Dutch football 2009-2010

[Wanted Man]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/1e/Eredivisie_logo.svg/271px-Eredivisie_logo.svg.png

(grumbles about how early the season starts this year, not much of a fucking end of season break, is it now?)

Actually, at my new work place, I have a clear view of the Euroborg, the stadium of FC Groningen, so every time I look out of the window, I'm starting to twitch already. Let's do this shit!

First of all, there's going to be a bit of a change. This thread will be used for notable matches, league positions, news, discussion, etc. I'll put more general info in my blog, for reference, so that it doesn't clog up this thread. I'll link to this small "season guide" from this post whenever I finish a part.

Season guide part 1: Clubs and managers (http://www.revleft.com/vb/blog.php?b=471).

http://uefaeuropaleague.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/europa-league2.jpg

European football: NAC Breda will be the first team in action on a competitive level this season. Next Thursday (16th of July), they will be receiving Gandzasar Kapan from Armenia for the 2nd qualifying round of the Europa League. One week later, they will be travelling to Armenia themselves for the return leg.

Some talking points:

http://newsnetz-blog.ch/zumrundenleder/files/images/2009/2/mob15173_1235682919.jpg

Ooooh.... pizza! The transfer of Jeroen Verhoeven and other changes at Ajax

It's another season, so of course it will be another turbulent period for the biggest, richest and most fanatically loved/hated team in the league. Especially with Martin Jol at the helm. He has already declared that he may slaughter Ajax's sacred cow, the 4-3-3 system, in order to play with two strikers instead. But most interesting is the transfer policy. He brought in Timothée Athouba from Hamburg, a giant left back who is supposed to replace Vermaelen.

But he also spent €300K on Jeroen Verhoeven, the infamous "fat goalie" from Volendam last season, as a 3rd keeper. To be fair, Verhoeven isn't a horribly bad goalkeeper, but he was still the worst of them all last season, he's simply not good enough at this level, he belongs with Volendam as one of the best keepers of the First Division. It seems utterly pointless to spend this kind of money on a 3rd goalie, much better to just bring in someone from the youth for some growth potential.

A very disappointing decision, and a bit of a laugh if you read the forums (jokes about Ajax paying a "hefty" sum, making a purchase to "broaden" the squad, etc.). It would be pretty funny if Verhoeven actually got to play a game this season. In the away match against Ajax last season, the home crowd went absolutely nuts when he entered the pitch, chanting: "Ooooh... pizza!" :laugh:

http://www.beawesomeinstead.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/unemployment.jpg

Unemployment (sorry about that image)

The weekly football magazine VI reported that hundreds of professional footballers will be without a club this season. In a previous report, they put together a hypothetical "team" of players who have been released on a free transfer. With some of the names in there, such a team could probably successfully avoid relegation in the league. It just goes to show how carelessly clubs act towards their employees.

Where are we going?

On a more global level, one can place some serious question marks next to the position of Dutch football in the world. The players become less interesting, the clubs rarely do well in Europe, many clubs are penniless, the traditional top 3 have been brought down, etc. Yet, the stadiums are filled out every time and are always in need of expansion. Provincial clubs like Twente, Heerenveen and Groningen are going up thanks to smart policies, such as scouting cheap youngsters in Scandinavia, then selling them on to the big clubs who are now paying the price of neglecting of their scouting and youth programs.

Just consider the transfer of Sulejmani from Heerenveen to Ajax last season, for a whopping €16.25M. From now on, every club will always demand huge sums from the top clubs, knowing that they are prepared to break the bank if necessary. Small clubs will no longer be bullied by big clubs tapping up the players, who will try to force a break, or by greedy agents.

The commercial appeal of Dutch football abroad is low as ever, but on the domestic level, only more money goes around, and the stadiums are expanded. The ultimate goal will be the bid for the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cup together with Belgium.

More stuff later. Oh, before I forget, the fixture list can be seen under "Programma" here: http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eredivisie_2009/10#Programma

[Killfacer]

thanks CM :)

How do you think Twente will fair this season?

[Wanted Man]

I think they're in for a top 5 finish, or maybe even top 3 again. From the manager's perspective, it's too bad that they lost Elia, one of their best players, to Hamburg.

But the directors are quite pleased that they got €9M for Elia without reinforcing their competitors Ajax (who were seriously after him). They got a damn good return on investment compared to what they paid for him in 2007, which was what? 200K or so? Consider that Elia is from Ajax's youth system, but they thought he wasn't good enough. Fast-forward 2 years, and they were ready to pay 8-10M...

So Twente should definitely be somewhere up there at the end of the season.

[Wanted Man]

In other news, Luis Suarez has been made the new Ajax captain. Let's hope his armband won't fall off during all those dives in the penalty area.

http://media.nu.nl/m/m1dz4bfav7sj.jpg

A strange statement from the Sparta manager on his talented 19-year-old midfielder Kevin Strootman, who is being linked with AZ and FC Utrecht: "He's worth €7 million." A little cocky for a club like Sparta to demand that kind of money for a player who may be a good talent, but is not there yet.

Cup draw

The first and second rounds for the cup have been drawn. The first round is pretty boring, with only amateur teams. But in the second round, the professional clubs will be added to the mix. Most of them only against amateur opponents, but sometimes it's more interesting. This year, the highlight is FC Groningen vs FC Utrecht, usually a good fixture between two attacking sides.

[Wanted Man]

Oh man, vacations suck. I haven't watched any matches and missed a lot of news. Two important things:

AZ win Super Cup

AZ have won the Johan Cruijff Shield by beating cup winners SC Heerenveen 5-1.

De Zeeuw signs for Ajax

Ajax have finally pried Demy de Zeeuw away from AZ. An important defensive midfield reinforcement to be sure.

[Wanted Man]

Well, tonight we're finally off. The season opener will be SC Heerenveen vs Roda JC in just about 20 minutes.

[Wanted Man]

All right, I've finally found some time to update this thread. It's been a long time, and a lot of matches have been played already. So let's get through them quick and dirty.

Round 1

02/08/2009 Feyenoord - NEC 2-0
02/08/2009 ADO Den Haag - NAC Breda 1-2
02/08/2009 PSV - VVV-Venlo 3-3
02/08/2009 FC Groningen - Ajax 0-2
01/08/2009 Willem II - Vitesse 3-1
01/08/2009 Sparta Rotterdam - FC Twente 0-2
01/08/2009 RKC Waalwijk - FC Utrecht 0-1
01/08/2009 Heracles Almelo - AZ 3-2
31/07/2009 SC Heerenveen - Roda JC 0-0

League champions AZ were stunned on the difficult plastic grass in Almelo. Newly-promoted VVV Venlo were surprising against PSV. Their big superstar is Keisuke Honda, who played a major part in their promotion from the First Division. Everyone was already aware of his capabilities, but not many people expected him to have a similar form against top opponents like PSV. But these doubters have definitely been proven wrong.

Round 2

09/08/2009 NAC Breda - Heracles Almelo 0-0
09/08/2009 VVV-Venlo - ADO Den Haag 2-2
09/08/2009 FC Twente - PSV 1-1
09/08/2009 FC Utrecht - Willem II 1-0
09/08/2009 Vitesse - Feyenoord 0-0
08/08/2009 Ajax - RKC Waalwijk 4-1
08/08/2009 Roda JC - FC Groningen 1-1
07/08/2009 NEC - SC Heerenveen 4-1
07/08/2009 AZ - Sparta Rotterdam 2-0

Honda continued his streak of goals and assists for VVV. Heerenveen looked very poor against NEC, who have acquired the services of the Belgian forward Björn Vleminckx. Vleminckx has been compared to Dirk Kuyt in both looks and playing style, and is already becoming a crowd favourite in Nijmegen.

Round 3

16/08/2009 Roda JC - NEC 1-0
16/08/2009 FC Utrecht - VVV-Venlo 2-2
16/08/2009 FC Groningen - NAC Breda 1-2
16/08/2009 PSV - Ajax 4-3
16/08/2009 Heracles Almelo - Feyenoord 0-1
15/08/2009 RKC Waalwijk - AZ 0-6
15/08/2009 SC Heerenveen - Vitesse 1-0
15/08/2009 Sparta Rotterdam - Willem II 2-1
15/08/2009 ADO Den Haag - FC Twente 0-1

An early top match between PSV and Ajax. In reality, it was the confrontation between two brilliant footballing artists: PSV's Hungarian left winger Balázs Dzsudzsák, and Ajax's Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez. Dzsudzsák definitely won this round with some fantastic play and two goals. PSV's game was marred by the awful mistake by goalkeeper Isaksson, who gifted a very early goal to Suarez.

