Editor’s note: the official Dutch national team YouTube seems to be a little slow on posting the highlights; it took about a day for the ones against Serbia, which have since been embedded at the bottom of my reaction to that game. Once the highlights do get posted, I’ll include them at the bottom of this article.

Editor’s note 2: highlights added!

You know the phrase, “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”?

Forget it. This wasn’t the clear mark of improvement I thought it would be. It was pretty much the opposite.

Much like against Germany, this was a tale of two halves: first half bad, second half good. Except, unlike the game against Germany, this first half was atrocious. Misplaced passes. Rookie mistakes. Players looking like they were literally born yesterday! Dutch analyst (and former Oranje star) Rafael van der Vaart said this after the first half:

“They’re wandering around in a haze. If you walked around Amsterdam like that, people would call the police to report confused people wandering the streets.”

So, I guess Xavi learned some lessons: he even admitted after the game that the first half was “my mistake.” Which isn’t something that should be skipped over: it’s a breath of fresh air to have an Oranje coach actually say, “yeah, I messed up.” Will he give Guus Til that much attacking responsibility from the get-go ever again? I’d hope not. I support giving chances to players to show themselves, as he did with Til and Quinten Timber to start the game, but do that in the home game against Serbia on Sunday (2:45pm ET on Fox Soccer Plus). Don’t do that against a Greek team, in Greece, that just proved their mettle by beating Germany in Germany. With respect to Til and Timber, there was a clear jump in quality when Ryan Gravenberch and Tijjani Reijnders were brought on the field in their place. I can only imagine how the game would’ve gone had those two been given a spot in the starting lineup.

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Maybe it was the atmosphere—this was a sellout crowd in Thessaloniki—or maybe the players indulged in too much pre-game baklava. But the first half of this game reminded me of the hopelessness I felt against Morocco at the World Cup. This was something Xavi also took the blame for: he said that he may have confused the players too much with his positional instructions. I will say, I was feeling significantly less downtrodden after watching Xavi speak to the cameras. He seemed calm, cool, and collected, as if he fully understood where things went wrong and how to fix them. It is quite the positive note that he has been able to turn things around at halftime; he also admitted with very Dutch-like clarity that he should not have started with two holding midfielders, and that once he switched to a diamond midfield in the second half, things improved.1 If you’re unsure of what that means, see the footnote.

So, with Xavi’s first trifecta of games under his belt, we’re still feeling confident here at the Orangerie about how things will look under the Spaniard. I do wonder, though: if you’re going to tinker with the midfield, arguably the most important part of the field, why not give other attackers or defenders a chance? I think it’s a shame that we haven’t seen Jeremie Frimpong do his best impression of a roadrunner on the right wing. Jorrel Hato—whom I had wanted Xavi to start with at left-back against Germany—has also seen zero minutes. They easily could’ve started in place of Crysencio Summerville and Micky van de Ven. I really would hate to see them also not get involved against Serbia. The other players who haven’t seen any minutes are either goalkeepers (Mark Flekken, Robin Roefs) or established members of the national team (Teun Koopmeiners, Nathan Aké). But, regardless of my qualms about Hato and Frimpong, it was very nice to see Feyenoord’s star Gjivai Zechiël get his debut for the national team. He just might be the only one for whom this was a memorable evening.

One last concern: the injuries. After the game against Germany, Xavi said, “you practice as you play, you play as you practice,” which analyst Van der Vaart praised due to his association of the phrase with Louis van Gaal. In Van Gaal’s days, however, players weren’t nearly as overworked as they are now. Maybe an increased intensity during practice is what’s leading to the many injuries? First it was Brian Brobbey injured against Germany, and then Lutsharel Geertruida injured during practice, and then Cody Gakpo injured against Serbia, and then Jan Paul van Hecke also injured against Serbia… Add that to Donyell Malen and Justin Kluivert pulling out of the team before the break started, and Frenkie de Jong being completely unavailable… and any injuries during the international break are like groceries for the average American family: we can’t afford them!

Speaking of injuries, the Dutch might have walked away with a fat L in this game had Greece star Christos Tzolis not gotten injured himself within the first quarter of the game. Before that stroke of bad luck for the Arsenal player, he had already managed to put the ball into the net on a goal that was (correctly) called off due to an offside Vangelis Pavlidis interfering with the play.

I know I haven’t mentioned the fact that the Dutch had two of their own goals cancelled for offside… one of them very questionably (I can’t find a video, but will link to the highlights whenever the Oranje YouTube team decides to post them)… but the story of Xavi’s three games so far has been that there should’ve been more goals than there were. Enough teasing! Stick it in the net and make it count!

I’m now nervously anticipating this (second) game against Serbia, which after a topsy-turvy few games will decide the lasting taste in Dutch mouths until the next international break in November. Jürgen Klopp’s Germany were just able to comfortably win at home themselves against the Serbs, in a game in which they kept the Balkan country to just one shot on goal for a whopping 0.0 Expected Goals. If they suddenly look dangerous against the Dutch in Eindhoven… as Scooby-Doo would say: “ruh roh.” But if Xavi can mastermind a dominant performance, we can imagine ol’ Scoob doing his classic snicker: “Rheeheeheehee.”

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A win’s a win, right?

This was one of those games where you take the three points and run. Similar to the Germany game, there were a number of missed chances that should’ve made the scoreline more complimentary to the Dutch. But those shots will start falling. I imagine it takes a minute to get used to a new system, the instructions of a new coach, and the novelty of finding yourself in new positions on the field. Once the players grow more accustomed to everything, the net will begin to bulge more often. We have to remember that this is the result of just about one week total of up-close time for Xavi with his players.

The standout player was, of course, the man who scored both of the goals: Mexx Meerdink. Like Ruben van Bommel, his former teammate at AZ Alkmaar, Meerdink plays the game with a sense of composure that is unusual for such a young player (he’s 23), which was shown in his ability to bang that first goal, a penalty kick, into the right side of the goal. His second goal—a shot from the left hand side, from a tight angle, that he had to get just right—was more proof that suddenly, the Dutch have depth in a position that has plagued them since Robin van Persie’s retirement.

Honestly, this is a common theme for the current state of the squad: suddenly, there aren’t really any “problem positions” anymore. I remember the worries of not having quality strikers, not having quality wingers, and not having quality goalies.

All of those worries have now (mostly) dissipated in the last few years.

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• We’ve now got two top-quality goalkeepers in Bart Verbruggen and Robin Roefs, both under 25. Verbruggen has started the two games of this international break so far, and I’ll be curious to see if Roefs is given a chance to show his talents against Greece and (again) Serbia.

• In 2022, Louis van Gaal opted for a lineup without wingers—instead playing with five defenders, the leftmost and rightmost of which would bring the width usually supplied by wingers—because as he said, there just wasn’t enough quality at the position. Nowadays, we’ve all seen Crysencio Summerville break through at the World Cup, Cody Gakpo remains elite, and Ruben van Bommel is on the path to stardom himself. Not to mention Ro-Zangelo Daal coming through at AZ Alkmaar.

  • Side note: I really, really hate the fact that we’re never going to see Louis van Gaal win a World Cup for the Netherlands. It’s a shame that of the two times he’s tried (2014 and 2022), it’s been with two of the weaker squads the Dutch have had since the turn of the 21st century. Obviously, we’re not going to mention the failure to qualify for the 2002 World Cup. If only it had been Van Gaal at the helm this past summer… something I could rue forever.

• And lastly, the strikers. Brian “Brobbeast” Brobbey is finally becoming the well-rounded striker that we all thought he’d be when he first broke out in 2020. And now, thanks to his injury, Mexx Meerdink has been given the chance to show that he, too, is deserving of a starting spot. This doesn’t even include arguably the best Dutch striker at the moment, Donyell Malen, who unfortunately hasn’t provided the same abundance of goals for the national team that he has at AS Roma in Italy, but who will be eager to get a new chance under Xavi to show that he can transport his talents outside of a Roma shirt. And there’s still the promise of 23-year-old Emmanuel Emegha (Chelsea 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿), who at one point looked to be the future at the position himself. I won’t mention the possibility of Shaqueel van Persie—the son of our most recent world-class striker—since he has a choice of playing for either the Netherlands or Morocco because of his mother; aside from the absurdity of seeing “Van Persie” on the back of a Moroccan shirt, the 19-year-old looks supremely talented. Fingers crossed he follows in his father’s footsteps à la Ruben van Bommel, but the desperation for him to choose the Netherlands has waned.

It’s also easy to forget that for all the discussion of Joey Veerman, our “new” midfield maestro who admitted in a postgame interview today that the horrors of 2024 are fully behind him, we also usually have Frenkie de Jong—arguably the best Dutch player in the world—in the team. I sigh to think about how much better Euro 2024 would have been if De Jong had not missed out due to injury.

Veerman was, once again, a standout performer today. Every time he gets the ball, you sit up in your seat—you get the sense that he is, at all times, one pass (or shot) away from creating a goal. This does unfortunately come at a cost, specifically him being a total liability on defense; but hey, NBA teams that want to win games still hire James Harden for a reason.

And so, with the three points today (2.7 Expected Goals!) against a very defensive team in a foreign environment, we march on. Suddenly, after Greece beat Germany following the Dutch game, the most interesting matchup of this break may be the one that falls on Thursday afternoon at 2:45pm (viewable on Fox Soccer Plus), against the Greeks in Thessaloniki. When they played Serbia earlier this week, I remember seeing their squad and thinking to myself, boy, they’ve sneakily got some quality players. Their goalie, Konstantinos Tzolakis, starts for an English Premier League team, Hull City. Left-back Kostas Tsimikas plays for Liverpool. Wide player Christos Tzolis (hey Eredivisie fans, remember him at FC Twente?) just completed a big-money move to Arsenal over the summer for a reason. Eredivisie fans will also remember their star striker Vangelis Pavlidis, now of Portugal’s legendary club Benfica, who played for Willem II before moving to AZ Alkmaar and becoming the Eredivisie’s top scorer in 2024. Sneaky good, these Greeks are. And today’s 1-0 win over Germany—who had the ball 3/4ths of the time, mind you—shows that Xavi’s team will need to be in tip-top shape to nab a win.

Do that, and we can start dreaming of winning the Nations League. I don’t care if it’s glorified friendlies: we need a damn trophy.

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If you were in the vicinity of my apartment at the conclusion of this game, you would’ve heard this absolute banger:1

I’m pumped for this new era of Oranje. This was a night-and-day difference from what we saw at the World Cup—and really, from what any fan of the national team has witnessed this decade. No matter who had the ball, every player was acting with the same intention: to move the ball forward, and to try to score a goal.

It sounds so simple. And yet, witnessing this core foundational aspect of Dutch soccer be used by the Dutch national team felt almost foreign. Opta, the statistics and analysis company, noted the following:

I remember that game against England very vividly: in that I remember what I was doing instead of watching it (getting a haircut). To be honest with you, my experience of Dutch soccer around that era was marked by a profound disbelief; I remember wanting to avoid the heartbreak and bitterness of watching my beloved Oranje fall to England (and I also needed a haircut, and the person I trusted only worked two days a week). Earlier that year, in what is perhaps my greatest shame, I missed the famous 4-1 Ajax victory at Real Madrid in order to squeeze in a therapy appointment. I’ll never forget being in an Uber, leaving my appointment, and checking the score to see that it was 3-0 for Ajax. I was stunned—and I immediately felt immense regret for refusing to have hope. Refusing to believe. Looking back, it’s not that I didn’t watch, it’s that I didn’t watch because I refused to believe.

I’ve since learned that lesson. I think life, to a greater extent, is about belief. It doesn’t matter if you believe in a deity, or in love, or in your country’s soccer team. It matters only that you believe. As Teun Koopmeiners was lining up to take that free kick in 2022, I remember thinking more or less these exact words: “I shouldn’t even get my hopes up. There’s no point. The odds he whips this free kick perfectly into the net are essentially zero.” And then I was proven wrong so tremendously in the seconds that followed. I’m not sure I have ever had such an explosive burst of emotion in my entire life as in that moment. Yes, the heartbreak of the eventual loss stung, but the beauty and memory of that joyous feeling will stick with me until the moment my brain stops functioning. After that goal, I made a promise to myself: that I will never, ever, stop believing. Life is too short. It makes me think of the late film critic Roger Ebert’s words in his review of the magical, beautiful, heartbreaking Italian film “Life Is Beautiful,” starring Roberto Benigni:

“‘Life Is Beautiful’ is not about Nazis and Fascists, but about the human spirit. It is about rescuing whatever is good and hopeful from the wreckage of dreams. About hope for the future. About the necessary human conviction, or delusion, that things will be better for our children than they are right now.” — Roger Ebert

If you haven’t seen that movie, I think you’d know what I’d say next.

I went a little far down that branch, but to return to the trunk of the tree: my lack of belief was warranted by past performances.

After losing the penalty shootout in 2022, I remember chatting with a fellow Dutchman on the Metro. “This is how it always is,” he said. What brings me so much joy—and what made me blast “Viva Hollandia” in this game’s aftermath—is that maybe, just maybe, that’s no longer true.

I do think there’s something to be said about Xavi being the one to implement this return to the Dutch tradition; maybe this was a klus, a job, that only a foreigner could do. Any Dutch person at the helm of the national team is going to feel immense pressure—at least one heartbreaking loss was burned into their brain as a child. You know that if you play the Dutch way, and you lose, you’ve disappointed pretty much everyone you’ve ever known. But if you play pragmatically, and you lose that way, you can at least head home and tell your friends and family: hey, I did everything I could to win. Perhaps it’s this pressure that caused Ronald Koeman to adopt a more defensive approach against Morocco, in the first knockout game of a tournament that the leaders of the KNVB, the Dutch soccer federation, said they wanted to win. The first line of that article: “The national team is going for nothing less than a World Cup win.” They had the ambition, and then an economist, who had previously predicted the World Cup winners correctly, predicted the Dutch would take it home this year. Whosever idea it was to play more defensively—Virgil van Dijk had to recently deny accusations that the plan came from him—there’s a reason that Koeman didn’t reject moving forward with the concept. Because playing defensively and controlling the game through boring, unambitious soccer was a way to play it safe. The goal was not to win; more important was to not lose.

And so I think that any Dutch coach barring Louis van Gaal—whose confidence in himself is an armor without dents—would have found himself hamstrung by this feeling. Xavi, a Spaniard who has won pretty much every major soccer trophy known to man, experiences none of this. And so maybe, for that reason, he’s a better hire than Arne Slot would’ve been. Maybe Xavi is actually the best possible hire the KNVB could’ve made.

And yes, I know this is a lot to be prophesying after just one game. But here’s the thing: it’s not going to get worse than what we saw against Germany. It’s only going to improve as Xavi better understands the talents of his players, and as the players better understand the complexities of his vision.

Nou (now), I should challenge myself here: would I have had this reaction if the game ended after the first half? Maybe not. In the first 45 minutes, there were some good moments, but the players just weren’t clicking, something that Xavi chalked up after the game to nerves. He said he told them at halftime: guys, this is not the way. I’m sure it was more complicated than that. But they came out of halftime looking like a completely different team, which was emphasized by the inclusion of midfield maestro Joey Veerman. Veerman, known for his incredible vision and passing, was the key that unlocked the German defense. I think that international soccer games are won by the players who can get the ball at their feet and create something out of nothing; Veerman is one of those players, as are Frenkie de Jong and (the currently injured) Xavi Simons.2 Remember Xavi Simons’ goal against England in the Euro 2024 semifinal, our only goal of the game? That came out of nothing. But that’s the kind of player that Simons is. And it’s the kind of player that Veerman is, too.

