Tag Archives: Mitchell te Vrede

EREDIVISIE: FC Twente 0-0 Feyenoord

August 31, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

SUNDAY 31ST AUGUST

FC TWENTE 0 – 0 FEYENOORD

There were no goals in the match between FC Twente and Feyenoord, but there were plenty of chances for both. The quality in the final third was lacking. However there were positives for both, especially in the midfields writes Jack Jackman.

Feyenoord were facing a difficult trip to face FC Twente and it would be a real test of the new side, after the summer of changes that have taken place. It looks like Jordy Clasie is set to stay, which will be a huge boost and he captained the side today. It was the away side that had the better of the early exchanges as Jean-Paul Boëtius had his shot saved by Nick Marsman, while the in-form Mitchell te Vrede had two chances, the first he headed wise, and the second was a shot well saved by the Twente goalkeeper.

The home side started to come into the game as Hakim Ziyech started to threaten, forcing a save from range. The likes of him, Kyle Ebecilio, Luc Castaignos and Youness Mokhtar in the same side is very exciting. Around the half an hour mark, Lex Immers had a great chance to open the scoring for Feyenoord, but his close range shot was excellently saved by Mulder.

Then the big moment of the first half arrived as Boëtius was brought down in the box by Cuco Martina and the referee awarded the away side with a penalty. It was Te Vrede who stepped up to take it, but Marsman guessed the right way and saved a tame penalty. Minutes later, Tonny Vilhena had a decent chance as he found room inside the box, but he failed to find a way past Marsman. The first half ended goalless, but it was an entertaining half and it started to look like the new look Feyenoord team could do things this season in the Eredivisie, with Boëtius looking particularly threatening.

The second half started even, Kamohelo Mokotjo came close with an effort from long range that forced a save from Mulder. This was quickly followed by Ziyech shooting just wide as the home side were turning up the pressure. Feyenoord didn’t create as much as they did in the first half, but te Vrede missed the target with two headers as he continued to be a handful, despite being wasteful in front of goal.

The Feyenoord striker had two chances in quick succession around the 75 minute mark, the first effort went fractions wide, and the second needed to be saved by Marsman after good work to create the chance by Jens Toornstra.

There were a lot of late chances with te Vrede forced a save with his head, the forward had lots of chances today, but couldn’t make one of them count. This was quickly followed by a chance for the home side as Ziyech’s shot from range was saved by Mulder, the midfielder will turn out to be a great signing for Twente, he looked very good today and created lots of problems for Feyenoord.

Elvis Manu produced an excellent bit of skill to put in a cross for Jordy Clasie who headed fractions wide, it looked for a moment like the skipper would score the winner for the away side. Feyenoord nearly nicked at with the last kick of the game as Elvis Manu headed past Marsman, but it was scrambled out by the defenders. The draw was a little unfair on Feyenoord who were the better team. However they lacked composure in the final third, especially te Vrede who had plenty of opportunities to score, but failed to find a way past Marsman, who was excellent all match. There were lots of positives for the side that finished second last season and it looks like they will continue to improve in years to come.

TEAMS

TWENTE: Marsman, Martina, Lachman (Breukers 46), Bengtsson, Koppers, Mokotjo, Ebecilio, Ziyech, Mokhtar (Eghan 69), Castaignos, Kusk (Ould-Chikh 79).

SUBS NOT USED: Stevens, Schilder, Borven, Andersen.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: Martina 33, Ebecilio 67.

FEYENOORD: Mulder, Wilkshire, Van Beek, Mathijsen, Nelom, Clasie (Karsdorp 90), Immers (Toornstra 46), Vilhena, Schaken (Manu 72), Te Vrede, Boëtius.

SUBS NOT USED: Hahn, Kongolo, Basaçikoglu, Kazim-Richards.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: Van Beek 39.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Nick Marsman (FC Twente)

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TotalDutchFootball.com WorldFootballWeekly.com

FEATURE

Can Mitchell te Vrede be Feyenoord’s permanent attacking answer?