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Round 4

23/08/2009 FC Twente - RKC Waalwijk 2-1
23/08/2009 SC Heerenveen - AZ 0-2
23/08/2009 PSV - NAC Breda 3-1
23/08/2009 Ajax - Sparta Rotterdam 0-0
23/08/2009 Feyenoord - Roda JC 4-0
22/08/2009 Vitesse - ADO Den Haag 1-3
22/08/2009 Willem II - Heracles Almelo 0-1
22/08/2009 VVV-Venlo - FC Groningen 2-2

Ajax had a surprising draw against Sparta. They made a record 41 attempts on goal, but none of them went in. A big disappointment, after they had demolished Slovan Bratislava 5-0 in a similar style, just a few days earlier. If Suarez gets his finishing wrong, Ajax are in big trouble. No wonder they are still looking for another striker, now that Huntelaar's replacement Dario Cvitanich has clearly shown that he is not the one.

The game between NEC and FC Utrecht was cancelled, because the police of Nijmegen were unavailable after a busy period.

League table

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What's going on?

http://i.media.goal.com/g/30443_news.jpg

Promoted VVV Venlo have drawn all their games so far, but the opposition has been far from easy. It turns out that their Japanese star Honda is just as good in the top flight. It remains to be seen whether a top club will get him before the transfer window closes next week.

The problem is that Ajax and PSV are unwilling to pay the €10M that VVV are now demanding. A Dutch investor in Japan, who is a big Feyenoord fan, has offered to buy the player for Feyenoord. But he will not pay Honda's salary for them, which will pose a problem for the penniless club. Besides, they already have very good attacking midfielders. As it stands now, Honda will probably stay, unless a foreign club decides to go for him.

[Wanted Man]

Round 5

30/08/2009 NAC Breda - SC Heerenveen 2-0
30/08/2009 FC Groningen - PSV 0-2
30/08/2009 Heracles Almelo - Ajax 0-3
30/08/2009 Feyenoord - FC Twente 1-1
29/08/2009 AZ - Willem II 2-1
29/08/2009 NEC - VVV-Venlo 1-1
29/08/2009 FC Utrecht - Sparta Rotterdam 2-0
28/08/2009 Roda JC - Vitesse 3-4
28/08/2009 RKC Waalwijk - ADO Den Haag 0-2

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Feyenoord 1 - 1 FC Twente

The biggest match this weekend was between Feyenoord and FC Twente. Feyenoord may be penniless, but they're finally seeing some good football, and the results to go with it, under the new management of Mario Been, who was already legendary for them during his playing career.

Feyenoord dominated the first half, but failed to convert this into goals. Meanwhile, Twente manager Steve McClaren was furious at the 54-year-old referee Luinge, who played a very dubious role in this match, in favour of the home team. Even before the match, during his warm-up, the referee cheerfully waved towards the home crowd. During the match, he missed several blatant dives from Feyenoord players, and gave yellow cards for just about every foul by Twente.

About an hour into the match, McClaren entered the pitch to break up a fight between several players of both sides. About half a minute after he had returned to his bench, Luinge showed up to send him into the stands for this offence. McClaren felt that his players couldn't do anything right, that the referee booked them at every opportunity. That can never be proved, of course, but Luinge did make several blatant mistakes. A veteran ref like him should never allow his decisions to be influenced by a rowdy home crowd like Feyenoord's.

In injury time, Feyenoord were saved by a penalty kick, scored by substitute Roy Makaay.

The match:

gCEEVLwh1is

[Killfacer]

Anyone captured Honda yet?

[Wanted Man]

Naw, it doesn't look like anyone's willing to pony up the €10M that VVV are demanding. The transfer window, like in some other countries, has been extended by one day. But VVV have declared that they will only listen to offers until today, they don't want a "Sneijder" (key player leaving on the final day, like Sneijder in 2007) scenario on their hands.

[Wanted Man]

http://media.nu.nl/m/m1dz7k2ab7j2.jpg

Sollied resigns from SC Heerenveen

Trond Sollied, the Norwegian manager of SC Heerenveen, has departed from the club today. Heerenveen had only won 4 points from 5 matches, and Sollied apparently didn't see any hopes of improving. Heerenveen did manage to eliminate PAOK to qualify for the Europa League.

Sollied started at Heerenveen in the summer of 2008, when he surprised the club with his liberal approach to managing. After a difficult period of getting used to his style, he led the club to a 5th league position and a great FA Cup final victory over FC Twente. Clearly, things weren't working out as well this season. His assistant manager has left the club as well, so that first team management will temporarily be taken over by head youth coach Jan de Jonge.

An early managerial victim, yet again. Last season, half of the clubs in the league parted with their managers. Will we see a similar season full of sackings?

[Bandito]

Thanks for keeping us informed, comrade.
I like Dutch football, but there is simply no way to follow the league.

[Wanted Man]

Thanks for the compliments. :)

Btw, before I forget, here's an ESPN column on FC Twente and McClaren: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=666878&sec=europe&root=europe&cc=5739 It's a couple of weeks old, there should be a new one soon, but I thought it was pretty interesting.

[Wanted Man]

There will be no league football this weekend, due to international fixtures. I did come across something interesting just now: a video of Ajax vs PSV from 1993, with Jari Litmanen on the top of his form. We also see players like Van der Sar, Davids, Numan, etc.

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[Bandito]

My personal favourite was Hiddink's era with Bruggink, Bouma, Kezman, Rommedahl, Ooijer,Hofland, Vennegoor of Hesselink....
Now that was a team.

[Wanted Man]

That was a great team. I liked the mini-revival that our football went through in the early 2000s, Ajax and Feyenoord also had very good teams and Feyenoord won the UEFA Cup. Just compare today's PSV team with 5 years ago, it's shocking.

Anyway, a cool video: Dennis Bergkamp playing at a "veteran" match, scoring a nice goal (scroll down for video): http://www.ad.nl/ad/nl/1441/Ajax/article/detail/429158/2009/09/10/Wereldgoal-Bergkamp-bij-veteranen.dhtml :)

[Wanted Man]

Round 6

13/09/2009 Willem II - Feyenoord 2-3
13/09/2009 Sparta Rotterdam - RKC Waalwijk 1-0
13/09/2009 VVV-Venlo - Heracles Almelo 1-0
13/09/2009 Ajax - NAC Breda 6-0
13/09/2009 Vitesse - NEC 2-2
12/09/2009 ADO Den Haag - AZ 2-1
12/09/2009 FC Twente - FC Utrecht 3-2
12/09/2009 SC Heerenveen - FC Groningen 0-1
12/09/2009 PSV - Roda JC 3-0

http://i31.tinypic.com/25sbm0o.gif

The results are a little late, but there was another good round of football last weekend. Most notably, we saw Ajax lashing out against NAC, as well as two regional derbies: the Gelderland derby between Vitesse and NEC, and the derby of the north between SC Heerenveen and FC Groningen.

The latter match was notable, because Groningen hadn't won in Frisia in 12 years. The result flattered them, but the new Danish striker Morten Nordstrand proved his reputation as a "silent killer" by scoring on his debut, after having been invisible for the entire match.

[rednordman]

Crikey, Trond sollied has quite already.! He is normally a good manager!? But obviously made a floored start. Saying that Wantedman, Which Dutch side do you support?

[Wanted Man]

Sollied started last season, he made a tough start, but the season ended very well, the club even won the national cup. He has always had the reputation of bringing silverware to clubs, especially cups. But there was still a cultural difference, he has a liberal approach while Heerenveen is a very disciplined club. And with this season's poor start, it seems they decided to get rid of him after all. It's a shame, it hasn't done them much good so far.

I don't like that kind of emotion management: hiring and sacking managers at a whim, just because of some poor form. Half of the managers got sacked last season! Maybe it will be less this season, because many clubs are short on money. An advantage to a disadvantage, as Cruyff (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_Cruyff#Statements) (Statements) would put it...

I support Ajax, btw.

Anywayyyy... round 7

20/09/2009 ADO Den Haag - FC Utrecht 0-1
20/09/2009 VVV-Venlo - Ajax 0-4
20/09/2009 SC Heerenveen - FC Twente 0-2
20/09/2009 Feyenoord - PSV 1-3
19/09/2009 Vitesse - RKC Waalwijk 3-1
19/09/2009 Heracles Almelo - Sparta Rotterdam 1-1
19/09/2009 Roda JC - NAC Breda 2-0
19/09/2009 AZ - NEC 0-1
18/09/2009 Willem II - FC Groningen 2-1

http://i38.tinypic.com/x5d188.gif

The biggest fixture was between Feyenoord and PSV, in which PSV strengthened their #1 position. Feyenoord had gotten several somewhat lucky wins so far, but this ran out against the more serious opposition of PSV. Many had doubts about PSV's abilities after their disappointing last season, but they still have one of the strongest teams in the league. With their results so far, incl. wins against both Ajax and Feyenoord, they are now major favourites to win the league, after their run of league titles was interrupted by AZ last season.

