Tag: Kokcu

by Jan

The Arne Slot Miracle

Feyenoord won it’s 16th title, only 6 years after a complete different team (under Van Bronckhorst) won it. And they won it about 19 years later after the trophy in 1999.

The gaps between titles becomes smaller and if Arne Slot has any say on it, the next gap will be even smaller…

At the start of the season (when Gakpo was still at PSV), many pundits and analysts were convinced that PSV and Ajax would be slugging it out for the title and Feyenoord and AZ would battle for 3rd place.

Yes, PSV had to sell their two most prolific attackers in the winter, but Ajax had a complete meltdown while Slot’s Feyenoord transformed into a winning machine. Where Feyenoord won the title in 2017 with 1 point difference on Ajax, today Feyenoord is 13 points adrift from the Sons of Gods after 32 matches. Two more to go.

A very unlikely title, in other words but thoroughly deserved.

When Idrissi scored the 1-0 in the championship match versus the Eagles, the whole city erupted, but Arne Slot was stoic on the sidelines, hands in pockets. When Gimenez scored the second goals, the coach showed some emotion. Understandably, as the second goal was a training ground goal: Feyenoord played in towards the right wing, luring the Eagles’ players to that side. A quick combination brought the ball back into the centre of the pitch, where Eagles now were short handed. Mats Wieffer accelerated the play when he say Paixao popping up in the axis and the Brazilian was able to lob the ball in the path of the explosive Mexican: 2-0.

The 3-0 came when Feyenoord lost the ball close to the Eagles’ box. Three Feyenoord players, led by Polish international Szymanski, immediately put pressure on the defenders. The ball was blindly played out, Wieffer picked the ball up and he got his assist by finding the shrewd Paixao who came in between the lines: 3-0.

Slot has been able to mould this Feyenoord based on four particular pillars.

The Turnaround when possession is lost

In interviews Slot usually says: “What is attacking football? For me, it means hunting for the ball if you don’t have it.” His players can now dream the wise cracks of the coach. Time again he asks his players: can you deliver? Do you have the intensity to play like this? For Slot, how a players reacts when losing the ball is key. When he started at AZ, he showed his players footage of lacklustre players jogging back after losing possession. He clearly hates it. Spicy detail: Slot him self was a bit of a lazy #10 who played elegant and skilled football but wasn’t known for his running and tackling.

In Rotterdam, Slot started with the attackers. They were ones who had to suddenly work their socks off as first defenders. “If you can up the pace of the game and if you can play at a higher pace than the opponent, you will force them into mistakes and you can win the game. Simple.” The opponents were driving to complete breakdown, broken by the energy of the Feyenoord players.

Playing at Ajax in the Cruyff Arena, all these components came together in one particular moment. See the images. The match is only 4 minutes old or Alvarez intercepts a pass to Gimenez. But there is no mourning phase or disappointment. It’s Symanski who runs like a maniac onto Alvarez and got his foot on the ball. Berwijn got the ball but was circled by 5 opponents. Kokcu got possession and and a couple of seconds later it’s 0-1 Feyenoord, goal Gimenez. This goal was made by seven (!) Feyenoord players who immediately went into 5th gear when the opportunity arose. This intensity seemed to much for most opponents, this season.

Alvarez intercepts pass and wants to dribble forward

Szymanski is immediately on Alvarez’ toes and makes it hard for Ajax to play out

Bergwijn collects and is harassed with 5 opponents around him

Feyenoord wins the ball and plays the forward pass. Via Idrissi, Hartman can cross to Gimenez

The Ajax defense is complete overrun

And Gimenez has a tap in, basically….

Defending

Slot: “We need to create a man more situation everywhere on the pitch!”

When Slot was signed by Arnesen, two years ago, many people doubted that the high octane game Slot likes to play would work in Rotterdam. He laughed it off: “I don’t believe it. This can work, because we have 6 non-defenders who need to chip in and help.” He used the World Cup break to work on his team, 6 days a week. And what he did was basically getting into the players’ heads and convince them of his vision. And he did. By repeating the positives and positive examples. He used books and documentaries, such as the Michael Jordan Doco and the book Intensity by Liverpool assistant Pepijn Lijnders to make his case. The core message: make sure we always have more players around the ball when defending. Dick Advocaat used man marking, Slot went to zonal marking. He wants the team to collectively move with the ball, ensuring there is always players close to the ball.

Four attackers all involved in the initial press

The former Sparta playmaker appeared quite flexible in his execution of his ideas. He started last season with his high press of two forwards: the striker and the 10. He started this season with three attackers pressing, the left and right winger and the striker. In the World Cup break, he worked with the team to place a fourth pressure point in the mix: playmaker Kokcu was going to be the 4th presser, behind the striker. But when Gimenez got the role at the expense of Danilo, Slot changed it back. Gimenez feels best with a 10 next to him, so Slot adepted again. And the striker paid Slot back with important goals.

Turnaround when winning the ball

Slot: “If you are well organised in your press, then opponents make mistakes. And their mistakes will immediately provide opportunities for us.”

Gimenez is Feyenoord’s top scorer this season with 15 goals. The high press helped him tremendously, as 12 goals came straight from a turn around high up the pitch. Under Advocaat, in his last season, this only happened 4 times. Only Celtic in Europe scored more often than Feyenoord from a position of high press.