August 25, 2014 Will Burns 1 Comment

A few weeks of struggling for Feyenoord had one positive upside. The silver lining in their poor start is Mitchell te Vrede, who is responsible for five of the six goals Feyenoord has scored in all competitions. Is he good enough to be the first striker? Martijn Hilhorst does not think so…

Te Vrede started his career at AFC, an amateur club who is known for their connections with Ajax. In 2008, he was snatched away by AZ Alkmaar who saw some potential in the big striker. His first season at a professional club was partially successful, as he was selected to make his debut for the Netherlands Under-18. Although he was not performing well on a club level. He was an official member of the first squad at AZ in 2010/11 (he was already 20 years), but he did not played one minute for them.

AZ still wanted to extend his contract after a year like Mitchell had, but he decided to sign a year deal at Excelsior where he was promised to play more. It could have been a season for him to gain experience, responsibility as a first striker for a Eredivisie club. Eventually playing nineteen matches in which he scored twice, but his greater performances were in the second squad of Excelsior which was a team in combination with the Feyenoord youth. Scoring tons of goals for Excelsior/Feyenoord that season.

Feyenoord’s Technical director Martin van Geel then decided to give him a chance – a free, scoring striker behind your first striker. Who does not want that? During the 2012/13 season, Graziano Pellé made jaws drop all across the Netherlands with his staggering amount of goals so, Te Vrede only played in one match that season.

The season afterwards (last season) was one more successful for Mitchell. Due to injuries, match bans from Pelle he was given more minutes to show off his icy veins. He played in fourteen matches (eleven of them not 100%), playing mostly a substitution and he then managed to score on four occasions.

Not bad, but surely not enough to be the first striker after the departure of Pellé to Southampton. Feyenoord have been looking for months now to buy a top class striker in which they did not succeed in yet. Manchester City’s John Guidetti won’t be their new forward and Wolfsburg’s Bas Dost does not seems to be eager for a return to the Eredivisie. However, they still need a striker.

Yes, he did score three goals in the same amount of Eredivisie matches this season, but looking more detailed to him you could clearly see that Te Vrede is simply not good enough for the way Feyenoord plays. His first-touch is not brilliant while his passing this season haven’t been impressive (69%) and in three matches he only managed to create one single chance. It’s a bit unfair to compare him with Pellé, but the Italian created 57 chances in 28 matches previous season – an average around two per match.

All in all, that is the problem with Mitchell te Vrede. He isn’t capable of controlling the ball and see what is happening around him. His technical abilities are not the required level you would expect from a striker at such a big club. For example, Lex Immers is invisible in the ‘number ten’ position due to constant bad decision-making from Te Vrede.

The opinions around him did shift around because of his great start this season, but it is obvious that he is not the player who will make your team better. Feyenoord did make some bad decisions on the transfer market in the past. So they have to be careful with their next move. With all the news around Feyenoord it is hard to predict if they even will buy a striker. Their focus seems on a replacement for Jordy Clasie who will leave for Southampton or FC Porto.

A internal solution could be the following: Mulder, Wilkshire, Van Beek, Mathijsen, Kongolo; Clasie/El Ahmadi*, Toornstra, Vilhena; Basacikoglu, Immers, Boetius.

* Most likely the replacement for Clasie.

So in a 4-3-3 formation with new signing Jens Toornstra as a ‘number ten’ and Immers as a striker. Feyenoord is known for their brilliant youth and the departure of Pellé isn’t one to panic about. In the price range Feyenoord are currently in they could not buy a striker who is significantly better than Mitchell te Vrede, but in my opinion this seems like a great solution and that even without over-paying on the transfer market, because there is only one week left.

Feyenoord slowly becomes the team they used to be. Footballers such as Schaken, Vormer, Kazim-Richards and Te Vrede are perfect bench material. And with the transfers they already did it is inevitable that they will be a serious contender with Ajax and PSV to become champions.

*All stats courtesy of WhoScored and Squawka, via Opta.

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TOTALDUTCHFOOTBALL.COM

EREDIVISIE, EREDIVISIE REPORT

EREDIVISIE: Feyenoord 1-1 Heerenveen

August 15, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

FRIDAY 15TH AUGUST 2014

FEYENOORD 1 – 1 HEERENVEEN

The points were shared at De Kuip, despite Heerenveen having to play the last third of the match with ten men. Feyenoord are still adjusting to life without the stars of last season, but their start has been encouraging.