From what I've gathered, PSV are the hottest favourites, according to most analysts at least. Ajax are a close second. Despite their strength and previous success, most do not expect AZ to prolong the title. Feyenoord are still considered too weak, although they are doing remarkably well (compared to their disastrous last few years). FC Twente are a dangerous outsider, who seem to have cemented their place among the national top teams.

RKC Waalwijk became the ultimate relegation candidates as soon as they were promoted, even moreso than FC Volendam last season (who began to put up a fight after a terrible start, which I can't see RKC doing). They're pure Derby County. VVV Venlo were considered weak as well, but they have some damn good players (Honda, of course), and might stay up after all. Roda JC were almost relegated last season (they won play-offs on penalties), and they have another tough season ahead of them. The win against NAC might inspire them to say "never again" and avoid the drop zone.

Highlights part 1:

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Part 2:

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Speaking of AZ, the league champions are still having difficulties. After their league defeat against ADO Den Haag and their Champions League defeat against Olympiakos, they were once again beaten, this time by NEC. They had the most of the match, but failed to profit from it, just like against the Greeks. NEC gained confidence and made some good attacks, and this eventually paid off: Lorenzo Davids (the cousin of Edgar) gave NEC their first away win against AZ in 33 years. AZ have lost 3 games already, while they lost a total of 4 during the entire last season...

kUONwvEuMQU

[Wanted Man]

Round 8

27/09/2009 Sparta Rotterdam - SC Heerenveen 0-2
27/09/2009 NAC Breda - Feyenoord 0-2
27/09/2009 NEC - Heracles Almelo 0-2
27/09/2009 FC Groningen - Vitesse 1-0
27/09/2009 Ajax - ADO Den Haag 3-0
26/09/2009 FC Utrecht - AZ 1-0
26/09/2009 PSV - Willem II 3-1
26/09/2009 RKC Waalwijk - Roda JC 4-1
26/09/2009 FC Twente - VVV-Venlo 2-1

http://i38.tinypic.com/27yyg6e.gif

More misery for AZ

After Saturday's loss against FC Utrecht, the league champions have already lost as many games as they did during the entire last season. After the match, manager Ronald Koeman admitted that he has no idea what's going on. AZ's defence was excellent last year, but they are slipping now, and their forwards aren't getting anywhere. Players who made the difference last season are now only shadows of what they used to be.

i6JmwQsYQWE

One team that is strong in both defence and attack this season is Ajax. Martin Jol has made it his priority to forge a strong pair of central defenders, and he has managed this even with the departure of Vermaelen. Both central defenders are young Belgians as well, and both have been trained by the club for years: Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld. With this centre, Ajax have not conceded over a month. Luis Suarez continues to produce either tons of goals, or some good assists and teamplay, like in the 3-0 win against ADO Den Haag.

Also, RKC Waalwijk finally managed to get some points. Their win against Roda JC was long overdue, and they did it with some great goals. Unfortunately for them, this did not save the club's board. They had to resign tonight because of the club's ongoing financial problems. The main sponsor pulled out last week, and the local authorities confiscated the club's TV money, because the club still owes them €600K rent.

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[Bandito]

I heard Marko Pantelic scored for Ajax for the 1sr time.
I recommend Ajax fans not to be too optimistic, the guy is a horrible player. Also a nationalist.

[Wanted Man]

Most people were surprised by this signing. Martin Jol lambasted his predecessors for splashing millions on mediocre foreign players who add little, but he has done it himself now. The first thing most Dutch fans saw of him was this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIw0zQxQD4s), and the next week, Pantelic declared in the media that he was going to dazzle everyone with his football, that he would teach Ajax how to play, and that he expected the team to be built around him. In his view, Ajax will be back at the European top in 5 years, and in hindsight, people will say: "It all started with Pantelic." So not a very good first impression, before he had even played one match.

So I don't get why we bought him, we already have strikers with the same style. I'm sure he'll take his goals (his first one was a tap-in gifted by Suarez), he got a decent amount of them at Hertha BSC, but not enough to make him a world striker. I don't think he'll leave a lasting impression.

Out of curiosity, what are his nationalist views?

[Bandito]

Out of curiosity, what are his nationalist views?
Nothing to bounce away from the common nationalist bunch here. He is not very intelligent, so that kind of thinking isn't really surprising. I watched him in a talk-show, and he was all about "Kosovo is serbian sacred soil", "evil Albanians", othodox christianity as a main scientific excuse for his views, which is, as always, powered up by blind nationalism...in one word, a brainless man.
Plus, you can see that he is egoistic to the maximum.

P.S. Who wouldn't score when Suarez assists?;)

[Wanted Man]

Round 9

04/10/2009 Roda JC - Ajax 2-2
04/10/2009 SC Heerenveen - VVV-Venlo 1-1
04/10/2009 FC Utrecht - PSV 0-0
04/10/2009 Heracles Almelo - FC Twente 1-3
03/10/2009 AZ - NAC Breda 1-0
03/10/2009 Feyenoord - RKC Waalwijk 3-0
03/10/2009 ADO Den Haag - FC Groningen 1-1
03/10/2009 Willem II - NEC 1-1
02/10/2009 Vitesse - Sparta Rotterdam 2-0

30/09/2009 NEC - FC Utrecht 1-1 (this match was supposed to be played during the weekend, a few weeks ago, but it was cancelled. It was replayed in the middle of last week)

http://i36.tinypic.com/iz72w9.gif

Ajax and PSV mess up, FC Twente take the lead

Last weekend was a great moment for FC Twente, when they made it all the way to the #1 position in the league table. They did so by beating Heracles Almelo in the regional derby of Twente (it's a region, not one city, the two teams play in different cities in Twente). FC Twente played well on the plastic grass of Heracles. While they will not consider themselves title candidates just yet, they do have a good shout, considering that their competitors keep slipping up.

Derby match in HD:

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Meanwhile, Ajax and PSV failed to win their surprisingly difficult away matches. In fact, both of them were lucky to get away with a point. Both sides had been reliable in defence over the past weeks, but their back lines looked very sloppy this weekend. Ajax had to be saved by two Suarez goals, while PSV were saved by a surprisingly well-playing Andreas Isaksson. The Swedish goalie had received a lot of criticism recently, but he was unbeatable this time.

PSV and Ajax matches in HD:

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Heerenveen vs VVV Venlo was a largely uninteresting match, except for the sending off of Christian Grindheim. The Norwegian decided to tell the world just how he feels. I guess it's typical of Heerenveen's season so far. Nothing works out, lots of frustration, and no discipline.

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By the way, at the beginning of the thread, I said I'd post some info as a blog, so as to avoid cluttering this thread. Do any loyal readers have any suggestions as to what they would like to know more about? Personally, I'm considering doing a little piece about some of the greatest young talents in the league, but any suggestions are welcome.

[Wanted Man]

I'll do the blog post later. For now, with the lack of Eredivisie football due to international fixtures, I'll use this space for some news from the sidelines.

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AZ's existence not in danger

Despite the situation of AZ's main sponsor, DSB Bank, the club's continued existence is secure. The bank has been placed under supervision, because its customers withdrew some €600M from their accounts on the advice of a mortgage watchdog organisation.

The league champions are sponsored by the banker Dirk Scheringa, who runs the DSB empire of credit banks (among other ventures), which exist under different brand names, but are all run by DSB. His banking empire is controversial, because the loans that he offers are presented as very cheap and advantageous. But in practice, people who take loans from one of his banks usually end up stuck to enormous debts.

Scheringa, "the Dutch Abramovich", became a multi-millionaire by this "questionable" practice, and he has invested his money in hobbies like magic realist art, an ice skating team, and, of course, the football club AZ.

It seems to be game over for DSB, but the club AZ will not suffer from this. The FA has guaranteed that the professional football license of the club will not depend on the status of its sponsor. How this will influence the club's financial situation remains to be seen...

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Van Gaal still himself...

Even when things are not going too well for Bayern Munich, Louis van Gaal still finds plenty of time for his usual ego trips. He traveled to the Amsterdam Arena to present his new autobiography, and the picture above shows that the main point is to present the gospel of Van Gaal himself. Among other things, Van Gaal claimed that it is "unique" that a manager who is still alive and working to write an autobiography with a "football vision". The fact that there have been dozens before him seems to be irrelevant to Van Gaal.

He also took the time to settle scores with some of the people that he has clashed with over the years. He accused his former friend Ronald Koeman (then manager of Ajax, currently manager of AZ) of being responsible for his dismissal as Ajax's director of football in the early 2000s, and he claimed that his bad relations with Johan Cruyff stem from a personal incident way back in 1989. Several football experts were described as "hostile" because they consider Van Gaal arrogant, even though they all recognise his managerial genius. He also revealed that he was set to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson as Manchester United manager in 2002, before Sir Alex reconsidered his retirement.