Always a man more around the ball

These statistics were already in Slot’s thinking when he was an assistant at Cambuur. There, he said: “We can be more lethal when the opponent has the ball on their half, as opposed to us having the ball on our half.” And it worked for Feyenoord, as the Rotterdam club was at their most lethal when opponents decided to build up from the back.

Attacking

Slot: “When you have the ball, you need to create a man-more situation immediately and use it.”

His principles aren’t much different in the attacking sense of the game. He was able to increase the % possession from 54% to 60% and when the Feyenoord attackers were totally trained up during the World Cup break, he was able to execute his preferred playing style.

Slowly suffocating the opponent

Slot: “I don’t have the illusion I can make players play better. But I can make the team play in a way that makes the individual seem to be better. So they can play in their strength.”

It’s also good to see that Slot doesn’t force his players into a style of play. He does look at the skill set he has available to him. Good example: the right back position. Geertruida is a very intelligent player, who can play the inverted right back/midfielder role (like Trent Alexander Arnold, John Stones and Joshua Kimmich can play). In that case, the right winger takes the right wing. Pedersen however, doesn’t feel comfortable playing in that role, so whenever he plays, Slot uses him as a wingback marauding down the line and the right winger will come more inside to fill in the extra midfielder role.

And always keeping track of the distances between players

Arne Slot sticks to his guns, but is always looking to finetune his vision to allow the players to play to their strength. This resulted in the miraculous title for Feyenoord.

His next mission: keep as many players on board as possible and try to make a name in the Champions League.

Thanks to Pieter Zwart VI

Bookmark and Share
by Jan

Feyenoord’s European Campaign

Who could have guessed. After Gio van Bronckhorst’s rein at the club and the string of trophies won, Feyenoord seemed to drift back to a dreary sub top role. Jaap Stam started in a chaotic situation: no money, no technical management, no academy and half a squad. He decided to move on.

Dick Advocaat was called in to mend the club and he did, with typical Advocaat style, compact defensive football. Not winning any prizes but not getting egg on face either.

Feyenoord needed their own renaissance man. Their own Pep, or Klopp or Gasperini. Arne Slot was the man.

And after having won Holland’s first trophy in 1970 and winning the last one for Holland in 2002, Feyenoord is now close to showing Ajax and Oranje how it is done.

Qualifiying: Drita – Feyenoord 0-0

Feyenoord started their campaign in Kosovo in July (!) 2021. The official debut of the former AZ coach, with Leroy Fer as central defender and Bannis as the striker. Feyenoord lacked creativity and Bannis missed the only big chance they got. Orkun Kökçu: “I had the ball a lot but didn’t make the right choices. We simply weren’t good enough, in playing through them. We lack creativity. We are not good enough.”

Qualifying: Feyenoord – Drita – 3-2

Arne Slot has a new name in the squad: Alireza Jahanbaksh is the successor to Berghuis, the creative playmaker who starts on the right of the pitch. Fer is again the central defender who makes mistake after mistake. Guus Til scores the 1-0 but due to Fer’s errors, it’s soon 1-2 for Drita. Late in the game, it’s cult hero and loanee Guus Til who would shoot Feyenoord past Drita: 3-2. A new fan fave is born. Slot: “I expected us to deal with the opponent in an easier way. The positive side of this is the team’s mentality. They fought back from a difficult position, I have to give them that.”

Qualifying: Luzern – Feyenoord. 0-3

Guus Til is important again, with two goals in the first half. Sinistera scores Feyenoord’s third. Slot: “We looked fresh and positive. We had more depth in our game and we made less errors.” The key news was the addition of Gernot Trauner to the team. The debutant central defender immediately impressed. Kökçu started the campaign with criticism but is growing into his holding defender role.

Qualifying: Feyenoord – Luzern 3-0

New addition Fredrik Aursnes watches from the stands as Jahanbaksh gives off his name card with two goals. The match is unique for Antoni Milambo, who makes his debut as 16 year old and has relieved Wijnaldum as the youngest Feyenoord player ever. Slot: “Without the ball, we were still a bit nervous and stressed, but with the ball, we played fantastic.”

Qualifying: Feyenoord – Elsborg 5-0

Feyenoord is hungry. Jahanbaksh and Sinistera with early goals and in total a hattrick for the Columbian while Linssen tops it off with his usual goal. The Swedish media is impressed and speak of the destruction of Elsborg. Jahanbaksh: “We decided to push on as they play on an artificial pitch. We wanted to have some daylight between us.”

Qualifying: Elsborg – Feyenoord 3-1

Without Senesi and Bijlow, it is not the same for Feyenoord. The trail 2-0 against the Swedes but once Til scores (again) for the Red and White, the game is played. Slot: “I am standing here with a smile, but during the match I was not smiling. The difference between winning and losing is small. And the players will have noticed this. The good thing is, we are in the group. The rest is all learning.”

Group: Maccabi Haifa – Feyenoord 0-0

The first match in the group stage is a disappointing one. Bryan Linssen gets three major chances and misses them all. Ausners makes his debut. Cyriel Dessers, another debutant, makes a cameo but can’t convince the Dutch criticasters. “They might think I am the Dessers of Heracles, but I am a better version now. I will show them, I can’t wait.”

