Netherlands Eredivisie

By: joep | Add Comments

In the absense of a weekend preview this week in lieu of a piece about Vitesse, here’s a review of this weekend’s Eredivisie action.

Because of the midweek international game between Holland and Austria, there was no game of Friday. That’s the first good news of the weekend, because those games are consistently bad. That meant a heavier slate on Saturday, which was headlined by AZ-PSV.

Orlando Engelaar started this game for PSV, but miraculously, the Eindhovenaren didn’t drop any points. The midfielder is far, far away from his 2008 form (it’s 2011 after all) and is a guarantee for at least two misplaced counter-inducing passes a game. At least.

But even Engelaar in the line-up couldn’t get AZ on the scoresheet. They huffed, they puffed, they were 0-2 down before they even knew it. Berg opened the scoring, which is noteworthy, because the Swedish striker has excelled at not scoring goals this season. He was prolific at Groningen before moving to HSV, where his form dipped. It hasn’t stopped dipping in Eindhoven.

Dszudszak added a second one from long range after half an hour and AZ kept coming forward to little avail. Their ineffectiveness, and also some pretty questionable calls from the referee, caused Gert Jan Verbeek (notorious for his unsportsmanlike behaviour when his team is on the losing side) to lose his temper and he had to watch from the stands how again Dszudszak and again Berg made it four. Three easy points for Rutten after last week’s loss against ADO.

Twente kept up with a close victory over Jeckel and Hyde outfit Vitesse. The reigning champs have a new international in their ranks with the debut of Luuk de Jong for the national team. But it was another new international, a Belgian one, who made the difference. Chadli, who could also have chosen to play for Morroco but is apparently no fan of hurting his career by having to play the Africa Cup, scored the only goal, but it was enough for Twente to keep up with PSV.

Feyenoord got their first W of the season, at home against Heracles. There was a time when games like that used to be an afterthought for Feyenoord. It was a simpler time. People were up in arms about the American president sleeping with some intern, the internet had just been invented and boybands roamed the earth unchecked. But those days are long gone. Feyenoord squeeked out a victory over Heracles freaking Almelo and celebrated like it was 1999. If only…

Also on Saturday, ADO continued their hot streak against VVV Venlo (3-0) and a scorefest in Tilburg ended without Willem II being on the wrong side of a beatdown against FC Utrecht (3-3)

Today, everything was about Roda JC – Ajax. Well to me anyway. The Amsterdammers took one step forward last week, nudging closer to leaders PSV and Twente. Today, they took a step back, after giving away a two goal lead in Kerkrade. A goal from Mads Junker right before half time rallied the Limburgers, and they came out ready to play in the second half. If they had decided to do so, you know, at the start of the game, this could have gotten ugly. Demy de Zeeuw, the man who is supposed to lead Ajax’ midfield, was nowhere to be found.

Not satisfied with just giving away their two goal lead, Ajax then decided to squander a penalty, given due to a momentary stroke/lapse in consciousness from referee van Hulten. After a tackle on Rasmus Lindgren from Hadouir, who had nailed the 2-2 minutes before from a free kick, van Hulten should have pointed to the spot. Instead, he pointed to the corner flag. Close enough, I guess. From the ensuing corner, the ball hit the chest/arm area of Roda midfielder Djoum, without any intent to do so. Of course, more than enough reason to give a penalty.

Mounir Elhamdoui, who had been sulking around the pitch for 87 minutes at this point, figured a penalty would justify his presence on the pitch. He mustered all his disinterest and put it in this one shot, which was saved by Premyslavwzvz Tyton (not how you spell that name). 2-2 the final score.

Also on Sunday, it was NAC – Heerenveen (2-0), NEC – Excelsior (2-0) and de Graafschap – Groningen (1-1) making the table look like so (according to VI.nl)

Tyton, the Roda goalie who saved a point against Ajax by stopping Mounir El Hamdaoui’s poorly taken penalty, has been instrumental in Roda’s renaissance. I’ll feature a closer look at the Polish Promise (©, don’t you forget it) tomorrow. So check back!

Also, you can now follow me on Twitter. But you don’t have to. No pressure.

By: joep | 4 Comments

No Eredivisie Preview this weekend, but instead an in-depth look at Vitesse.

The Eredivisie is full of clubs that have been with their backs against the wall. Financially speaking. Their last hope when that happens is often the local government. They plead their importance to the local culture, listen to some threats from some city councels about how this is gonna be the last time, then sell their stadium to the city and cheerfully move on. They live to go bankrupt another day.