Van Gaal made several media appearances in the Netherlands, in which he admitted to being an emotional person: "I cry on an almost daily basis, there is always something that moves me deeply." He also saw fit to speak out on Barack Obama's Nobel Prize: "The man has not really achieved anything, but I am impressed by his charisma."

http://www.ad.nl/static/FOTO/pe/6/1/13/media_xl_71503.jpg

Hiddink compared to Stalin

After Russia's loss to Germany, Russian media have compared Guus Hiddink to Josef Stalin, ordering his troops to take "not a step back". According to the papers, Hiddink "dislikes Germans as well", his parents concealed Jews in their farm, and the match, despite the loss, was similar to the Battle of Moscow.

Hiddink said that Stalin is "not my type", but he doesn't mind the comparison, because of Stalin's historical importance to Russians.

[Wanted Man]

Some more on AZ's situation

The court decision regarding the fate of the DSB Bank has been postponed, but we can say some more about the club sponsored by them. As said, they are safe for this season, because they have already been given the money. But after that, they will need to find a new sponsor, who is unlikely to be as rich.

Therefore, most experts expect that AZ will not be able to be choosy when it comes to accepting transfer sums for their players - they'll simply have to cut costs. AZ will likely revert to a mid-table provincial side like NEC or Willem II or what have you, or AZ itself before Scheringa took over the reigns way back in 1993.

It's a kind of sad goodbye, because they have really proved their credentials as a top club recently. But of course, it was all funded by the misery of others, and the club would never have come this far without their sugar daddy. So this was bound to happen at some point.

McClaren signs new contract

Steve McClaren will stay at FC Twente for a few more years. The details will be announced later on. The deal is likely to include a clause allowing him to leave if a better club comes for him. That can certainly happen, because he finished second with Twente last season, and reached the cup final. The club currently holds the top position in the league.

[Wanted Man]

Time for some actual football again!

Round 10

18/10/2009 Sparta Rotterdam - Feyenoord 2-1
18/10/2009 VVV-Venlo - Roda JC 1-1
18/10/2009 NEC - ADO Den Haag 1-1
18/10/2009 FC Groningen - FC Utrecht 0-0
18/10/2009 RKC Waalwijk - Heracles Almelo 0-1
17/10/2009 Ajax - Willem II 4-0
17/10/2009 PSV - SC Heerenveen 1-0
17/10/2009 FC Twente - AZ 3-2
17/10/2009 NAC Breda - Vitesse 4-0

http://i37.tinypic.com/2jg57qs.gif

Feyenoord lose in city derby

For Sparta fans, the most important match is against Feyenoord, the only city derby in the league. Feyenoord are the biggest and most successful side, but Sparta are the oldest team of both the city and the whole country, founded in 1888. Unlike their rivals from the south part of the city, they have not won the league since 1959, and they have spent most of their recent years fighting relegation. Beating Feyenoord is a rare and momentous occasion for them.

This season, they've managed it for the second season in a row! Feyenoord had the best of the first half, but after the break, Sparta were much more threatening. This soon led to a loss of discipline for Feyenoord, with Cissé being sent off for a challenge that looked like a yellow card at first, but in fact, it was a pretty disgusting tackle that earned a well-deserved red. Sparta equalised, after which another ugly challenge by Tomasson reduced Feyenoord to 9 men. A Sparta player earned his second yellow card later on, but they produced a good 2-1 win in the end. The amount of cards suggests a match with more flying tackles than real football, but in fact, it was a pretty good game.

fnkbj4yPUxM

AZ lose to FC TWente

Another good match between two title candidates. At the end, AZ seemed likely to grab a point against their opponents, who are really on a roll at the moment. But a late goal led them to their fifth defeat, meaning they have already lost half their matches. It seems AZ's title chances have been shattered very early in the season. Twente, on the other hand, remain on top and unbeaten.

VmWEsHz7SwM

[Killfacer]

Do you think Twente are gonna go all the way?

[Wanted Man]

I wouldn't think so immediately, but then again, last season, nobody really expected AZ to do it until they were miles ahead. I still think PSV and Ajax are bigger favourites (PSV by sheer experience and stability, Ajax because of their tremendous attacking capabilities, and their backline, which was a weakness in the past, is more organised now), but I can't rule it out.

Like AZ last season, they have a balanced squad (it's a bit weaker than last season, but the players who stayed have also grown), a manager who gets the most out of every player, and who is backed by directors who actually know how to properly run a club. Twente's squad includes some experienced players, like the 35-year-old playmaker Kenneth Perez and the 34-year-old striker Blaise N'Kufo, who recently became the all-time top scorer of the club. The football they play is a joy to watch.

[Wanted Man]

Some good stuff from the lower league, the First Division, discussed on a talk show:

i-F6KigOeKQ

Presentator: So this kind of thing can happen at that level?
Other guy: Sure.
Presentator: So why do you think that is?
Other guy: Because he totally sucks! Why, did you think it was bad luck?

:lol:

[Wanted Man]

Round 11

25/10/2009 Willem II - SC Heerenveen 4-1
25/10/2009 NEC - PSV 0-4
25/10/2009 FC Twente - FC Groningen 4-0
25/10/2009 AZ - Ajax 2-4
24/10/2009 Feyenoord - VVV-Venlo 1-0
24/10/2009 Vitesse - Heracles Almelo 0-2
24/10/2009 ADO Den Haag - Sparta Rotterdam 2-3
24/10/2009 NAC Breda - RKC Waalwijk 1-0
23/10/2009 FC Utrecht - Roda JC 2-1

http://i33.tinypic.com/2wfjvyh.gif

FC Twente humiliate FC Groningen

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Groningen will want to forget about this awful match quickly. They were well beaten by Twente. Groningen looked completely static, with no movement in possession at all, zero creativity, and no possibility to surprise their opponents at any time. Not many people expected them to win against Twente anyway, despite Twente's surprise loss in the Europa League against Sheriff Tiraspol.

Ajax beat AZ in second half

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Last season, this would have been a true top game, but AZ have been on a very poor run this season. Demy de Zeeuw, who went from AZ to Ajax in the summer, added some fuel to the fire in an interview. He said that he was delighted to have left AZ, because he "knew" that the club was going up shit creek with the replacement of Louis van Gaal by Ronald Koeman. He was booed throughout the game for this, but was vindicated in the end by the result, although the 4 goals flattered Ajax.

It was truly a match with two faces, in which AZ were dominant throughout the first half. El-Hamdaoui opened the score after half an hour, and AZ seemed to be cruising at half time. However, at the 57th minute, Ajax's Emanuelson caught the Argentina goalie Romero away from his line, and scored from a great distance. A very poor performance from the keeper who was such a key part of last season's championship squad. AZ collapsed right away, as Suarez put Ajax ahead just a minute later. AZ's game was now riddled with mistakes, and they were repeatedly overrun.

A festival of mistakes at ADO vs Sparta

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A surprisingly entertaining game between ADO and Sparta. Both sides threw caution to the wind, and the defending was simply awful, but this "score one more than the other" approach made it all the more fun to watch. Sparta ended up getting the better of their opponents, but it could have gone either way.

[Wanted Man]

http://www.feyenoordwint.nl/historiesite/images/feyhvh_ec06.jpg

In other news, the 72-year-old Coen Moulijn revealed his own statue in Rotterdam today. This was combined with a heavy new biography that has recently been published. The lives of Cruyff and Van Hanegem have been well-documented for years, and now Moulijn has finally been immortalised as well.

Moulijn was one of the best left-wingers of Dutch football, and a true hero for Feyenoord. His sudden burst of speed, which fooled the best full-backs every single time, was without compare. Along with the likes of Rinus Israël, Wim Jansen, Willem van Hanegem and Ove Kindvall, with the legendary Ernst Happel as manager, he was part of the team that won the European Cup against Celtic in 1970. This was Feyenoord's only European Cup win, as well as the first time that a Dutch club won this trophy.

Moulijn played at a time when footballers did not instantly become multi-millionaires; when he retired in 1972, Moulijn had just enough money to start a tobacco shop, which still exists today. Now, people have finally taken action to ensure that Moulijn remains in collective memory as one of the true greats of Dutch football.

[Wanted Man]

NEC manager resigns

http://www.sportweek.nl/uploads/news/dwight_lodeweges_psv_85265_300px.jpg

The second manager to leave his club this season. After the sacking of Trond Sollied at Heerenveen, it is now NEC's manager Dwight Lodeweges who has resigned. The club lost heavily to PSV this weekend, and had only managed to win 11 points from 11 games. Lodeweges said that he has no confidence to turn things around and lead the club forward.