Group: Feyenoord – Slavia Prague

Feyenoord plays Prague drunk in the first half. Kökçu and Linssen score the 2-0 but then it’s over for Feyenoord. Instead of going to 3 or even 4-0, they allow Prague back into the game. The Slavia coach: “This must have felt like a training match for Feyenoord. They did what they wanted and we couldn’t stop them.” Slot is less enthusiastic: “We played with flair in the first half, but in the second half it seems the battery was empty. We need to work hard on that.”

Group: Feyenoord – Union Berlin 3-1

Feyenoord is warned for the team from Berlin but scores an early goal after an explosive start. Bryan Linssen uses his body to force the second goal and is questioned about the foul after the game. “Did you think it was a foul? Aren’t you Dutch??”. Feyenoord wins 3-1 and Linssen praises the mentality in the team: “We want to fight for one another, the noses are all pointing in the right direction. It’s early days and we don’t have anything yet, but we are in really good shape.”

Group: Union Berlin – Feyenoord 1-2

Sinistera is again on the score sheet early in the game but Berlin gets themselves back into it. Feyenoord is leading the group and when Dessers benefits from a slip from a defender, Feyenoord will end the evening as group leaders even more firmly. The main topic of the night, apart from Dessers, is new midfielder Aursners who is growing into one of Feyenoord’s key players.

Group: Slavia Prague – Feyenoord

Prague hosts the Rotterdam club with the knives sharpened. Feyenoord needs 1 point to progress but Marciano’s mistake means Prague leads early. Dessers comes on for a sick Linssen and when Til is sent off in the second half it appears to go pear shaped for the Stadium club. Prague scored the 2-1 but it’s another late Dessers goal that puts Feyenoord through to the knock out stages. Slot: “The ultimate strength of this team is their will power”.

Group: Feyenoord – Maccabi Haifa  2 – 1

Dessers and Reiss Nelson get the nod for the first time and both pay their coach back with a goal. Remarkably, Feyenoord ends the match with 8 self developed players in the line up. Quite a feat. Slot: “This is a big feather in the cap of the Academy. This club is very much alive!”.

First Knock-Out: Partizan Belgrado – Feyenoord 2 – 5

The Serbs start with a vengeance and open the score via former Ajax winger Queency Menig. Dessers and Nelson start again, with Geetruida back in the line up as well. In the second half, Feyenoord bulldozes Partizan with an impressive away win: 2-5. Slot is satisfied but also critical: “They create 2,5 chance and score twice. That happens too often. I find it frustrating to be the better side on the pitch but still not being able to express this into goals. We will work on this.”

First Knock-Out: Feyenoord- Partizan Belgrado 3 – 1

Feyenoord is hit with Covid and Arne Slot, Marino Pusic (assistant)  and players Trauner, Pedersen, Bijlow and Malacia are absent. John de Wolf and Robin van Persie coach the team to a relatively easy win. Dessers claims an Inzaghi goal, when Toornstra’s free kick hits the player on the back. Toornstra: “I am happy with that, he can have it!”. De Wolf is happy to play any other team in the next stage, “as long as it isn’t Slavia Prague. We already had them and they’re not a nice opponent.”

Quarter Finals: Feyenoord – Slavia Prague 3 – 3

John de Wolf jinxed it: Slavia Prague is the next opponent. It would be a roller coaster of a match, with both goalies playing sub par. It’s 1-0 first, then 1-2, then back to 3-2 but in the dying seconds, Prague gets the equaliser. Assistant Pusic loses it in the break, as he believes the equaliser should have been chalked off. The former AZ assistant gets the red card. Analyst Pierre van Hooijdonk calls it a disgrace. Slot: “Marino is an emotional man. It comes with the package. We will have a tough match in Prague, I fear. They’re a tough team to play against. The differences are minimal.”

Quarter Finals: Slavia Prague – Feyenoord 1 – 3

Dessers was disappointed he didn’t start at home, but he is in the line up in the away game. Within 2 minutes, the Belgian/Nigerian scores. Kökçu blunder brings Prague back into it (too short a back pass) but Dessers benefits again from a defensive error and Sinistera’s goal means Feyenoord reaches the semi finals. The team celebrates, except for Kökçu: “I am still annoyed with myself and I know I will have to say thanks to all of these guys. Once I have, I might be able to celebrate.”

Semi Finals: Feyenoord – Olympique Marseille 3 – 2

Marseille is an opponent with European pedigree. Slot is full of praise of Olympique and their coach Sampaoli. Slot is a fan and expects a football fiesta. And he is right. Feyenoord gets to 2-0 relatively quickly but a magical Payet helps his team back to 2-2. In the first minute of the second half, it’s that man Dessers again, who pushes up and forces the mistake to the 3-2. Goalie Marciano has a number of key saves in the dying minutes and Slot speaks of their best match so far. The French media are impressed and call Feyenoord the Kings of the Press.

Semi Finals: Olympique Marseille – Feyenood 0 – 0

Peter Bosz has just besten Marseille at the Velodrome 0-3 with Lyon and calls Slot with some last tips. The passionate French fans do what they can to rattle Feyenoord, including throwing bricks through the players’ bus windows. Marseille attacks but can’t find a way through. Feyenoord’s attacking play is wanting, but they do enough. Slot: “Amazing how we stood firm here. This is a tough place to go to. We didn’t create much, but we also didn’t give much away. I’m proud. This match showed us all how strong we are physically.” Feyenoord will prep for it’s first European finals in 20 years. Malacia: “Yes it is great, but we have nothing until we win that finals.”

