a cross towards forward Marcus Pedersen. The Norwegian returning to the club after a loan spell at Danish side Odense, guided the ball into the net.

After the interval, Bosz’s side continued to control the match, but they had to wait until ten minutes remaining to extend the lead further. Ecuadorian wide man Renato Ibarra sprinted into the area before firing a rocket for the third.

Vitesse should have had a fourth on 84 minutes but substitute striker Mike Havenaar shockingly misfired and the empty goal, stayed empty as the ball ballooned over the crossbar.

Heading into stoppage time, Heracles got a consolation, with debutant Matthew Amoah taking full advantage of Leerdam’s misplaced back pass.

An excepted win for Vitesse and striker Pedersen will look to provide the goals to fire them up the league as a replacement for last year’s league top scorer Bony.

PEC ZWOLLE 2-1 FEYENOORD

Ron Jans made a dream start to the season on his return to Zwolle clinching a deserved 2-1 win over Ronald Koeman’s Feyenoord. His side turned in a nightmare performance and two Zwolle players especially came back to haunt Koeman.

Zwolle finished in a very creditable 11th place in their first year back in the top flight of Dutch football last year and their results in pre-season have been excellent. Former Heerenveen boss Jans has led his new club to five friendly victories out of five and that includes a 3-2 win over Werder Bremen and a 5-1 hammering of Ross County last time.

Striker Fred Benson and Kamohelo Mokotjo, the latter signed on a free from Feyenoord this summer, were a thorn in the side to Stefan De Vrij and Bruno Martins Indi in the centre of the Rotterdam defence.

The IJsseldelta Stadion crowd were loud throughout but they nearly broke the decibel record in Zwolle on 66 minutes. Highly-rated 20-year-old midfielder Jesper Drost delivered a perfect cross for Mateusz Klich to head past Erwin Mulder to give Zwolle the lead and send the spectators into rapture.

It was what Zwolle deserved, but Feyenoord equalised five minutes later, which displayed some poor defending by the home side. Defender De Vrij was all alone of the edge of the area and volleyed a shot towards goal, it was going wide so Ruben Schaken nodded it on target into the goal to level the game up.

Zwolle kept their heads up and substitute Guyon Fernandez, on-loan from Feyenoord, popped up with a goal deep into injury time to send his parent club away with nothing.

Koeman has two problems, clearly visible after the first ninety minutes of the campaign. His team is too reliant on Italian target man Graziano Pelle (who had a poor game today), and Feyenoord are already three points behind title rivals Ajax and PSV after just one round of matches. Feyenoord finished in third place last time and it’s now 14 years since they last won the Eredivisie title, so they better improve quickly or their fans could be feeling the disappointment for a 15th year in a row.

STANDINGS

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EREDIVISIE

EREDIVISIE REPORT: Saturday 3rd August 2013

August 3, 2013 Will Burns Leave a comment

WEEK 1 – Saturday 3rd August 2013

As usual in the Dutch top flight, it’s a case of goals, goals, goals on Saturday evening. Two games had five goals exchanged and Heerenveen vs. AZ Alkmaar had six, but as one extreme to the other, FC Twente and RKC Waalwijk failed to find a goal in their match.

ADO DEN HAAG 2-3 PSV

The Cocu Revolution made a great start to their title challenge with a 3-2 away victory over ADO Den Haag. PSV took a 3-0 lead thanks to Georginio Wijnaldum, a Danny Holla own goal and Jetro Willems within the opening 35 minutes. However Holla pulled one back on the stroke of half-time for the home side and young striker Mike Van Duinen reduced the deficit deep into injury time.

Nineteen-year-old forward Jurgen Locadia had an excellent chance to score in the opening minute but was thwarted by goalkeeper Gino Coutinho. PSV ‘keeper Jeroen Zoet was called into action for the first time in the 11th minute as he palmed away a long-range effort from Jerson Cabral.

A minute later and the visitors took the lead, new signing Stijn Schaars played in Wijnaldum and the captain slotted home at the far post.

Wijnaldum came very close to doubling the lead on 17 minutes with young prodigy Memphis Depay setting up Wijnaldum, he first touch was sublime, but his shot was subpar as the ball crept agonisingly wide of the post.

ADO had their chances too, as Cabral fired an effort on target but had his shot nodded away by Jeffrey Bruma.

PSV extended their lead in the 27th minute through an unlucky own goal by Holla. The defender tried to clear a long ball from Wijnaldum, but his looping header beat Coutinho.

Cocu’s young side, with five teenagers in the starting eleven, looked to have settled the match six minutes later. Left-back Willems wrong footed three defenders before blasting home.

PSV did not let up, and a minute later, looked for a fourth and the left-wing menace Depay looked likely to score, as he cut into the box and rounded two defenders but he sent his shot wide.

PSV sat back to protect the third goal lead but as it invited ADO on to the attack, they found a goal before half-time. Danny Holla making amends for his mistake by firing Ninos Gouriye’s dangerous cross past Zoet.

Diciating the tempo, PSV slowed down the pace of the game, with the home side enjoying the bulk of possession. Chances went begging when Wijnaldum headed Zakaria Bakkali’s free-kick over the bar and Locadia just could not connect with Depay´s cross. While ADO striker Van Duinen headed well wide over the bar in the 68th minute.

Van Duinen handed Den Haag a lifeline in second-half stoppage time, capitalising on a defensive slip but PSV held on to take all three points.

HIGHLIGHTS

NEC 1-4 FC GRONINGEN

FC Groningen also made a winning start to their campaign defeating NEC by four goals to one at the Goffertstadion on Saturday evening, a margin of goals that makes them top the table as of time of writing.

