Tag Archives: Wolfsburg

The Resurgence of a Fallen Dutch Striker – Wolfsburg’s Bas Dost

February 11, 2015 Will Burns Leave a comment

Bas Dost has seemingly begun the resurrection of his career after having a very underwhelming stint in Germany so far. This tall centre forward scored an impressive 32 league goals to top the scoring chart in the Netherlands just a few seasons ago. However, he has had a very difficult time playing in the Bundesliga as Rion Rodgers explains…

The Rise

It was in the summer of 2008 that a lanky Bas Dost moved to Heracles Almelo as a young prodigious striker from FC Emmen, and his stay at the home of the Polman Stadion showed sporadic flashes of brilliance and quality. He spent two seasons in Almelo and after using his first season to get acclimatised to the top flight, he was able to score 14 league goals in his second season.

After just two seasons with Heracles, he was on the move to SC Heerenveen where he showed his prolific goal scoring abilities by scoring 13 goals in his first season and a massive 32 goals in his second season. His style of play was that of the “old fashioned” centre forward who is tall and strong, and transforms into a goal scoring predator whenever he gets into the 18 yard box. Fantastic heading skills and a good first touch were some of the attributes he displayed on a weekly basis. He also showed pretty decent movement and linkup play, which could be attributed to his experience of playing in the midfield a lot during his youth career. By the end of his second season at SC Heerenveen he had the full attention of Dutch fans. He unquestionably declared himself to be a reliable attacker who could no doubt become useful for the senior Dutch team.

The Fall

Inevitably, in accordance with the prevailing European football trend, a team from a big European league came calling for the giant striker in the summer of 2012. And expectedly, Dost was gone from the Eredivisie to fulfil his dreams and aspirations at VfL Wolfsburg.

His first season in the Bundesliga saw him scoring only 8 goals. His second season was even more dismal, as he scored only 4 league goals and made less than 15 league appearances as a result of persistent injuries and being benched a lot.

The current season started much like the previous one ended with Dost being marginalised by his club, troubled by injuries and his form being sorrowful. With the progression of the first half of the season, things just continued to look more hopeless for the striker. It seemed his career in Germany was destined to end unceremoniously. He was failing miserably and it didn’t appear the club, coach or fans were going to afford him the time to get fit and regain his form.

The Resurgence

Then in the last league game prior to the Christmas break, Dost made a rare appearance in the starting lineup and scored his second league goal of the season. In hindsight, that goal was the spark that lit the fire, because he unexpectedly followed up that goal with two beautiful ones against the table toppers, Buyern Munich, in the first game after the winter break. The second goal was especially impressive as it was scored from almost the half way line with an effort that seemed to poignantly turn a new page for the forgotten Dutch striker. Such a shot showed outright confidence from a centre forward who has fleetingly showed real self belief or moments of such high quality, over the last few seasons. Since that game against Buyern Munich, he has went on to start the next two league games for Wolfsburg and scored one more goal.

It might be woefully premature or outright ridiculous to think that merely scoring four goals in the last four games could signal that this man’s career is rising from the abyss. However, the fact is that he is now the first choice centre forward for the team that currently sits second in the Bundesliga. Also, he is now fully fit and his current form is such that he has scored 5 league goals in just nine appearances. Taking all of these positives into consideration, it is clear that his career is finally showing signs of life once more.

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DUTCHMEN ABROAD

Dutchmen in the Bundesliga

July 17, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

While they may be big rivals on the international stage, there is a history of Dutch players plying their trade in the German top division. There have been successful spells like Roy Makaay winning the double twice in a row with Bayern, and there have been less successful spells like Luuk de Jong’s 2 year spell with Mönchengladbach.

Last season there were eight Dutch players in the Bundesliga and as of the 17^th July 2014 there are now only seven with Ola John returning to Benfica. This is a review of the main Dutch players in the 2013/14 season. Some had a good season while some had a not so good season by Ryan O’Grady. Enjoy…

ARJEN ROBBEN (FC Bayern Munich)

What can you say about this ‘Flying Dutchman’? He came third in the Bundesliga Player’s Player of the Year Award. He notched 11 goals and five assists en-route to helping Bayern to win a second successive title in record time. The former Real Madrid winger also helped his side clinch the DFB Pokal by opening the scoring in extra time. He was unfortunate to miss out on the FIFA Club World Championship triumph with a deep cut on his right knee.

KLASS JAN HUNTELAAR (FC Schalke 04)

It was a mixed season for the ‘Hunter’ he missed five and a half months with yet another injury, but still managed to score 12 goals in only 18 games thanks to a much better second half of the season. If he can stay fit for most of next season he should be in with a shout of winning the top scorer award in what is now a team with some young stars and a bright future ahead of them.

RAFAEL VAN DER VAART (Hamburger SV)

A terrible season for van der Vaart. His team only narrowly avoided relegation after winning their relegation playoff. When his team needed their star man to deliver he failed to, being completely outshone by youngster Hakan Calhanoglu. He is lucky to be still be at the club and almost certainly would have have been forced out had the team been relegated.

PAUL VERHAEGH (FC Augsburg)

A brilliant season for the Dutch defender. He helped his team to a magnificent eighth place after narrowly avoiding relegation the season before. As a near permanent member of the defence he helped them to the fifth best defence in the league, better than some teams who finished above them, including Wolfsburg.

BAS DOST (VfL Wolfsburg)

A poor season for the big Dutchmen. A meager return of 4 goals from 13 games looks to have convinced the club hierarchy that it’s time for Dost to go. They’re have been recent reports linking him to Feyenoord where he can hopefully gain back some of the form that saw him score 32 goals in 34 games for Heerenveen.

ELJERO ELIA (Werder Bremen)

In a word disappointing. For a player that was voted Dutch Talent of the Year in 2009 and is now at the age of 27, it does not look like he will ever live up to the hype. Although this past season’s return of 4 goals was better than last season’s return of 0, it’s still a disappointing return for a very attacking winger.

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NEWS

Feyenoord forced to wait for Dost

July 13, 2014 Will Burns Leave a comment

New Feyenoord head coach Fred Rutten would love to have Bas Dost sign as a replacement for the outgoing top scorer Graziano Pellè who joined Southampton yesterday.

However, a chain of recruitment dealings is delaying Dost’s transfer from Wolfsburg to Rotterdam, as the Bundesliga side are waiting to get the all clear to sign a replacement for the Dutchman.

Wolfsburg have enquired to Chelsea for the availability of young Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku and until they get a decision from the London club, they will not allow the Dost negotiations take place.

Feyenoord are set to start a Champions League qualification campaign next month and are heavily dismantled from last year’s squad. Rutten has a big job at hand with talisman Pellè already left and Bruno Martins Indi is set to join Portuguese giants FC Porto in a €9m deal, already agreed during the World Cup. With rumours of the Rotterdam club ready to receive offers for Daryl Janmaat, Stefan de Vrij and Jordy Clasie also, Rutten and technical director Martin van Geel could have a massive rebuild to do if he wishes to challenge for the Eredivisie championship this coming season.

Dost would be a great start and welcome addition up front. The 25-year-old has notched 12 goals in 45 appearances for Die Wölfe and at 6ft 4 inches could fill that void that Pellè has left as the big guy in attack. Before heading over to Germany, Dost had a very successful two seasons at Heerenveen under Marco van Basten. The striker managed to find the net 45 times in 66 games before landing a €7m transfer over to Germany.

If Feyenoord can divert any bids for any more of their stars and invest in Dost, the Rotterdam side may be prepared to push rivals Ajax and PSV to the limit once again this year.