I think Veerman is an unquestionable starter now; the impact he made against Germany was so profound. You could argue the same for Ruben van Bommel, who hit the ball into the path of Cody Gakpo for the tying goal in one of the greatest assists I have ever seen. Pinpoint perfect, that pass was. Crysencio Summerville, the winger who started the game on the right with Gakpo on the left, may have lost his starting spot to Van Bommel, who should perhaps play on the left with Gakpo on the right, as the latter has been excelling there in his club soccer at Liverpool.

This game also had a few moments where I greatly appreciated the level of talent we have at our disposal. Around the 41st minute, the Dutch were trying to escape the German high pressure, and my jaw dropped to the floor when I saw Ryan Gravenberch coolly receive the ball, control it, and turn into an incredibly tight space to start an attack. I thought to myself: are you kidding me? Those are the kinds of moments where I’m reminded that we’re not playing with the B-team-quality side that we were about ten years ago, when the Dutch missed out on qualifying for the World Cup. Gravenberch is one of the best in the world at what he does, as are Virgil, Denzel Dumfries, Frenkie de Jong, Tijjani Reijnders, Cody Gakpo… and that’s not even including the pearls found in the Eredivisie this season with Van Bommel, Mexx Meerdink, and others.

So, yes, you could say I’m feeling very confident of winning a trophy in the next four years under Xavi, whether it be the Nations League, the Euros, or the World Cup. And I mean, hey, why not them all?3

You have to imagine that, had Xavi been the coach at the World Cup, Morocco would’ve been toast. But then I think about how dazzlingly the Dutch played under Ronald Koeman in the Nations League games against Spain—and I correct myself to think not of what could have been, but what should have been.

Xavi, both before and after the game, used some of the same words over and over, one of them being “personality.” To the Spaniard, it’s important that the players show personality. And in this, I think, lies the greatest difference with the previous Dutch teams of this decade. Because, frankly, there was no personality to be seen from any player when it came to a knockout game; it was more important that players acted as willing cogs in a machine drawn up methodically by the coach. Now, players are being told: show me who you are. Take the risk of trying something that you try all the time at your club. Ruben van Bommel’s aforementioned beaut of a pass? Anyone who watches him play will tell you: that’s him. Attempting an outside-footed pass is who he is as a player. And not only does this concept overall make for a better watch, but it means the players are having fun. That’s how you build a winning team; not by forcing them to squeeze into a mold, where every game is a task for them to achieve, but instead by letting them enjoy it all. No matter if they agreed with the tactics against Morocco, I don’t think any single Dutch player would say they “had fun” or “enjoyed” that game.

That’s all different now. Thank goodness. And I think we’re in store for something very special. Even if the trophies don’t come—luck is as important as anything else; if luck had been more on the Dutch side in this game, they would’ve handily won—we’re at least going to have a great time watching it all unfold. That’s something everyone in the Netherlands will feel refreshed to once again take pride in.

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Game Highlights

Stray Thoughts

• What I would give to be a fly on the wall at Dutch headquarters in the town of Zeist. Xavi had basically three days to get to know the players and get his team set up. That’s not a long time! I’m curious how he’s adapting to the very different nature of coaching an international team versus a club one.

• Yeah, so, part of “luck” is having a referee that isn’t a [redacted]. And this referee disallowed a goal that should’ve stood, blew the whistle too early on a goal that also should’ve counted, and was an accessory to the singular German goal by not blowing the whistle and stopping the game when Dutch striker Brian Brobbey went down with what was clearly an injury.

  • Part of what sparked a couple of kerfuffles between the two teams was the decision by the German players to keep playing; Cody Gakpo called it “unsportsmanlike” after the game, and you can see here where Germany’s Joshua Kimmich (#6) turns around and sees Brobbey on the ground, and then receives a pass back from a teammate—that’s where he should have paused, or where the referee should have blown his whistle, so that Brobbey could receive medical attention. Instead, Kimmich uses the opportunity to bring more tempo into the game and push forward. I can understand why Denzel Dumfries sprints into Kimmich’s face after the goal is scored. You can disagree while also acknowledging that the Dutch have a point; I don’t think this is something that any of the Dutch players would’ve done if it were a German player on the ground clearly in distress. Maybe that’s a sign of the cultural warmth the Dutch have compared to the colder Germans. Anyway, the referee at hand won’t be so [redacted] every time. What I redacted here rhymed with the idea of the God of Love playing a game of limbo, by the way: “ducking cupid.”

• The Dutch pundits were happy after this one. When Xavi came on for his postgame interview, pundit Ronald de Boer had a message for his former Barcelona teammate: “goed gedaan, maatje!” (Well done, buddy!)

• Mexx Meerdink really comes off as a great guy. In the postgame interview, he admitted that he didn’t think he had been good enough lately to be called up for the Dutch team, and that when he got the call, he was at dinner with his agent and his girlfriend. Meerdink had been called up to replace the injured Donyell Malen, and now with Brian Brobbey injured, you have to imagine he is going to start and suddenly have picked up a few “caps” for his country. You never know what life will throw at you!

• Xavi picked Joshua Zirkzee (25, Manchester United 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿) to replace the injured Brobbey. Given that everyone was talking about Memphis Depay (32, Corinthians 🇧🇷), Wout Weghorst (34, Twente 🇳🇱), or newbies Zian Flemming (28, Ipswich Town 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿) and Thijs Dallinga (26, 1. FC Köln 🇩🇪), this selection came as a bit of a surprise. But thinking about how Xavi selected his first squad, I don’t think it’s at all surprising that he chose a player who has experience with the national team while also being a potential fixture in the team during the next four years.

• Ruben van Bommel has ice in his veins. He seemed completely unfazed in his postgame interview about his world-class assist, on his national team debut, that has since made world news. I am so glad to have him in the team. Talk about a killer instinct. And when asked whether he thought his pass or the finish by Gakpo was more impressive, he said the finish. Every pundit afterward agreed that it was the pass. Humble, brave, unwavering—someone get me an Oranje van Bommel jersey! What a player.

• Dutch pundit Rafael van der Vaart (whom [slightly] older soccer fans will remember from his playing days) highlighted how Xavi said, “you practice as you play, you play as you practice.” Van der Vaart explained that apparently this was a common phrase of Louis van Gaal’s. I would certainly be elated to find that Van Gaal has had a few conversations with Xavi; but if not, that makes this all the more likable.

• I definitely thought this post would be under 1,000 words. Oops. If you made it this far, I hope you enjoyed the read! If so, please share with any Oranje-supporting friends with the button below; I would appreciate it very much!

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I have a mixed opinion. Can you blame him? One of the biggest games on the calendar comes immediately, after only a few days of getting to know players who he’s meeting for the first time. Germany coach Jürgen Klopp even said (not as a dig), “I know more Dutch players personally than Xavi.” If I were the Spaniard, I also would probably not make a lot of commitments and comments before I even get a true feel for the place. It’s like if you started a job where collaboration was key, and were asked, “how do you plan on working with everyone?” after the only words you’ve shared with anyone in the office are “nice to meet you.”

Anyway, Xavi selected a more experienced squad than I would have—and honestly, I’m increasingly thinking that I would have been in the wrong to choose so many new faces for my first selection. Do people go straight into the Kama Sutra when losing their virginity, or do they get a grip on missionary first? I think that actually, it’s better for Xavi to first get familiar with the experienced names, faces, and personalities before putting more of his own spin and flavor onto the team.

It does mean that our new coach is able to field a very strong team on paper. With the talents at his disposal, here’s how I’d line up, if I were him.

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Assuming a classic Dutch 4-3-3 formation:

In Goal

GOALKEEPER: Robin Roefs (23) — Sunderland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Defense

LEFT DEFENDER: Jorrel Hato (20) — Chelsea 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

CENTRAL DEFENDER: Virgil van Dijk (35) — Liverpool 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

CENTRAL DEFENDER: Jan Paul van Hecke (26) — Tottenham 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

RIGHT DEFENDER: Denzel Dumfries (30) — Real Madrid 🇪🇸

Midfield

MIDFIELDER: Ryan Gravenberch (24) — Liverpool 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

MIDFIELDER: Tijjani Reijnders (28) — Al Qadsiah 🇸🇦

MIDFIELDER: Joey Veerman (27) — Borussia Dortmund 🇩🇪

Attack

LEFT WINGER: Cody Gakpo (27) — Liverpool 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

STRIKER: Brian Brobbey (24) — Sunderland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

RIGHT WINGER: Crysencio Summerville (24) — Al Hilal 🇸🇦

Why This Lineup

• This team is ijzersterk. Rock-solid. Yes, France and Spain are better, but fight me: this is a trophy-winning team. This team could win a World Cup or a European Championship with a little luck and some elbow grease.

• Brobbey has so much potential in this team. In my “if I were Xavi” selection hyperlinked above, I didn’t even select Brian Brobbey… but then he went and scored three goals against Manchester City over the weekend. He wasn’t very effective at the World Cup against Morocco, but he’s still so young—almost surprisingly, given he’s been on my radar since 2020—and if he’s feeling himself, he has the capability to just bully defenders. I’m very excited to see how he grows within his role in the national team. One of my biggest critiques of the affectionately named “Brobbeast” was that he used to be desperate to be the one to score. He would ignore opportunities to make a pass to a teammate if he thought he had the chance to turn and score—and hey, I mean, I get it. When you spend so much energy backing into a defender to give your team a “target man” who can hold the ball as teammates move forward, it’s understandable to want to be rewarded with your name on the scoresheet. What I think he’s become more accustomed to is the fact that if you just play your role, and are unselfish, the goals will naturally come, as we saw over the summer against Sweden.

• Roefs over Verbruggen. This is maybe the most controversial pick—many Dutch fans and pundits say that Verbruggen has done nothing to lose his job as starter, especially after being the only reason the Oranje even took that Morocco game to penalties. But this ain’t no fraternity or crime family. Roefs, if you ask me, has one thing that Verbruggen doesn’t have/has less of: killer instinct. It’s hard to explain. Je ne sais quoi. This truly is an embarrassment of riches, especially when you consider they’re 23 and 24 years old—that’s like toddler-age for goalkeepers. Legendary Dutch ‘keeper Edwin van der Sar was starting in a Champions League final for Manchester United after his 40th birthday. 40! By the time Verbruggen and Roefs retire, I will be in my mid-40s myself. Fortunately, still just a kid.

• Dumfries on the right. If Jurriën Timber weren’t coming off of an injury, that would be a much harder decision—I think I would choose Timber with an eye to the future, even though it’s a bit ludicrous to not go with a starting player for Real freakin’ Madrid—but Timber’s injury trouble was reflected by Xavi leaving him out of the 23-man game-day squad (you can select 26 players but only bring 23 on game day; Kenneth Taylor and debutant Gjivai Zechiël are the other slachtoffers/casualties).

• Veerman’s back. I am so happy that he is proving himself at Borussia Dortmund in Germany. If he brings even half of his talent to the Johan Cruijff Arena this afternoon, we’re in for a treat. He is the kind of player whose vision and passing are so valuable for international soccer, where teams don’t have the time to practice maneuvers and tactics like they do in club soccer.

• No Van de Ven. As our friend at Clockwork Oranje highlighted, Van de Ven may not have made it to the tippity-top of European soccer if not for his speed. And hey, Virgil van Dijk is still Virgil van Dijk.

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That phenomenon makes me wonder about this new, nearly-three-weeks-long international break that is now upon us.

How will players handle this extended absence from their jobs? Imagine you have a bad day at work, and your boss is disappointed in you—and then you go on vacation. When you come back, will you feel nervous to quickly show that it was a fluke? Or will you return feeling like the slate has been wiped clean?

I imagine it’s worse for players who aren’t selected for their international teams, right? They might feel like that SpongeBob meme.

This, to me, is the side of sports that gets discussed the least: the mental aspect of the game. I think that people are too quick to forget that these are not players first, they’re humans. And just like you and me, soccer players are sometimes unable to prevent their personal lives from impacting their work. It makes me think back to the 2020 NBA “bubble” during the pandemic, when Los Angeles Clippers star Paul George opened up about the impact of his mental health on his game. We often see a player struggling and think it must be a reflection of their abilities, but in the same way that someone may start a new job and find it to be a poor fit, a player who feels negatively about his superiors (the manager) or his place in the team might find himself in a mental block that’s tough to overcome. I also remember how much Mexican star Edson Álvarez struggled upon arriving in Amsterdam to play for Ajax; how much of that was due to his family not being able to live with him for the first half of his first season? He ended up excelling significantly in his second season, and became a key part of the Ajax team before getting a big-money move to the English Premier League.

I could talk about this for ages—but just know that considering the mental aspect of this game played by humans is an essential part of how the Eredivisie gets digested here at the Orangerie.

PS: last week, I embedded YouTube highlights for each game, with a preference for whichever team had the auto-dub in English, thinking that it would help readers not feel alienated by the Dutch commentary. Upon reflection, though, I think the monotone, emotionless male English Siri-esque voice is unsettling, a little creepy, and makes the viewing experience worse. Even if you can’t understand the Dutch commentary, you can understand the emotion in a commentator’s voice. So, moving forward, I will be using the home team’s YouTube channel where applicable—and if the auto-dub happens to be turned on, I highly recommend turning it off in the video settings.

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A Look At Each Game

These two are like the comedy and tragedy masks. Groningen, the smiling mask, have secured their first win since Week 2, when they were two-from-two and wondering if they were the surprise of the season; this will have them hoping that their mixture of ties and losses over the last four weeks was a sign of a tough schedule (PSV, Fortuna, Twente, and Go Ahead) and not a sign of a team floundering. PEC, the frowning mask, have now spent their last two games watching the other team score ten total goals—while they score zero. Need I say more? Safe to say that PEC are meeting this extended break with relief. The club announced that the team will report back to practice on the 28th—meaning they get a full week off—before departing for a training camp in Portugal. This’ll give PEC coach Henry van der Vegt some welcome tinkering-time with his team. Because it’s not like PEC didn’t deserve to lose; they only created 0.53 Expected Goals with only one of their nine shots being on target.

Watch full highlights from the game here.

• Want to just see the goals? Shoutout to YouTube’s “start at” function.

  • Groningen’s 1-0, scored by attacker Thom van Bergen 🇳🇱 and assisted by winger David van der Werff 🇳🇱.

  • Groningen’s 2-0, scored by defender Jorg Schreuders 🇳🇱.

  • Groningen’s 3-0, scored by midfielder Tygo Land 🇳🇱 and assisted by, once again, David van der Werff.

In the first and third goals, you can see that Groningen are an intelligent team that plays with cohesion (the second goal was pure talent). They’re so easy to root for. I predicted 2-1 for Groningen in this one, by the way; I was pleasantly surprised for Groningen when I saw the score.

You’ve got to feel for ADO. They absolutely should have won this game. They had 62% of the ball, had 18 shots to Cambuur’s eight, and created 2.1 Expected Goals to Cambuur’s 0.6. Yeah, this one’s going to sting. Even though I correctly predicted a tie game—I thought it would end 2-2—I didn’t expect it to be so one-sided. It’s just an unlucky result for ADO in a season that has, so far, not consisted of much good luck. If you had somehow watched this game (since it was not legally available for viewing here in the U.S.), you would peg ADO as the team in 14th place with five points, not the 17th-place team with two points. Last week’s shock Cambuur win against N.E.C. may become very important as the season progresses and teams start to fear relegation.

Watch full highlights from the game here.

• Just the goals:

  • Cambuur’s 1-0, scored by winger Fabian Kvam 🇳🇴, assisted by striker Sami Bouhoudane 🇲🇦.

  • ADO’s 1-1, scored by attacker Donat Barany 🇭🇺, assisted by Yannick Eduardo 🇨🇿.