While the Eredivisie is full of those kinds of clubs, Vitesse takes the cake. In the late nineties, Vitesse was doing what all Dutch subtoppers do from time to time; have a decent season or two. While most clubs stay firmly grounded in case this happens, Karel Aalbers figured this meant Vitesse would from there on out be part of the top 4. After all, Vitesse had been playing in the subtop since it was promoted in the early nineties. He invested heavily in the squad with the help of local energy company Nuon (which happened to be a public company). When Aalbers was forced to leave because of numerous counts of tax evasion, the card-house came tumbling down. Badly.

Vitesse has spent the last ten years miraciulously surviving, defying the leagues financial rules so brazenly they have become one of the least sympathetic clubs in the league. A councelman from Arnhem once said: “when you’re negotiating with them to save the club and you turn around for a second, Vitesse turns around and buys a player for 2 million euros”. While begging the city for money to ensure their survival.

But even with all this help from the city and from the province, Vitesse managed to dig themselves in another hole. In 2008, Vitesse needed the local government to agree to a plan to sanitize their debt. Another standoff ensued and the city buckled again. It cost them 11 million euros and Vitesse managed to pay off their 27 million euro debt, which they owed to 62 different creditors, for just 3 million euros.

One of those creditors, however, had made the deal that in the case of Vitesse wasn’t able to repay their loan completely, he would receive all of the clubs shares. A club that was in debt to more than 60 different creditors had made one of them the promise to hand over the keys to the castle, which it incidentally failed to mention to the other creditors and to the fans.

Vitesse’s fans had no idea their club had been taken over by businessman Schouten. Because Schouten’s own fortune quickly evaporated in the next years because of the crisis in the housing market, he wanted to get rid of his newly acquired football club as fast as possible.

Are you still with me? So it came to be that in august of 2010, when Vitesse was facing yet another almost insurmountable deficit, and without Vitesse’s fans even knowing that Schouten had the power to do this, Schouten sold the club off to Georgian businessman/former football player/former president of the GFA/former head coach of the Georgian national team Merab Jordania.

pictured here, about to take a symbolic dump on the Vitesse Logo

One would figure that after everything that happened, that after the numerous times Vitesse had to beg for help and for their license, a little humility would be in order. But no. Not in Arnhem.

After Jordania took over the club’s website declared they would win the Eredivisie within three years. Vitesse fans who were weary their club would lose their identity to make this title happen were soon proven right. Within weeks, longtime Vitesse icon Edward Sturing was unceremoniously let go, and another Vitesse stalwart, Theo Bos, was fired from the head coaching position a couple of months later.

Jordania has been linked to several russian oligarchs, who back him financially. He has been under scrutiny in Georgia for fraude and tax evasion (so in that respect, he fits right in in Arnhem). One of the people Jordania has been linked to is Chelsea’s Roman Abramovic, and the overhaul of the squad and staff since the Georgian bought the club has certainly seen a preference for all things Chelsea.

The new big man in Arnhem, for example, is former Chelsea and Barcelona player Ferrer. The defence is anchored by long time Eredivisie loan resident Raijkovic. The midfield is strengthened by Matic, who will leave Vitesse at the end of the season for Benfica, having been involved in the transfer that brought Luiz to Stamford Bridge.

And that is exactly what Vitesse fans should be afraid of. Jordania claims he wants to turn Vitesse into a contender, but for now, all it really seems to be is a storefront window to display talent from players that are connected to Jordanias own people. The desinterest in stability was voiced perfectly by technical director Ted van Leeuwen, when upon having fired Theo Bos, he stated that if the next trainer wouldn’t perform up to the ridiculously high standard Vitesse seems to be setting, he would be laid off just as easily. According to van Leeuwen “that’s just how football works”, completely ignoring the responsibility of people like him to create good policy.

Throughout all the problems Vitesse has had over the past twenty years, the one thing that has saved them (you know, other than the millions of euros kindly provided by the city) was their youth system. But the influx of players theathens the playing time available to youth products like Propper, van Ginkel and Sneijders. The latter was recently involved in an on-field dust up with Matic, which was symbolic of the inability to reconcile the old Vitesse with the new. It remains to be seen if Jordania is honestly interested in turning Vitesse into a title contender, or if he’s merely out to shop around Chelsea’s and Barcelona’s fringe players.

you can now follow me on Twitter. Believe it or not

By: joep | Add Comments

De Graafschap. The name alone invokes an image of kick and rush football played in decidedly horrible blue and white shirts.

De Graafschap's biggest fan. I'm not even kidding

In 2009, little known Darije Kalezic took over the reigns at the vijverberg (which literally translates to the pond…mountain. go figure). He didnt manage to stave of relegation, but bounced back from the basement of Dutch football within a year. It took a small miracle on the last day of the season but still. De Graafschap has a history of going back and forth between leagues and pretty much everybody thought this season would see them in the danger of relegation once more.