Despite having differing results on the opening weekend, there was little difference between the sides in the first half, as both sides had chances to take the lead. It was an entertaining start to the match as both sides had a good chance each within the opening ten minutes. Heerenveen forward Luciano Slagveer went on a powerful run through the opposition half, but his show sailed harmlessly wide. Feyenoord then had a chance of their own as the ball was fired across the box to Basacikoglu, who fired wide with a powerful drive.

The match was end to end, but neither side stayed calm in the final third, as they both struggled to create clear cut chances. It’s clear Feyenoord are missing the host of stars that were sold over the summer, while Jordy Clasie didn’t feature against Heerenveen, his future is far from certain.

In the final stages of the opening 45 minutes, the hosts came to life. They started to pass the ball with vigour in the final third and a nice interplay saw Tony Vilhena receive the ball on the edge of the area, his stinging shot was well saved by Nordfeldt. Moments later, Basacikoglu found space to deliver an excellent cross, but the resulting header from Mitchell te Vrede was pushed wide by the Heerenveen stopper. The momentum was building, yet Heerenveen nearly nicked a goal before half time on the break as Van Den Burg’s shot from long range was well stopped by Mulder and Uth could only head the rebound over the bar. Despite their late chance, the away side will have been pleased to make it to the break still level.

Minutes into the second half, powerful play from te Vrede allowed him to turn his marker after he controlled the ball from a throw in. The striker then scuffed his effort wide, however the strength showed was encouraging. Feyenoord continued to attack with purpose as Immers couldn’t control his effort goalwards after an excellent cross into the box from Boetius.

Heerenveen almost scored in the 60th minute after clever play from Slagveer to skip inside and hit a left footed shoot low past Mulder but the post came to the home side’s rescue. Then Van Den Burg received his second booking for a silly foul in the middle of the pitch, meaning Feyenoord were playing ten men for the second Eredivisie match in a row.

Yet it was the team with the numerical disadvantage which opened the scoring as Hakim Ziyech curled a free kick over the wall and past Mulder, who will have been disappointed to have been beaten by that strike. The home side quickly equalised after Schaken beat his man on the right wing, and put in a great cross, which was headed goalwards by captain Lex Immers, but it flicked off Te Vrede on the way in.

Feyenoord were in control of the game for the final half an hour, having lots of possession in the final third, Nordfeldt was forced into a save from Manu’s shot after the ball fell to the Feyenoord player in the box. Although Feyenoord continued to push, they couldn’t make their one man advantage count, unlike in their previous match, with Te Vrede coming closest to a winner after Nordfeldt saved smartly from his header.

Although they didn’t win, Feyenoord will be pleased with their four points from two games as the team starts to settle without the players who starred last season, with Mitchell te Vrede being a particular highlight, he looks like he could be set for a great season. Heerenveen will be relieved they hung on for a point in the end.

TEAMS

FEYENOORD: Mulder, Wilkshire, Van Beek, Mathijsen, Kongolo, Vormer, Immers, Vilhena, Basacikoglu (Schaken 57), Te Vrede, Boëtius (Manu 76).

SUBS NOT USED: Verhoek, Hahn, Nelom, Steenvoorden, Karsdorp.

GOALS: Te Vrede 70.

BOOKINGS: Vilhena 74.

HEERENVEEN: Nordfeldt, Marzo, Buijs, Van Aken, Van Anholt, De Roon, Van den Berg, Ziyech (Wildschut 83), Sinkgraven, Slagveer (Schmidt 87), Uth (Raitala 67).

SUBS NOT USED: De Fockert, Otigba, Thorsby, Dalgaard.

GOALS: Ziyech 67.

BOOKINGS: Van den Berg 13.

SENT OFF: Van den Berg 60.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Luciano Slagveer (Heerenveen)

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EREDIVISIE, EREDIVISIE REPORT

EREDIVISIE: ADO Den Haag 0-1 Feyenoord

August 10, 2014 Will Burns 1 Comment

SUNDAY 10TH AUGUST 2014

ADO DEN HAAG 0 – 1 FEYENOORD

The opening game of Sky Sports’ coverage in the UK was a high octane affair with 12 yellow cards and a sending off however; ten-man ADO Den Haag were harshly defeated by a late Mitchell te Vrede goal.