It seems Bijlow will start again for Feyenoord who can play in their strongest line up: with Malacia, with Kökçu and with Dessers up front.

I predict a 3-0 win for the Rotterdam club. Goals: Dessers, Sinistera and Kökçu.

 

Bookmark and Share
by Jan

Daley Blind mystery finally solved!

For some, this has been a mystery. For others, it was always crystal clear.

Everyone can see Daley Blind’s weaknesses. You don’t need to be a football expert for this. He lacks pace. He can’t head the ball. He hardly scores or assists. He’s actually too slow for a left back and lacks the duelling power for midfield.

Why is it that all coaches he worked with, all football analysts and ex-players rate him so high? Why won’t Van Gaal or Ten Hag bench him for quicker players? Younger players?

Finally, there is a new statistical model being used which clearly shows in stats why Daley Blind is one of the best players in Europe. (Thanks to VI Pro)

The opening goal of Ajax vs FC Utrecht demonstrates Blind’s value vis a vis this new statistical model. And Blind’s role is key. The Ajax left back gets the ball after a turnaround of possession and his action allows for the pass to Steven Berghuis. He dribbles forward and passes to Tadic. The Serb finds Gravenberch who finds Antony. The little Brazilian scores. In traditional statistics, this goal will be summarized as “assist Gravenberch and goal Antony”. Expected goals and Expected Assists do add some context. These stats show you how likely that Antony goal was. But the role of Blind and Tadic in this move can’t be found in the traditional stats. There would not be a pre-assist even for Daley Blind.

This has “Final third” on the Y and “half opponent” on the X -axis. Name of graph: Successful passes

Daley launches his team mates forward like this an absurd number of times, allowing them to penetrate the box. This visualisation above demonstrates the combi of passes on the opponent’s half into the final third. Blind is a category in itself! Only Feyenoord playmaker Orkun Kökçü comes close.

The traditional stats say something alright, but they miss any context. For instance, a through ball getting a player face to face with the goalie is in these stats comparable with a horizontal pass at the middle line. Expected Assists helps to show which player actually create opportunities. The pass before the final pass was also not really on the radar, until the Expected Threat comes into play.

The aim of the Expected Threat is to add value to players who actually start the attacking move. This idea was launched by Sarah Rudd, who worked for Arsenal in 2011. Karun Singh took this model later and created a popular blog post to demonstrate this and the Athletic took the idea and popularised it.

The Expect Threat Zones. The lighter the block, the better the odds to score.

The idea behind Expected Threat is simple. The closer to the goal of the opponent, the high the chance that a goal is scored in the next 5 moves. Historical data helps to give values to these areas. So they divided the pitch into 192 zones (12 in the width and 16 length-wise). The players who get the ball in those high-value zones are scoring the most points, obviously.

Expected Threat identifies the players who are the most successful in finding the quickest route to a goal. And the scores are basically a compounded score of progression made on the pitch, through passing and dribbling (carry). Crosses are not part of this analysis, because the odds to score from a cross are way lower than playing the ball via pass and move into the box.

This sounds like higher math to some, but this video below will show what is meant. The Blind pass which results in the first Ajax goal.

Expected Threat will compare the starting point of possession, with Blind, to the final stage of this move, which is Tadic taking the ball in the box.

 

Statistically, the chance that a team scores within 5 moves at the spot where Blind gets the ball first, is 1,4%. This means, that only once in 67 times that the ball gets to that starting point, a goal will follow within 5 moves.

However, when Tadic takes the ball in box, the chance of Ajax scoring went up to 12.6%, which means that when a team gets the ball here, 1 out of 8 times, a team scores within the next 5 moves.

So, Blind’s pass has increased Ajax’ scoring changes with 11,1% points. And this gives Blind a value in the Expected Threat stat: 0,111 points.

Another example: the first Ajax goal against PSV. Again, Blind starts the move. This time he has a pass in the left channel towards Gravenberch. He brings the ball from a 0,5% zone to a 3,7% zone. With this pass, Blind collects another set of points to his name in the Expected Threat score. The score is lower than in the Utrecht example, because the zone where Gravenberch gets the ball has a lesser value (as it is further from the opponent’s goal).

The winning goal Ajax scored versus PSV also has Daley as a key component. With two trademark passes: he first plays Tadic in, hard and low. Then another pass towards Danilo. These types of passes demonstrate his value for Ajax.

Analysis the matches vs Utrecht and PSV show that Blind has numerous passes with which he accelerates the play. “I want to make every single pass count. In the match, at practice, always. I try to send a message with my pass, to the player I play the ball too. My pass should inform him what my idea is for his next move. When I play in to Dusan Tadic’s right, I want him to turn that way. It doesn’t always work out, but it’s always my intention.”

Recently, Blind spoke in the Cor Podcast about this: “Delaying the pass is the most important thing. When I get the ball, or anyone gets the ball, the opponent is usually in a particular position. They usually are comfortable. When I pass too quick, I am not doing anything about that positioning. But when I delay my pass, I force the opponent to do something. If they don’t come to block me, I can dribble forward. But if a players steps in, another one of my team mates will become free. I actually force the opponent to tell me what my best next move is.”