But no!  De Graafschap sit in 12th place. Twelfth! That´s pretty solid, and although it might be down partially to several other teams performing worse than imaginable (coughFeyenoordcough) it´s still a decent achievement from the little team from Doetinchem.

So of course, Kalezic’s contract won’t be renewed.

Wait, what? This man takes over a sinking ship, needs a year to turn it back around and then gets it to float decently in the Eredivisie. And his reward is a complete lack of confidence from the club in the way he leads the team?

There must be more at play here. This wasn’t the first time Kalezic wasn’t sure of his job. He survived a similar scare right after getting de Graafschap promoted.

Somebody in Doetinchem doesn’t quite understand how this policy thing works.

By: joep | 2 Comments

Last year, Martin Jol complained weekly that Ajax always had to play after Twente and PSV, and the pressure was always on if those two won. Which they almost always did. This weekend, in a desperate attempt to make the Friday game a bit more exciting, Ajax kicked off the weekend with a very boring 2-0 victory over de Graafschap. It got them three points of leaders PSV, who obviously had a game in hand.

That game was on Saturday, at home against ADO. Much like last week’s performance against Willem II, PSV started out solid enough, but didn’t get a lot of penetration. This is where the loss of Ibi Affelay is felt the most. With the ball at his feet, dancing around the top of the box, Affelay could always make something happen. PSV lack’s his creativity without him shows, and it almost cost them last week against Willem II. It finally did cost them this week against ADO.

Ninety minutes of uninspired play was punished by a very late break from ADO. Possession was lost by right back Manolev. Bulyekin couldn’t get a foot on the cross but Verhoek did. 0-1.

Saturday saw two other upsets, with VVV beating NAC at home 3-0 and Exclesior beating AZ 2-1. Heerenveen – NEC meanwhile, ended in a scoreless draw, despite the involvement of substitute Bas Dost .

A day after, Twente was staring down a 1-0 deficit at half time in Utrecht. Mid-week, Utrecht’s absolutely inability to charge themselves against “lower” opposition when they drew de Graafschap. But against the bigger boys, like Ajax found out two weeks ago, FC Utrecht is always ready to go.

FC Twente did manage to get one back, but escaped after goalkeeper Michaylov pulled of the current front runner for save of the season (forgive the poor quality, but the save is worth it). Twente did not capitalize on their opportunity to bunny hop PSV and let Ajax creep up.

Feyenoord meanwhile, still didn’t get their much needed win. After getting ahead in Arnhem through a goal by Inter-bound Luc Castaignos a dumb, dumb penalty got Vitesse level. A spectacular last second save by goalie Mulder, one that would have no-doubtedly been the save of the weekend had it not been for Michhalyov’s effort some hours later, spared Feyenoord from another defeat.

From Feyenoord’s many new players, it was the Arsenal-loaned Miyachi that displayed he could really be of value for the Rotterdammers these next few months.

The low point of the day was the performance of Willem II. The Tilburgers went into the weekend with a little bit of momentum behind them, after barely losing to PSV and beating Vitesse a week earlier. But with VVV winning surprisingly on Saturday, Willem II needed something, anything, from their game against Groningen. It was not to be. Failure after failure on the part of Willem II goalie Verhulst saw Groningen run out seven goals to one.

Willem II’s other option in goal is similarly poor, so now they have signed former Roda goalie Kujovic. In his years in Kerkrade, Kujovic was a decent, reliable goalie, so he might be an answer for the biggest of Willem II’s woes.

Also it was Heracles – Roda, which ended in Roda’s second away loss in as many weeks, 0-1.

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Another weekend, another round of Eredevisie football. Last night, Ajax boringly dispatched of de Graafschap 2-0. They did what they had to do, nothing more, nothing less. Three points in the pocker. This weekend is the first round after the closing of the transfermarket, so its chock full of storylines. Here they are:

Today at 18:45, Heerenveen hosts NEC. After a As the world turns-like soap opera surrounding Bas Dost, it’ll be interesting to see if Bas Dost gets any minutes. The lanky striker tried to force a transfer in the last hours of the market, but it was too late. Ron Jans has said Dost just needs a bit of patience, and if he keeps up his development he could feature for the national team in 2014. Really? We went from van Basten to  Bergkamp to Kluivert to van Nistelrooy to van Persie to Bas freakin’ Dost?

On the other side, there are fewer question marks surrounding the nr. 9 position.  Vleminckx has been outstanding for NEC this season and will look to prove that his scoring ways so far haven’t been a fluke. Having scored 17 in 21, he still hasn’t been able to completely shake the idea that he is nothing more than somebody who just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Seventeen times.

At 19:45, PSV hosts ADO den Haag. PSV dodged a bullet last week, needing a 93^rd minute winner against Willem II of all teams. Now, the Affelay-less men of Fred Rutten await a considerably more difficult challenge. ADO has been flat out impressive this season and with both Verhoek and Russian hitman Bulyekin back on the field, PSV will have all sort of trouble on their hands.