In an already hectic season for Fred Rutten, the new Feyenoord head coach decided to hand debuts down the right side to Luke Wilkshire and Bilal Basacikoglu while he dropped young striker Te Vrede in place of midweek scorer against Beşiktaş, Elvis Manu.

ADO’s debutant goalkeeper Martin Hansen had to be alert on nine minutes as Terence Kongolo delivered a wonderful cross for former Den Haag man Lex Immers to rise above everyone to smash a header at goal, and the former Liverpool youth keeper tipped over.

Feyenoord should have gained the lead on 15 minutes after Basacikoglu threaded the needle for Manu down the right. The striker showed great power and strength to get past Vito Wormgoor but Hansen flicked the ball around the post.

The woodwork stopped ADO’s chances going in, twice in succession. On 17 minutes, Mike van Duinen nodded on a corner for former West Brom defender Gianni Zuiverloon to head the ball off the crossbar. A few minutes later, Dion Malone crashed the bar with a great effort from long range that had the supporters inside Kyocera Stadion on their feet and Feyenoord keeper Erwin Mulder on his knees.

The hosts impressed after the early scares form Feyenoord but lost their captain Ronald Alberg to injury before half-time and had to be replacement by another man making his debut, 18-year-old Tyronne Ebuehi.

Things got worse for Henk Fraser as Mitchell Schet received two bookings within four minutes. Schet dived in on Sven van Beek and then minutes later he was penalised for pulling back Kongolo. Video replays showed that the second should not have been a sending off. Nevertheless, referee Danny Makkelie dished out the first red card of the Eredivisie season so far and Schet trudged off the pitch.

As the rain poured down, ADO lost their discipline and Aaron Meijers was lucky to stay on the field after a two footed challenge in the corner on Basacikoglu. The teams went into the interval all square but Feyenoord, with the man advantage.

Still the Rotterdammers failed to get going and really test Hansen’s gloves and it was not until the hour mark that we saw the first real chance. An audacious effort from Kevin Jansen, spotting Erwin Mulder off his line, hit a 45-yard free kick towards goal that just sailed wide with Mulder scrambling to get back in his goal.

On 65 minutes, Feyenoord had a free-kick of their own and with a great piece of improvisation, Clasie laid the ball low into the area for Kongolo to crack an effort on goal. Unfortunately for Rutten’s men the box was too crowded and the ball went behind for a corner. From the resulting set-piece, Immers got his head on the ball again but could not get his effort on target.

As the time dwindled on, ADO looked the more dangerous as Feyenoord became anxious. The introductions of Te Vrede, Ruben Schaken and later Ruud Vormer seemed to fail to inspire Rutten’s side to the expected victory. Although, In the dying moments, when it looked like the game would not be settled, Mitchell te Vrede snatched the win with an excellent header from a Clasie free-kick.

Feyenoord will need to improve if they wish to challenge the likes of Ajax, PSV and FC Twente for the Eredivisie championship. ADO will be disappointed with the result but on the bright this is only their second defeat in the last 14 league fixtures. Referee Danny Makkelie will be in headlines also, as the 13 cards he displayed in this game is an all-time Eredivisie record.

TEAMS

ADO: Hansen, Malone, Wormgoor, Zuiverloon, Meijers, Kristensen, Jansen (Merencia 87), Alberg (Ebuehi 38), Van Duinen, Kramer, Schet.

SUBS NOT USED: Zwinkles, Kanon, Buwalda, De Vlugt, Houtkoop.

GOALS: None.

BOOKINGS: Schet 36, Meijers 43, Kramer 52, Jansen 54, Zuiverloon 63, Kristensen 65, Merencia 90.

SENT OFF: Schet 40.

FEYENOORD: Mulder; Wilkshire, Van Beek, Mathijsen, Kongolo, Clasie, Immers, Vilhena, Basacikoglu (Schaken 67), Manu (Vormer 81), Boëtius (Te Vrede 58).

SUBS NOT USED: Hahn, Vormer, Verhoek, Nelom, Karsdorp.

GOALS: Te Vrede 90+1.

BOOKINGS: Manu 25, Te Vrede 77, Van Beek 80, Wilkshire 82, Clasie 85.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Kevin Jansen (ADO)