Both NEC and Groningen were quite active this summer in the transfer market, capturing six new players. As Groningen signed known Eredivisie experience in Tjaronn Chery, Eric Botteghin and Nick van der Velden, NEC mostly signed players without Dutch top flight familiarity.

It was obvious last season that NEC could use some fresh blood in as coach Alex Pastoor stated at the start of the campaign that him aim was to guide the team the Europa League playoffs but in the last twelve games were only four points were collected, three of them against the relegated Willem II.

Groningen came flying out of the blocks and one of the new boys, Chery scored the opening goal after just ten minutes of play. Kalle Johnson, last season’s NEC third choice goalkeeper, was responsible for the goal. Filip Kostic’s shot from the edge of the area, changed direction, but the weak save from Johnson led Chery to grab his first goal for the club on his debut.

It was 2-0 on 27 minutes and again Chery was involved. He placed a through ball to Andraz Kirm and the Slovenian outwitted Johnson to double the lead.

The two goal advantage put the visitors in the driving seat with Navarone Foor replying for the hosts before the half-time whistle.

Howver, second-half strikes from David Texeira, on 54 minutes and a late Richairo Zivkovic goal put the result beyond doubt.

FC TWENTE 0-0 RKC WAALWIJK

After losing top stars, Nader Chadli and Leroy Fer, FC Twente looked toothless and clueless in their opener against a RKC Waalwijk side which they should be quite capable of defeating. Instead it was a poor game and neither side could find a goal.

Even RKC has made some major changes in their playing staff, coach Erwin Koeman had to say goodbye to Jeroen Zoet, Cuco Martina, Henrico Drost, Guy Ramos and Ard van Peppen. Hardly any replacements of the calibre of the players that have departed have came in, and even after the Florian Jozefzoon’s transfer to PSV, there was not much money for new players.

The hosts did have their chances to win the match, especially through Willem Janssen and Luc Castaignos but the new RKC goalkeeper Jan Seda, had an excellent game and kept their best efforts out.

HEERENVEEN 4-2 AZ ALKMAAR

Heerenveen and AZ shared six goals in a high tempo match at a packed Abe Lenstra Stadion. Marco van Basten’s side showed that the administrative problems at the club have no impact on the performance on the field.

AZ had the best chance inside the first ten minutes when Swedish midfielder Viktor Elm found himself unmarked in the area and fired from close range straight at his compatriot Kristoffer Nordfeldt.

Heerenveen looked a different side to last year, with the high pressure and tenacity winning balls back deep into the opposition half. They grabbed the lead after 22 minutes when a penalty was awarded after a handball from Jan Wuytens inside the box. Icelandic hot shot Alfred Finnbogason made no mistake with the spot-kick, powering the shot into the right corner past Esteban Alvarado.

AZ were close to equalising minutes later but Nemanja Gudelj’s header from a corner clipped the crossbar and went over.

The visitors did grab the leveller, five minutes after the internal, with a tremendous solo effort from right-back Mattias Johansson. The Swede surged up the pitch with the ball stuck to his feet, played a lovely one-two inside the area with Aron Jóhannsson, and smashed it home.

The teams were only level pegging for just less than four minutes as Finnbogason clinched his second of the game. It was a poacher’s goal by the Iceland international, tapping home from a save from a lashing shot from Pele van Anholt.

Two minutes later, Van Anholt also got on the scoresheet as Heerenveen extended their lead to 3-1. The defender, who loves to get forward, arrived into the box as Finnbogason was doing some great play on the left of the area. The Icelandic squared the ball for Van Anholt to side-foot home with a neat finish.

The goals quietened down but the action did not, the hosts were reduced to ten-men after on-loan defender Mitchell Dijks was shown his marching orders for a strong but late challenge on Steven Berghuis. Luckily the striker was not seriously injured and continued the match.

AZ were given a chance to get back into the game when Rajiv van La Parra was deemed to have handle the ball in the area. The newly stated American international Jóhannsson converted perfectly hitting the inside of the left post on the way in.

The scoring had not been completed with the Van Basten’s boys when Van La Parra hit a superb curling effort from just outside the area to complete a 4-2 victory for Heerenveen.

HIGHLIGHTS

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EREDIVISIE

EREDIVISIE REPORT: Friday 2nd August 2013

August 2, 2013 Will Burns Leave a comment

WEEK 1 – Friday 2nd August 2013

Friday night and champions Ajax started the crusade on the hunt for their fourth successive title with a 3-0 victory over relegation contenders Roda JC at the Amsterdam ArenA, even though they did have quite a bit of luck.

AJAX 3-0 RODA JC

In an exciting beginning to the game, Ajax burst out the blocks much to delight of the Amsterdam crowd, and Frank de Boer’s side were nearly a goal ahead inside the first seven minutes. Danish playmaker Christian Eriksen crashed a free-kick on the edge of the box onto the crossbar of Filip Kurto’s goal, but a few minutes after that, the hosts were ahead.

Another free-kick, but this time Eriksen whipped the ball in from the left-hand side that deceived everyone in the box. Kurto used his reflexes to divert the ball with his foot, but the ball rebounded off full-back Ricardo Van Rhijn’s shins and into the goal. An unfortunate goal for Roda to concede.

Ajax dominated and captain Siem de Jong doubled the lead on 31 minutes. Again, the Dane Eriksen was involved, he placed an ideal through ball with found De Jong inside the box, who kept his composure to coolly slot the ball home.