Also at 19:45, it’s Excelsior – AZ. Last week, Icelandic striker Sightórson scored a whopping five times against VVV, justifying AZ’s decision to let go of AWOL Jonathas and to not make a move for anybody else.

Excelsior, who have been dangerous mostly from set pieces so far this season, will miss one of their main scoring threats, defender Bovenberg, who has five goals this season. He got sent off against ADO last week for a late challenge.

The last game of the night, at 20:45, is VVV – NAC Breda. This game just screams Prime Time, apaprently. VVV’s story is known. They have been in a tailspin since losing Honda to CSKA Moscow a year ago, and firing coach van Dijk hasn’t turned out to be the answer. Now, their captain Patrick Paauwe has decided to retire. As of right now. At the worst possible time. Boesen will have to improvise in his defense.

A placid NAC got whooped last week against Ajax, with Leonardo, the former Ajax man, gift-wrapping the first goal. Presumably, he wrote a sweet little note and fashioned one of those nice red ribbons as well. Then, Rob Penders went into another glorious display of why he should have retired years ago, and NAC was simply never in that game. It doesn’t really matter. Ajax, even at home, is not one of the games NAC is supposed to is. VVV, even away, is.

On Sunday, we kick off with Vitesse against Feyenoord. Vitesse got a big bump last week, dismantling Roda JC. Feyenoord had another tough loss to swallow, giving up the winning goal in extra time against Twente. But still, at this moment, a close loss against the league’s champions is a good result for Feyenoord, and it could have brought some confidence back in Rotterdam. This game is make of break for them, but we say that every week. A win here against Vitesse, could put them back on track. This will be the debut of some of their signings, which on paper, look pretty solid.

There are three games at 14:30. FC Twente – Utrecht should be a great game. In the case that PSV drops points against ADO, which is a very real possibility, Twente could overtake them. But Utrecht away is a difficult proposition for any team in the league at the moment.

Kevin strootman, who was playing in the second league just over a month ago, has settled well with Utrecht and has been called up for the national team. While that may seem a bit premature, Strootman does have the potential to eventually feature more regularly for Oranje.

FC Groningen will host Willem II. The devastating loss against PSV aside, Willem II has come out of the winter break a little bit better than it went in. At least, there is a bit of hope after  closing the gap between them and VVV to just three points.

Groningen have been fantastic at home and this looks like a sheer impossible mountain for Willem II to climb. They need this win to stay close to Ajax, and to stay away from AZ below them. Shouldn’t be a problem.

Also it will be Heracles Almelo – Roda JC.

Check back on Monday for the Eredivisie round up!

By: joep | 1 Comment

One and a half season ago, N.E.C was catching its breath after a solid season. The club had performed well under Mario Been, who left for Feyenoord. He wasn’t the only one to leave. Virtually all of the forwards left Nijmegen, and they were in need of a new striker.

Convinced that a solid signing would put them in contention for a more regular place in the top half of the league, they splurged on a little known Belgian player called Björn Vleminckx.

Even if Vleminckx wasn’t immediately a hit on the field, he was immediately noted in the media, if for his appearance alone. He was dubbed the Belgian Dirk Kuijt, for both his workhorse style and his blond hair.

It had to be said; his effort on the field was impressive. Vleminckx was everywhere, but that also meant he often wasn’t where he was supposed to be at the moment supreme: in front of goal, ready to finish. N.E.C’s record signing notched eight goals that season. Not too shabby, but underwhelming considering what N.E.C, not a particularly wealthy club, had put on the table for him.

Feeling that their striker had the potential for bigger things, they brought in someone who knows a thing or two about scoring goals. Patrick Kluivert, not somebody quickly associated with the peace and quiet that is Nijmegen, was brought in to coach N.E.C.’s forwards.

Vleminckx, apparently, took notes. Last year, he was the focal point of criticism, and even worse, ridicule. This year, to say Vleminckx has been a surprise is an understatement worthy of record.

It took the 25-year old a while to get to where he is today. He started out for KSK Beveren, in the basement of Belgian football. But like Kuijt, Vleminckx developed steadily; he was never a big talent, but he adapted to the required level and now, at his fifth club and the first one outside of Belgium, he has managed to rise above it.

Kluivert isn’t Vleminckx’s only tutor. Jack de Gier, like Vleminckx not a striker whose style was pleasing to the eye, has had a lot of influence aswell. But it was Kluivert who taught the Belgian not to roam too much, to save his energy for a few crucial moments a game. Instead of coming into the ball, Vleminckx has learned to be patient.

Vleminckx is now the unlikely top scorer of the Dutch Eredivisie. On a team that is in eleventh place, the striker has still managed to score 17 goals in just 21 matches. It has resulted in regular call ups for the Belgian national team.