Steve McClaren, on the other hand, has finally signed a new contract that will keep him at FC Twente until 2011.

[Panda Tse Tung]

Where's the 1st division?! YOU BASTARD!
RBC FTW!!!

[Wanted Man]

Where's the 1st division?! YOU BASTARD!
RBC FTW!!!

I recently made a post that captures the essence of the First Division very well:


Some good stuff from the lower league, the First Division, discussed on a talk show:

i-F6KigOeKQ

Presentator: So this kind of thing can happen at that level?
Other guy: Sure.
Presentator: So why do you think that is?
Other guy: Because he totally sucks! Why, did you think it was bad luck?

:lol:

:p

[Killfacer]

How's Honda getting along?

Thanks for the updates, although i have been absent from revleft, i have been checking into this thread when i have the time :)

[Wanted Man]

Honda is playing pretty well, but not as good as his amazing start of the season. However, a slight lapse of form is only natural for such a young player who made such a great start early on. I'm sure he'll be okay.

Anyway... cup football!

http://www.lansingersportmatinee.nl/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/knvb-beker.jpg

The third round of the Dutch FA Cup was played in midweek. AZ and Ajax were both pretty embarrassing. AZ only managed to win against the amateur club Spakenburg in extra time, while Ajax were also forced into an extension by First Division side FC Dordrecht.

FC Groningen have been playing extremely poorly in the league, but they managed an amazing 5-1 win at Vitesse. It should be said that Vitesse aren't doing well in the league either, and have several important players injured, but their performance was simply awful. Groningen were already up 4-0 at half time, cruising to victory. A notable debut for Groningen: 18-year-old attacking midfielder Leandro Bacuna made his first appearance in the starting line-up. Bacuna comes from the club's youth system, and he is already considered a great talent for the club. He played an impeccable match against Vitesse and scored a goal.

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Other results: http://www.vi.nl/Competities/Competitie.htm?statid=38&viewid=41&dbid=4195&typeofpage=84136

The draw for the 4th round was held soon after. Some of the highlights: FC Groningen will be playing NEC, Feyenoord vs AZ, and SC Heerenveen vs PSV. Full list of fixtures:

FC Groningen - NEC
Baronie - Sparta Rotterdam
FC Twente - Helmond Sport
Feyenoord - AZ
Heracles Almelo - Go Ahead Eagles
WHC - Ajax
SC Heerenveen - PSV
De Graafschap 2 - NAC Breda

There are still two amateur clubs in it, Baronie and WHC. De Graafschap's reserves surprisingly beat First Division club FC Zwolle. The media reported that the Zwolle manager was sacked soon after, but he has denied this himself. The club's chairman could not be contacted.

EDIT: he has been sacked indeed. Jaap Stam will take over temporarily.

[Wanted Man]

Round 12

01/11/2009 Ajax - Feyenoord 5-1
01/11/2009 Sparta Rotterdam - NEC 2-0
01/11/2009 RKC Waalwijk - Willem II 0-1
01/11/2009 Heracles Almelo - FC Utrecht 3-1
31/10/2009 FC Groningen - AZ 0-1
31/10/2009 PSV - Vitesse 1-0
31/10/2009 Roda JC - FC Twente 1-2
31/10/2009 SC Heerenveen - ADO Den Haag 3-0
30/10/2009 VVV-Venlo - NAC Breda 1-1

http://i37.tinypic.com/9jlxd3.gif

Ajax vs Feyenoord

The match of the season for most football fans here. In this edition, the game was marked by two controversial refereeing discussions. The ref failed to see an alleged elbow by Suarez on a Feyenoord player, but he did give a red card to Feyenoord's Babovic for a similar foul. At that point, Ajax were already up, but the even match became a walkover after that. Emanuelson played particularly well, continuing his recent good form.

wVFT_hddXaE

[Wanted Man]

A crazy Round 13!

08/11/2009 ADO Den Haag - PSV 1-5
08/11/2009 NAC Breda - Willem II 4-0
08/11/2009 FC Twente - Ajax 1-0
08/11/2009 FC Utrecht - SC Heerenveen 2-3
08/11/2009 AZ - Feyenoord 1-1
07/11/2009 Vitesse - VVV-Venlo 2-0
07/11/2009 NEC - RKC Waalwijk 0-1
07/11/2009 Sparta Rotterdam - Roda JC 1-2
06/11/2009 FC Groningen - Heracles Almelo 4-1

http://i38.tinypic.com/nf37rk.gif

FC Twente resist Ajax as well

The most important match was between FC Twente and Ajax, the #1 and #3 in the league. These positions have not changed, because Twente managed a win against Ajax on Sunday. Jol and McClaren, two of the best managers in the league, were both well prepared for the game, so the two sides were well matched. It is only fitting that Twente's only goal came from a set piece. Bryan Ruiz headed a free kick in perfectly.

This has some serious implications for the league. Although McClaren remains modest ("PSV and Ajax are the favourites, we are outsiders"), the reality is that his team now lead Ajax by 6 points, and that the unbeaten status of both Twente and PSV is a massive advantage over Ajax, who have now been defeated away from home by both of their direct competitors. Things can go wrong very quickly at this stage: last season, Ajax lost away from home to AZ, but then they failed to win the next 3 games against weaker opponents, throwing away their title hopes within a very short period. Jol will have to do everything he can to avoid this.

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PSV easily beat 9-man ADO

A bit of a crazy match in The Hague on Sunday. ADO lost discipline very quickly, but the ref was quite eager to give yellow cards to both sides; two ADO players were even sent off, but it is very debatable whether either of them were really justified. This led to some base reactions from the home "supporters" (who later also trashed PSV's bus...), that really should not be dignified by talking about them further.

However, they did cause the ref to suspend the game for 15 minutes, ADO's director of football using the PA system to beg them to shut up, before the game could continue. It's nothing extreme, but it wasn't exactly a great day for football either. Except for PSV, who maintained their unbeaten status.

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Other interesting matches were played as well. The regional derby between NAC and Willem II led to a smashing victory for the former; their fans will have a nice day at the office this morning. NEC's misery continued: after the resignation of their manager, they surprisingly lost to the definite relegation candidates RKC. Heerenveen haven't been doing too well, but they played really well against FC Utrecht away and earned their 3-2 win.

[Wanted Man]

http://fc-groningen.nieuwslog.nl/data/subdomain/260/article/20090913113634_Jans__Ron2.jpg

Jans to leave FC Groningen at the end of the season

After 8 seasons, Groningen manager Ron Jans has announced his intention to resign in the summer of 2010. He does not feel that he can bring much more progress to the club, and he is looking to set some new goals for himself. FC Groningen have been disappointing in the league so far, after their important striker Marcus Berg left for HSV. They signed some new forwards, but none of them have been completely satisfactory. There were previously some plans to extend Jans' contract, with some suggesting that he should become "the Dutch Wenger", but the recent lack of form probably plays a role in the cancellation of this plan.

In the meantime, Jans will want to impress on his players that they still need to finish this season. When a manager announces his departure at the end of the season, this usually leads to poor results in the remaining games under his stewardship. Of course, there is speculation as to his succession. Erwin Koeman may be tempted, after he failed to qualify for the World Cup with Hungary. Jan Everse, recently sacked at FC Zwolle, is another good candidate, while Gertjan Verbeek (currently Heracles manager) is an outside option.

2010 will truly be the end of an era for the club, because Jans has been with Groningen since 2002. He joins a very short list of long-term managers over the past 10 years, because most clubs are governed by opportunism, and a hero can easily become a loser. Jans led the club from mid-table mediocrity to a 5th, 7th, 8th and 6th place over the last four seasons. Groningen qualified for the UEFA Cup two times under Jans.

[Wanted Man]

http://afca1900.web-log.nl/photos/uncategorized/2009/05/08/clarence_seedorf_afca1900.jpg

No league games tonight, because of international fixtures. While Portugal, Russia, Ireland, etc. are fighting for qualification, Holland will be playing a friendly against Italy in Pescara. It will be interesting to see where the team stands at the moment.

In the run-up to the World Cup, we have seen the beginning of a small lobby to bring back Clarence Seedorf, who left the team after a conflict with the previous manager Van Basten. Ruud van Nistelrooy fired off the first shot by saying that Seedorf should definitely be called up again someday. I don't see why not, because other midfield call-ups like Engelaar, Schaars, and Mendes da Silva are not good enough IMO.

Seedorf has always had a difficult relationship with the national team. While he has played breathtaking games for the likes of Real Madrid and Milan on a weekly basis, he has never done particularly well for the Netherlands. It seems that no manager could bring out his true potential for the national team.

[Panda Tse Tung]

You have jet to mention the great trauma's from the lower teams in the 1st division cause of the introduction of the top-class. :(
+ the fact it exists from the next season onwards.

