Weekend Eredivisie action
By: Jan | September 27th, 2008
Last season, Feyenoord lost 3-2 in Groningen…
This weekend, we’ll see some interesting fixtures… Feyenoord will visit Groningen, while Hans Westerhof’s Vitesse will travel to the Amsterdam Arena. Willem II – defeating Ajax earlier – hosts AZ and PSV will have a relatively easy one against Volendam. Heerenveen will travel to Breda to battle NAC.
Feyenoord coach Gertjan Verbeek wants to see a fighting spirit in his Feyenoord team. Every week, players return from injury, but he seems to lose one or more players too. “It’s a well-known story by now,” the Feyenoord coach says.
Jon Dahl Tomasson will return, but at the same time, Theo Lucius broke his toe and Tim De Cler is a question mark with bowel problems.
“We are chasing the facts a bit. Some players started with little pains and THeo Lucius was just unlucky that a goalie landed on his foot. Or…maybe if he was 100% fit, he would have been quick enough to take his foot away in time. Who knows? I’m not blaming Lucius here, it’s just an observation.”
Verbeek’s options are limited in defense. And the Groningen game is seen as a tough one. “Groningen played a howler midweek, for the national cup, so they will be totally motivated against us. They want to show the fans that they are willing and able. I expect them to run rampant in the first 30 minutes.”
Verbeek hopes to be able to fall back on Feyenoord’s fighting spirit as demonstrated against Ajax. “That will be the norm, yeah… We’ve shown we can play like that, now we need to repeat that mentality. The more we reach that level, the more points we’ll collect.”
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Category: Netherlands Eredivisie News
Tags: Ajax, Feyenoord, Groningen, Holland, NEC, Netherlands Eredivisie News, Oranje, Van Basten, VerbeekSubscribe
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Comments
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Jan, in your opinion, can we already consider AZ as a recovered team? They had a paradise day against Willem II: 5-2, what a thrash! And El Hamdaoui did best.
On the other side, PSV, even being now the leader, must improve. The Boeren won just because of luck against Volendam.
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And NAC trashed Heerenveen, didn’t they?
I think it takes a lot to be a top team. AZ can play superb football is 1) the weather is good, 2) the pitch is good, 3) the opponents allows them to and 4) the boys are all fit.
If they bump into a setback or two, what then? That’s when the top teams distinguish themselves and last seasons AZ showed that they don’t have the backbone. Yet. Partly Louis’ responsibility, to make sure you have the players to steer the team past that point.
We call them “good weather players”. Raf and Robin used to be like that but they’ve learned abroad.
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