As it goes with all players who stand out in the Eredivisie Vleminckx has drawn interest from abroad, although mostly from the top clubs from his native Belgium. There has also been rumours of interest from England, where the tireless forward would fit in quite well. A last day bid from West Ham United was rejected. N.E.C, by no means rich, apparently has the luxury to hold out for a better deal.

For Vleminckx himself, the man whose career so far has been carefully selected step by step, to make his next step to England could make sense. He has the lungs and the work rate to keep up in the lower parts of the Premier League. Just like Kuijt has always done, Vleminckx will adapt to the required level. If not this transfer window, then the next.

Check back tomorrow for your Eredivisie Weekend Preview. Tonight, Ajax managed to see off the mighty de Graafschap, at home, 2-0. That’s what I meant by Friday Football always being pants.

Also, rights to the picture above are from de Gelderlander

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After a little hiatus in the midst of all the transfer deadline violence, Netherlands.theoffside.com returns now that dust has settled and we can make up the balance, club by club. We´ll grade the performance of each club on the ability to bring in necessary reinforcements, to hold on to its key players (if they wanted to) and to get rid of its dead wood. Let’s have a look:

Ado Den Haag

New: Chiro N’Toko (AGOVV Apeldoorn), Jordy Brouwer (Liverpool).
Gone: Kai van Hese (FC Dordrecht, out on loan), Leroy Resodihardjo (Almere City FC, out on loan), Nico Pellatz (Excelsior, out on loan), Santy Hulst (FC Dordrecht, out on loan), Jarchinio Antonia (Go Ahead Eagles, out on loan).

Jordy Brouwer is the most notable signing, and he had already been with ADO for a while now. One of those players that looked promising and was whisked off to the EPL way before he was ready. Now second string in the Hague.

Most importantly, ADO Den Haag didn’t lose Wesley Verhoek. The right winger has been crucial to ADO’s success and was lined up as a possible replacement for Mertens at Utrecht. In the end, they managed to keep their team together, but didn’t add anything. Final Grade: 6.5

Ajax

New: Bruno Silva (Internacional, was out on loan), Dario Cvitanich (CF Pachuca, was out on loan) Henri Toivomaki (FC Lahti).
Gone: Darko Bodul (Nacional Madeira), Luis Suarez (Liverpool FC), Timothy van der Meulen (Dundee United), Urby Emanuelson (AC Milan), Marvin Zegelaar (Excelsior), Mido (Zamalek).

Two unwanted players return from loan, and they’ve added a Finnish talent on the recommendation of none other than Jari Litmanen.

After losing Suarez, Ajax huffed and puffed to find a replacement but Heerenveen and Utrecht asked for the jackpot for Dost and Mertens, respectively. Ajax refused to overpay like it has in the past (looking at you, Sulejmani) and didn’t fill the enormous hole left by losing their former captain. De Boer will have to find a solution within the squad.

Offloading Suarez might hurt the team, but certainly not the club’s finances. They lose a bit for not making a replacement happen, but at least they would’t be held hostage. Final Grade: 6 (would have been higher if they would have handeled the Emanuelson sale better)

AZ

New: Etienne Reijnen (FC Zwolle), Toine van Huizen (Telstar, was out on loan).
Gone: Gijs Luirink (SC Cambuur), Gill Swerts (Feyenoord), Jonathas (Brescia), Kew Jaliens (Wisla Krakow).

AZ has been previously successful digging up talent in the second division, so we’re giving them the benefit of the doubt on their acquisitions.

Out of the door went the once promising but oft injured Luirink, former captain Kew Jaliens, who didn’t play any part with the team anymore and most interestingly Jonathas. The Brazilian striker has been AWOL for months, but that hasn’t resisted Brescia from taking the bait. AZ didn’t add to much but offloaded a huge headache. Final Grade. 7.

De Graafschap

New: Tyrone Loran (NAC Breda).

All quiet on the Doetinchem front. They’ve tried to short up their leaky defense by adding the former NAC defender, who NAC will be happy to be rid off. Mistake prone as hell, but still an upgrade. Still though, de Graafschap could have used more help, but means are scarce. Final Grade: 6

Excelsior

New: Edwin de Graaf (Hibernian, on loan), Geert Arend Roorda (SC Heerenveen, on loan), Nico Pellatz (ADO Den Haag, on loan), Marvin Zegelaar (Ajax).
Gone: Jerson Ribeiro (Fortuna Sittard, out on loan), Karim Massaoui (Fortuna Sittard, out on loan), Kostas Lamprou (Feyenoord, was on loan).