[Wanted Man]

I'll say something about it now, since there is no top flight football until the next weekend.

Basically, professional football has consisted of two leagues since 1971: the Eredivisie and the First Division (current sponsor name: Jupiler League). Below that, there is a myriad of amateur leagues, but it is impossible to get relegated from the First Division. Amateur clubs could obtain professional licenses if possible (this happened with AGOVV and FC Omniworld in 2003 and 2005), and First Division clubs could lose their professional licenses for financial reasons (this last happened in 1992), but other than that, there was a clear division between pro and amateur football.

However, this is going to change at the end of this season. There will be a new semi-professional "Topklasse" (Top Class), consisting of the bottom 2 teams of the First Division, and 30 amateur clubs that are competing for promotion this season. So for the first time in decades, there is once again a threat of relegation, and a First Division team that finishes last can no longer simply say "Oh well, maybe next season". The Topklasse will consists of a Saturday league and a Sunday league, with 16 clubs each.

Not everyone is pleased with it, but something had to happen IMO. The First Division teams have been plagued by low attendances, poor-quality football, and financial mismanagement for years, while the top amateur teams in small towns often fill out their stadiums and are basically acting like professional teams by allowing sponsors to "buy" and compensate the best players. Some of these clubs don't really want the Topklasse, because it would force them into much tougher competition, and new rules could prevent them from running their clubs like little fiefdoms.

Anyway, the First Division table looks like this:

http://i50.tinypic.com/2zhikbs.gif

At least Panda's club is safe at the moment. :p The two bottom teams have both had severe financial trouble recently, but it seems that they will simply go down to competition on the pitch this season.

The exceptionally bored can watch all of Friday's games here: http://www.rtl.nl/components/sport/rtlvoetbal/jupiler/miMedia/208355/208371.public.27183239.RTL_Voetbal_Jupiler_League_ s7_a16.xml

[Wanted Man]

Round 14!

22/11/2009 Willem II - ADO Den Haag 1-1
22/11/2009 VVV-Venlo - Sparta Rotterdam 5-0
22/11/2009 PSV - Heracles Almelo 4-0
22/11/2009 Ajax - SC Heerenveen 5-1
22/11/2009 Feyenoord - FC Utrecht 0-0
21/11/2009 RKC Waalwijk - FC Groningen 3-1
21/11/2009 NAC Breda - NEC 3-3
21/11/2009 FC Twente - Vitesse 1-0
21/11/2009 Roda JC - AZ 2-4

http://i45.tinypic.com/r2s5k0.gif

Lots of interesting games last weekend. AZ were scared shitless by their own goalkeeper Sergio Romero. He made two terrible mistakes, giving Roda the 2-1 lead. It's disappointing for Romero, who had an excellent previous season and was selected in the Argentina team. However, AZ managed to recover in the end and earn their 2-4 win.

TAiStiFrRUE

NAC vs NEC was an interesting match, in which neither side paid much attention to defence. This produced some beautiful goals, including 2 by NAC's Matthew Amoah, and a brace by NEC's Saidi Ntibazonkiza. Saidi's career is an interesting one. He arrived in the Netherlands as an asylum seeker from Burundi, and NEC was simply the club that was closest to the refugee centre where he stayed. After some conflicts with the club management, he has been accepted into the squad again, with good results. In this match, NEC also presented their new manager, Wiljan Vloet (former manager of FC Den Bosch, Roda JC, Sparta, and ADO).

-mVJYVlMjaQ

RKC surprisingly beat FC Groningen to gain their third victory. Groningen goalkeeper Luciano earned a dumb red card after only 10 minutes or so, and they never came back into the match after that.

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Ajax and PSV both earned easy victories against Heerenveen and Heracles, respectively:

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VVV Venlo had a surprisingly one-sided game against Sparta; they won by a 5-goal margin.

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[Wanted Man]

http://www.chelseafc.com/javaImages/10/cc/0,,10268~7719952,00.jpg

I'd like to draw your attention to this interview (http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~1886740,00.html) with Chelsea's winger Miroslav Stoch, who is currently on loan at FC Twente. It's pretty interesting. When Stoch arrived here, he was initially criticised for being little more than a "blind" dribbler with no consideration for team mates, but he developed very quickly and is now just as strong on the left wing as Eljero Elia last season.

Stoch previously had a few substitute appearances for Chelsea, but if he keeps developing like this, we will surely see him in the English Premier League more often.

[Wanted Man]

Last weekend's results will be posted tomorrow. But for now, have a look at this broadcast (http://content.nos.nl/player/play/tcm:5-604150/) of the football talk show Studio Voetbal. They had McClaren as a guest and interviewed him in English. Unfortunately, there are also Dutch parts (going on for quite a while), and the internet broadcast doesn't have the match footage (something to do with broadcasting rights). Still, it might be interesting.

[Wanted Man]

Round 15

29/11/2009 FC Utrecht - NAC Breda 3-1
29/11/2009 FC Groningen - NEC 2-2
29/11/2009 Vitesse - Ajax 1-5
29/11/2009 ADO Den Haag - Feyenoord 0-2
28/11/2009 AZ - VVV-Venlo 2-0
28/11/2009 SC Heerenveen - RKC Waalwijk 3-1
28/11/2009 Heracles Almelo - Roda JC 3-2
28/11/2009 Willem II - FC Twente 1-3
27/11/2009 Sparta Rotterdam - PSV 2-3

http://i46.tinypic.com/2qtzdi9.gif

Not much to report this weekend. Most games went as expected, in fact. Ajax's strong win against Vitesse was most notable, after they had failed to beat them away from home for years. Vitesse gained the lead early, but they were outclassed afterwards. Pantelic scored three goals, and seems to be really enjoying life after some difficulties settling down. Aissati also scored, so he decided to wield the corner flag like a shotgun. Cool celebration. :)

hFNxJQf9a7I

Other notable things happened off the pitch. Theo Janssen was banned by Twente for 2 months after causing a major car accident while DUI. Janssen was only slightly wounded (broken nose and some cuts), but one of the car's passengers (a goalie, former pro, now playing for an amateur club) was much more severely wounded. He lost an ear (which was reattached), was in coma for some time, and is still hospitalised.

After Heracles' win against Roda JC, there was a funny incident between the two managers. At the press conference, the losing manager (Harm van Veldhoven, Dutch-born, but naturalised citizen of Belgium) made the usual claim that his side had deserved more, blah blah blah, the usual crap that managers say to protect their players after a loss. Heracles manager Verbeek was not amused with this analysis. He made the following rant:

"Well... I'm glad I don't have false teeth, or they would have fallen out. Sometimes, I just can't believe what I'm hearing. (pause) I believe I should count to ten first. (pause) There, I've counted to ten. I earned my manager's license in the Netherlands, and not in Belgium, so I've seen a different game."

(the other manager shakes his hand and leaves, and asks: "Did you really think that was necessary?")

"Just go and review it on video. If you're a man, you'll call me afterwards. (pause) What an annoying guy."

:lol:

[Wanted Man]

Koeman sacked

http://www.spitsnieuws.nl/archives/images/koeman_gr.jpg

AZ manager Ronald Koeman has left the club after Friday's 2-1 home defeat against Vitesse. The board have said that, due to the team's performance on the pitch, they do not see any grounds to continue employing Koeman. Koeman joined the club at the beginning of the season, replacing Louis van Gaal, knowing that it would be hard to equal his predecessor's title win. AZ are currently 6th, and have already lost 7 matches out of 16.

After Trond Sollied (Heerenveen) and Dwight Lodeweges (NEC), Koeman is the third manager to leave prematurely this season (not counting Ron Jans of FC Groningen, who will stay on until next summer).

[Wanted Man]

Round 16

06/12/2009 NEC - FC Twente 3-4
06/12/2009 FC Utrecht - Ajax 2-0
06/12/2009 RKC Waalwijk - PSV 0-2
06/12/2009 Heracles Almelo - SC Heerenveen 3-1
06/12/2009 Feyenoord - FC Groningen 3-1
04/12/2009 AZ - Vitesse 1-2
04/12/2009 Roda JC - ADO Den Haag 1-1
04/12/2009 VVV-Venlo - Willem II 2-1
04/12/2009 NAC Breda - Sparta Rotterdam 2-2

http://i47.tinypic.com/n6tly1.gif

Some interesting games. On Friday, AZ lost at home to Vitesse, and manager Koeman was sacked soon after (see above). In the weeks before, AZ started winning again, and Koeman explicitly told his players to improve their discipline (AZ have already earned several red cards this season). However, last Friday, AZ lost again, and a player was sent off yet again. This led the AZ board to believe that Koeman has lost the dressing room, and they sacked him. He will be replaced by Dick Advocaat, who will combine his function with his job at Belgium. Belgium failed to qualify for the World Cup, so they only have a few friendlies until the summer.