With the trio of De Jong, Viktor Fischer and debutant Bojan as Ajax’s attacking threat, Roda failed to find much of the ball out of their own half and Ajax should have put the game to bed. Bojan had a genuine claim for a spotkick at the start of the second-half when he found his way into the box only to be clearly fouled by Ard van Peppen, but the referee waved away his appeals.

On the hour mark, as Ajax tired, Roda began to see a lot more of the ball and were close to getting back into it when winger Guus Hupperts placed a shot onto the post.

On 70 minutes, Daley Blind was caught pulling on Krisztián Németh’s shirt and referee Danny Makkelie pointed to the spot. The away supporters were on their feet in delight but Wiljan Pluim blazed the resulting kick over Kenneth Vermeer’s crossbar. It is extraordinary that Pluim’s effort is now the fifth consecutive penalty that has been missed by opponents of Ajax.

The icing on the cake was on 83 minutes when Ajax cemented the points with their third goal. The new number 7 for the Amsterdammers, Viktor Fischer with a deft chip after Lasse Schone had forced Kurto into yet another save and De Jong hit the post with the rebound.

Ajax win and sit top of the league, while Roda JC linger at the bottom and regret the penalty miss that could have possibly changed the scoreline.

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

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FEATURE

A look at PSV’s Karim Rekik

August 2, 2013 Will Burns 1 Comment

There are rumours of Manchester City being interested in signing a centre-back (Pepe to be precise) as Joleon Lescott seeks more playing time before the World Cup which may not be possible at City due to the meteoric emergence of Mataja Nastasic. But there’s one player who may well compete for the starting spot in the central defence in the upcoming years, Karim Rekik. Rekik is well known in the youth circuit and is rated as one of the most promising player from City.

Background

Karim Rekik,18, (Left Foot) plays for the Netherlands youth and is of Tunisian descent. Rekik spent 9 years at the Feyenoord academy before moving to Manchester at a very young age. He made his City debut at the age of 16 when he came on from the bench as a substitute for Wayne Bridge against Birmingham City in a League Cup tie. He was latter loaned to Portsmouth where he was a regular player on the team list having started 8 matches, usually occupying the Left back position for the
Pompeys. The next loan spell to Blackburn was a frustrating one as he started in only 4 matches and
being named on the bench in 8 matches. He made his Premier League debut in December when he started against Reading in a 1-0 victory, again occupying the Left back spot. Currently he is at PSV Eindhoven on loan and produced a match winning performance against Fenerbahce in 2-0 in the recent friendly, starting at his natural centre-back position. Rekik is a regular member for the Netherlands Youth national team. Infact, Rekik captains the Netherlands U19 squad. He had to withdraw from the U19 Euros because of his loan spell at PSV.

Scout Report

In his own words,Rekik’s natural position is centre-back but he can cover up the left-back spot whenever needed. Rekik has been/is the captain of Feyenoord youth, City reserves and the Netherlands youth national team. Despite his young age, he has already acquired some handy experience. Standing 6 foot 1 inch tall, Rekik uses his height to good use. He is very strong in the air and we can expect some power headers from him in set piece situations. Being robust, he is very difficult to push off the ball. Rekik is extremely confident possession and he showed his rich variety of passes in the recent friendly against Fenerbahce. He can read the game very well and has brilliant anticipation and intercepting skills to handle any Strikers next move. Rekik is well composed in any situations but at the same time does not shy away from sliding in a tackle. He is always there to challenge for ground or aerial 50/50 and his leadership qualities can be seen in the way he conducts himself on the pitch. He positions himself well and it won’t be surprising to see him in the City squad by next season itself. Rekik is the only left footed centre-back at PSV and with the highly rated Jetro Willems at left-back, Rekik will get to play at his preferred position more often.

The loan spell at PSV is a very good platform for Rekik to announce himself and to gain more experience from playing at the top level. There’s no doubt Rekik will come out as a more developed player at the end of this loan spell. Rekik said he wants to represent Netherlands at the 2014 World Cup, It maybe a too high target to achieve in such less time but no denying this young lad will be the first choice centre back for Netherlands and City very soon.

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EERSTE DIVISIE

Eerste Divisie 2013/14 Season Preview

August 2, 2013 Will Burns 1 Comment

The new Eerste Divisie season begins tonight, Markus Wenzel is here with a full preview of the new season.

The Eerste Divisie is facing a season with many unknowns. After the bankruptcies from AGOVV Apeldoorn and the SC Veendam last season, as well as the failures of Haarlem and RBC Roosendaal in recent years, was the league finished with only 16 teams. As a result, the KNVB decided to give the competition a makeover and a new structure of the League and decided for a version with 20 teams.

For the first time since 2005, the possibility that teams from outside the professional football world were able to join the Eerste Divisie. While at that time the FC Omniword, today known as Almere City FC, managed to fulfill all criteria to join the league with the help of private investors, were this time four teams invited by the KNVB.

After some discussion that lasted weeks, the KNVB and the media partners from FOX (former Eredivisie Live) the KNVB invited the Beloftenteams (2nd team) from the two biggest teams in the Eredivisie, Ajax Amsterdam and PSV Eindhoven. The other two teams should be the two champions of the Topklasse Zaterdag (3rd division on Saturday) and the Topklasse Zondag (3rd division on Sunday). The problem with this was that both champions, vv Katwijk (Zaterdag) and Achilles`29 (Zondag) resigned weeks ago the possible promotion into the Eerste Divisie because of the strong rules in professional football.

Every new team discussed with the KNVB and Katwijk decided to reject the promotion and stayed in the Topklasse. So the KNVB needed another team for the Eerste Divisie and searched another Beloftenteam. The only team that was ready was Jong FC Twente, and they became the newest member of the Eerste Divisie.

