Deze Week: Rivalries and Transfers
Written by Karl BrowneEl Clásico
No, not that one. There was no Pepe throwing himself to the ground or awful diving, or acts of petulance. Wait. Ignore that last one.
“While Amsterdam dream, Rotterdam works” is a famous saying that was reflected perfectly on the pitch on Sunday. Ajax, desperate to keep their title hopes alive, were trying everything in their locker. Christian Eriksen’s glorious opening goal is indicative of the style Ajax tried to implement. Yet, they were outdone.
Eriksen feeling the cold. Courtesy of Новикова Юлия
Feyenoord’s spirit, their workrate and their determination were flawless. Though, and perhaps I’m being harsh by saying they were the technically inferior side, they entirely deserved their win. On a side note, how fantastic was this game? Live coverage on ESPN in the UK is hard for the Eredivisie to come by so it’s nice to see such a fantastic match act as representation of the Eredivisie.
John Guidetti – The Best Striker in the World?
Possibly. I jest, of course. However, Rotterdammers would agree with that statement. The Swede has quickly made himself a local hero. Beating Ajax is one thing, scoring a hat-trick in doing so elevates Guidetti to god-like status. Not to mention his form before this game which now means he has 14 goals in 13 starts.
It’s unfortunate that Guidetti’s parent club is Manchester City. Another club and you could see him breaking into their team, getting a big chance. Would City, who could afford any player in the world, take a punt and try bleed this youngster into the first team? It’s doubtful. Their loss is someone else’s gain.
Clasie By Name, Classy By Nature
Jordy Clasie announced himself in style with an exceptional performance against Ajax. Bossing the midfield, Clasie was subbed off to a standing ovation as the Rotterdam faithful realised just how well the youngster had played. A real break-out season for Clasie.
Evander Sno
Photo by CrazyPhunk
FC Utrecht were shocked when Evander Sno told them he’d rather stay at RKC Waalwijk. While RKC sit above Utrecht, the difference in the sizes and reputations of the clubs is massive. Though it would have been a step down based on the current table, it would be considered a step up for Sno.
Yet, the 24 year old ex-Celtic midfielder wasn’t willing to make that step. RKC took a risk on Sno, his heart issues well documented. After failed trials at a few clubs, partly down to the aforementioned medical issues, questions were raised over whether Sno would play top level football again. Sno’s decision to turn down Utrecht came as he felt he owed RKC, and wanted to repay the faith they had in him.
Who said loyalty in football is dead?
Loyalty in Football is Dead
Ahem.
Jonathan Reis made his return to the Philips Stadion on Friday night as Vitesse took on PSV. The Brazilian came off the bench to rapturous jeers from the Eindhoven faithful.
The reaction is understandable. Reis’ career up to now has been plagued with incidents. Drug issues, discipline issues, and most recently injury issues. Indeed, like Sno, many began to wonder if Reis’ career was over before it had even started.
Not Fred Rutten though. Not PSV. Though they stuttered over his contract, keeping Reis was very much part of their plans. Yet, with his contract running down, Reis decided his future lay elsewhere and turned his back on the club who stuck with him through his numerous problems.
The A to Z of Collapsing
See what I did there?
AZ have dropped to third, after sitting top of the table for the majority of the first half of the season. In fact, they’ve only picked up one win in their last six games, including a 5-1 loss to Heerenveen. Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Roda JC is something they’ll really need to bounce back from but they haven’t shown the ability to do so since hitting this run.
Not much has changed at AZ for this collapse to make sense. Wernbloom was present for the first four of those six games so using his departure as an excuse isn’t acceptable. Maybe the punditry cliché is true, maybe you do need players with experience of winning to get through periods like this. AZ lack players of this nature.
Top Twente Transfers
Marc Janko completed his deadline day switch to FC Porto for around €4million. Twente picked up a replacement and another player rather quickly. Glynor Plet is the direct replacement, signing from Heracles. Though he hasn’t achieved much for a 25 year old, Plet is a late-bloomer and has impressed at Heracles. At 6’4”, he is a perfect replacement for Janko in the targetman role and will play backup to Luuk de Jong.
Wesley Verhoek was the other deadline day signing as Steve McClaren continued the interest he showed in Verhoek while at Nottingham Forest. Despite Verhoek picking up a knock for ADO against NEC, he completed a €1.5million switch.
The signing of Verhoek, to add to the signing of Joshua John and Glynor Plet has helped improve Twente’s depth and will hopefully diminish how much they rely on de Jong, Chadli and Ola John.
Commentators v The Johns
Speaking of Ola and Joshua John (no relation), they’re causing commentators a bit of a problem.
The same height and with similar squad numbers (24 and 26), the Johns are providing a serious headache for commentators not at the games i.e. commentating on a stream for a betting website or foreign coverage.
It’s hilarious, frankly.
Speaking of Ola John – he assisted three of Twente’s four goals at the weekend against FC Groningen.
Heerenveen
Title contenders. I said it. Living on the edge here.
They just don’t seem to be dropping, their form is ridiculous and they drag themselves out of situations weekly. Coming from behind against Vitesse in the cup mid-week, this side are incredibly well balanced and so gelled that it really is time to stop considering them a higher mid-table team and start taking them seriously.
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