The facts show that Blind’s words are more than theory. He usually gets the ball in areas where he is not going to be a threat. Usually, on the left flank. The next step is for him to bring the ball there where a threat can develop. His hard, low pass to Tadic is his trademark, these days. Blind plays a cat and mouse game with his opponent. You act as if you don’t know where to go, you look around, maybe turn towards a less risky team mate in midfield, only to suddenly play the fast ball, skipping midfield, into Tadic or Berghuis.

Animation of Ajax’ build up patterns

Erik Ten Hag actually amended his tactics to fully benefit from Blind’s qualities. He is the first build up station. He usually drops back next to central defenders Martinez and Timber, or he moves way to the left, allowing Gravenberch to confuse the opponent by him dropping back. In both situations, the aim is to trick the opponent into making a press on one of these two. When they do start the press, the space around Tadic becomes wider and this is when Blind will play the ball.

Expected Threat captures this quality in statistics. Blind is the leader of this stat in the Eredivisie, as he was last season too. Last season, in the big competition, the stat leads were Neymar in France, Messi in Spain, Jaden Sancho in Germany and Jack Grealish in England. It’s no surprise that these four players are considered the top and three of the four made a big money move last summer.

This year, Blind shares the #1 position with Leo Messi again (France), Vinicius Junior for La Liga and Trent Alexander-Arnold in England.

This list shows the Expected Threat in passing. Different types of players can do well with this stat. Another Ajax player (Tadic) is second on the list, as a left winger. Ajax’ Timber is on the list as a central defender, while Veerman (these are his Heerenveen stats) and Kökçü are more playmakers.

There is a separate stat Expected Threats in Dribbles. Cody Gakpo does really well in that overview and that will also play a role regarding the interest from Liverpool, Man City and Bayern Munich in signing the lanky PSV star.

Stats do not tell the full story of course. One aspect that is not taken into account in the Expected Threat stat is the position of the opponent. Only the start and end position of the move are used and not how many opponent players are taken out of the game by the pass. In this way, teams that dominate on the opponent’s half will always score higher in this stat than counter-attacking teams.

But, this does give us a very objective and measurable reason why Daley Blind is revered by the football experts and that he fully deserves the title of the King of the Pass before the Pass….

I’m sure some of you will start to comment like crazy now….

Bookmark and Share
by Jan

Dutch devour Turkish Delight

What a night. We had early goals before (WC finals 1974 anyone?) and it hasn’t always resulted in greatness. This time, things seem different. An early goal. Another goal in the first 15 minutes and a very energetic and focused performance.

Things are taking a turn for the better in LVG’s third spell at the helm.

And what a quality goals they all were! Amazing to see how “question marks” like Berghuis, Klaassen, Dumfries and Bergwijn stepped up to the plate and played their key parts in this wonderful win.

The line up was logical. Van Gaal only put experienced Blind back in for Malacia and used Bergwijn in place of Gakpo on the left. He is clearly cementing his favourite eleven (or fifteen, rather) and slowly but surely his go-to guys are making their mark.

Justin Bijlow will be the new #1, hopefully for years to come. Stefan de Vrij was picked ahead of De Ligt and again he was one of the Men of the Match. De Vrij was solid on the ball, focused in his defending and overall Mr Cool at the back.

Frenkie showed his class as did Memphis again and the Oranje right flank, wanting versus Norway, impressed from the start with Dumfries and Berghuis demonstrating their connection.

But it helps, a goal in the first minute of course. And a quick second – also a beauty – helps even more. Oranje demonstrated their swagger without becoming arrogant.

The pace was good, the creativity was visible more and more and the workrate was just outstanding. If the Dutch can keep this mentality up, we are definitely back!

The criticasters on this blog will probably point out Dumfries “hard feet”, or Berghuis’ risky passing, or Blind’s one moment of lack of concentration (letting the ball slip), but overall, I think we can be happy with the step up Oranje made.

There was one moment in the 65th minute which will have made Van Gaal pissed off. Berghuis has the ball in midfield, there is no movement whatsoever. Dumfries is walking, no runs or options. The ball stays there in that zone. Koopmeiners comes to help, Van Dijk comes to help but between the three they suddenly lose the ball for no reason. We tidied it up, without a problem but that little moment must have angered the gaffer.

Being 4-0 up against 10 men, and then exchanging key players (Frenkie, Wijnaldum) never helps the flow of the game of course but these are little moments that need to be ruled out.

Two more goals (subs Til and Malen) and a horrific scare in the last seconds, when goalie Bijlow makes his only mistake in selling Van Dijk short, allowing Under to score a consolation goal, and an annoying knock for Captain Van Dijk. Van Gaal will not be happy (and neither will Klopp be).

The attacking play was excellent. False striker Memphis was everywhere again, Berghuis and Bergwijn played disciplined on the wings. Dumfries was marauding as per usual and Frenkie and Gini kept ticking things over.

A solid performance allround with some incredible moves and exciting play.

Captain Virgil was happy with the performance. It all seemed to fall into place: “This is what we wanted, and the early goal helps a lot of course. We played with intensity, with focus and it’s wonderful when it all clicks.”