2ItZ0osOH3s

Meanwhile, Ajax surprisingly lost at Utrecht. This puts them in big trouble, because their direct competitors, Twente and PSV, did win. Twente's game away at NEC was surprisingly difficult, and they only managed to win just minutes before the end of the match.

-FBd_wICyKU

TdWnJCvWK7U

Also, FC Groningen lost against Feyenoord, despite taking the lead. A few days later, the media reported that Groningen had approached Frank de Boer as their new manager for the next season. However, De Boer refused the job, making this another disappointment for Groningen. It would have been the first managerial job for the 39-year-old former defender of Ajax, Barcelona, Galatasaray and Rangers.

[Wanted Man]

Round 17

13/12/2009 ADO Den Haag - Heracles Almelo 1-4
13/12/2009 Willem II - Roda JC 1-3
13/12/2009 Sparta Rotterdam - FC Groningen 2-4
13/12/2009 Vitesse - FC Utrecht 2-2
12/12/2009 VVV-Venlo - RKC Waalwijk 3-0
12/12/2009 FC Twente - NAC Breda 3-1
12/12/2009 SC Heerenveen - Feyenoord 0-2
12/12/2009 PSV - AZ 1-0
11/12/2009 Ajax - NEC 3-0

http://i50.tinypic.com/fllzki.gif

We're already halfway there. Next weekend, there will be one more round, and then the winter break begins.

So what happened this week? Well, the most interesting game was between Sparta and FC Groningen, with an amazing hat-trick by Groningen's Danish midfielder Enevoldsen. These long-distance shots are his first three goals for his new club. One could argue that the goalie should have been better (especially Enevoldsen's second goal was a keeper's error), but they are still quality goals.

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In Eindhoven, Dick Advocaat took charge of AZ for his first game, against PSV. AZ were on the defense for most of the game, but they were well-organised. PSV failed to break them down until the 85th minute with a good goal by Ola Toivonen. This is PSV's 8th victory in a row.

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FC Twente looked very complacent at times in their home game against NAC, but that didn't prevent them from winning their 12th victory in a row. The best player on the pitch was Miroslav Stoch, the Slovak on loan from Chelsea. His speed and ability to cut inside drew comparisons to Marc Overmars. After NAC took the lead, Stoch put his team back into the match by chipping a penalty kick through the centre as a tribute to Antonin Panenka's contribution to Czechoslovak football. This took a lot of guts, because Twente's striker and captain Kufo missed a penalty earlier in the game.

Bryan Ruiz scored his 10th goal in a row. He is coming close to a record held by Pierre van Hooijdonk, who scored 11 in a row for NAC in 1993-1994.

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Since we're halfway, Studio Sport made a selection of the best 10 goals of the season so far. Enjoy:

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[Wanted Man]

Round 18

All of Sunday's matches have been cancelled due to heavy snowfall. So for now, I'll give you the matches of Friday and Saturday, and the league table so far. It is unknown when the matches will be replayed.

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The most surprising result was RKC vs Sparta this Saturday. With this, RKC's relegation struggle isn't entirely hopeless yet.

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The season so far...

Now that we're halfway, what can we say about the season up until the winter break? Who's doing well, and who's underperforming?

For the former, let's start with Heracles. They have one of the lowest budgets, and are always relegation candidates. This season, former Feyenoord manager Gertjan Verbeek took charge, and they're in the 5th spot now! Verbeek's hand-on, fitness-based approach was not appreciated by the spoiled internationals at Feyenoord last season, but the more modest side Heracles are very receptive to it. They've already won more points than during the entire previous season. FC Twente are also notable: everyone knew that they were going to be there or thereabouts, but nobody expected them to crown themselves winter champions with zero defeats. Newly promoted VVV Venlo and Sparta are also doing surprisingly well.

On the other hand, FC Groningen and Heerenveen are two sides that should normally be competing for European football (indeed, Heerenveen played in the Europa League this season). This season, however, the two northern clubs failed to get any further than the bottom half.

Then there is AZ, who had a remarkable 2009. First the stunning league title win, then the new manager Koeman, the demise of their wealthy sponsor DSB, 8 defeats in the league, an awful performance in the Champions League, terrible discipline, and the sacking of that same new manager. At least they won on Saturday, so they still have a chance of qualifying for Europe under Dick Advocaat.

What will 2010 bring? My prediction is that PSV will win the title in the end. But you never know.

[Wanted Man]

As of today, I'll stop updating this thread. I realize that it is harsh on all my two readers, but that's just too bad. Can it be closed?

[Killfacer]

As of today, I'll stop updating this thread. I realize that it is harsh on all my two readers, but that's just too bad. Can it be closed?

But i'm back now, i love this thread :(

Or am i counted as one of your two readers?

[Bandito]

What?
Don't do that, I love this thread.
As I said earlier, there is no way for me to follow Dutch football in Serbia outside this thread. If it hasn't become a burden, don't stop.

[Wanted Man]

Nah, I'm sorry, but I can't bring up the motivation for it anymore. The thing is, Revleft seems to have turned into a forum where you can get suspended or banned for all kinds of crap, so I must admit that I don't feel like putting too much effort into posts like this.

Of course, that doesn't mean that I'll shut up about football in this little cold country forever; I could never do that. I won't keep you uninformed. If anything interesting happens, I'll make sure to post it. I just can't be arsed with weekly updates with several games anymore. I'll definitely let you guys know about big games, transfers, stuff like that.

[Bandito]

Ok, fair enough.

[Wanted Man]

If there's anything that you found particularly interesting about this thread over the years, just say it and I'll pay attention to it occasionally.

[Wanted Man]

A little update, because things are beginning to look more interesting. PSV and FC Twente were the major title candidates for a long time, but a few matches changed this. First of all, PSV lost to NAC and Ajax, allowing Ajax to overtake them. After that, the PSV vs FC Twente match ended in a draw, bringing Ajax within 4 points of the first place.

This leads us to the following league table, with 6 matches left (Feyenoord and Vitesse have one match less, because their recent game was interrupted by heavy rainfall, and it will be continued later):

http://i42.tinypic.com/1zdoo5l.gif

PSV had been the hot favourites for a while, but they repeatedly failed, their defensive playing style not always doing them good. It is now generally accepted that it will either be Ajax or Twente, with Ajax having the easier match schedule. On Sunday, Ajax will play FC Groningen, probably their toughest opponent in the 6 matches to go. There will be a lot of pressure on that match.

If the top 3 approach each other even further, we might see an exciting season conclusion like in 2006-2007, when PSV won the league by one goal difference (see this article (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2007/apr/30/europeanfootball.ajax)).

Twente's remaining games

27/3 FC Twente - Sparta Rotterdam
3/4 VVV-Venlo - FC Twente
10/4 FC Twente - SC Heerenveen
13/4 AZ - FC Twente
18/4 FC Twente - Feyenoord
2/5 NAC Breda - FC Twente

Tough away matches at AZ and NAC, as well as home games against Heerenveen and Feyenoord.

Ajax

28/3 Ajax - FC Groningen
4/4 ADO Den Haag - Ajax
11/4 Ajax - VVV-Venlo
14/4 Willem II - Ajax
18/4 Ajax - Heracles Almelo
2/5 NEC - Ajax

For Ajax, the task is simple: win all these games, and hope FC Twente slip up. Ajax are on a roll now, with a series of wins, and 22 goals in their last 5 games. However, if they don't get the 3 points in one of them, it will become very difficult indeed.

PSV

28/3 VVV-Venlo - PSV
4/4 Willem II - PSV
11/4 PSV - Feyenoord
14/4 SC Heerenveen - PSV
18/4 PSV - FC Groningen
2/5 AZ - PSV

They've got some tough ones ahead of them. In fact, their last 4 matches are all difficult, and it would be surprising if they manage to win them all. PSV are generally not considered candidates any more, but of course, experts have made the mistake of counting PSV out in the past, and yet they still managed it. So who knows.

The Ajax vs PSV match from 14 March:

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Also, the participants in the cup final have been determined, after Feyenoord beat Twente, and Ajax beat First Division side Go Ahead. That's right, the final will be the "classic" Feyenoord vs Ajax, for the first time in 30 years! An exciting clash that will definitely be hard-fought between the two rivals.

[Bandito]

I missed this. Thanks, WM. :)

[Wanted Man]

I figured I might as well post some stuff when things get interesting, though I don't have time for weekly updates.

It'll be a pretty exciting last 6 matches. I wonder what will happen if Twente actually manage to win the title; will McClaren's reputation in England improve if he wins silverware abroad?