Unlike the other 16 teams the four new teams have some special regulations for their first campaign in professional football. Achilles´29, Jong Ajax, Jong PSV and Jong FC Twente are not allowed to be promoted directly (with the aid of the Periodenkampionen) into the Eredivisie. If the feeder club of the Beloftenteams relegates into the Eerste Divisie, than the Beloftenteam must go back to the Beloften Eredivisie. Every Beloftenteam must have a fixed number of professional footballers (16), a headcoach and only three players plus one keeper is allowed to be older than 23 years. It will be exciting to watch as the teams use the rule that they are allowed to use players from the first team. Every player who played less than 15 games in the Eredivisie can play for the Beloftenteam. If one of the big stars from Ajax, Twente or PSV was injured or suspended or has no perspective for a short time in the first team he could play in the Eerste Divisie. The three teams earn no TV money. Achilles´29 from Groesbeek on the other hand, remains in the status of an amateur club. They do not need to have professional players in their squad and they will be helped with money from the TV contract.

Another big new rule is that the teams have chosen the preferred match day ahead of the season. So the Eerste Divisie has now games from Friday to Monday with up to five different kick-off times each weekend.

Like in past seasons, we will have no relegation into the Topklasse. The winner of the league will get promoted directly and the four Periodenkampionen (best team of 9 games) plus the best four team without a Periodentitel (except one of the new teams) will again join two teams from the Eredivisie to play out two more teams for the top flight, in a three round play-off system.

VVV from Venlo will try to make amends for their relegation last term. After finishing in 17th in the Eredivisie they failed to avoid relegation in the Play-offs. In the second round, VVV lost to Go Ahead Eagles. For the direct promotion, Venlo have changed nearly the whole squad. They said goodbye to fifteen players and signed thirteen new ones. Besides some youth players they contracted two players from rival Fortuna Sittard (Quin Kruijsen and Prince Rajcomar) and some players with knowledge of the League. In addition to that Venlo has to sign a new coach. Ton Lokhoff was fired at the 6th of June, so VVV signed René Trost from MVV.

After a disastrous season, Willem II finished last in the Eredivisie and were relegated. Only five victories in the whole season lead to the bottom position since week 12 for the club from Tilburg. But unlike Venlo, Willem II trust Jürgen Streppel to coach the team with success in his third year as Tilburg coach. They lost some important players like Nicky Hofs (to Vitesse), Marc Höcher (to Roda JC) or strike Aurélien Joachim (was loan from Düdelingen (LUX), but signed the Armenian international Norair Mamedov from FC Emmen and some experienced players from the Eerste Divisie like Jeffrey van Nuland (Helmond) or Freek Heerkens (Go Ahead).

The FC Volendam finished second last year and threw away the chance for the direct promotion into the top flight on the last day of the season. In the final play-off match for a place in the Eredivisie, they played the Go Ahead Eagles, who avert Volendam at the last day of the regular season the direct promotion and lost again. But after a radical change in the team, for example they lose the top scorer of the league, Jack Tuyp, to Ferencvaros, and the fact that Volendam signed with one exception (Kevin Wattamaleo from NEC) only own youngsters, so they may be perhaps not such a strong contender for promotion.

Sparta Rotterdam on the other hand seems to be a team who could gain promotion in this season. Finishing third last season, they lost a key player with keeper Pellatz, who signed for Dynamo Dresden, but got veteran keeper Khalid Sinouh from NEC and former striker John Verhoek. Soufian El Hassnaoui from De Graafschap and Cendrino Misidjan make Sparta under the new coach Adri Bogers one of the favorites of this season but they will have to try to cope with a trauma. Sparta was in the play-off-final against Roda JC and Sparta threw the promotion away in the last minute of the game. Without the final goal in Kerkrade, where Roda JC won 2-1, Sparta would be now in the Eredivisie on the away goal rule.

Helmond Sport hit the exclusion of AGOVV and Veendam last season very hard. After Helmond was also deducted the points from the two games against Veendam, they lost the top spot in the league. Top scorer Emrullah Güvenc left the club to join Antwerp in Belgium. Jeffrey van Nuland plays now for Willem II and Samir Fazli has gone back to Heerenveen but they signed potentially great replacements. Kevin Visser and Stanley Elbers from ADO and Serhat Koc from FC Eindhoven.

MVV from Maastricht lost their coach to VVV and find their new one in Kerkrade. Tini Ruys, a former head coach of Fortuna Sittard could lead MVV to a glorious season.

Fortuna Sittard on the other hand lost some important players. Belgian, Ramazan Cevik was loaned to Standard Liege in Belgium. Quin Kruijsen and Prince Rajcomar will play for VVV this season and Joeri Schroyen takes on the challenge of the adventure to play Eredivisie with the Go Ahead Eagles. Veteran defender Fernando Ricksen, who played for AZ, Glasgow Rangers and Zenit St. Petersburg, ended his career in professional football for the second time and signed with RKSV Minor, a team in the sixth tier of Dutch Football. With Jeffrey Vlug from Den Bosch, Boy Heijsteeg from Topklasser EVV Echt, the loan from Franco Zennaro has Sittard an striker Patrick Amoah from Belgium club WS Woluwe by now only signed four new players.