Excelsior has solidified its midfield with the loan acquisition of de Graaf and Roorda, who is seen as a big talent but has had some bad luck with injuries. They’ve adde winger Zegelaar from Ajax who provided an assist in his debut. Excelsior hasn’t lost anybody notable, so all in all, a good transfer window for the team from Rotterdam. Final Grade: 8.

FC Groningen

Gone: Serhat Koç (FC Eindhoven, out on loan).

Is Tim Matavz still a Groningen player? Let me check? Yes? Final Grade: 8.

FC Twente

New: Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan).

Gone: Anouar Diba (Al-Wakrah), Bernard Parker (Panserraikos, out on loan), Dario Vujicevic (VVV-Venlo, out on loan), Michael Schimpelsberger (Rapid Wien).

Wow, Twente is signing players from Milan now? Oh, it’s Onyewu. The defender never made an impact in San Siro, but Belgian coach Preudhomme remembers the American from his solid spells with Standard. Good addition. They’ve also managed to get rid of a preverbial forest of dead wood and held on to both Douglas and Janssen, so kudos. Final Grade: 8

FC Utrecht

New: Kevin Strootman (Sparta Rotterdam).
Gone: Sander Keller (Xamax Neuchatel), Wesley de Ruiter (FC Den Bosch).

Strootman will be a solid addition on the Utrecht midfield, a replacement for the Dane Silberbauer, who didn’t leave. Yet. Utrecht is still hoping he will extend his contract (which he won’t). Their departures didn’t hurt, but they could have found a better solution to the Silberbauer situation.

Mertens is still with the club too, as Utrecht didn’t need to sell him to Ajax and asked too much for. Van Wolfswinkel is still with the team aswell. Final Grade: 7.

Feyenoord

New: Gill Swerts (AZ), Kostas Lamprou (Excelsior, was out on loan), Krisztián Simon (Ujpest, on loan), Marcel Meeuwis (Borussia Mönchengladbach, on loan), Ryo Miyaichi (Arsenal, on loan), Sören Larsen (Toulouse, on loan).
Gone: Fedor Smolov (Dinamo Moskou, was on loan), Karim El Ahmadi (Al-Ahli, out on loan), Michael Lumb (Aalborg, was on loan).

Feyenoord couldn’t afford a poor transfer window, and by god, they had a great one. Meeuwis was fantastic for Roda before leaving for Germany. Larsen might be the solution to their striker problem, which Johnny van Beukering wasn’t. Simon has been compared to his compatriot Dszudzsak. Miyaichi is supposed to be one of the gems unearthed by Wenger and given time to develop in Rotterdam. Swerts is pants, but at least he’s better than what they had. Lots of new blood in Rotterdam. Lord knows they needed it.

Feyenoord also bit the bullet on the Castaignos deal. They’re losing their biggest prospect to Inter at the end of the season, although they are hoping for an extended loan deal. Final Grade: 8.5

Heracles Almelo

Gone: Resit Schuurman (Go Ahead Eagles, out on loan).

Uh…Steady as she goes? Final Grade: 5

NAC Breda

New: Julian Jenner (Vitesse, on loan).
Vetrokken: Tyrone Loran (De Graafschap).

NAC was looking as the probable destination of Meeuwis, but then Feyenoord swooped in and spoiled that party. The once prodigal son Jenner returns, albeit on loan, but all in all a disappointing window for an aging NAC. Final grade: 5.5

NEC

Gone: Erton Fejzullahu (Randers FC, out on loan).

It’s pretty amazing that Björn Vleminckx isn’t up there in that list with Fejzullahu, scoring 17 goals in just 21 games. NEC was never tempted to sell the industrious striker after an underwhelming bid from West Ham. The Belgian has a long running contract and NEC is banking on suitors to return for him at the end of the season. NEC didn’t lose Schöne either, so all in all a good turn for the club from Nijmegen: final grade: 7

PSV

Gone: Funso Ojo (VVV-Venlo, out on loan), Nordin Amrabat (Kayserispor), Ibrahim Afellay (FC Barcelona).

Ouch. Losing Ibi is a blow, no matter how often the club says it trusts the team to continue contending for the title without him.  They didn’t think it was necessary to bring in a replacement, choosing instead to solve the problem internally. But still. Final Grade: 5

Roda JC Kerkrade

New: Wiljan Pluim (Vitesse, on loan).

Gone: Jeanvion Yulu-Matondo.

Roda is looking for another Mads Junker like success, poaching Pluim off of Vitesse. The Dane has been outstanding since leaving Arnhem for Kerkrade and Roda is hoping for the same from Pluim. They’ve also finally gotten rid of the high-earning low-performing Matondo.