Hattrick hero Memphis was less positive. “I think we did well but I think we have room to grow. And I am talking about myself more than anything. My first touches were poor and I feel there is more in us than we showed. And even though we score 6 and I score 3, we need to keep on focusing on improving because we want to do this against the top nations as well.”

Coach Louis van Gaal was beaming from ear to ear: “We have seen an outstanding performance. This group is so good and so great to work with. They have an opinion, they operate as a group, they welcome new players, it’s quite impressive. This is the best group I’ve ever worked with. And sure, I can see room for improvement. We lost the ball too often and we also didn’t play in a very high pace. Against 10 men you need to up the pace and find the free man, but overall we did play some good football and we scored some amazing goals!”

Van Gaal deserves the Man of the Match award, he clearly did everything right. But of the players on field, for me, Klaassen, De Vrij and Memphis (again) were the pick of the bunch.

Bookmark and Share
by Jan

Oranje on the road to Qatar

Not selecting Weghorst but bringing Stekelenburg back to Oranje are the two main talking points re: Oranje.

The first training is behind them, for the WC qualifiers. Rene Wormhoudt was leading the warming up. Assistant coach Ruud van Nistelrooy and Maarten Stekelenburg (the other one) were managing the rondos, and keeper trainer Patrick Lodewijks was working with his three goalies while senior assistant Lodeweges was managing the attacking patterns. With Frank de Boer interrupting from time to time.

Memphis and Gini Wijnaldum are the last to leave the trainingsground after practicing their free kicks. Frank de Boer was watching from a distance, big smile on his face.

At Crystal Palace, he used to practice with the rest and would get some flak from the players (“Show-off!”) when he curled another ball in the top corner…

Frank de Boer is aware of the humbug concerning Weghorst, Stekelenburg (the goalie) and the Qatar situation in general but wants to focus on the ball. Three qualification games are planned (Turkey on Wednesday, Latvia on Saturday and Gibraltar on Tuesday. This will be the last opportunity for De Boer to weigh his players before we start the prep for the Euros mid May. Without skipper Virgil van Dijk, if we have to believe Jurgen Klopp.

Normally, Stefan de Vrij would come in for Virgil, but the former Feyenoord has tested positive for Covid. Nathan Ake is also absent, as he missed months of game time due to a muscle injury. But there is no shame in playing Daley Blind and Mathijs de Ligt in the centre defence.

Frank de Boer seems to build on the work Koeman left him, with as key difference, the use of a real number 9 in Luuk de Jong and Memphis back on the left wing. Koeman struggled with that position himself as well. Under his reign, we saw Justin Kluivert there, Arnaut Danjuma, Dilrosun and Boadu but Koeman constantly went back to mainstay Ryan Babel.

Right wing is also not a settled spot. Steven Berghuis has the most caps, Calvin Stengs is considered our biggest prospect and Steven Bergwijn has experience in a top competition.

There are heaps of choices at right back. Kenny Tete’s return gives De Boer more options, on a position where Dumfries and Hateboer seemed to have their stamp. Joel Veltman can play there too, as can Jerry St Juste, while Rick Karsdorp is knocking loudly on the door as well.

On the left, Daley Blind seems to have that spot as his, but Van Aanholt and Wijndal are strong contenders when the Ajax man is needed elsewhere. Daley Sinkgraven is an option outside of the squad, but looking in…

In midfield, Tonny Vilhena and Kevin Strootman – southpaws both – seemed to surpassed by Teun Koopmeiners, who excels week in week out for AZ. He’s currently with Young Oranje but for the Euros, you can count on the AZ captain to be present.

The battle for the third midfielder spot will be interesting. Frenkie and Gini are beyond discussion, so the third spot will be between Klaassen, De Roon and Gravenberch. Davy Propper is working on his fitness while Donny van de Beek hasn’t had enough games, you’d think.

The meeting with Turkey on Wednesday is the 13th match up. The last time we met was 6 September 2015, when we lost painfully, 3-0. We lost three times against them and we won five matches. Four games were undecided.

Daley Blind is about to play his 75th cap and is the 22nd player to do so in Oranje. Blind is the most experienced international, with Gini Wijnaldum and Ryan Babel as 2nd and 3rd (respectively 70 and 67 caps).

Frank de Boer at the presser about his decision to ignore Weghorst. The former Heracles striker scored 22 times this season but hasn’t gotten the chance to add another cap to the last game he played in November 2019. He has played four international games so far.

“I had to choose between Luuk and Wout and I picked Luuk. I understand it’s delicate. It’s a very tough call, also for me. And definitely for him of course. He has performed ever so well but so did Luuk at Oranje. We now only have a couple of days to prep for this important match vs Turkey and taking that into consideration I decided to go with the player who is used to our processes, who knows the way we work and train… Luuk.”

“I did call Wout and explained it to him. It’s a tough call and he wasn’t happy with me, that can be clear for all. I told him to keep on making it hard for me. He is knocking on the door… or even worse, he hit a couple of holes in the door already. This was the most difficult decision I had to make.”

“I do feel they’re a bit the same, as types. And yes, I can take both, but for now I think, for these three games, I needed Luuk only. But Wout is heavily on the radar for the Euros. I truly admire him and we will follow him. Others know that they also have to keep on performing to stay in the race. Wout is definitely in the mix for the Euros.”