Whaaaaaaat. I thought Sparta would win this one 3-1, and I even said, “oh, this could end in a tie.” I never would’ve expected a 4-0 scoreline for the away team. I really should have known, though, because as I’ve said before, Heerenveen are just impossible to predict. This was easily their best game of the season, too, which in itself is a bit bewildering. You would have thought that would come against Telstar (a game they tied), Willem II (a game they tied), or PEC (a game they lost). Instead, it comes against a Sparta team about which I now don’t know what to think. Sparta had 11 shots—none of them were on target. Meanwhile, Heerenveen had 23 shots with nine on target. Whatever Heerenveen coach Robin Veldman got right must have been what Sparta coach Rogier Meijer got wrong; literally nothing went Sparta’s way in this game. Whether this is down to the players or the coach, we’ll have to wait nearly three weeks to find out. In the crowd at this game was former Go Ahead and (German club) Wolfsburg manager Paul Simonis, who was seriously considered by Sparta in the summer before they went with Meijer. No pressure, Rogier.

Watch full highlights from the game here.

• Just the goals:

  • Heerenveen’s 1-0, scored by defensive midfielder Nolhan Courtens 🇧🇪, assisted by attacking midfielder Levi Smans 🇳🇱.

  • Heerenveen’s 2-0, scored by winger Jacob Trenskow 🇩🇰, assisted by winger Maxence Rivera 🇫🇷.

    • It’s incredible that this counts as an assist.

  • Heerenveen’s 3-0, scored by Maxence Rivera, assisted by Levi Smans.

    • I can hear the chant already, based on how the Dutch commentator pronounced his name: Rivera, Rivera, Rivera…

  • Heerenveen’s 4-0, scored by winger Marko Farji 🇮🇶, assisted by attacker Luca Oyen 🇧🇪.

“Today is the perfect day to [bleep]ing show it.” Those were the words of Excelsior’s Swedish captain, Casper Widell, caught by the camera in the team’s huddle right before the game kicked off. And show it, they did. In terms of individual player talent, the Rotterdammers are far below the multi-headed monster that is Ajax—something Excelsior coach Ruben den Uil admitted after the game, in which he agreed that 6’6” Ajax striker Tolu Arokodare was a “cheat code.” But Excelsior never lowered their tenacity, never relented in their focus, and fully deserved to come out of this game with a point. They looked completely locked in the entire game, even after the opening goal from Ajax, after which Ajax looked destined to win this one with a huge scoreline. Looking at the stats of this game will have you believing that Ajax were just incredibly unlucky: 81% of the ball, 33 total shots to Excelsior’s four, and 55 touches in the opposition box to Excelsior’s 11. But that doesn’t give credit to Excelsior’s organization, composed defending, and the performance of their goalkeeper Stijn van Gassel—who I very seriously considered including in my Dutch national team squad when I role-played as Xavi. His six saves were crucial. I had predicted 4-2 Ajax, but you could easily argue that Van Gassel was the reason those two goals never came to be. Excelsior will be on our TVs again in late November for a Rotterdam derby—a little premature, but I highly recommend you watch that game and see this team for yourself.

Watch full highlights from the game here.

• Just the goals:

  • Ajax’s 1-0, scored by attacker Julian Brandt 🇩🇪, assisted by striker Kasper Dolberg 🇩🇰.

  • Excelsior’s 1-1, scored by midfielder Lennard Hartjes 🇳🇱.

    • Oh, a goal scored right before halftime, you say?

    • Yes, it’s fortunate, but that could’ve easily never been a chance if Hartjes had turned off his focus for even a second. Credit to him.

  • Excelsior’s 2-1, scored by winger Aymen Sliti 🇳🇱🇹🇳, assisted by Irakli Yegoian 🇬🇪.

    • You have to imagine that if starting left-back Caio Henrique 🇧🇷 had not gone off injured, Excelsior wouldn’t have scored here. Substitute Owen Wijndal 🇳🇱 was caught sleeping here—my guess is that he didn’t try to go for the ball because the left-footed player doesn’t trust himself with his right foot. Wijndal is honestly a bit of a sad story—he came through the AZ youth system and was balling for them until he signed for Ajax, and his decline began. A couple injuries, a (perceived) loss of confidence, and boom: the player I once thought was a future national team starter has faded into oblivion. This is how I described Wijndal last year: a player doing an impression of a soccer player; it’s like he’s always doing what he thinks a soccer player should be doing. Still just 26, there’s time for him to become a quality player—but for that, he would need to leave Ajax. And he’s made clear in recent years that he simply doesn’t want to do so.

  • Ajax’s 2-2, scored by Tolu Arokodare 🇳🇬, assisted by attacker Oscar Gloukh 🇮🇱.

    • Gloukh, who also made the pass into the box on the first Ajax goal, deserves a shoutout in this game. He created so many chances, and showed what a menace he can be; this feels like a “breakout game” of sorts, in the way that he completely took over with his talent.

    • “Tolu’s not actually very good because he didn’t make it in the Premier League, he only scored six goals in 38 games last season for relegated Wolves!”

      • No one is pretending that the Eredivisie has the same amount of pure talent as the Premier League, but I think there’s more to it. In Tolu’s games for Wolves, it’s not like he started each of those games. In fact, in most of them, he was a substitute. Think about the mental difference of being at a job where you’re not fully trusted by the coach—or where you’re feeling pressure to prove yourself with every touch of the ball—compared to being at one where you’re the main man, you’re a key player, and you’re not being questioned or criticized as much. You can trust that you’re good, even if you make a mistake. Sometimes, people can only become the best versions of themselves when they don’t feel the pressure to be perfect.

Okay, so not a pushover. That was the question I asked in my preview, and I honestly did think that Fortuna would sweep Willem II to the side with ease. But I’m happy to be wrong, and this was actually an incredibly close game. Possession was 47%-53%, Expected Goals were 1.2 to 1.4, total shots were 16 to 17, and shots on target were three to three. I’ll be very curious to see how Willem II coach John Stegeman does against Utrecht, their next game after the break (October 11th feels so far away!). For Fortuna, though, this is delightful. Did they play great? No. Did they deserve all three points? Also no. But they got them. If fans in Sittard are to have hope for a place in a European competition—they currently sit in a playoff place for Conference League qualification—these are the games that they’re going to need to grind out and win. Talk about encouraging.

Watch full highlights from the game here.

• Just the goal:

  • Fortuna’s 1-0, scored by midfielder Philip Brittijn 🇳🇱.

    • Are we at all surprised that the initial threat on goal came from Mohamed Ihattaren’s left foot? (No).

    • Such a scrappy goal in such a scrappy win. Fortuna “Scrappy Doo” Sittard.

Utrecht fans, look away. This was an absolutely horrendous performance. This was not a team, but a collection of individuals; or, to put it more accurately, a collection of headless chickens. It could have been 5-0 just at halftime; when the teams went into the locker rooms, Utrecht had 37% of the ball, zero corners, one shot (which was blocked), and zero attempts on target. I have been an unrelenting supporter of Utrecht coach Anthony Correia, and I believe in his abilities, but watching this game… I just tell myself, “six months.” Just like how a TV writer wouldn’t want to be judged by the first five-or-so episodes of the first season, or a blog writer wouldn’t want to be judged on their first few posts (ahem1), I should wait until Correia has had six months. In my preview, I said that this was the game that would tell us if Utrecht are in for a transitional season, or if fans can raise their eyebrows and expect a little more than just not getting relegated. Well… this wasn’t exactly the 3-1 win for Feyenoord that I thought it would be. Feyenoord, in fact, could’ve had three goals within the first 15 minutes (they had two within ten!). I would officially like to raise the white flag regarding my preseason prediction that Utrecht would end in 5th place and win the Dutch Cup. And I mean, look; maybe I’m overreacting. It’s beyond clear that Feyenoord are a very good team, and one of the top stories in the league right now is whether they, not presumed juggernauts Ajax or PSV, are actually playing the best soccer in the league. But for Correia—I’m really at a loss. I wonder: how do you manufacture belief? Imagine having a new boss come in at your job and say, “hey, we’re going to do things in this new, ambitious way,” which doesn’t motivate you but instead puts a pit in your stomach. You think, “oh, I can’t do that.” Or you get scared of making a fool out of yourself, in front of the tens of thousands of people who come to watch you do your job. Sure, you try, but deep down, you’re just waiting for yourself to fail. I’m really starting to think that Correia’s success at Telstar was due to the status he possessed there as a one-club man (he spent his entire playing career with Telstar) and the fact that his squad was more willing to put their faith in their coach, perhaps partially due to the fact that no one playing at Telstar has true ambitions of playing at the top of European soccer. Correia seems like a great guy and a great coach, and I want him to succeed so badly. By the way, you can’t help but feel for Utrecht striker Artem Stepanov, who had to leave the game crying in the 31st minute because of an injury that’s going to prevent him from playing for his home country of Ukraine, after being called up to the senior national team for the very first time. With Stepanov, Utrecht finally have a reliable striker (fans will remember the horrors of watching the game-day incompetence of Dave Min and the ghost of Sébastien Haller), and the man known among fans as “Temu Haaland” is one of the few bright spots of the team. Let’s hope he’s back soon, and gets to put on his nation’s shirt for the next international break in November.

Watch full highlights from the game here. Which, by the way, is only two minutes long, and is pretty much just the goals. Honestly, the entire game was just one long highlight reel for Feyenoord. Nevertheless:

• Just the goals:

  • Feyenoord’s 1-0, scored by winger Anis Hadj Moussa 🇩🇿, assisted by Givairo Read 🇳🇱.

    • The Utrecht defender, Arthur Zagré (I’m not putting his flag because that would seem an insult to the good people of Burkina Faso)—what in the world are you doing? Just atrocious defending.

  • Feyenoord’s 2-0, scored by striker Nacho Ferri 🇪🇸, assisted by Mika Mármol 🇪🇸.

    • Ferri was the Feyenoord replacement for Ayase Ueda, who transferred to French club Lille. But if Ferri can keep this up, fans will be saying: Ueda who?

  • Feyenoord’s 3-0, scored by Anis Hadj Moussa.

    • “Déjà vu,” is what the ESPN+ commentator said. Exactly the same as the first goal. See them both top-and-bottom for comparison here.

  • Feyenoord’s 4-0, scored by Luciano Valente 🇳🇱 (a penalty).

  • Feyenoord’s 5-0, scored by Gaoussou Diarra 🇲🇱, assisted by Gjivai Zechiël 🇳🇱.

A win’s a win. That’s all AZ will want to say about this one, and it’ll be easy to forget, because they now will be firmly atop the standings for the next few weeks. This was an emotional afternoon for Telstar goalkeeper Ronald Koeman, Jr.; his mother Bartina Koeman (and wife of his father, Ronald Koeman, one of the most legendary Dutch players in history, his coaching career notwithstanding) passed away after a battle with breast cancer. The game was stopped around the 13th minute to allow the crowd to pay tribute to her, and the younger Koeman was visibly emotional. Each player was also wearing a black armband in honor of her. If you’re wondering why Koeman Jr. was playing at all, it was his choice—no one would’ve objected to him taking bereavement leave. Despite the emotion, though, he was the only reason AZ did not win this game by a more comfortable scoreline. He had seven saves, and was named Man of the Match purely because of an outstanding performance. I’m sure he made his mother proud. AZ players looked underwhelmed to have only won 1-0, but I don’t think they knew that they were now top of the standings, since the PSV game was played at the same time as this one. I thought it’d be 3-0 AZ, but hey, I’ll refer you to the bolded first sentence.

Watch full highlights from the game here.

• Here’s a shortcut to seeing the crowd honor Mrs. Koeman, including with a banner that essentially translates to “sending you strength.” You can see Telstar coach Henk Brugge showing real emotion on his face in support of his goalkeeper—empathy is such a beautiful thing.

Just the goal:

• AZ’s 1-0, scored by striker Mexx Meerdink 🇳🇱, assisted by attacker Valdemar Byskov 🇩🇰.

  • What a fantastic turn by Meerdink. If you ask me, he should’ve been called up to the Dutch national team initially—but either way, I’m glad he’s there now, replacing the injured Donyell Malen. He’s the Dutch future at the striker position, no question.2

Now THAT’S a Game of the Week. This was everything I hoped it would be, and more. I usually try to take notes on the games—with six hours of Dutch soccer every weekend, it can be easy to be forgetful—but for this game, I didn’t want to take my eyes off the screen for even a second. As I admitted in the preview, I expected Twente to be outclassed by PSV. Far from it! Twente looked electric, and what gave me the most relief was how not everything depended on Wout Weghorst. This whole season so far, I’ve been wondering if Twente were for real; it was clear earlier in the season that they were struggling to make things click. Suddenly, they look very real, with a lot of depth; I am so glad that Twente made a miraculous comeback to qualify for the Conference League—this team deserves to be in Europe. Suddenly, also, PSV look mortal. Yes, they had 60% of the ball, but they only created 0.8 Expected Goals to Twente’s 2.2. They had 11 shots to Twente’s 23. And do you know what this means? We officially have a title race! PSV dropped to 3rd place in the standings, and are now level on points with Twente. More on that below.

Watch full highlights from the game here. If you recognize that song at the beginning, yes: FC Twente are one of the clubs in Europe that sings “You’ll Never Walk Alone” before each game.

• Just the goals:

  • Twente’s 1-0, scored by attacker Younes Taha 🇲🇦.

    • Right place, right time.

  • PSV’s 1-1, scored by attacker Guus Til 🇳🇱, assisted by Mauro Júnior 🇧🇷.

    • What a perfect cross, and a booming header. And that’s Brazilian national team player Mauro Júnior to you.

  • PSV’s 2-1, scored by Guus Til, assisted by Paul Wanner 🇩🇪.

    • Such beautiful play from PSV—exactly what they pride themselves on, and what you know to expect from the Eindhovenaars. Ruben van Bommel, who I last week said you’ll find impressive if you watch him play, didn’t have the best game here—but he pretty much made up for it with this cute little move.

  • Twente’s 2-2, scored by Wout Weghorst 🇳🇱, assisted by Daan Rots 🇳🇱.

    • Great teamwork by Twente here. You can feel the joy emanating from Weghorst; and I’ve gotta say, this is an example of him being the “big-name” striker when you need a big-name striker. Many other players would’ve hit this right at the keeper or gotten too excited and hit it wide/over the goal. Not Weghorst. I’ve got to give him credit for that, and if he and Twente keep this up, this could end up being a very memorable season; not to jinx anything, but Twente have only won the Eredivisie once in their 60+ year history, in 2010.

    • Twente fans: you should thank whatever this was. (A comment says it’s something to keep the brain sharp).

  • Twente’s 3-2, scored by Daouda Weidmann 🇫🇷, assisted by Max Bruns 🇳🇱.

    • Can you believe that run? Incredible. The speed to cover so much of the field, the strength to hold off the defender, and the situational awareness to keep the ball away from the oncoming defender from behind. Mr. Weidmann, take a bow.

    • There is nothing better than seeing an entire stadium absolutely ERUPT like that. Such a huge, huge win for Twente. And I thought PSV would win 2-1! Silly me!

I fear that N.E.C. are in for a long season. We have here yet another game that I thought Go Ahead would win—I thought 2-1—that they didn’t win, that they should’ve won. Joseph Oosting’s Eagles flubbed five huge chances that should’ve won them this game; they created 2.9 Expected Goals, and only getting one into the net is such a letdown. Go Ahead should really have 16 points right now, and should be mounting an unexpected title challenge. Instead, their ten points put them in an underwhelming-but-still-decent-for-them 9th place. This may have been the first time this season that winger Søren Tengstedt was the worst Go Ahead player on the field. Anyway, back to N.E.C., who are lucky to nab a point here. They’re one of the teams that are probably desperate for this extended break. I imagine coach Dick Schreuder wants nothing more than to have tinkering time. It’s a shame that a number of players are leaving on international duty, including a surprising Germany U20 selection for arguably their worst player this season, Almugera Kabar. It’s also surprising that Schreuder didn’t bring on Kaj Sierhuis toward the end of the game, since he’s the poacher-type striker who you’d think would be wanted in a situation where you need a goal. I’ll be curious how much playing time Sierhuis gets after the break, as starting striker (and Eredivisie legend) Bryan Linssen has not been performing at his peak.

