The Dutch top flight produced one of the better title races last season with Ajax edging out Twente and PSV to win (what I presume is) a record 30th Eredivisie title. Three clubs seems like more than enough material to research for the purposes of a bluffer’s guide so we’ll assume the same three will be contending for the title this season.
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Ajax
Ajax appointed Frank De Boer as manager midway through the 2010/11 season, slowly improved their stuttering form into consistent league victories and eventually overhauled FC Twente at the top of the table to win the title in dramatic fashion on the final day of the season. This was achieved despite losing Suarez and Emanuelson to Liverpool and Milan in the winter transfer window, though it’s worth noting their final points tally of 73 points would only have been good enough for fourth place the previous season.
The outflow of players from Amsterdam has not abated with Stekelenburg and Demy de Zeeuw departing for Rome and Moscow this summer for substantial transfer fees and more peripheral players Lindgren and Suk released from their contracts. To compensate for these departures Ajax have acquired the Dutch Player of the Year - Theo Janssen from FC Twente and the Jupiler League (second division) Player of the Year – Derk Boerrigter from RKC Waalwijk. Janssen is a classy playmaker who has a troubled past but will be an excellent addition to the reigning champions.
Icelandic international Kolbeinn Sigthorsson arrives from AZ to replace Suarez’s goals. Ajax seemed to struggle to find a first choice striker last season, settling for midfielder Siem De Jong playing up front at the end of the campaign. De Jong reverted to midfield in the Dutch Super Cup last weekend alongside Christian Eriksen with Janssen operating as a deeplying playmaker in a formation not dissimilar to Barcelona’s 4-3-3 with an emphasis on possession throughout the midfield.
Losing four of their best players in a six month spell should have weakened Ajax considerably but they still remain the best equipped squad in the league. Theo Janssen will add guile and a change of style to the midfield and if Sigthorsson can manage to replicate last season’s strike-rate at Ajax it’s hard to see them finishing anywhere other than first.
FC Twente
The Enschede club won their first ever Dutch title in 2009/10 and very nearly repeated the feat last season, surrendering the title only on the final day. Their Dutch Cup victory a week previously was Michel Preud’homme’s only trophy during an impressive 12 months in charge but he has curiously left the club for the lure of the Saudi Arabian top flight. Twente decided the Middle East must be the hotbed for managerial talent and so appointed Co Adriaanse as his replacement, fresh from his stint as coach of Qatar’s Olympic team.
The change in manager may have reduced the time available to Twente to freshen up their squad because they only have Willem Janssen as an addition to replace the departed Theo Janssen. Theo was an integral part of the side’s success over the past two seasons and is very difficult for a side with Twente’s resources to replace. He had a central creative role supplying Luuk De Jong and Janko last season but also chipped in with some vital goals (Wikipedia won’t tell me how many) and to reiterate a point made in the last sentence, he will be sorely missed.
Twente can take some consolation from the fact their second best player, Costa Rican Bryan Ruiz, is remaining at the club. He came off the bench to score the winner in the Dutch Super Cup last weekend and will be expected to compensate somewhat for the departure of Janssen. They lack the strength in depth or the stellar names of their title rivals and will surely suffer tactically from successive managerial changes in consecutive seasons. A third place finish awaits.
PSV
Mathematicians among you may have concluded that TFK are predicting a second place finish for the Eindhoven side but skipping to the conclusion would mean missing out on some elegant writing and unsupported opinions.
PSV have disappointed in the last two seasons, finishing third twice, and manager Fred Rutten will be under pressure to improve and at least secure second place. They weren’t a million miles off the pace last season, tailing off at the end to end up 4 points behind Ajax, but for a club that were multiple winners of the Eredivisie and competitive in Europe last decade they have plenty of room for improvement to match supporters’ expectations.
The Hungarian winger Dszudszak was sold to Anzhi Makhachkala for €14m, providing enough funds to embark on a rebuilding project. Those proceeds were reinvested in exciting Belgian winger Dries Mertens and Dutch international midfielder Kevin Strootman from Utrecht for a combined total of €13m. With the €1m change and some money they must have had lying about, PSV also secured the services of young midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum from Feyenoord, another young Dutch international talent. Dszudszak is a loss to PSV but in replacing him with that trio the club are arguably better off now than they were with the Hungarian in the squad.
The Hungarian wasn’t the only high profile player to leave PSV this summer however. Maza, a Mexican centre back, and Koevermans, a powerful striker have departed and take a wealth of experience with them. Marcus Berg has completed his loan spell from Hamburg and returns to his parent club while Jonathan Reis has left on a free transfer after some confusion regarding his contract apparently outfoxed the PSV management and his contract lapsed without being renewed. The sloppy management of that situation is indicative of a club in some amount of turmoil, and the supporters are growing restless at an underperforming team playing sterile football.
The midfield acquisitions should free up Toivonen to return to centre forward – he played much of last season in a deeper role – but with Berg, Reis and Koevermarns all absent there’s a need for at least one more striker. A new attacker, coupled with the rejuvenated midfield and the emergence of Zakaria Labyad as a prodigious talent should be enough to halt PSV’s decline and return them to second place in the table.
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