Also, did you see Pantelic's back-heel action in the Ajax vs PSV video? I'm not a big Pantelic fan, but he is definitely playing well. He's still a controversial player here, because many experts agree that Ajax did not really need another striker, and they would rather see Suarez "at the point" rather than in a right-wing role, having to work hard to score goals. Pantelic is also a pretty weird guy, with his constant little gestures (applauding/thumbs up for every ball that goes out, sign of the cross, etc. :rolleyes:) and stuff like that.

Still, Pantelic is doing very well at times, but his 1-year contract probably won't be extended. The club only wants to offer him 1-2 years to be safe, but he wants 3-4 years, a difficult demand for a striker of his age, while the club is suffering massive financial losses.

[Bandito]

He's a wanker, simple as that.
Serbian national team is really thin when it comes to attackers, when Pantelic is regular there.
I'd rather see the goal-machine Zigic from Valencia up in front, but I simply can't understand why Valencia don't play him more often. I realise that they play with one attacker and two wingers and that Villa is untouchable, but, hey, the guy scored 17 goals in 10 games while loaned to Racing Santander.
Another solution for the attack is another player from the Dutch league, Danko Lazovic, who I don't like very much as well.

[Wanted Man]

Danko Lazovic actually transferred to Zenit St. Petersburg earlier this month. In the Netherlands, he was pretty hated most of the time, because he played horribly, and he constantly picked fights with the fans, the managers, other players, etc.

But this season, the new manager Fred Rutten actually accomplished what everyone had thought impossible: getting Lazovic to play well, and getting him to behave, even though he was forced to play on the right instead of as a striker. Still, he is an unpredictable guy, and PSV can be glad to have gotten €5M for him from the Russians.

[Wanted Man]

De Graafschap, once Guus Hiddink's club, won the First Division on Sunday, earning their promotion to the Premier Division, after a somewhat lucky home win over Go Ahead Eagles. The reason I'm posting this is that the victory was followed up by a classic pitch invasion, although of a "negotiated" variety: the club allowed it, provided that the fans waited a while until after the final whistle to avoid any risks. This apparently went well, and led to some great scenes:

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In any case, they are a great club (see: http://www.ajaxusa.com/teams/degraafschap.html), and one that will probably not go down as easily as other recent "back-and-forth" sides.

[Wanted Man]

So much going on, it would be a shame not to post. The most important thing is the midweek round of matches that was played on Tuesday and Wednesday. FC Twente finally lost another game, 1-0 away at AZ. Twente were unfortunate; they were denied a penalty after a blatant handball. Ajax won their game.

As a result, the distance is now only 1 point, with 2 more matches to go. We're in for a very exciting conclusion. PSV failed to win at Heerenveen, so they are definitely out of the title race.

Another rather horrible thing is that Twente's players' bus was hit by rocks thrown from an overpass on the way to Alkmaar. The bus's windows were made of special protective glass, so nobody got hurt, but it caused quite a scare. Honestly, people like that deserve to be taken out and shot.

The game:

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FC Twente manager McClaren on the penalty decision, his team's performance, and their title hopes:

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League table:

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Twente's remaining matches: Feyenoord at home, NAC Breda away.
Ajax's remaining matches: Heracles Almelo at home, NEC away.

The next round will be played on the 18th of April, the final one on the 2nd of May. This last round may very well be decisive for the title. Ajax have the easiest opponents by the look of it, and are expected to win both their games, so Twente must do so as well.

Cup: I mentioned earlier that the cup final would be between Feyenoord and Ajax. Cup finals are always played at Feyenoord's stadium in Rotterdam. In this case, due to the rivalry between the two clubs, this created a massive hooliganism scare in the FA, local authorities, and in the media. The plan was to keep the fans of both sides away from each other at all costs, so only some 10,000 Feyenoord tickets and 7,700 Ajax tickets were sold, while "neutral" tickets were withdrawn. The stadium has a capacity of 51,000, so there would not be much of an atmosphere.

However, a new decision has been taken today: two games will be played, one in Rotterdam and one in Amsterdam, with no away supporters at either leg. That this sort of thing is necessary to keep people from beating the shit out of each other is definitely a defeat for the game itself.

[Jeoh]

As a Feyenoord fan I'm actually hoping we'll lose against FC Twente. Sort of like voting Labour to keep the Tories out, heh.

It's a damn shame two games will have to be played. Seems that Hirsch Ballin insisted because of the 'pressure from society', due to the police costs.

[A.J.]

What is Theo Snelders doing these days?

[Wanted Man]

After Rangers, he played for second-tier side MVV (from Maastricht) for two seasons. He's now a goalkeeping coach for FC Twente.

[A.J.]

After Rangers, he played for second-tier side MVV (from Maastricht) for two seasons. He's now a goalkeeping coach for FC Twente.

So in other words he went full circle as we(Aberdeen not rangers) originally signed him from Twente.

[Wanted Man]

Yup. I guess his move from Aberdeen to Rangers was appreciated at the time? :D

Anyway, another round of football has been played. I don't have a lot of time, so I'll just post two articles. This one (http://www.thesportreview.com/tsr/2010/04/steve-mcclarens-twente-one-win-from-dutch-league-title/) on the weekend's action, and this one (http://www.nwemail.co.uk/sport/columns/sad-day-for-dutch-football-1.697650?referrerPath=home) on the Cup final.

Unfortunately, the first article is wrong on one thing. Twente did not face "tough opposition" against Feyenoord at all. There is a massive rivalry between Feyenoord and Ajax, and Feyenoord fans begged their club to lose, to keep Ajax from the title. This may have affected the players, because they were completely worthless. The Feyenoord manager was pissed off at both the fans and the players afterwards. Judge for yourself:

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Results and table:

18/04/2010 SC Heerenveen - NAC Breda 0-0
18/04/2010 Ajax - Heracles Almelo 4-0
18/04/2010 Vitesse - Roda JC 2-5
18/04/2010 VVV-Venlo - NEC 2-0
18/04/2010 Willem II - AZ 0-3
18/04/2010 PSV - FC Groningen 3-1
18/04/2010 FC Twente - Feyenoord 2-0
18/04/2010 ADO Den Haag - RKC Waalwijk 4-0
18/04/2010 Sparta Rotterdam - FC Utrecht 0-3

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Twente are very close to it now. The #1 will qualify for the Champions League directly, and the #2 will have to play two rounds of CL qualifications. PSV, AZ, and Feyenoord are ensured of Europa League participation. The four teams below them will have to participate in play-offs, so NAC Breda will be very eager to beat Twente and ensure European qualification.

At the other end, Sparta Rotterdam and Willem II are condemned to play-offs against several First Division sides if they want to avoid relegation. ADO Den Haag and VVV Venlo played themselves into safety.

[Wanted Man]

Before I forget, the first leg of the sham "cup final" was played during the weekend:

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[Wanted Man]

http://www.ad.nl/static/FOTO/pe/0/3/1/media_xl_134881.jpg?20100502175056

http://www.ad.nl/static/FOTO/pe/17/3/3/media_xl_134898.jpg?20100502174900

It is over. FC Twente are the well-deserved champions of the Netherlands. McClaren has done it, beating NAC Breda 2-0, making Ajax's convincing win at NEC worthless. An important win for McClaren, who is, I think, the first English manager to achieve something like this in decades. For Twente, it is the first title in the club's history. They will certainly thank Bryan Ruiz's fantastic amount of goals and assists throughout the season.

For Ajax, Luis Suarez scored 35 goals this season, equalling Mateja Kezman's tally in 2002-2003. The all-time top scorer remains Coen Dillen, who scored 43 goals in 1956-1957. Suarez's fantastic performance was not enough for Ajax, however.

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I'll post videos of the games once they are uploaded. I'll review the other matches and the season in general later. For now, let's enjoy the fantastic achievement.

[Wanted Man]

Ajax win the cup

http://www.ajaxfotoside.net/0910uit/beker2010/192.jpg

http://www.ajaxfotoside.net/0910uit/beker2010/188.jpg

The second part of the "cup final" was comfortably won by Ajax: 4-1. It's disappointing that the final was divided into two matches, but at least the best team won. ;) The Belgian defender Vertonghen endeared himself to the Ajax fans by singing a nasty song about Feyenoord after the match. :D

There was not much to say about the game itself. Very early on, Feyenoord's Denny Landzaat gave the ball away, allowing Luis Suarez to score. Feyenoord goalie Mulder was ridiculously bad as well. In this match, the ball boys were replaced by girls from some modelling agency, in a last-ditch attempt to pacify the home crowd (I wish I were making this up). They didn't know how to do their job. During the second goal, there were two balls in the pitch, as was one of the girls, retrieving the second ball belatedly, but the referee apparently didn't see it.

All in all, the match was a fucking joke. Here it is:

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[Wanted Man]

Something interesting I found: a tactical analysis (http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/05/05/steve-mcclaren-twente-tactics/) of FC Twente's title-winning squad.