Watch full highlights from the game here.

• Just the goals:

  • N.E.C.’s 1-0, scored by defender Perr Schuurs 🇳🇱, assisted by Tjaronn Chery 🇸🇷.

    • We love to see Perr Schuurs score.

  • Go Ahead’s 1-1, scored by striker Stefán Sigurðarson 🇮🇸.

    • A little lucky, but hey.

The Standings Going Into The Break

Key:

• Purple: Champions; directly into the Champions League

• Pink: into the Champions League 3rd Qualifying Round (must beat two teams, or drop to the Europa League)

• Blue: Europa League 2nd Qualifying Round (must beat three teams, or drop to the Conference League)

• Green: Intra-league playoffs (place four against seven and five against six) for the Conference League 2nd Qualifying Round (must beat three teams)

• Orange: Relegation playoffs (must beat the winner of the 2nd division promotion playoffs to stay in the Eredivisie)

• Red: Relegated to the 2nd division, known (for sponsorship reasons) as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie (KKD)

Post-Week 7 Standings

1. AZ — 19

2. Feyenoord — 17

3. PSV — 16

4. Twente — 16

5. Ajax — 14

6. Fortuna — 13

7. Excelsior — 11

8. Groningen — 11

9. Go Ahead — 10

10. Heerenveen — 9

11. N.E.C. — 8

12. Sparta — 5

13. Telstar — 5

14. Cambuur — 5

15. Utrecht — 5

16. PEC — 4

17. ADO — 2

18. Willem II — 2

• AZ should buy Twente chocolates or something. They’ll be dreaming of their first title since 2009.

• Speaking of which… we have a title race!

  • Instead of PSV running away with it again, we’ve got AZ, Feyenoord, Twente, and Ajax all looking like they can dethrone the champions. And that doesn’t even include whatever surprises Fortuna and Excelsior have in store for us, with Groningen and Go Ahead nipping at their heels, too. This is such a great season so far!

• Before the season started, I thought Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s Feyenoord would struggle—but how wrong I was.

• Utrecht need another win to take them out of relegation danger. Fans are already having to put up with awful soccer, and the stress of potentially playing in the 2nd tier is too much to handle for such a great club.

• I wish the Eredivisie had more European places, because so many of these teams deserve a shot at Europe. That’s why we must root for every Dutch team in Europe, no matter your allegiance domestically, so that more teams will be able to enjoy the fun of continental soccer.

Oranje Corner

And with that, the international break is upon us! These are the games the Dutch will be playing over the next couple of weeks:

versus Germany, Thursday 9/24 at 2:45pm on ViX Premium

• Don’t ask me what ViX Premium is. I think you need YouTube TV for it. Why Fox is choosing to air Norway/Denmark on Fox Sports 1, and Portugal/Wales on Fox Soccer Plus, instead of this barnburner matchup between Xavi’s Netherlands and Jürgen Klopp’s Germany, in both coaches’ first game in charge, I do not know. I’m hoping my trusted iPhone app LiveSoccerTV (which tells you where soccer games will be aired; I highly recommend; the app is better than the website) is wrong, but it usually is not.

• I’m not sure I’ll be able to get to writing a preview before this game, so just in case: I think the Dutch should win this one. Klopp is still fresh, and even though he’s the better coach, the Dutch have more talent in their squad. I imagine the Oranje will play in attack-mode the whole game (which is Xavi’s entire raison d’être as Dutch coach), and so we’ll see lots of goals for both teams. 4-2 Oranje.

at Serbia, Sunday 9/27 at 12pm on Fox Sports 2

• Respectfully, this is the kind of opponent the Dutch should simply outclass. The thought of going all-out attack against a smaller nation like this should be, as the Dutch say, lekker smullen (a feast).

at Greece, Thursday 10/1 at 2:45pm on Fox Soccer Plus

• Ditto.

versus Serbia, Sunday 10/4 at 2:45pm on Fox Soccer Plus

• Ditto, but at home, so even more so.

Anything less than at least three wins would be a major disappointment. A loss to Jürgen Klopp can be excused, but Serbia and Greece? Should be a cakewalk. I don’t think that’s an arrogant thing to say—as some in the Netherlands accuse pundits of being—because the players at our disposal are just that good.

A consequence of me not looking at social media or Dutch soccer news until I have watched the Eredivisie games (which took place Monday and yesterday for me) is that I miss out on some news. That is, I just saw that Mexx Meerdink and Guus Til were called up to replace the injured Donyell Malen and Justin Kluivert. Those are two players I was excited to see under Xavi, so that’s quite disappointing; I’m also not sure why Til got the nod ahead of a player like Feyenoord’s Luciano Valente or AZ’s Kees Smit. Maybe it’s a sign of how attacking Xavi wants to play—Til is more of a striker than either of those two—but you’d think he’d want to replace the creativity that Kluivert brought to the team. Xavi said during his press conference that Valente was on his radar, so that’s good at least.

Another couple of notes from Xavi’s press conference:

• He said that the door is not closed for Memphis Depay or Wout Weghorst. I’m really hoping that this framing is just him being savvy, instead of him actually considering either of those players, who are aged 32 and 34, respectively. It’s time to look toward the future, and I’d rather he bring in literally any Dutch striker under the age of 30 (Ipswich Town’s Zian Flemming?) before taking a look at them again.

• He said he’s imagining a big role for Joey Veerman—super excited for that. Veerman is the exact archetype of player who can elevate this team and create chances against a tight defense, especially with Frenkie de Jong’s current absence due to injury.

Moment of Nature

If you go to a soccer game in the U.S.—as I sometimes do—you’ll notice that it’s just like any other major American sport: you’re paying exorbitant prices for some pretty basic food. I went to a Washington Nationals game the other week and paid $8 for a small cup of the worst fries I’ve ever had. Yes, I should know better. Lesson learned until around this time next year, when I forget that I know better.

But this is not the case in Europe. Soccer games—played by clubs, not “franchises”—are community events, not more opportunities for corporations to blast ads in your face and make as much profit off of you as possible. At Sparta Rotterdam’s game against Heerenveen, they were giving away little hats if you bought four drinks. Wait a few seconds to see the king of the hats—a number of drinks that would normally set you back probably $1,000,000 here in America.

I’ll use this moment to mention an Instagram account I’ve been following for a long time: eredivisiebroodje, which catalogues and rates the sandwiches/rolls that you can get at Dutch soccer stadiums (both the Eredivisie and the 2nd tier). In a recent post, he complains about a hot dog costing the equivalent of $6.85. Hah! Imagine coming to the U.S. and seeing that same hot dog cost twice that. The land of the free, bay-bee.

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It seems like almost every Eredivisie team is on a mission to dispel that notion.1

“And I took that personally,” they’re all saying. It seems to me like every club is trying their best to put an entertaining product on the field. It doesn’t matter if it would be advantageous to sit back, defend for 90 minutes, and have a couple counter-attacks here and there; teams that arguably should be doing that are instead attempting to be ambitious when they have the ball.

Even Fortuna Sittard—known as the “Atlético Madrid” of the Netherlands—are still fun to watch, with the dazzling talent of Mohamed Ihattaren and the speed of Lequincio Zeefuik.

It helps that the “top four” teams (Ajax, PSV, Feyenoord, and AZ) are all playing some of the most consistently entertaining soccer you’ll ever see. Thanks to the World Cup, I think, that commitment to the Dutch way seems greater than ever.

You may be wondering why I said “top four” instead of the usual “top three” of Ajax, PSV, and Feyenoord; it’s the biggest caveat with watching the Eredivisie in the United States. ESPN+, the TV rights holder, only airs/streams four games per week: the games of Ajax, PSV, Feyenoord, and AZ (we get lucky when two of those teams face each other, because one of those four games becomes whoever Twente or N.E.C. are playing).2

It means that if you want to watch your team every weekend, your team has to be one of those top four. Otherwise, you’ll only be able to watch eight of your favorite club’s games this season. Before you despair, though, I think that’s maybe not so bad. Not everyone can commit to watching a game every weekend. Any burgeoning Eredivisie fan can choose to support a club like Groningen or Twente and make an event out of each time they’re available to stream. What made that difficult was that there was previously no American-centric way to follow this league; ESPN+ does a fairly good job of their coverage of the games—the first 10 minutes of every stream are full of video of the stadium and surrounding area, with lots of pre-game color provided by the commentator—but the times anyone at the American ESPN chooses to report on the Eredivisie are few and far between. Just look at how, in the past 100 days, there have been just ten Eredivisie-centric stories published on ESPN.

It’s a shame that ESPN does not market the league here in the U.S., but to quote another meme: “fine—I’ll do it myself.”

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The Standings Going In

For the first time since Week 2, all teams have played the same number of games! So the standings are now a complete look at how each team is doing so far this season.

Key:

• Purple: Champions; directly into the Champions League

• Pink: into the Champions League 3rd Qualifying Round (must beat two teams, or drop to the Europa League)

• Blue: Europa League 2nd Qualifying Round (must beat three teams, or drop to the Conference League)

• Green: Intra-league playoffs (place four against seven and five against six) for the Conference League 2nd Qualifying Round (must beat three teams)

• Orange: Relegation playoffs (must beat the winner of the 2nd division promotion playoffs to stay in the Eredivisie)

• Red: Relegated to the 2nd division, known (for sponsorship reasons) as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie (KKD)

Week 6 Standings

1. PSV — 16

2. AZ — 16

3. Feyenoord — 14

4. Ajax — 13

5. Twente — 13

6. Excelsior — 10

7. Fortuna — 10

8. Go Ahead — 9

9. Groningen — 8

10. N.E.C. — 7

11. Heerenveen — 6

12. Sparta — 5

13. Telstar — 5

14. Utrecht — 5

15. Cambuur — 4

16. PEC — 4

17. Willem II — 2

18. ADO — 1

• The standings are finally beginning to take shape, now that each team has played six games. PSV/Ajax/Feyenoord/AZ occupy the top four places, as you’d expect.

• ADO have got to be the best team to only have a singular point after six games. And that one point came against Feyenoord!

• The difference between 6th and 10th is just three points. N.E.C. have had a troubled season so far, but one win could mean they are where they should be.

• I think Sparta have gotten unlucky this season so far. They’re a much better team than 12th place would suggest.

• It’s still crazy to see Excelsior in a top-seven place.

• So, inspired by a recent tweet, I’m considering switching to a “tree” standings, which might be better at giving context for how each team is doing. See below.

  • Dear subscriber, if you have an opinion, let me know in the comments.

Week 6 Standings (Points Ladder-Style Thing)

18 —

17 —

16 — PSV, AZ

15 —

14 — Feyenoord

13 — Ajax, Twente

12 —

11 —

10 — Excelsior, Fortuna

9 — Go Ahead

8 — Groningen

7 — N.E.C.

6 — Heerenveen

5 — Sparta, Telstar, Utrecht

4 — Cambuur, PEC

3 —

2 — Willem II

1 — ADO

0 —

• I have mixed feelings. Unless I hear otherwise (I do think it adds something the regular style does not), I think I’ll stick with the regular standings style.

A Look At Each Game

Two teams who deserve more. This is the consequence of letting yourself be hopeful based on early results: Groningen have fallen back into their more-typical spot in the middle of the table. Which, like, is still fairly good for a team that was relegated to the second tier just a few seasons ago. It’s just that every time I’ve seen Dick Lukkien’s team play, I applaud their play style, ambition, and cohesion. They’re the kind of team that you start rooting for after seeing them play. They will certainly be hoping for all three points here, since PEC look ripe for the slaughter after a demoralizing, soul-destroying 7-0 loss to Feyenoord last week. Being outclassed and losing 4-0 is one thing, but 7-0? I’m no soccer player, but I imagine that makes you a little more nervous to come to work that week, as if a cloud is hanging above each practice that you just desperately want to clear away. Henry van der Vegt’s team won’t lose this game 7-0, that’s for sure. But I also don’t think they win. 2-1 Groningen.

Pressure’s on, ADO. I’ve long hyped them up because of their Manchester City-esque style of play and my veneration for coach Robin Peter. I think they are unlucky to be dead-last in the standings, but that sentiment will change if they don’t pick up three points here. Both newly-promoted teams will be playing hard, knowing that the two games they play against each other are critical opportunities for points that can keep them in the Eredivisie next season. The wind is at Cambuur’s backs, though, after a shocking 3-0 win against N.E.C., and that’ll give the players some belief that they can beat a well-organized ADO team. Personally, ADO are a team I’m rooting for this season, because I think it’s absurd that the third-largest city in the Netherlands does not have a more consistent, better team. Like imagine if Chicago, the third-biggest city in the U.S., had a baseball team that couldn’t win a championship for like, 108 years or something? How embarrassing would that be! Unfortunately for ADO, I have a feeling that they’re going to share the points with the team from the 20th-largest Dutch city. 2-2.

Pressure’s on Sparta, too. With the talent they have in the squad (the speedy Mitchell van Bergen, the up-and-comers Robin van Cruijsen and Isaac Babadi, the experienced Bas Kuipers, to name a few), they have higher ambitions than 12th place. Only five points from six games is surely disappointing for coach Rogier Meijer. Luckily for them, this off-kilter Heerenveen side are ripe for the points-picking. The team from the Friesland region (those aren’t hearts in their logo, but rather leaves of the yellow-water lily, which is native to the region and found in the Friesland flag) are notoriously inconsistent; I thought they looked really good in their Week 2 tie game (2-2) with Ajax, and they arguably deserved more in their 3-2 loss to AZ in Week 4. But then they’ve also failed to beat Willem II and Telstar, and lost to PEC Zwolle. You just really don’t know what you’re going to get with them. If they do get a result here against Sparta, you have to imagine it’s going to be at the hands (feet?) of Jacob Trenskow, one of their bright spots this season. Ultimately, I think Sparta will be too much to overcome, even though I think this could easily end 1-1 or 2-2. 3-1 Sparta.

Can Excelsior match up? That’s pretty much the only question heading into this game. Ajax are on the path to becoming a juggernaut under Míchel Sánchez, and they’ve only gotten deeper this past week with the arrival of former Tottenham player Yves Bissouma, a player who excels at keeping and controlling the ball in tight spaces (so, the perfect Ajax player). It truly is unbelievable how many top-quality players that Ajax GM Jordi Cruijff is bringing to Amsterdam. Ajax already look like a Champions League-quality team, and as Míchel tweeted recently, we haven’t even seen the best of them yet. Excelsior just have to hope that they can be an immovable object in the face of this unstoppable force. If they can get through this game with a tie, that would be a minor miracle; after facing this beast of an Ajax squad, they have games against Groningen, Heerenveen, and Fortuna—not easy, by any means, but far more achievable for Ruben den Uil’s team. This is where the real test begins for Excelsior, who do sit in a surprising 6th place, but we’re about to find out in the coming weeks if that was because of them being a great team or because of the easier schedule to begin the season. Hard not to see Ajax continuing their dominance here, though. I’ll be a little kind to the Rotterdammers in my prediction. 4-2 Ajax.