De Graafschap will try to play a better season. After they relegated in 2012, they missed the chance to get back in the first tier. They finished eighth and failed to win the play-offs. The team from Doetinchem said good bye to a few players. So signed Sam Hendriks a contract with Jong Ajax or Soufian El Hassnaoui with Sparta. At the same time De Graafschap decided to not renew the contracts of 8 other players, for example Gregor Breinburg, Jochem Jansen or Adil Auassar. Four players are now new signings in Doetinchem. Besides one player from youth and a Keeper from Go Ahead Eagles, Jasper Heusinkveld, they signed Edwin Linssen from AEK Larnaca and Tim Bakens from Cambuur.

FC Dordrecht, a competitor in the last Play-offs, wants to confirm their good season with the ninth position. However, their losses could be hard to replace. Four of their players (Amevor, Rijsdijk, Tano and Kastenaar) join a team in the Eredivisie, three players want to play in the amateur football and Gielisse, Veldwijk and Post joined another team in the Eerste Divisie. So they signed two players from Spain, Erison Danso (Valencia B) and Carlos Carrasco Rodriguez (FC Orihuela), Paul Gladon from Sparta and some talented players from their own youth and other lower teams. The new coach Harry van der Ham, who was fired once during the last season, might have a problem to get back into the Play-offs

The FC Oss was behind Volendam the biggest unlucky team last season. They missed the Play-offs with 3 points. Coach Anton Janssen lost 17 players from the team, 8 players signed at a team from a lower league. Unfortunately for them, they lost many key players like Marc Koot (Helmond), Ferhat Görgülü (Genclerbirligi) or Muslu Nalbantoglu (Orduspor). These gaps should be filled by the 6 new players. These new man from the benches of Eredivisieclubs and regular players from the Topklasse should help Oss to establish in the first half of the Eerste Divisie.

FC Den Bosch signed a new coach during the summer. After the resignation from Jan Poortvliet they signed Ruud Kaiser. The former player from Den Bosch was the technical director from Lierse SK and wants now to reach the Play-offs. But like many teams in the Eerste Divisie they have a radical change in their squad. Some players are now Free Agents, Keeper Kevin Begois is now a player from Zwolle, Bart van Brakel will play in Leeuwarden for Cambuur and two players, Jeffrey Vlug and Randy Wolters, signed with another club in the League. On the other side they contracted the Brazilian defender Alair Cruz Vicente from Sparta Rotterdam and Stijn de Looijer, who signed after a one year adventure in Nijmegen again for the team from `s-Hertogenbosch. Another new signings are players from the youth or amateur teams.

The FC Emmen lost also some key players from last season. Hiariaj and Jones were only loan from Groningen, Armenian International Mamedov signed with Willem II, Harm Zeinstra should be one of the new Cambuur-keepers and Ruud ter Heide will play in the Hoofdklasse with SVZW. Be seen as a success can be the comeback from midfielder Tim Siekman, who played the last three years in Hardenberg in the Topklasse. They also signed the Free Agent Sander Rozema, who lost his job last season after Veendam goes out of business and some other players from the benches of Eredivisieteams.

The new setup of the Eerste Divisie is for Almere City a heavy problem. Almere, a city from the environment of Amsterdam, was in the last years a partner club from Ajax and got every year some players on loan. Last year for example Gino van Kessel or Sven Nieuwpoort. But now with Jong Ajax in the League, it’s no longer allowed. But they not loose only the loan players. The Keepers Dennis Gentenaar signed at NEC and Erwin Friebel at amateurteam DHC. Other players like Gino Felixdaal or Leroy Resodihardjo are now without any contract or will play in the Topklasse. On the other hand Almere signed a few talented players from the Beloftenteams of AZ, Utrecht or Vitesse.

Also Telstar from Velsen extended many contracts of their old team not. But the biggest losses could be without a doubt the transfers from Jerold Promes to Venlo and Leondro Resida to Emmen. Both players join competitors for a better position in the upcoming season. But to Telstars advantage they could sign two players from the Eredivisie. Tim Keurntjes signed from Groningen and Daryl van Mieghem from Almelo.

After two disastrous season Excelsior Rotterdam, Relegation in 2012 and the second last position in the Eerste Divisie in 2013, the club from the Stadion Woudestein must change everything. They fired coach Leon Vlemmings and signed former Danish International Jon Dahl Tomasson as headcoach. It will be the first job as headcoach for the former Player from Feyenoord. In contrast to the last few years Excelsior has by now no loan player from the big partner Feyenoord in it’s squad. So they tried to renovate their team with players of their own youth. As a big name is Jeff Stans from RKC Waalwijk new at Excelsior. In addition, they gave 8 players no further contract for this season.

The FC Eindhoven is the veteran of the Eerste Divisie. No team is longer active at the second tier of Dutch football without a promotion or a relegation. This season will be the 37.season in row for the FC in this league. After a great season in 2011/12 they got a really bad last year and finished last. Another big blow was the addition from Jong PSV to the Eerste Divisie. Because of that the FC Eindhoven is no longer allowed to loan players from PSV. After the 8 players who joined the FC last season from the big brother they must now try to recruit their new players from other teams. This summer they signed for example the defenders Chiro N`Toko from ADO and Norichio Nieveld from PEC Zwolle. The new coach Jean-Paul de Jong must play without the players from PSV and key players like Fukan Alakmak (now RKC), topscorer Sehat Koc (now Helmond) or the Old-International Theo Lucius, who joined the Kozakken Boys in the Topklasse.

Achilles´29 from Groesbeek started their first campaign in the League with most of the team who won the Topklasse Zondag and lost the Amateur championship last season. A heavy blow, however, is the loss of three key players from last season. Keeper Barry Ditewig, Michael Lanting and Dominique Scholten wanted to stay in the amateur football and join Zaterdagtopklasser Spakenburg. Instead Achilles signed Keeper Nick Hengelmann from Vitesse and Steven Edwards from NAC. So the only plan for the team could be to play along and not to embarrass themselves in the new Division.