Willem Janssen, who has already signed a contract with Twente, will not leave until the end of the season. Final Grade: 6.5

SC Heerenveen

Gone: Björn Jonsson, Diederik Bangma (FC Emmen), Geert Arend Roorda (Excelsior, out on loan), Michal Papadopulos (FC Zhemchuzhina Sochi), Tarik Elyounoussi (Fredrikstad FK), Youssef El-Akchaoui (VVV-Venlo, out on loan).

The transfer story in Heerenveen was that of Dost, obviously. Like Utrecht for Mertens, they weren’t just about to let Ajax walk away with one of their players and asked a ridiculous amount of money (6m) for the striker, who they brought in just six months ago for half of that. He hasn’t exactly said the world on fire since, so it’s a bit of a mystery why they thought he was worth twice as much now.

A last minute court case was held to resolve the dispute, and an agreement was actually reached, but it was too late to get the paperwork through. Unbelievable. Heerenveen is now stuck with the moody Dost. Final Grade: 5

Vitesse

New: Haruna Babangida, Jordi Lopéz Felpeto (Swansea City), Marti Riverola Bataller (FC Barcelona), Michihiro Yasuda (Gamba Osaka), Wilfried Bony (Sparta Praag).

Gone: Civard Sprockel (Anorthosis Famagusta), Jeroen Drost (FC Zwolle, out on loan), Julian Jenner (NAC Breda, out on loan), Laryea Kingston, Nacer Barazite (Austria Wien, was on loan), Roy de Ruiter (AGOVV Apeldoorn), Wiljan Pluim (Roda JC Kerkrade, out on loan), Kevin van Diermen (Go Ahead Eagles, out on loan).

Where to start? Another widow, another overhaul of the squad. Vitesse paid big money for their additions, but it remains to be seen how long it will take for them to gel. Ajax came in with a late bid for the talented Pröpper, but well, Vitesse don’t need to sell. Final Grade: pick a number. Who knows. I’m going with a…7.

VVV-Venlo

New: Dario Vujicevic (FC Twente, on loan), Funso Ojo (PSV, on loan), Robert Cullen (Roasso Kumamoto), Youssef El-Akchaoui (SC Heerenveen, on loan).
Gone: Patrick Paauwe (gestopt).

VVV is sliding badly and managed to loan some reinforcements. Ojo and Vujicevic are young and talented but don’t look like they will be able too help VVV in the short term. El Akchaoui is an upgrade at left back. Final Grade: 5. VVV needs more help than this.

Willem II

New: David Strihavka (Viktoria Plzen, on loan), Dragan Jelic (NK Maribor, on loan), Gerrit Pressel (Hamburger SV).
Gone: Jasper Waalkens (Helmond Sport, out on loan), Junior Livramento (RBC Roosendaal, out on loan).

I’ll admit it: I don’t know anybody on this list. Their additions must be worth something, cause well, they couldn’t be any worse. Still, not the game changers Willem II needs to get off the last place. Final Grade: 6

By: joep | 2 Comments

Fresh off some midweek cup action, the Eredivisie rolls on.

Yesterday night was the Friday game. Every Eredivisie week has one Friday game, and it always manages to be absolute pants. No matter who plays. Friday night equals bad football. Don’t ask me why.

In the Friday nighter, NEC drew Heracles Almelo. As Eredivisie live commentator Mark van Rijswijk pointed out on twitter, Heracles didn’t find it particularly necessary to pay close attention to the Björn Vleminxck. He only had 16 goals so far this season, what the hell can he do? Well, score a 17^th, obviously. One lonely NEC goal didn’t prove to be enough. The most underrated left foot in the Eredivisie, that of Mark-Jan Fledderus tied the game from a beautiful free kick.

We’ll have a closer look at the Belgian “phenom” that is Björn Vleminxck on Monday. Or Tuesday.

Tonight, there are four Eredivisie games. They are:

Vitesse – Roda JC (18:45). I’ve mentioned Vitesse’s situation before on this blog. They went through a Premier League style take over by an eastern European businessman named Jordania. They have since appointed a new coach, former Barcelona and Chelsea man Albert Ferrer and added a whole slew of pretty random/questionable “talent”.

Having used the winter break to gel all of this supposed talent together, Vitesse started the second half of the season with a loss to hopeless bottom placed Willem II. To nearly everybody’s amusement, the club that aims to be champions within three years and place for European football this season is still in 15^th place.

Roda JC has continued its good form from the second half of last season. They disposed of Excelsior easily last week, winning 3-0. Their last goal was preceded by an absolutely wonderful pass of Wiljan Pluim, who was let go at Vitesse in the overhaul of the squad. Vitesse figured it would be a good idea to let a second striker go to Kerkrade, after Mads Junker last season. Junker promptly scored 21 goals for his new employer.

Both players were brought on by TD Martin van Geel who, together with Harm van Veldhoven, has managed to resurrect Roda JC. After very nearly relegating two seasons ago, the Limburgers are in contention for a place in the top 5. He has drawn the interest of Feyenoord, who are without a TD after the departure of Don Leo.