Willem II? Pushover? Maybe not. Last week’s surprise tie (1-1) with AZ showed that the team from Tilburg is not exactly the New York Jets, even if they did follow that with a mid-week obliteration by Ajax. You have to imagine that teams only improve as the season progresses, with more practices under their belt, and so maybe they could get a result here. I want to be like, “nah! Just kidding!” but I was punished for my overconfidence that they’d lose to AZ 4-0. But it’s more likely that was a lucky fluke, and that Fortuna will make easy work of Willem II this week. I’d be happy to be wrong—Willem II were a team I was rooting for back in 2021 during their almost-run to the Europa League, led by now-Benfica striker Vangelis Pavlidis with now-Wolfsburg goalie Timon Wellenreuther; I have a soft spot for them—but Fortuna’s Ihattaren is too good with his left foot. I think Fortuna take this one. 2-0.

This should be good. High-flying Feyenoord are coming off a 7-0 win, while Utrecht are coming off a morale-boosting 2-1 win over Excelsior. The latter haven’t been on our TVs in a bit, and so this is a good chance to see how much they’ve improved in the last few weeks. You get the sense that this is a good barometer for how much work Anthony Correia has left to do with his team. Any result here against Feyenoord will further cement the upward trajectory of the team. Although, after seeing the Rotterdammers last week, even losing by just one goal would be seen as a positive. It’s clear that Utrecht are making the smart move and investing long-term in Correia, and so this is already potentially being written off as a transition season. Win or tie here, and suddenly they’ll seem ahead of schedule. I may have been premature in my pre-season prediction that Utrecht would claim the Dutch Cup and 4th place (!) this year. How silly that looks now. As for Feyenoord? They’re just so fun to watch. Midfield star Gjivai Zechiël (who spent last year on loan at Utrecht) was just rewarded with a spot in the Dutch national team squad; and if you ask me, midfielder Luciano Valente should’ve been included too. This barely misses out on being my Game of the Week, but it’s so rich in storylines. Feyenoord look too good to falter here. 3-1 Feyenoord.

Haha! That Willem II game just really threw me. While Telstar have looked (relatively for a club of their size) surprisingly good this year, AZ should take this one with ease. They’re going to want to bounce back from an undeserved loss in the Europa League in the midweek (more on that below in the European Corner) and keep up with PSV; it’s easy to feel like the title challenge is already over for AZ, now that they have been dethroned from the top of the standings, but PSV could very well drop points this weekend. Anything less than an AZ win here, and the people of Alkmaar will wave goodbye to championship hopes. Cautiously, I make this prediction. 3-0 AZ.

Game of the Week. If you watch one game, let it be this one. Even though we technically have a Champions League team (PSV) facing a Conference League team (Twente), this could go either way. Ugh, even as I type that, I’m shaking my head on the inside. Deep down, I fully expect Twente to be outclassed by the Eindhovenaars in this one—which, for the record, doesn’t mean it’ll be a bad game. If you just heard me laugh, it’s because once again, Twente’s hopes rest on the form of striker Wout Weghorst. If he’s having a good game, they can win. If not, they don’t stand a chance. Either way, this will be fun to watch, if not just because PSV play some extremely satisfying soccer. Let’s see if PSV’s Kodai Sano (#24) can continue his impressive start to the season after coming over from N.E.C. 2-1 PSV.

Damn, I wish we could watch this one. I feel like that’s a sentiment I share every week, but both of these teams’ coaches, Dick Schreuder and Joseph Oosting, are two of the most attack-minded coaches in the league (which, for how I started this post, is saying something!). N.E.C. have had a torrid time this past week, losing to newly-promoted Cambuur and then having their teeth knocked in by Juventus in Europe. For a team that has been renowned for the way they attack, having last scored a goal 11 days ago (in a disappointing tie with Excelsior) surely has the squad feeling jittery. I have some faith that Schreuder will figure it out and prevent a complete disaster this season, but I thought that last year too, before Ron Jans’ Utrecht lost seven of their eight Europa League games. Go Ahead, led by standout Søren Tengstedt, will likely capitalize on the sour mood amongst the crowd in Nijmegen. 2-1 Go Ahead.

One Player To Know

Ruben van Bommel has quickly become one of my favorite players. He is fast, good with the ball, can generate a lot of power in his shot, and is intelligent on the field… with the glaring exception of a few bone-headed tackles, namely this certified ouchy (see it in this video) from a couple weeks ago (the Ajax victim left that football-style tackle with damage to his ribs and a lung) and this red card tackle (see it at the end of this video) against Portugal at the U21 European Championship last year. Complicating matters is the fact that he’s the son of former Dutch international Mark van Bommel, a legendary defensive midfielder who was known for his hard tackles; Ruben has admitted that he’s aware of the extra scrutiny that comes with being a Van Bommel. Anyway, enough about that, because he’s actually a fantastic player to watch. He’s incredibly courageous, unafraid to take on a defender, and he’s unselfish. He came through the PSV academy—the club of his father—before moving to the MVV Maastricht youth setup. He soon got the attention of AZ Alkmaar, who arguably have the best development system in the country, and he grew into a star player before PSV paid over $17 million to bring him to Eindhoven. Now, as their #7, he’s an unquestioned starter for the team. One last thing that impresses me about him: about a year ago, he tore his ACL in a game against Ajax; a lot of other players would’ve come back with a little less burst or willingness to compete. But he’s actually come back stronger. If you watch a PSV game, you’re going to be impressed by him. He was just rewarded yesterday with his first-ever selection for the Dutch national team. I can’t wait to see him in Oranje. It’s rare that I’m gushing like this over a player, but if we make another World Cup final in my lifetime, I’m sure that the young Van Bommel will be a huge part of it.

European Corner

This past week was all the Europa League, and Dutch clubs unfortunately went 0-2.

AZ lost to English club Sunderland: 1-0

• This was such an unfair result. And I feel bad focusing my ire on one player, but you could very easily make the argument that he was responsible for this ending 1-0 and not 0-0… Weslley Patati lost the ball, ran back to defend, and then got in the way of the shooting motion of a Sunderland player to concede a penalty. What makes matters worse for him specifically was that him losing possession of the ball was also what led to Willem II’s goal last week. That’s at least three points he’s cost his team; I can only imagine what that does to a player’s confidence. It’s a shame, because he was a player I was initially excited to see be a part of the AZ attack this season. He’s shown before that he has the talent to make an impact. Let’s hope that his impact quickly returns to being positive.

• AZ, though, could’ve definitely won this game. There were a couple chances for Mexx Meerdink and Kees Smit that could’ve easily given AZ the lead.

• It was admirable how bravely AZ pushed for the tying goal in the final ten minutes.

• A lot has been said about the “physicality” of the Premier League and its teams, but I was pleasantly surprised to see AZ match up squarely with a club with supposedly stronger players. Even Brian Brobbey, when he came on, was reduced to a bystander for the most part, although he arguably should’ve made it 2-0 near the end.

• If this is how AZ are going to play for the rest of the Europa League campaign, I think they can go far. This was one of the tougher tests of the season, and even though they lost, I certainly think they passed.

N.E.C. lost to Italian club Juventus: 5-0

• Not much to say about this one. Just completely outclassed. The defense looked amateurish at times. Yes, it was in Turin and against a Juventus team that was motivated to silence critics and secure a pick-me-up, but losing 5-0 is just unnecessary. 3-0 would’ve been respectable; 5-0 was a thrashing. N.E.C. might be in for a long season.

Moment of Nature

One benefit of the Dutch directness: the postgame interviews. I have nothing specifically in mind to hyperlink, but in the coming weeks of the Orangerie, I’m going to try to highlight how much different it is to watch a Dutch postgame interview compared to an American one. On this side of the pond, it’s all very sanitized—you can pretty much predict what the players and coaches will say. Just something I appreciate about the Netherlands. I also miss eierkoeken.

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Editor’s Note 2: Well, I was certainly more ambitious (if that’s the word) and future-forward than Xavi ended up being. I’m not mad at it, though. Leave a comment on this post with your thoughts!

When Xavi was first announced as the new Dutch national team manager, my initial reaction was disappointment. Can you blame me? I thought we were getting Arne Slot, a coach who has proven himself to be fantastic at identifying a player’s talents and molding them into his vision on the field.1 I held onto a brief hope that it would be Pep Guardiola. Instead, we merely get his former player and pupil.

In the weeks since that announcement, though, my thoughts of continued trophy-less purgatory have morphed into excitement, sprinkled with a little hope.

Why?

Why I’m Excited About Xavi

1. I think Xavi has automatic clout in that locker room, thanks to his player career; players won’t just listen to him, they will believe in him.

2. I think that Xavi is bringing a brand of soccer—high tempo, attacking-first, rather-win-five-four-than-one-zero Cruijff-inspired play—that players can get excited about. Which is something, by the way, the Oranje hasn’t seen since… Euro 2008? No longer is the call to Dutch headquarters in Zeist one where the players must follow strict instructions, focused more on controlling the pace of the game instead of scoring the most-possible goals.

3. I think that the worry of, “oh, no foreign manager has ever won the World Cup,” is hogwash. First of all, very few of the best-performing soccer nations have ever even hired a foreign manager as their sole leader on the sideline. Germany has never. Italy has never. France did, once, from 1973 to 1975—very brief. Argentina have not since the 1930s. Brazil only did for the first time last year with Don Carlo Ancelotti.2 Secondly, I think few nations would benefit from a foreign manager as much as the Netherlands. How many other countries have been able to produce a squad that’s almost surely fully bilingual, allowing for a foreign coach to step in without enormous communication issues? England had a foreign manager this past summer in Thomas Tuchel, and were it not for a complete capitulation against Argentina (at Tuchel’s tactical hand, mind you), they would’ve been in the World Cup final with a huge shot at winning it. Tuchel didn’t get defensive to protect a lead because he’s a foreigner; we saw Ronald Koeman do the same thing with his home country.

4. I was overthinking the fact that Xavi has never been tested with a squad that wasn’t one of the best in the league. His coaching career has consisted of the best team in Qatar (Al Sadd) and a top-two team in Spain (Barcelona); at the time of his appointment to Oranje, I was worried that the talent at his disposal could have masked cracks in his managerial armor. But now, I’m thinking: does that even matter? Look at Vincent Kompany, who struggled with Burnley in the Premier League after dominating with them in the English second division, and who was subsequently hired to coach German giant Bayern Munich, where he has seen considerable success. The Netherlands have one of the most talent-rich player pools in the world, arguably eclipsing former heavyweights like Brazil and Germany. It doesn’t matter that Xavi has never succeeded with a Sunderland or a Fortuna Sittard.

5. This may be an uncommon opinion, but I actually think it will be beneficial for the players to have everything in English. Imagine the pressure that comes with jetting off to a major tournament with the Dutch national team: you’re on a mission that players like Johan Cruijff, Dennis Bergkamp, Arjen Robben, and the other legends you grew up watching all failed to complete. I think that having your leader communicate in the “outside-the-home” language will provide a little separation from the pressures that come with being under a microscope that has the seeing eye of everyone you’ve ever known. You can trust that every classmate, every teacher, every friend and every acquaintance will be watching you play. There is genuinely no equivalent here in the U.S., baring being the quarterback of a team that makes the Super Bowl; but for that player, it’s more just the nature of the job as a whole, and even then, you’re only on the field half the time, meaning you bear far less responsibility than someone who plays every minute.

That’s a great segue into the meat of this post; that pressure is why I think it’s important to select players who are used to having the most-possible eyeballs on them while on the field; that is to say I give strong preference to those who play or have played in the modern-day English Premier League—the closest thing there is to the NBA or NFL of soccer.3

One more thing: while the Eredivisie is no Premier League in terms of overall talent and audience reach, I do think it’s important to signal to players that if you perform well, you can get selected. Too often in recent years, the national team has been seen by coaches as a fraternity-type group, similar to the inner workings of the mob (can you tell I’ve been watching the Sopranos for the first time?), in the sense that once someone becomes a made man, they’re in for life. Ronald Koeman certainly kept Memphis Depay around for that reason, even though he peaked in terms of pure ability about five-to-eight years ago. Even Louis van Gaal refused to adjust his 2022 World Cup plans to prominently include then-19-year-old Xavi Simons, despite reports of Simons impressing beyond belief in their practices.4 It’s such a relief that Xavi Hernández has no reason to subscribe to any methods of the past.

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My Team Selection

Without further ado, here’s who I’d pick as my first 26-man squad if I were señor Xavi.5

GOALKEEPERS (3)

1. Robin Roefs (23) — Sunderland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

2. Bart Verbruggen (24) — Brighton & Hove Albion 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

3. Kjell Scherpen (26) — Ipswich Town 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

DEFENDERS (9)

1. Virgil van Dijk (35) — Liverpool 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

2. Micky van de Ven (25) — Tottenham 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

3. Denzel Dumfries (30) — Real Madrid 🇪🇸

4. Jurriën Timber (25) — Arsenal 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

5. Jan Paul van Hecke (26) — Tottenham 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

6. Jorrel Hato (20) — Chelsea 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

7. Wouter Goes (22) — AZ Alkmaar 🇳🇱

8. Youri Baas (23) — Ajax Amsterdam 🇳🇱

9. Quilindschy Hartman (24) — Espanyol 🇪🇸

MIDFIELDERS (8)

1. Tijjani Reijnders (28) — Al Qadsiah 🇸🇦

2. Ryan Gravenberch (24) — Liverpool 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

3. Joey Veerman (27) — Borussia Dortmund 🇩🇪

4. Justin Kluivert (27) — Bournemouth 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

5. Quinten Timber (25) — Crystal Palace 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

6. Luciano Valente (22) — Feyenoord 🇳🇱

7. Gjivai Zechiël (22) — Feyenoord 🇳🇱

8. Kees Smit (20) — AZ Alkmaar 🇳🇱

FORWARDS (6)

1. Donyell Malen (27) — Roma 🇮🇹

2. Cody Gakpo (27) — Liverpool 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

3. Ruben van Bommel (22) — PSV Eindhoven 🇳🇱

4. Crysencio Summerville (24) — Al Hilal 🇸🇦

5. Ro-Zangelo Daal (22) — AZ Alkmaar 🇳🇱

6. Mexx Meerdink (23) — AZ Alkmaar 🇳🇱

Team Selection Analysis

• I decided to include only one player above the age of 30: Virgil van Dijk, who is still rock-solid and one of the best in the world at age 35. In a team full of youngsters, you’re going to want his experience and leadership. I know there have been rumors of Xavi and the national team moving on from him, but I’d say not just yet. He may not be in the Euro 2028 squad, and most definitely not in the World Cup 2030 squad, but he will help bridge the transition to the next generation. Let him still be captain, I say. It doesn’t matter that he missed a crucial penalty at the World Cup 2022 or that he was arguably partially responsible for the goal that led to the World Cup 2026 elimination.6

• Let’s go over the surprising names.

  • Kjell Scherpen is the tallest player in Premier League history at 6’9”, and given the lack of importance of the third-choice ‘keeper—Roefs and Verbruggen will occupy the goal for the next decade—this is just about giving a player a chance to familiarize himself with the national team. The other name I wrestled with, Justin Bijlow, has the Oranje experience that Scherpen doesn’t.

  • Youri Baas is a stellar left-footed defender. We don’t have many of those, and I’ve been watching Baas develop into a smart, capable-on-the-ball defender who is surely on his way to being a lock for the national team.

  • Wouter Goes, pronounced “goose,” is less of a surprise, given that he’s the anchor of a high-flying AZ team and has put in nothing but solid performances this season. Most are predicting that Xavi will include Goes.