Jong Ajax will use the campaign to gain experience from players with this project. With exception of Marvin Höner, a successful striker in last years A-Jugend-Bundesliga West in Germany for Armina Bielefeld, and the loan of Stanislav Lobotka from Ajax’s Slovak partner club AS Trencin, can the new coach Alfons Groenendijk work with many players who go through the Youth of Ajax. Groenendijk, who was responsible for the A1 from Ajax last season and was active as a player and a coach in the Eredivisie, knows many of his players. Also in this team will be some players who came back from loan like Sven Nieuwpoort from Almere or Geoffrey Castillion from Almelo if he find no new team. It’s also possible for injured players from the first team that they will play their first games in this team to get game practice again. In any case, Ajax has many talented players in this team and it will be exciting to watch.

Jong PSV got also a new coach. The Bosnian Darije Kalezic, who was active in the Eerste Divisie as player and coach, has to work with some great talents from the Netherlands and a few international players. But same as Jong Ajax will the team here change within the season, depending on the results and events of the first team. For the participation in the Eerste Divisie PSV must end it’s cooperation with local rival FC Eindhoven. So the players who would normaly get game practice in professional football, last season 8 players were transferred from PSV to FC Eindhoven, will now play for Jong PSV.

Also Jong Twente, with their new coach Jan Zoutman, will play with some talents who came back from loan. Besides some international talents and defender Sven Verlaan from an amateur team, the squad consists of many player from the Youth Academy of FC Twente.

So the Fans will see 380 games this season instead of 308 or less like last season. But not every fan is allowed to see every game of his team in the stadium. In addition to the almost obligatory ban for fans from Ajax and PSV at the opponents pitch, has PSV declared the fans from Willem II, Oss, Jong Twente, MVV, Fortuna Sittard, Den Bosch and De Graafschap are not welcome in Eindhoven. After this announcement the FC Den Bosch banned the fans from Jong Ajax and Willem II in their away games in Den Bosch.

The All-Time-Table is lead by Cambuur Leeuwarden (44 seasons, 2.227 points) but after their promotion there is the chance for the FC Eindhoven to take over the first position. The club from Eindhoven collected 2.205 points in 53 seasons and it is possible for them to get more than 22 points at the end of the season. However Eindhoven is the team with the most losses and the most goals against them in the history of the Eerste Divisie.

Besides the four new teams there is a chance for Helmond Sport to overtake Heracles Almelo, FC Volendam to overtake Excelsior, Fortuna Sittard to overtake Heerenveen and Wageningen, Willem II to overtake ADO, Sparta to overtake Elinkwijk and Delft and Almere can overtake Stormvogels and Amersfoort.

Without a doubt this will be an exciting season for the Eerste Divisie. The officials from the KNVB must show that they prove their critics wrong with the new concept. Achilles´29 must prove that they can compete in professional football. The three Beloftenteams must demonstrate that they play fair and don’t use too many players from the Eredivisie squad. The two relegated teams must verify their ambitions to get back directly into the Eredivisie. And many of the other teams will point out their strength to play for the promotion over one long season.

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EREDIVISIE

EREDIVISIE 2013/14 Season Preview

July 31, 2013 Will Burns 1 Comment

The 2013/14 Eredivisie campaign is ready to kick-off this Friday night with reigning champions Ajax beginning the defence of their league championship hosting Roda JC at the Amsterdam Arena. As per usual, the Dutch summer has seen the influx of richer clubs across Europe pilfering some of the best young talents from the league.

After signing a new contract extending his stay in Amsterdam until 2016, coach Frank de Boer heads into the new season looking to gain the fourth successive Eredivisie shield with some minimal changes. Veteran striker Ryan Babel has been shipped out to Turkey with Kasimpasa but other than that, no great losses in the title-winning squad. Out-of-favour Serbian midfielder Miralem Sulejmani has left for Benfica and fringe full-back Mitchell Dijks has been loaned to Marco van Basten’s Heerenveen for a season.

Arriving is the highly-rated striker, Bojan Krkic from Barcelona. After successful loan spells in Serie A with AC Milan and AS Roma, the 22-year-old starlet will look to take the Dutch league by storm. Joining him will be Jong Oranje central defender Mike van der Hoorn, 20 from FC Utrecht. Last season was Van der Hoorn’s breakthrough year in Utrecht, playing 44 league matches and scoring six goals.

It has been a case of all-change in Eindhoven with new head coach Philip Cocu starting a revolution of sorts at PSV, selling off many of the underperforming squad from last term and building his own team to challenge for the title this year. Out goes many of the players from the first team including the retiring captain Mark van Bommel. Two huge losses, but gained huge fees for the club are Dries Mertens and Kevin Strootman, who both head to Serie A to progress their careers. Also leaving the Phillips Stadion are: Erik Pieters, Jeremain Lens, Orlando Engelaar, Atiba Hutchinson, Wilfried Bouma and Boy Waterman. After the clear out, Cocu has looked to youth to start a crusade for trophies.