Furthermore it’s AZ-VVV (19:45) an interesting game if only because AZ will face Ruud Boymans, who they are hoping will not travel back with VVV but rather stay in Alkmaar. Boymans is a priority for the team from Gert Jan Verbeek, as he fills their biggest need at striker.

Also at 19:45 it’s De Graafschap – FC Utrecht.

At 20:45 PSV will host Willem II, in a contest between the number one and the number last. PSV will look to rebound of their loss to FC Twente in the cup on Wednesday, and Willem II, who hilariously won their first game of the season against Vitesse last week, will probably be a willing sparring partner.

On Sunday, one game dominates the schedule. FC Twente – Feyenoord (14:30) is a matter of new blood versus old glory. Twente seems to have firmly displaced the Rotterdammers as part of the top 3 in the Netherlands.

Hapless Feyenoord lost last week against de Graafschap, of all clubs, and it will be interesting to see what will happen if they take a beating in Enschede. Coach Mario Been has been talking with club icon Willem van Hanegem, who figured he had to get involved with the club once Cruijff started to do the same in Amsterdam.

Also at 14:30, the derby of the north between SC Heerenveen and FC Groningen will be contested. Groningen has had a solid season so far, but has been poor when playing away from the own Euroborg. At least Heerenveen is not that far, so maybe they’ll be alright.

Groningen is also one of the clubs now interested in Heerenveen want-away Bas Dost, depending on whether or not they will sell their own striker Matavz in the last few days of the transfer market.

Sunday will also see everybody making a big deal over Suarez leaving Ajax for Liverpool, even though Suarez hasn’t played for Ajax in ages because of his 7-game bite-related suspension. Ajax visits NAC, who they drubbed Thursday at home for the Cup. De Boer is saying all the right things, pointing out that NAC at home is a different beast than NAC Away. They are. It’s the kind of game that Ajax has been giving away the past few seasons and a poor result here, after last week’s loss against Utrecht, combined with wins for PSV and Twente could put the Amsterdammers in the unenviable position that they were in last year: trying to play catch-up.

Also, a little bit earlier at 12:30, it will be Excelsior – ADO den Haag

By: joep | Add Comments

Chairmen aren’t just nailbiting near the fax machine in Groningen and Venlo, but also in Rotterdam and Nijmegen.

Feyenoord might still loose young talent Luc Castaignos to Internazionale, but has several replacements lined up already. Eidur Gudjonhsen from Stoke City, who has a history in the Eredivisie at PSV and Lasse Nilson who can leave Vitesse  are rumoured to be possible reinforcements for Feyenoord. Lord knows they need them.

(update: Inter is backing off…for now. They will be back in the summer, says some pink Italian paper. Apparently)

In Nijmegen, Björn Vlemincxkscxk* has surpsrised friend and foe by leading the league in goals. The Belgian Dirk Kuijt drew mostly laughs last year but is now drawing interest from several highly rated clubs in his native country, such as Club Brugge. Earlier this weekend a rumor about supposed interest from Tottenham Hotspur made its way into the news.

*may or may not be properly spelled

By: joep | 1 Comment

The last two days of the infamous January transfer window are often make or break in Holland.

Ajax broke, but at least they got paid handsomely for giving up Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan striker is off to Liverpool, where he will try to refrain himself from biting any of his new premier league colleagues.

Suarez was a controversial figure in his time in Holland. He forced a transfer after just one season in Groningen and earned himself a reputation for diving and, more recently, well…biting. But lest we forget, Suarez also scored a ton of goals, both in his one season in Groningen and at Ajax.

In Groningen, director Nijland is adamant that if his striker Tim Matavz is to leave in these, the last days of the transfer window, it will only be in case of an offer he can’t refuse.

Nijland wants at least 10M Euros, and no more dead horses in his bed

Napoli is among the teams interested.

Should Matavz leave (in which case it’s safe to assume Nijland found a dead horse in his bed), Bas Dost, who has before piqued the interest of Ajax and Feyenoord, would be an option to replace

Within the Eredivisie itself, these last days might also bring some movement. AZ is looking to add Boymans from VVV, as the Alkmaarders lack a true nr 9. Like Ajax, they have been using a midfielder to occupy the striker slot.

But while Siem de Jong has been decent so far in Amsterdam, talented Falkenburg hasn’t been such a hit in Alkmaar. He’ll be solid at midfield, but AZ has a lack of alternatives up front as prospect of the future Jonathas is gone. Nobody really knows why, or where, or when he’ll be back, but he is supposedly in Brazil taking care of his family.

VVV hopes they can hold on to Boymans, but the young striker is still on a youth contract which he has refused to extend.