  • Quilindschy Hartman is surprising, I’ll give you that. But we simply do not have a stacked list of left-footed left-backs to choose from, and if I’m Xavi, I’m moving on from 31-year-old Nathan Aké. Yes, Aké is a solid player, but he moved to a Turkish team over the summer to begin his fade into retirement, and he’s not exactly lit up Istanbul since his arrival. Hartman has had to recover from an ACL tear that kept him out of both the Euro 2024 squad and a move to English club Chelsea, but I genuinely do think that he would’ve made the World Cup if he had gone through with his rumored move to Ajax this past winter. He decided not to do so after receiving a mountain of threats from fans of his former club, and Ajax’s arch-rivals, Feyenoord. Regardless, Hartman has a lot of talent, and is a strong offensive threat down the left side who can whip in a dangerous cross. He’s still young—he’ll be in his prime at 28 for the next World Cup—and he’s exactly the type of offense-capable left-back who would fit Xavi’s play style.

  • Joey Veerman isn’t a surprise to anyone who’s seen him play this season at Dortmund. He is arguably the best passer the Dutch have, and that’s invaluable against stiff, tough-to-break-down defenses.

  • Luciano Valente is a joy to watch, and he’s developing into a star. Enough said.

  • Gjivai Zechiël has arguably been the Eredivisie’s best player this season, and he would be a great addition to the locker room. Easy pick.

  • Kees Smit has been attracting attention from Europe’s best in the last year, and Dutch soccer is lucky to have him stay another year at AZ. If you watch him play, you understand the hype: the decision-making, the comfort/patience on the ball, and the pinpoint passing. The kid’s going to be a superstar.

  • Ruben van Bommel is electric, and he also has a very mature head on his shoulders. He has incredible ball-striking ability, can score from anywhere, and can create danger out of nothing. I maintain that if he had not gotten injured a year ago, he would’ve played his way into the World Cup squad.

  • Ro-Zangelo Daal is easily the most surprising name in my squad. But as someone who has watched every AZ game this season… the guy is faster than a speeding bullet, Lois. He is unbelievably quick, and reminds me of Arjen Robben in the sense that you know exactly what he’s going to do, and yet you can’t stop it. This is obviously a look toward the future, but if I’m Xavi, I’m bringing on Daal in minute 65 of one of these games and seeing what he’s capable of. In order to disagree with this selection, you must have watched every AZ game this season. Daal is a game-changer.

  • Mexx Meerdink shouldn’t be surprising, except that he takes the place of World Cup star Brian Brobbey. Bold? Yes. But if I’m Xavi, I’m calling up Brobbey and being like, “Hey, Brobbeast, I’ve gotta take a look at a couple other players, and you’ve not had a great start to the season for Sunderland. Don’t worry, you’ll obviously still be in the mix—but no one’s place is guaranteed.” Meerdink, on the other hand, possesses a much better finishing ability, ball-striking ability, and vision that Brobbey just doesn’t have, yet. I also like the idea of Xavi calling up an AZ Alkmaar contingent, which allows the players to gel and approach an unfamiliar environment with familiar faces.

Until this week.

Let me be clear: I would have bet everything I own on N.E.C. beating Cambuur.1 When I saw the final score, I let out an audible “WHAT?!” and had to double check my eyes weren’t deceiving me. It’s almost made worse by how, in my preview, I wrote about how underdogs have a better chance than in recent years… and I didn’t even mention N.E.C.; that’s how sure I was of the Nijmegen team taking the three points.

Talk about a whiff.

I also would’ve bet the farm on AZ beating Willem II.

All I can say is that it’s a good thing I don’t bet.

One change from previous weeks: in addition to hyperlinking Instagram videos of some notable goals/happenings, I’ll be trying out the inclusion of each game’s highlights as well, using whichever team’s YouTube channel offers the English auto-dubbing over the Dutch commentary, if available. Hopefully this will allow you to get a better sense of a game in the 5-10 minutes that these highlight videos tend to be!

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A Look At Each Game

SHOCK! When I was little, one of my mom’s friends was Polish—and I always remembered how, instead of saying “that’s shocking” or something similar, she would merely say: SHOCK! That’s how I feel about this one. As you would expect, AZ should have won. A costly, costly, costly game to tie. Calvin Stengs missed a chance in front of an open net that would’ve made it 2-0, forced Willem II to push forward, and given AZ more space to work with. In my 4-0 prediction—which I think would’ve been accurate had Stengs scored—I said that this game should serve as a confidence booster ahead of AZ’s first big test of the season against Sunderland in the Europa League. Alas. Instead, this is the first big test for AZ coach Leeroy Echteld: how does he handle this in the locker room? How will he ensure that this game serves to light a fire under his players’ butts, instead of making them feel hopeless against an English club with five times the wage bill? I imagine that all it takes to put a pit in the stomach of an AZ player is to see how they’ve relinquished their place atop the standings with just their first misstep of the season. The player attitude at the start of the Sunderland game will be a huge sign as to how AZ will handle the pressure of a potential title challenge. As for Willem II, one player stood out to me: Uriël van Aalst, #19. I think he’s a name to keep an eye on whenever Willem II are on your TV.

• AZ’s only goal was a beautiful assist by striker Mexx Meerdink, slotted away by Jordy Clasie. After this goal, you thought the floodgates had opened. But, unfortunately, peanut butter. See the goal here.

• Willem II’s goal was the kind of goal you hate to see your team concede: a quick mistake, bim-bam-boom, a goal. See the goal here.

• That Calvin Stengs miss? I hate to highlight it, but it’s inexplicable for a player of his quality. At first, I thought, “oh, maybe the ball just bounced funny right before he hits it.” Nope. All he needs to do is pass it in; I do think the oncoming defender throws him off. See the miss that cost AZ the game here.

I was closer with this one. I actually predicted a 2-1 win for Twente—and the Tukkers should be happy that they didn’t let in that goal. ADO, the weekly trap game for whoever they’re playing, have been unlucky to start the season, save for their surprising draw with Feyenoord. It’s a shame for ADO that they didn’t win that game; we all knew that ADO would get a result against a team they shouldn’t, which would cause the rest of the league to perk up and no longer underestimate them. ADO coach Robin Peter will hope that teams look at the standings and think they’re a walk in the park. Twente, meanwhile, will be happy to see Wout Weghorst score his first goal at their home stadium, the Grolsch Veste. So much of their season hinges on his ability to score. Yes, it was a penalty, but I think soccer is much more of a mental game than we think. His confidence will be buoyed after seeing that ball hit the net and hearing the cheer of the crowd. Next week’s game against PSV will be a great barometer for where Twente are in their development.

• Everyone can agree that Wout Weghorst is one thing: emotional. No comment. See his penalty goal and reaction here.

  • The top comments on this post: “He gets emotional getting groceries.” “What a meme this is, my goodness.” “Last time I went poop and the toilet paper was clean I also had to cry.” It’s all jokes, because then you see him talk (he says he was practicing with his kids for a penalty after he felt like he was going to get the chance), and I think, eh, better to have someone who wears his heart on his sleeve than someone overly calculated. Right?

This one will sting for Go Ahead. They really should have won this one, after a bizarre missed opportunity (see below) to score the winner in the final minutes. I predicted a 3-2 victory for Go Ahead; they should’ve escaped with a 2-1 win. As happy as I am to see Joseph Oosting playing some exciting soccer with the Deventer team, it’s a shame that Dick Lukkien’s Groningen have faltered after their hot start to the season. After Groningen star Thom van Bergen stayed at the club, and the results of their first few games, I think we all were wondering if the “Pride of the North” would be the season’s biggest surprise. Instead, they created only 0.2 Expected Goals in this game, compared to 2.5 Expected Goals for Go Ahead.

• That miss? If I were a Go Ahead fan, my blood would be boiling in a mix of frustration and disbelief. Calvin Stengs, you’re not alone. See it for yourself here.

Fortuna had us for a second. This was a huge opportunity for the team from Sittard to nab their first win against Ajax since I was a toddler… but it pretty soon became apparent that it was not to be. Ajax simply have too much quality, and Mohammed Ihatarren is only one man. You have to give Ajax coach Míchel Sánchez a lot of credit—Ajax fans will remember the number of players who needed a year to get acclimated to the Amsterdam club (I specifically remember how fans were calling for the head of Edson Álvarez during his first year). Julian Brandt has hit the ground running, and yet we still have not seen the final form of this Ajax team. The players on the field look so good that you forget how much quality they have sitting on the bench. I will say, though, I was not very impressed with the many misplaced passes of newcomer Sofyan Amrabat; if you were in my home when I turned on this game, you would’ve heard me make the truly terrible joke that he’s blind as an Amra-bat. I know, I know.

• The first goal for Ajax was evidence of why they’re going to be so hard to beat as the season progresses: talent. They just have the talent. This is the kind of chance that becomes a goal because your player is just that talented. See the goal by Julian Brandt here.

Is this real life? Unfortunately, N.E.C. is not one of the four teams that ESPN+ airs here in the U.S. of A; otherwise, I could better explain what happened here. The previous dings on the Nijmegen resumé—an opening week loss to Telstar, an unlucky loss to Feyenoord, and a tie against high-flying Excelsior—all could be explained away. But this? Before Cambuur’s 2-2 tie last week against Telstar (which already wasn’t convincing given that Telstar were a man down for most of the game), they had not come within a goal of Excelsior, Fortuna, Feyenoord, and Twente. But maybe Cambuur were unlucky to play four of the best teams in the league in their first four weeks. Maybe Cambuur will shock the world and get to a European spot. Or… maybe N.E.C. are a team struggling to gel after losing some of their best players (watching PSV this season has made clear that N.E.C. had a budding star last season in Kodai Sano) and having to integrate lots of new faces into a very specific and hard-core style of play that opponents might be figuring out how to stop. Safe to say the run-on sentence there is the more likely story. N.E.C. coach Dick Schreuder actually said that this was the worst game in his entire coaching career. Let’s hope these performances are out of their system before their European adventure to Turin. I predicted 3-0 for N.E.C. for this game, by the way. Got them switched around, clearly. I almost expected to see the Expected Goals and think that Cambuur got lucky with a few quality shots; nope. Cambuur created 3.1 Expected Goals to N.E.C.’s mere 0.9. Ouch.

Party time for Utrecht! It took a minute, but they finally have their first win of the season—and it came against an Excelsior team that are still looking like they’re going to finish in their highest-ever place in the standings. I thought Utrecht coach Anthony Correia would tie this one, 1-1, and continue to get teased; ultimately, I’m glad Correia finally lowered the temperature of his seat, even if they waited until the 92nd minute to do so. As I’ve made clear, I’m a huge fan of Correia’s. Even with this horrendous start Utrecht have had to their season, I have remained steadfast in my belief that Correia would figure it out. He’s too good not to. It was revealed by PSV coach Peter Bosz in his “masterclass” that Correia may actually have inspired a tactical trend throughout Europe; so talented is the Utrecht coach. My preseason prediction that they’d win the Dutch Cup may have been premature, but I really wouldn’t put it past them to go far after Correia proved his knockout-competition-bona-fides by nearly reaching the final with Telstar last season. It’s notable that they have a lot of quality on the injury list right now: Alonzo Engwanda, Kevin Paredes, Noah Ohio, Victor Jensen. They’re only going to get better as the season progresses. Anyway, enough about Utrecht—this is a tough loss for Ruben del Uil’s Excelsior; I can’t wait to examine them up close again when they next play AZ/Ajax/Feyenoord. It is looking better and better that they were able to hold mighty PSV to a 2-1 win.

Ah, the first goalless tie of the season. The fact that it took until Week 6 is a good sign for the Eredivisie. The English Premier League, for comparison, has already had four goalless tie games. Funnily enough, I should’ve pegged this one to end 0-0—I thought it would end 1-1—because these are two teams who have the quality to create chances without scoring them. Even then, though, the teams combined for a total of 2.2 Expected Goals. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is one of the only 0-0 games we see this season. If not the only one. I would say that Heerenveen should be disappointed, but this is typical for them: they rarely beat the teams they’re supposed to.

• Both Heerenveen and Telstar haven’t uploaded highlights to their YouTube channels, so here are shortened highlights in Dutch (about two minutes long).

Well. When I first started watching the Eredivisie as a youngster, I remember thinking that “PEC” Zwolle sounded a lot like “pech,” pronounced pehkh—the Dutch word for “bad luck.” This certainly was a heavy dose of that. I thought Feyenoord would win 4-1, but they clearly had to blow off some steam after getting completely outclassed by Barcelona in the Champions League. It’s notable that Feyenoord “only” created 3.2 Expected Goals in this game, and yet put the ball in the net seven times. That, to me, is a sign of a squad that is able to regroup and focus themselves after a big loss. Coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst is quietly doing a great job. If I’m a Feyenoord fan, I’m thrilled—not only was this week lekker smullen (enjoyable), but they’re playing some really attractive soccer to boot. It’s just very unlucky for PEC that they were on Feyenoord’s plate this week.

So much for an upset. Although it’s worth noting that this scoreline is more a result of PSV’s depth and talent than it is a result of the actual flow of the game. If Sven Mijnans weren’t an Eindhovenaar, this might’ve been a very different game. But, instead, Mijnans stole the show against his former club (he was at Sparta before moving to AZ and now to PSV), scoring the perfect hat trick: one goal with the left foot, one with the right, and one with his head. It’s actually unbelievable how stacked PSV are this season. They put together a winning starting eleven while also bringing Ivan Perisic, Ruben van Bommel, and Ricardo Pepi (who I actually am not that big on… sorry, my fellow Americans) off the bench. And speedy winger Dennis Man didn’t even play. And they have talented striker Sam Lammers, another (even more) talented striker in Alassane Pléa, star Jerdy Schouten, and new signing from N.E.C. Sami Ouaissa, all injured.

• Part of why Sparta were unlucky in this one was how the goals came to be. The 2-1 from Kodai Sano really should’ve been saved by the goalie, for example; being down a goal forced Sparta to open up a bit more, giving PSV more opportunities. It’s a very unlucky way to have the game change. See the goal here.

• Sven Mijnans’ last goal was a beauty; he makes it look so easy. You get the ball, and then hoppa, one kick and it’s in the corner. See the goal here.

Bonus Game: Ajax 5, Willem II 1

In the final catch-up game from Week 3, delayed so Ajax could have more time to prepare for their Conference League qualifying games, Ajax feel like Ajax again. This was pure domination—something that Ajax fans have waited a long time to see. 33 shots! 13 on target! Five goals! Every player was electrifying, especially their quick-footed Israeli, Oscar Gloukh. It brought a smile to my face to hear the stadium absolutely booming with that recognizable Ajax chant: “Negentig minuten lang, Voor onze club uit Amsterdam, Gekkenhuis op de tribune, Niemand die ons stoppen kan.” In English: “90 minutes long, For our club from Amsterdam, Madhouse in the stands, Nobody can stop us.” It sounds a lot better in Dutch due to the lang-’dam-kan rhyme. Hear it for yourself. I will say, once again, Uriël van Aalst, #19 for Willem II, stood out to me. He used some smart positioning and a slick turn to get an assist on their only goal.

One more note on Ajax: I wonder how former coach Francesco Farioli (sorry to mention his name, Ajax fans. I know that wound will never fully heal) would’ve fared with this über-talented squad. One of the reasons Farioli left Amsterdam was allegedly because he wanted strong, physically dominant players in order to compete with the best and play an attractive style of soccer. He probably would’ve been very happy with this Avengers team assembled by Ajax GM Jordi Cruijff. I think highly of Míchel, don’t get me wrong, but my faith in Farioli is sky-high. Maybe it’s because he’s Italian, and I’m spiritually Italian, having grown up in Naples, so his passion is especially endearing to me. But I think it’s crazy that Farioli is at Portugal’s FC Porto, and not at a club like Brighton & Hove Albion, or really just any team in England. I know he’ll eventually make that step, and I can’t wait for when he does. I’ll just forever wonder what could’ve been if Cruijff and Farioli had overlapped. Hopefully Míchel makes me forget all about Farioli. He’s doing a very good job so far!