The new boss made a real statement stealing the signing of Adam Maher from under Ajax’s noses. Maher arrives after torturing his new club in the KNVB Beker final on 9th May this year, and his old club AZ Alkmaar ended running out 2-1 winners that day. PSV have never had the problem of unable to score goals but Cocu has bolstered his attacking options with the ultra fast winger Florian Jozefzoon arriving from RKC Waalwijk, and former PSV favourite Ji-Park Sung is due to be borrowed from Queens Park Rangers by the end of the week. However, most importantly, the defence has been strengthened by bringing in Jeffrey Bruma from Chelsea and loaning Karim Rekik from Manchester City. In the absence of Marc van Bommel, Cocu will look to Stijn Schaars to control play, win the ball then provide Maher, Georginio Wijnaldum or young prodigy Memphis Depay with chances on goal. Schaars joined from Sporting Lisbon for a combined €1.6millon fee long with 21-year-old Colombian right-back Santiago Arias.

In my opinion, I cannot decide on whether Ajax or PSV will win the title this year, but I am confident that these two teams will be the only two in the title race. However, Feyenoord are still a strong team and will look once again to the goals of Italian hitman Graziano Pelle to fire them up the league. Being able to persuade Jordy Clasie and Stefan de Vrij to sign new contract extensions was the major success of the summer for the Rotterdam club, but coach Ronald Koeman has not been able to add any new players to his squad.

Vitesse Arnhem, under the new leadership of Peter Bosz, have been heavily depleted losing their two biggest stars of last season Marco van Ginkel to Chelsea and Wilfried Bony to Swansea City of the Premier League. Right side defender/midfielder Kelvin Leerdam arrives from Feyenoord and Marko Vejinovic joins from Heracles Almelo as a free agent. Obviously, these two new signings will be hard pressed to replace the superstars that have moved on but with Gael Kakuta and Patrick van Aanholt returning on-loan from Chelsea, they will aim for a Europa League place. Norwegian target man Marcus Pedersen returns from a loan spell in Denmark with Odense, after having an impressive Under-21 European Championships with his home country.

FC Twente, like Vitesse, have cashed in on talent, with Nacer Chadli and Leroy Fer also heading to England, with Tottenham and Norwich respectively and contract-rebel Douglas finally departing for Dinamo Moscow. Twente are still looking to be active in the market until the window shuts but they have brought in defensive cover with Dico Koppers from Ajax, and midfielder creativity with Kyle Ebecilio arriving permanently from Arsenal.

Although losing Maher, the KNVB Beker winners AZ Alkmaar fared well this past weekend in their Johan Cruijff Schaal showdown with champions Ajax, narrowly losing 3-2 after extra time. The highly-rated central defender Jeffrey Gouweleeuw joins from Heerenveen and Serbian playmaker Nemanja Gudelj will look to replace the creativity of Maher in the side. AZ can fall into the category that could also press for Europe again this term.

FC Utrecht look in bad shape after their embarrassing two-legged Europa League qualifier defeat to Differdange of Luxembourg last week. Joining on-loan from PSV, Belgian centre-back Timothy Derijck will try to fill the gap that Van der Hoorn has left in defence. Coach Jan Wouters has managed to persuade midfield star Jens Toornstra to stay at the club for now, with PSV sniffing around earlier this summer.

FC Groningen, ADO Den Haag, Heracles Almelo and SC Heerenveen will be trying to achieve more than mid-table obscurity this year round. Groningen lost first-choice defender Virgil van Dijk to Scottish champions Celtic and top winger Leandro Bacuna to Aston Villa, but they have used the cash wisely to all-round strengthen their squad. Coming in are young Hungarian striker Krisztián Adorján from Liverpool, speedy winger Tjaronn Chery from ADO. Defensive trio Eric Botteghin, William Troost-Ekong and Giliano Wijnaldum, from NAC Breda, Tottenham Hotspur and AZ respectively, arrive to fill the hole left by Van Dijk. Nick van der Velden joined on a free from NEC to add some bite to the midfield.

ADO brought in free agents Michiel Kramer, Ninos Gouriye and Ricky van Haaren but looking at the squad they lack a few players to push themselves up the league. Even though, Kramer scored 22 goals in 32 appearances for Eerste Divisie side FC Volendam last year, I find it hard for him to make an impact in the top flight.

Lack of funds in Almelo meant Heracles also dipped in the free agency to improve their squad including adding Ghanaian midfielder Matthew Amoah from Heerenveen earlier this week. Creative attacking midfielder Bryan Linssen arrives from VVV Venlo and is tipped to excel this season and may use the Heraclieden as a stepping stone to bigger things next season. Heracles lost Brazilian veteran striker Everton to Saudi team Al-Nassr and Vejinovic which will majorly hamper their chances of reaching great heights.

Marco Van Basten’s Heerenveen look to have the best opportunity to break through this term, especially after they clinched the signing of Magnus Wolff Eikrem from Molde. After the departures of Gouweleeuw (to AZ) and Filip Djuridic to Benfica, Van Basten excited the fans with the signature of the Norwegian midfielder, who was highly-rated back in his homeland and should suit the Eredivisie well. Winger Yanit Wildschut also joined from relegated VVV, and will add pace to the attack that has (so far) kept onto highly-sought Icelandic hitman Alfred Finnbogasson. In defence, Mitchell Dijks has been loaned from Ajax to gain some much needed first-team experience.

The new boys in the league this season are SC Cambuur and Go Ahead Eagles, like PEC Zwolle this time last year, they are heavily tipped to go straight back down. Zwolle defied the odds last term and finished a respectable 11th and six points clear of relegation trouble. Cambuur and Eagles will be aiming to emulate them and steer away from the Eerste Divisie. Also trying to avoid relegation will be NAC Breda, RKC Waalwijk, NEC Nijmegen and Roda JC.