I think Frank should play this eleven:

Cillesen

Dumfries – De Ligt – Blind – Wijndal

Klaassen – Frenkie – Wijnaldum

Berghuis – Memphis – Malen

I can see us win this game 1-3, with Memphis, Malen and Klaassen on the score sheet. Expect a top game by Wijndal!

Bookmark and Share
by Jan

Daley best player of the Season

Well my friends… the season is over. The Dutch Federation and government will not allow the season to be finished. There will be no events or gatherings until Sept 1. Which means next season will start on Sept 1, not sooner.

This results in massive headaches, I’m sure. Tomorrow, the KNVB will present their plan, how to determine the title winner, which clubs will be relegated, which clubs will play European, etc etc.

The German competition (and others) will probably continue, mainly due to the TV funds they need. Fox in The Netherlands have paid all the clubs, so there is no financial loss (apart from ticket sales), whereas in Germany and other nations, the TV money is only going to be paid if the season is finalised. Hence the plans to finish seasons without fans on the stands.

It’s a disappointing end of this exciting season.

This is the best eleven of the Eredivisie, according to the AD Sports newspaper….

Keeper: André Onana (Ajax)

Onana the invincible. The weird antics from his early days at Ajax are over. His panther like reflexes are still there. His best save? He did really well stopping a certain goal by ADO striker Michiel Kramer, with his foot.

Right back: Denzel Dumfries (PSV)

The fact that Dumfries is the top scorer behind Donyell Malen says enough. He is the perfect captain of this PSV: intelligent, funny and down-to-Earth. Always hardworking, even if he is not the most skilled player, and scoring goals and assists.

Right central defender: Sebastian Holmén (Willem II)

The Swedish international could be the twin brother of Angelino, who would have been in this team last season, as left back at PSV. This Holmen is a real defender though, and was key for Willem II’s success this season.

Left central defender: Daley Blind (Ajax)

Blind doesn’t want to be on the foreground and may have been in the news a bit negatively after his heart issues. He gets better and better every season and was the best Eredivisie player by a mile before his heart problems. With his special weapon, the forward pass.

Left back: Owen Wijndal (AZ)

He might have been the surprise for some, in the surprise team of the season, but experts have seen him coming and this lad should be mentioned in the same breath as Boadu and Stengs as gems.

Right mid: Joey Veerman (sc Heerenveen)

Veerman is a player who seemed to remain a talent all his life. The Volendam born and raised player blossomed under coach Wim Jonk and demonstrates his quality at Heerenveen now. He sees opening and passes no one else sees and created the most chances in the Eredivisie (even ahead of Berghuis and Ziyech). Feyenoord is courting the youngster.

Attacking mid: Hakim Ziyech (Ajax)

The most exciting player in the Eredivisie. Whether coming from the right wing, or playing as playmaker on “10”. We have seen the last of him this season, the wizard is off to Stamford Bridge to impress the English football fans.

Left mid: Orkun Kökçü (Feyenoord)

Every season top talents come into the fold, but only a small percentage will reach the top. IT seems Kokcu is one of them. He’s only 18 years old, but a modern playmaker. Not your classic static number 10 but an alrounder, who works, tackles, makes dirty yards and reads the game well. Arsenal is whispered to prepare an offer.

Right winger: Steven Berghuis (Feyenoord)

Probably the only attacking player to compete with Ziyech as the most exciting player. The Feyenoord captain has tremendous stats this season, but he can be as inconsistent as his personality. Once he manages his sudden bursts of aggression, he can be a key player for Oranje and for coach Dick Advocaat’s aim to win the title next season with Feyenoord.

Striker: Donyell Malen (PSV)

Deserves his selection based on his first half. The super quick PSV forward hasn’t kicked a ball in 2020. Still, he is only 4 goals behind top scorers Berghuis and Cyriel Dessers.

Left winger: Chidera Ejuke (sc Heerenveen)

This dribble king of Heerenveen tends to have blinders on at times, but seeing him play is an adventure in itself. This unpolished diamond gives colour to the Eredivisie. Lets hope he stays another season.

Coach: Dick Advocaat (Feyenoord)

There are people who believe the impact of a coach is limited. These people should look at Feyenoord before and after Dick. With Advocaat, hope and self belief returned to De Kuip

Bookmark and Share

by Jan

Feyenoord Phoenix??

The Phoenix rises from the ashes. The question is: will Feyenoord? While Ajax and PSV both are facing issues, Feyenoord must be in crisis. Ajax is struggling with the exit of De Ligt and De Jong and the fact that most of the other lads who were believed to leave, aren’t leaving… It’s luxury issues, for Ten Hag. He’ll fix it.

And it might not be in time or enough, for another huge CL campaign, but Ajax will win the Dutch title with one hand tied behind their back, one foot in a cast, two fingers in the nose and a blind fold.

PSV has issues too. It needs to reshuffle and re-invent themselves with the exit of Luuk de Jong, Angelino and now also Lozano.

But Van Bommel will. Business as usual for any coach. And yes, Mark is young, but he will most certainly become a great coach. And with Gakpo, Malen, Guti, Ihattaren and others (and Schwaab returning) PSV will be able to secure the second spot (and another shot at CL football next season).