• Julian Brandt is playing soccer for fun at Ajax. He looks so composed, at peace, and happy. The best things a soccer player can be. See his goal here.

• The fact that Ajax can bring a talent like Viktor Tsygankov off the bench? Wonderful. See his goal here.

• Just look at this heat map from Ajax. That orange part is the opposing team’s half. They had 90 touches in the opponent’s penalty box, the second-highest in the Eredivisie since Opta started tracking it in 2010.

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European Corner

Some huge tests for the Dutch contingent in the Europa League, which is the only European competition on the program this week.

AZ at Sunderland; Wednesday 9/16 at 3pm on Paramount+

• Like I said earlier… this is AZ’s first true test. Former Ajax striker Brian Brobbey, now of Sunderland, is already going to present AZ’s defense with enough headaches. The man known to Ajax fans as “Brobbeast” has a lot of talent around him: names like Granit Xhaka, Thomas Meunier, and Nordi Mukiele are recognizable to any soccer fan. Fortunately for AZ, Kees Smit looks like he’ll be available, after previously dealing with an injury that caused him to miss their past two Eredivisie games.

• I’m having a hard time predicting this one; conventional wisdom says that Sunderland will win, but I think a lot really does depend on the mood within the AZ team after that tie with Willem II. This is a classic youth-versus-experience game.

• I hope I’m wrong, but: 3-1 Sunderland.

N.E.C. at Juventus; Thursday 9/17 at 3pm on Paramount+

• Is it possible for both teams to lose? Morale is low among the supporters of both clubs, after N.E.C. got demolished by Cambuur and Juventus lost to Sassuolo 3-2 in the Serie A on a goal that looks unfitting for a league of Italy’s caliber. Take a look here, and wait for that 3-2 for Sassuolo. I couldn’t believe my eyes watching the Juventus players just… giving up. If you ask me, everything started going south for the team from Turin after they changed their logo from this legendary badge to this soulless monstrosity.

• Can I predict it to end -1 to -1? This will be about whichever team decides to show up and play with a fire in their bellies; I think there is added pressure on Juventus to perform well in front of a home crowd that’s probably sick of their BS.

• I’m feeling hopeful: 2-2.

Oranje Corner

At last, Friday September 18th is almost upon us: the day that Xavi Hernández submits his first official squad selection. There are rumors that he’s bringing some new faces to the team, all from the Eredivisie: Feyenoord’s right-back Givairo Read and midfielder Gjivai Zechiël, PSV’s winger Ruben van Bommel, and AZ’s defender Wouter Goes. He’s got a four-year contract, so I support him looking to the future.

I’ll be writing my thoughts on who he should select, and why, before Friday. To preview: I’m all-systems-go on Van Bommel, good with Zechiël, unbothered by Read, and unsure about Goes (pronounced “goose,” by the way).

I think it’s time to move beyond Memphis Depay, but maybe not yet for Virgil van Dijk, who is still excelling at the highest level.

Okay, last little preview of what I’ll be saying: I’m curious to see who of our zandbakjongens, or “sandbox boys,” Xavi will select. If you’re unfamiliar, that’s the nickname that pundits and fans have given to Dutch players who play in Saudi Arabia.

Stray Thoughts

• What was your goal of the week? See ESPN’s top three goals here.

• Any Dutch soccer fan will know the name Hans Hateboer—well, he’s just signed with Groningen, the club where it all began for him. I’m loving how we’re seeing so many familiar faces in the Eredivisie this season; it reminds me of how incestuous this league can be. Once a player has played in the Eredivisie, there’s a high likelihood of them coming back. Just look at Dušan Tadić, who returned to N.E.C., or Jakov Medić, who was loaned to Utrecht.

• No surprise that both Frenkie de Jong and Lamine Yamal wanted to swap jerseys with Feyenoord’s Luciano Valente.

• Old news now, but: like most Dutch soccer fans, I’m extremely happy for PSV’s Mauro Júnior, who was called up to the Brazilian national team for the first time. There were rumors of him being called up for Oranje, since he was eligible after living in the Netherlands for an extended period of time. But, ultimately, those are just stories. The same thing was said for Noni Madueke, previously of PSV, but as you can imagine, players want to play for their own country.

  • See a clip from an interview with Mauro Júnior here, in English. He’s beaming.

• The tackle from Ruben van Bommel that dominated last week’s games is now in the past, and I must say, the way Van Bommel handled the situation was exemplary for a 22-year-old. He said: “I think it’s ultimately my own fault. It wasn’t smart, a bit reckless. I’ve apologized, and with that, I want to close that book.” As I’ve said for years: the boy’s a star.

  • By the way, speaking of Van Bommel, he made an incredible tackle against Sparta; you can bet that he’s working on this privately. See the tackle here.

• Fun moment: the interviewer is talking to N.E.C. coach Dick Schreuder about if striker Bryan Linssen will get minutes this week, and then a ball flies by them that was kicked by none other than Bryan Linssen. Linssen then says: “if you put me on the bench, that’s what you get!” Funny. See the video here.

• I posted on my personal Instagram story last week asking anyone if they knew what this was. I did not receive a reply. At least now we have an answer.

• From the Dutch 2nd division: legendary (using that word loosely) 6’7” striker Henk Veerman scored this lovely bicycle kick. See the goal here.

• This is a fun collection of celebrations. See them here.

• The Ajax YouTube has 1.4+ million followers. The Telstar YouTube has 1.7+ thousand followers.

Moment of Nature

So, for backstory: Dutch coach Ron Jans was the manager of MLS team FC Cincinnati in 2020. When celebrating with his players, he was singing along to a rap song, which included the n-word. He sang the n-word, the players reacted, and Jans apologized, admitting his naivety. But a couple weeks later, the franchise’s top brass brought him in, asked him if he said these things, and then he became an outcast, which led to him leaving the team.

In this recent video, where he’s open about the experience (in Dutch), he’s adamant that he’s no racist, saying that “I don’t care about the color of your skin, what you believe, how you dress… I look at people for who they are.”

Jans complains that “you can only say yes or no,” an allusion to the lack of nuance allowed in these sorts of situations here in the U.S., and says it felt like a “Netflix series.”

Honestly? I believe him when he says he’s not a racist. The Dutch very easily come off as nonchalant, as a result of the overall demeanor being very “chill” or “cool,” and I see how Americans could perceive this as him being unbothered for not knowing. And, in some ways, I bet he was unbothered, because he didn’t know, he admitted his mistake, and he apologized. The Dutch pride themselves on being a common-sense people, and I see how Jans would think, “what’s the big deal? I simply didn’t know.”

There is also a misunderstanding from Dutch people of the seriousness of the n-word. I’ve had to inform a Dutch relative of such after he said the word, hard-r and all, which obviously to my American ear hits like an atomic bomb.

A lot of the comments on that video are things that would make the average American liberal cringe: “Haha Americans are so messed up in this area. Every rap song is full of that word but once a white person sings along the world is too small. Completely insane!” “It's racist that, because of the colour of your skin, you can't sing along the lyrics of a song.” “If singing along to a song is racist, what are we even doing?” “The world has gone mad.”

As a Dutch person and an American, I see both sides.

And I also see how they could not be more different.

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• Unexpectedly exciting games. With the Eredivisie showing surprising strength and increased parity, there are games this weekend that would’ve otherwise been ho-hum predictable outcomes. Nowadays, though, my interest is piqued. Let’s walk through those examples, with more details below in the A Look At Each Game section.

  • Twente against ADO. At any other point in history (at least that I can remember), Twente would be heavily favored to win this game; this year, I’m not so sure. Yes, they’re at home, but I wonder sometimes if that only increases the pressure to perform against a team you’re supposed to beat.

  • Fortuna against Ajax. This is a tasty matchup and a good test of how high Fortuna can fly. If this were the Ajax of yesteryear (and by that, I mean literally last year), I would predict Fortuna to win. But the Amsterdammers have simply stocked up on too much talent to be undone by Mohamed Ihattaren and Ole Romeny… you’d think. I also would’ve predicted that Fortuna stood no chance against AZ after Romeny earned a red card just five minutes into the game… but Fortuna, to their credit, kept that to a 1-0 scoreline up until the 90th minute. And thus, a game that I previously would’ve written off as one-sided now is one of the games I’m the most excited to watch unfold this week.

  • Excelsior against Utrecht. Based on reputation alone, you’d expect Utrecht to wiggle their way out of this one pretty confidently. But this season… Excelsior are one of the surprises under Ruben den Uil, while Utrecht have struggled mightily under Anthony Correia. This will be a good test for both teams: a win for Utrecht would be huge for momentum, while a win for Excelsior would further solidify them as contenders for a top-seven finish this season.

  • PEC against Feyenoord. PEC have looked unusually solid this season, which turns this from an easy win for Feyenoord into a game they’ll need to be at their best to win. In previous years, I wouldn’t have given this a second look.

  • PSV against Sparta. Can I just say, “ditto?” I know I’m starting to get repetitive. Same as Feyenoord, PSV should win this game regardless. But Sparta are one of this year’s sneaky-good teams. Just like PEC, it’s very possible Sparta nab a point from this one.

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The Standings Going In

Teams with an asterisk have played one fewer game than the rest (Ajax and Willem II).

Key:

• Purple: Champions; directly into the Champions League

• Pink: into the Champions League 3rd Qualifying Round (must beat two teams, or drop to the Europa League)

• Blue: Europa League 2nd Qualifying Round (must beat three teams, or drop to the Conference League)

• Green: Intra-league playoffs (place four against seven and five against six) for the Conference League 2nd Qualifying Round (must beat three teams)

• Orange: Relegation playoffs (must beat the winner of the 2nd division promotion playoffs to stay in the Eredivisie)

• Red: Relegated to the 2nd division, known as (for sponsorship reasons) the Keuken Kampioen Divisie (KKD)

1. 15 — AZ

2. 13 — PSV

3. 11 — Feyenoord

4. 10 — Excelsior

5. 10 — Twente

6. 10 — Fortuna

7. 8 — Go Ahead

8. 7 — Ajax*

9. 7 — N.E.C.

10. 7 — Groningen

11. 5 — Sparta

12. 5 — Heerenveen

13. 4 — PEC

14. 4 — Telstar

15. 2 — Utrecht

16. 1 — Willem II*

17. 1 — ADO

18. 1 — Cambuur

• Imagine Excelsior and/or Fortuna in Europe next season. How cool would that be?

• Yes, it’s early, but 10th-place Groningen is theoretically one win away from 4th.

• Look, I mean, I don’t think Utrecht will get relegated or anything, but what a scary sight for a club that really should be competing for Europe.

A Look At Each Game

A practice game for AZ. Anything less than a 3-goal win by AZ would be a shocker. The top team in the standings against arguably the worst team in the league? Yeah. This’ll be great fodder for the electric AZ offense to increase their goal tally. I can see Ro-Zangelo Daal grabbing a couple goals or assists. If they only win by one or two goals—you can tell how unlikely I think a tie or loss would be—that would be a huge, huge warning sign for the team from Alkmaar. This should effectively be a confidence booster before a huge game in the midweek against English club Sunderland in the Europa League. 4-0 AZ.

Twente better be careful… Fortunately for them, Feyenoord’s 2-2 tie with ADO gave the rest of the league the warning sign that Robin Peter’s team are no pushover. Twente still have a lot to prove, and this game would show that they are indeed progressing. Anything less than a win, and panic bells will be ringing in Enschede. What do I think? Well, I think Twente are not going to be able to rest easy for a second this season due to how much of their success relies on the productivity of 34-year-old Wout François Maria Weghorst. It makes them tough to predict—but they have the talent to scrape by in this one. 2-1 Twente.

I wish this one was being televised here. You see the word “intriguing” thrown around a lot in soccer coverage, and that’s exactly how I’d describe this game. Joseph Oosting’s Go Ahead will be looking for a pick-me-up after blowing a lead to a down-on-their-luck Utrecht team this past week. But so will Dick Lukkien’s Groningen, who have fallen off after a great start to the season. I have a feeling this one will have a lot of goals, but Go Ahead have more hot players right now (Søren Tengstedt, Victor Edvardsen, and the Belgian Mathis Suray) who can pull off the win. 3-2 Go Ahead.

Oooooooooooo. Fortuna’s Big Test. The Final Boss of their season so far. Can they do the unthinkable? Winning against this Ajax team would be their crown jewel. The last time Fortuna have beaten Ajax? The turn of the millennium: March, 2000. Over 26 years ago. That’s how huge this would be for them. And that doesn’t even mention how a win here would shoot them up to surely a top-three place in the standings. Fortuna’s highest-ever finish in the Eredivisie since the two clubs Fortuna ‘54 and Sittardia combined to create the club you see before you today: 7th, last achieved in 1998. You could argue that Fortuna are lucky to be welcoming Ajax to Sittard at a time when Ajax have not yet reached their final form; all of the incoming talents have yet to be puzzle-pieced together by coach Míchel Sánchez. Unfortunately, I’m not sure fortune favors Fortuna in this one. 4-2 Ajax.

This should be easy for N.E.C.… but the word “should” is doing a lot of work after their Week 1 loss to Willem II. I’m tempted to make this all dramatic—will they? won’t they?—but deep down, I know it’s silly to put stock into the first week of the season. Teams are still figuring out the kinks. Even though they’re the away team in Leeuwarden, this should be business as usual for N.E.C. Just like how AZ’s game should be a confidence boost before Sunderland, this should be the same for N.E.C. before they visit the legendary Juventus in Turin. 3-0 N.E.C.

This could go either way. As I mentioned in the recap of last week, Excelsior fans should exhibit caution that any celebrations and expectations may be premature, as they have yet to face many of the best teams in the league. With Utrecht sitting on only two points, you can’t really argue this is the start of that—but winning here would represent a continued ability to beat teams that are a half-step up from them in terms of talent. This is another one I really wish was televised. Fortunately for Utrecht coach Anthony Correia, news reports have trickled in that show support for him from the Utrecht leadership, despite the horrific start to the season. Notching a win over Ruben den Uil would be huge. I have no idea how this will go. I’m very tempted to get up early on Sunday and find a very legal (you know I’m going to stay within the bounds of the law when I say “very”) way to watch this one live. Actually, I think Utrecht fans continue to get teased with a mere point. 1-1.

A Heerenveen win… right? In reality, this one should have been mentioned at the top of this post, but Heerenveen are such a topsy-turvy team (they beat who they shouldn’t, and lose to who they shouldn’t) that I don’t think anyone would comfortably predict a Heerenveen win, even if this Telstar team weren’t still sneaky good considering the talent at their disposal. I have a feeling Telstar snatch a point here… even though this will likely just be a Heerenveen victory. 1-1.

Are Feyenoord better than they look? Despite losing 5-1 to Barcelona in the Champions League, reactions were positive (you can only do so much when playing against one of the best teams in the world, if not the best)—it looks like they’ve finally found a quality successor to Arne Slot in coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst. If Feyenoord have any aspirations of fighting for the title, these are the games they need to be winning. For this one, I think they do. 4-1 Feyenoord.

Can Sparta pull off an upset? It’s possible. This is very much a trap game for PSV; Sparta have the talent (although it’s a shame that the promising midfielder Robin van Cruijsen is currently injured) to punish a PSV still reeling from a disappointing tie with Shakhtar in the Champions League. New Sparta loanee Isaac Babadi will be eager to show his parent club PSV that he’s worthy of their level; I personally enjoy the fact that the Eredivisie doesn’t have the rule that loaned players cannot play against their parent club (looking at you, England!). PSV will have to watch for the counterattack: Sparta winger Mitchell van Bergen is one of the fastest players in Europe, and he’ll have the 6’6” striker Milan Zonneveld to aim for in front of the goal. But… I have a feeling that PSV are too good to let this one slip. 3-1 PSV.