Zwolle’s manager last year, Art Langeler has left to coach the youth team of PSV so he has been replaced by Ron Jans. Jans brought in Feyenoord pair Guyon Fernandez (on-loan) and Kamohelo Mokotjo (free) to try and improve on their unexpected great position last year.

CHAMPIONSHIP ODDS

TEAM	BEST PRICE	BOOKIE
AJAX	5/4	Paddy Power
PSV	12/5	Coral
FEYENOORD	8/1	BetVictor
FC TWENTE	16/1	Bet365
AZ ALKMAAR	20/1	Bet365
VITESSE	28/1	Betway
FC UTRECHT	33/1	Betfair
HEERENVEEN	50/1	Bet365
FC GRONINGEN	100/1	BetVictor
ADO DEN HAAG	200/1	William Hill
HERACLES	250/1	Sky Bet
PEC ZWOLLE	250/1	Paddy Power
NAC BREDA	500/1	Bet Victor
RKC WAALWIJK	750/1	William Hill
NEC NIJMEGEN	1000/1	William Hill
RODA JC	1250/1	Coral
SC CAMBUUR	2000/1	William Hill
GO AHEAD EAGLES	2500/1	William Hill

RELEGATION ODDS

TEAM	BEST PRICE	BOOKIE
GO AHEAD EAGLES	1/3	BetVictor
SC CAMBUUR	1/2	BetVictor
NAC BREDA	9/4	BetVictor
NEC NIJMEGEN	9/4	BetVictor
RODA JC	9/4	BetVictor
RKC WAALWIJK	9/4	BetVictor
HERACLES	3/1	BetVictor
PEC ZWOLLE	7/2	BetVictor
ADO DEN HAAG	14/1	BetVictor
FC GRONINGEN	25/1	BetVictor
HEERENVEEN	33/1	BetVictor
FC UTRECHT	66/1	BetVictor
VITESSE	100/1	BetVictor
AZ ALKMAAR	150/1	BetVictor
FC TWENTE	200/1	BetVictor
FEYENOORD	250/1	BetVictor
PSV	500/1	BetVictor
AJAX	1000/1	BetVictor

MY PREDICTIONS

Top Three: 1. AJAX/PSV

3. FEYENOORD

Top Goalscorer: GRAZIANO PELLE (FEYENOORD)

Breakthrough Star: MEMPHIS DEPAY (PSV)

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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUALIFYING: PSV 2-0 ZULTE WAREGEM

July 30, 2013 Will Burns Leave a comment

Tonight’s game will have the PSV fans in a hopeful mood for the upcoming season. Not only does it look like their team will be one step away from the group stages of the Champions League, but the young side that Cocu picked showed a great display of pace, creativity and mature defensive organisation.

From top to the bottom, they impressed. Central defensive pairing Jeffrey Bruma (21) and Karim Rekik (18) kept things tight at the back and protected goalkeeper Jeroen Zoet (22) at all opportunities. Bruma, in the role of leader, organised the backline into a brick wall that the Belgian side could not smash down. The on-loan Rekik showed his awesome strength to shun the massive African strikers Mbaye Leye and Habib Habibou, and remember the Manchester City defender is just 18-years-old.

The right-back position has been a worry for the Eredivisie runners-up over the past few seasons, with past poor performances from Atiba Hutchinson and Stanislav Manolev, in that role tonight was Joshua Brenet, just 19 years of age. The youngster’s hunger and aggression impressed from the opening whistle, and his attacking prowess shone through when his mazy run created the second goal.

When Kevin Strootman, Dries Mertens and Jeremain Lens all left on big money moves, fans must have been wondering where the replacements and the goals were going to come from. Tonight proved that maybe PSV may need some help finishing chances, but they certainly do not need any support in creating them. The youngest player on the pitch, Zakaria Bakkali (pictured above), 17, was frightening everytime he was in control of the ball. As was 19-year-old left winger Memphis Depay, when PSV pressed forward, it looked like they were going to find a goal on every attack.

Inside the first minute, the lively Bakkali had the bumper Phillips Stadion crowd out of their seats, as he announced his arrival to the game by crashing a well taken shot onto the bottom of the post. Captain for the night, Georginio Wijnaldum and Slovenian striker Tim Matavz should have also scored all within the first ten minutes. Matavz especially wasted a great chance in a one-on-one contest with Zulte keeper Sammy Bossut.

PSV dominated throughout and had the ball in the net five minutes before the interval when Depay’s header was correecty ruled out for offside latching onto a rebound after Matavz smashed his shot off the bar.

The second period began as the first finished, with PSV looking defensively sound but lacking that composure in front of goal. It was the turn of Wijnaldum to crash a shot against the post, minutes into the second-half and it looked to be one of those nights for the Eindhoven side.

On the hour mark, relief and euphoria buzzed through the stadium, when the search for a new PSV hero was over. The young Depay lashed a picture-perfect 30-yard effort towards the goal, finding the top corner, and the deadlock had well and truly been opened.

Yet another highly-rated prospect entered the fray on 72 minutes, when Jurgen Locadia replaced Matavz up front and within three minutes of being on the pitch, he doubled PSV’s lead. As earlier mentioned, a tricky forward run by full-back Brenet ended with a brilliant cross turned in by the substitute for the 2-0 win.

New signing Florian Jozefzoon came on for Bakkali minutes later, and the young Belgian winger received a well-deserved standing ovation from the Phillips Stadion observers for a tremendous performance.

The game finished 2-0 and Cocu will have some concerns over the finishing on display this evening as his side really should have killed the tie off, but never the less the coach will be happy with the clean sheet, and the fans will be buzzing with enthusiasm for the next crop of future heroes coming through the ranks at the club.

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