But Feyenoord. Once the pride of The Netherlands…. The first Dutch club to win the European Cup in 197o. The first club to win the World Cup for clubs. The last club to actually win a European Cup as well… Once, the Richest Club of the World (c).

Feyenoord’s biggest prospect: Kokcu (sadly decided to play international for Turkey)

Today, the club is not well. To say the least.

There are no amazing talents coming through (Kokcu is the only real talent)

The two centre backs are getting on and not getting any quicker

The main striker (Jorgensen) is injured

The newcomers are either pint sized players from the Championship (Kelly), or rejects from the Championship (Narsingh, Fer – both not match fit) or failed former stars on loan (Karsdorp).

Narsingh (right) and Leroy Fer (left)

Striker target Ricky van Wolfswinkel is injured. They discovered a brain aneurism, by chance, when they treated him for concussion. Ricky is 6 months out, at least.

But more important than all these typical football things, there are bigger problems to deal with:

There is hardly any cash (compare that to Ajax!).

The technical manager Martin van Geel left and is replaced by inexperienced part time ex-player Sjaak Troost, who engaged the services of player manager (!) Rob Janssen… The fox in the hen house?

The general manager Jan de Jong asked to be relieved form duties as he doesn’t agree with the long term vision of the board.

So, Feyenoord is facing some serious issues (financial, new stadium, new players, youth development and entrance into the football pyramid) but there is no management team (other than a commercial manager).

Jaap Stam, the coach, was surprised to hear that right back Jerry St Juste was going to be sold to Mainz,  one day before the important EL qualification game vs Dynamo Tiblisi. And yes, this meant money would come in (8 mio euros) for replacements but there was no replacement ready for that important match. Karsdorp would come in later.

Fortunately for Feyenoord, Tiblisi didn’t seem too good and Feyenoord won 4-0, but with Karsdorp the Rotterdam Pride dropped 2 more points in the competition vs Heerenveen 3 days later.

Left, AZ general manager Robert Eenhoorn (right, Max Huiberts, AZ technical manager)

Stam is scratching his head. He needs to deal with the inexperienced Troost and his agent friend Rob Janssen, while Stam prefers to work with his own manager and friend Henk van Ginkel (and former Feyenoord goalie Henk Timmer) who are both rivals of Rob Janssen. Nice one!

In their search for a new technical manager, all the usual suspects declined. Joris Matthijsen will stay with Willem II, Ferry de Haan with Excelsior, Henk van Stee with Sparta and Max Huibers at AZ. And with reason.

In search of the new general manager, AZ general manager Robert Eenhoorn is the dream candidate. Eenhoorn is from Rotterdam, and a life long Feyenoord supporter (!). He’s got experience in US pro sports (he played short stop for the New York Yankees) and has experience in leading a pro football club with success at AZ Alkmaar.

But Eenhoorn will be cautious. As Feyenoord is facing some strategic issues.

Steven Berghuis, the new talisman

One huge issue is Feyenoord’s new home. The current Kuip is still the most amazing place to watch football, but the stadium is really old and not equipped for the modern game (with sponsor boxes, restaurants, meeting spaces, toilets (!), etc). And it might not be the safest anymore… The new stadium plans are still in contention. Some people think the traditional Kuip needs to be renovated, others believe Feyenoord needs to build from scratch someplace else. The finances for this adventure are still not secured.

Another huge issue is the influx of new money (and not just for the stadium). Feyenoord is rapidly losing ground on Ajax and PSV and some people in the club want to bring in an investor. Some US based investors were/are interested but Feyenoord will have to let go of their autonomy. Rumour has it they demand a seat on the board and want to be in on the decision which coach will be appointed. Conditions most of the Feyenoord die-hards aren’t too happy with. So for now, the investors will be kept out, but for how long?

Centre, with Stam, Wouter Burger, another young talented midfielder

Another problem Feyenoord has is their position in the so-called football pyramid. The Feyenoord 2 team does not play competitive football, like Ajax 2, PSV 2, AZ 2 and most other pro clubs. Not only are Feyenoord’s talents tested less as a result, some talents have decided to leave the club for a different club where they can play on a weekly basis and some talents simply won’t consider signing for Feyenoord due to this situation. This was a massive mistake by Feyenoord’s previous management (not entering the Feyenoord 2 team) and now it’s hard for Feyenoord to enter into the pyramid.

Add to all this, the fact that Jaap Stam was selected as the head coach due to his attacking vision of football, a vision he hardly can translate to the pitch as the foundation of last year’s team is gone. Three key players are gone (Vilhena, St Juste, Van Persie) and three key players are injured (Jorgensen, Toornstra, Van Beek). This means Stam needs to work with a team that is half new, with players who have yet to learn to play together and some of these players like rhythm / match fitness (Narsingh, Fer, Karsdorp). Not a great situation for Stam to try to play his dominant style of play, with a high press and precise passing.

Sven van Beek’s comedy capers moment vs Southampton in the pre-season

But, on the bright side, PSV and Ajax dropped points as well. It seems that this season, the third spot should be Feyenoord’s, at least. And depending on how PSV fares, it might even reach the 2nd spot. Tibisli was not a tough opponent either and Feyenoord should be able to reach the Europa League group stages and give the season some more flair.Bookmark and Share