One Player To Know

When I first had the mere thought of making this blog—admittedly a full three years ago—Steven Berghuis was the obvious choice for a player to highlight. For a couple years, he was a main character of Dutch soccer: his move from Feyenoord to Ajax was extremely controversial. If I haven’t said this yet (I don’t think I have): Ajax and Feyenoord are hated rivals. We’re talking like Yankees/Red Sox, Alabama/Auburn, Lakers/Celtics (from back in the day). People have literally died because of this rivalry. You can only imagine the sentiments around Berghuis leaving Feyenoord for Ajax, especially because it solidified the dominance of Ajax in Dutch soccer at the time, as they were on track to becoming the “Bayern Munich of the Netherlands.” Berghuis also had the responsibility of taking the second penalty against Argentina at the 2022 World Cup. We all know how that turned out. Unfortunately for the player himself—and unrelated to him specifically—the Ajax Golden Age only lasted for one more year, because in February 2022, Ajax GM Marc Overmars (the brain behind the excellent player recruitment and success) resigned in scandal. But hasn’t everyone lost a job because they were sending photos of their genitals to women who worked beneath them?1 Anyway, Berghuis is very technically talented; his left foot can provide a great through-ball or curled shot at a moment’s notice. He’s not very fast, but he’s a creative player who you want in the team. With all the talent that Ajax have got, his place in the starting 11 is a sign of the special qualities the 34-year-old possesses.

Moment of Nature

Fireworks in European soccer are nothing new—but it’s an issue that has gotten out of hand in the Netherlands. After last week’s Go Ahead-Utrecht game, in which a combination of fireworks and cups thrown onto the field led to the game being abandoned, the Dutch soccer federation has had enough. They’ve now said that games will be definitively abandoned at the first sign of fireworks. This actually comes after the Dutch government banned fireworks as a whole, making it illegal for private individuals to buy, sell, or set them off. Personally, I think that’s great; fireworks are dangerous and can lead to permanent bodily harm. Shoutout to the government’s Party for the Animals for getting that going.

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• The Ajax-PSV game was like basketball—it was one of the most non-stop entertaining games I’ve ever seen. But, unfortunately, the biggest story to come out of that game was not a goal or assist, but this tackle by PSV’s Ruben van Bommel on Ajax defender Aaron Bouwman. See replays of the tackle on the second slide of this post (you’ll have to first be patient as they show ~10 seconds of Van Bommel looking very guilty—but they then show multiple replays). I won’t mince words: it’s a terrible, terrible tackle.

  • This was punished with only a yellow card, which caused uproar in the Netherlands. In the above video, you can see Ajax defender Youri Baas come to Bouwman’s defense.

  • Bouwman suffered damage to his ribs and a lung. He’s out for a while.

  • One well-known pundit, Hugo Borst, even went so far as to say that Van Bommel should seek psychiatric help, which prompted an outrage on its own, with fans saying that yes, it was a terrible tackle, but Borst should have some respect.

  • Personally? Yes, it’s awful, and yes, it certainly should’ve been a red. But it clearly wasn’t on purpose, Van Bommel immediately recognizes what he’s done, immediately offers his apologies, and seems guilty as all hell after the fact. PSV coach Peter Bosz spoke about how that continued in the locker room; Van Bommel was the only player not celebrating the huge win. He also refused to speak in front of the cameras afterward, clearly out of shame. I don’t think the cavalry needs to come for Van Bommel, but I think he needs to get this penchant for poor tackles out of his system if he’s going to be a reliable player—I remember seeing RvB commit a similarly thoughtless challenge in the U21 European Championship against Portugal, which saw him get a red, forcing the Dutch to grind out a fortunate win. I saw someone make the point that Xavi (national team coach) is not going to want a player who risks getting sent off every time he steps onto the field.

  • I saw a comment that summarizes it best: “young player, dumb move, needs to learn to assess situations, not on purpose but definitely a red card.”

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A Look At Each Game

This was a fair result. Both teams played well—but Sparta are the ones who are going to feel like they should’ve won here. They created 2.7 Expected Goals to PEC’s 1.0, and had a goal disallowed for a foul.

• PEC brought Ibrahim Cissoko back to the Netherlands over the summer (he previously had played for N.E.C. from 2021-2023), and the Dutch-born Guinean player scored the 1-0 for PEC. See the goal here.

• Sparta’s 2-1 was the first touch of the game for Isaac Babadi, a 21-year-old Dutch player who has a lot of potential. Sparta signed him about a week ago on loan from PSV with an option to buy (options to buy are becoming more and more common in loan deals, which is good, because it gives the loaning club a reason to invest time and effort into the player while he’s there), and you can already see “Ice-cold Icey,” as he was known to PSV fans, paying dividends. See the goal here.

• I predicted 1-0 to Sparta. Unpredictable, such is soccer sometimes.

What an odd game. This was like a football game that ended 18-12, all from field goals, because the teams would march all the way down the field and then stutter in the red zone. In the first half, N.E.C. and Feyenoord were constantly attacking… but just couldn’t find the net. N.E.C. will feel like the scoreline is not representative of their play—they had 62% of possession, but only getting two shots on target from 12 total is further evidence that it just wasn’t their day. That’s sports; that’s life.

• N.E.C. has amassed quite a bit of talent as they prepare for an unprecedented European season, but they already had Darko Nejašmić in their ranks. Their only goal in this game was this absolutely stunning hit from the Croatian: See the goal here.

• Longtime Dutch soccer fans will remember the name Ruben Schaken from his time at Feyenoord from 2010-2015—well, get ready to feel old like I did. His son, Jerayno Schaken, made his debut for Feyenoord (he had been on their youth teams) in this game. Fast-forward to five minutes later, and he’s scored the 3-1 to seal the game for the Rotterdammers. A lovely finish. The 17-year-old is now the youngest player to score on their debut in the history of the Eredivisie. His name sits atop a list with names like Johan Cruijff and Marco van Basten. Not bad! See the goal here.

  • ESPN unearthed a video of little-kid Jerayno in an interview while father Ruben was a player, in which he says “I’m better than my father” in adorable fashion.

• One of my favorite players in the Eredivisie is Feyenoord’s Luciano Valente. The Dutchman is a huge presence in the midfield, and I can see him becoming a star of the national team someday. One to continue watching this season.

• I predicted 2-2—and you could argue that a tie would’ve better fit this game.

No one could’ve predicted this. After Go Ahead went up 3-0, Utrecht fans hooligans threw fireworks onto the field, causing a temporary suspension of the game. Utrecht then scored to make it 1-3, but then fans threw cups onto the field—a rule that the Dutch soccer association is not kidding around about—which led to the referee abandoning the game completely. It was then resumed three days later, at which point Utrecht clawed back to 3-3, including a penalty in the 90th minute. That’s going to leave a sour taste in the mouths of the Deventer club’s fans.

• I’m pretty sure this is the first time that an abandoned game being resumed on a later date has led to a different result. Either way, this is causing a mini-uproar in the Netherlands; fans are complaining that the Utrecht hooligans were rewarded for their childish behavior. See the last-minute penalty goal for Utrecht here.

• I predicted 3-1 for Go Ahead… so close! Almost!

WHAT A GAME. Remember the exhilarating Champions League games last season between Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain? Well, this was like the Dutch version of that. You couldn’t take your eyes off of this one: both teams would gain possession, get their bearings, and go full-throttle attack mode. It was beautiful. The final score was 3-1, but Ajax definitely could’ve won this game if they had taken their chances; they had 19 shots with six on target compared to PSV’s 13 shots with five on target. This was the best Eredivisie game I think I’ve ever seen.

• PSV opened the scoring with this great team goal; a beautiful cross from Ivan Perisic, a pinpoint header into the front of the goal by Ruben van Bommel, and the finish by the American up top, Ricardo Pepi. See an angle of the goal here.

• Fan-favorite striker Tolu scored the equalizer in scrappy fashion. See the goal here.

• This was Lutsharel Geertruida’s first major start for his new club, and he scored a pivotal goal right before halftime. That’s arguably the best time to score—you go into the locker room on a high, while your opponent brings a sour mood into a long 15 minutes. See an angle of the goal here.

• I predicted 3-2 PSV, and Ajax will wish they had at least gotten that extra goal. When you look at this chance missed by Steven Berghuis, you could argue that they should’ve.

Excelsior’s magical run continues. This is a club that has spent its history bouncing between the Eredivisie and the 2nd division. A club that spent years as a satellite team of fellow Rotterdam club Feyenoord. Yes, the games they’ve won so far are not exactly against the league’s top tier (Cambuur, Sparta, and now Willem II), but they did hold champions PSV to a 2-1 win—a feat that Groningen, Utrecht, and Ajax have failed to meet in the games since.

• It’s not often you see a goalkeeper assist a goal, but Stijn van Gassel did so here with a booming pass to Irakli Yegoian, and the Georgian (country, not state!) got past Tonny Vilhena to blast the ball into the net. See the goal here.

  • Look at Van Gassel and Yegoian here in this video—it’s really lovely to see how clearly bonded they are as teammates. Also, can anyone from TikTok tell me what in the world they were doing at the beginning of the video there?

  • Tonny Vilhena is a name that longtime fans of the Eredivisie will recognize—he spent seven years at Feyenoord before leaving for adventures in Russia, Spain, Italy, Greece, and Turkey. Now 31, he’s back in the Eredivisie hoping to give Willem II a boost. He was unsuccessful here.

• Guess who has two thumbs, speaks limited French, and predicted this exact result and scoreline? This moi! I shouldn’t pat myself on the back too much, though—this one wasn’t hard to predict.

An evenly matched game. Honestly, that’s exactly what you expect from these two teams. I thought Twente would pull out a 3-2 win, but ultimately I’m glad that points were shared. It’s worth noting, though, that Twente had more Expected Goals: 2.3 to Groningen’s 1.5. Don’t put too much stock into what is ultimately just another statistic, but if there’s a team that is feeling a bit zuur (sour) after this one, it’s Twente.

• Right after Groningen goalie Etienne Vaessen talked a big game about being a player who could play for a top team… he goes and does this to gift Twente a goal. Not the greatest look for a keeper who’s otherwise having a tremendous season.

• Twente’s tying goal was a nice finish by Wout Weghorst, who then met the ire of Vaessen for celebrating in front of the Groningen fans. Weghorst is extremely openly Christian—whether he does that authentically or for the attention is another story—and hence the pointing up. See the goal here.

Closer than I’d thought. This was my biggest whiff of the week, and perhaps of the entire season: I thought this would be a resounding 4-0 win for AZ. The ESPN+ commentator for this game mentioned multiple times that Heerenveen was AZ’s “biggest test” this season; that is maybe a little disrespectful to Go Ahead Eagles, but it makes the overall point that AZ, with their five wins to start the season, haven’t faced a true test yet. I’ve made that point in an earlier edition of this blog, that we won’t really see AZ tested until they play Sunderland in the Europa League next week. What is perhaps most stunning (or worrying, if you’re an AZ fan) is that they lost to Heerenveen on Expected Goals: 1.5 to 1.0. It would be a huge shame if AZ’s magical start to the season is all just a convincing mirage.

• One of AZ’s stars this season has been Ro-Zangelo Daal, a winger who has scored four goals this season by doing the same thing over and over again. It reminds you of Arjen Robben, where you know exactly what he’s going to do, and yet you still can’t stop it. See his goal in this game here.

• WHAT A GOAL by AZ’s Mexx Meerdink. This guy’s going to be a huge star one day, if he’s not met that classification already. And the ball, with the outside of the shoe? Baller Dot Com. See the goal here.

• The winner was scored by the youngster Ayoub Oufkir with a very smart finish. He seems like an upstanding guy based on this interview, too. See the goal here.

  • Assuming he remains with the Netherlands national team—Oufkir holds dual citizenship with Morocco—he could be set to shine. Look at this great goal he scored for the Dutch U21s; at least he seems to be enjoying himself in Orange.

    • The Dutch need to stop the bleeding of players born-and-raised in the Netherlands choosing to play for Morocco. When I next write about Xavi (national team coach), one of his top goals should be to convince young dual citizens that choosing to play in Oranje is not akin to joining the Galactic Empire over the Rebel Alliance.

      • Wow, me, a Star Wars reference? Who would’ve thought!

        • Yes, I did have to search the correct names. Yes, I did search “death star people.” But we got there.

• I can’t stop laughing at this. Imagine seeing that over your shoulder? “The white Usain Bolt,” the commentator calls this referee. The GIFs in the comments are great.

This is a toughie for Telstar. This is an opponent they really should be getting three points from, and it’s going to be a huge kick in the shin to only get one point at home to maybe the worst team in the league. Telstar had 2.1 Expected Goals to Cambuur’s 1.0. But maybe most frustrating for Telstar—and maybe why this isn’t a bad result for them after all—is that one of their players got a red card after only 22 minutes. And, by the way, it wasn’t exactly deserved… Fans are baffled that Van Bommel only received a yellow card in the PSV game, but this tackle is supposedly a red? Watch till the end to hear the English-speaking Telstar player, the Icelandic Nökkvi Þeyr Þórisson, say a very American-sounding “WTF?” See the tackle and his reaction here.

• Telstar’s two goals came from penalties, and they made international news because both were taken and scored by none other than the Telstar goalkeeper, Ronald Koeman, Jr., son of former national team coach Ronald Koeman (what gave it away?). Telstar’s second penalty came in the last minutes of the game, prompting a strong reaction from Koeman and the home crowd in what was a frustrating day for the team from Velsen-Zuid.

  • See his first penalty here and his last-minute, point-saving penalty here.

  • This isn’t the first time he’s been Telstar’s penalty taker, by the way. See some previous penalty goals of Koeman’s here.

  • For anyone who’s really plugged in—doesn’t he sound exactly like his father?

• I predicted 3-1 Telstar. But playing with a man down for three quarters of the game will do that to you.

Fortuna just keep balling. Fortuna and Excelsior are the surprises of the season so far, but if I had to guess which of them will keep it up through May, it’d be Fortuna. Beating a newly-promoted team like ADO isn’t usually so impressive, but it was 3-1 until the 90th minute, and Fortuna was able to grind out a win in a game where both teams produced 0.5 Expected Goals each (five goals from just one Expected Goal is truly incredible).

• The 2-0 for Fortuna was a combination of two of their standout players: Mohamed Ihattaren and Lequincio Zeefuik. Keep it simple soccer: this was great by both of them. See the goal here.

• Speaking of Ihattaren… in this game he was responsible for two goals and two assists. He is the driving force behind Fortuna’s early success. One of his goals was an incredible hit from distance. See the goal here.

  • The video doesn’t show it, but he goes up to the camera afterward and says “Mama, I love you.” Very sweet.

Bonus: Mid-Week Games

This week we saw two of the three games made up from Week 3, which saw the league delay games for Twente, N.E.C., and Ajax to help them prepare for their European qualifying matchups (Dutch teams doing well in Europe benefits everyone). Since they weren’t technically for Week 5, they don’t deserve graphics!

N.E.C. 2-2 Excelsior. This would’ve been Excelsior’s highest-ever place in the standings after five games… had they not let N.E.C. grab a last-minute equalizer. Still, it is unbelievable to say that Excelsior Rotterdam are currently 4th in the Eredivisie. This is a Cinderella story—the Loyola Chicago 2018 Final Four run, but make it Dutch soccer.

Twente 1-0 Telstar. Twente were supposed to win this game, so I can’t give them too much credit. It would’ve been a slightly more convincing 2-0 scoreline if Wout Weghorst hadn’t missed a penalty…

Power Rankings

1. AZ (-) can’t displace the only team that’s won all of their games.

2. PSV (-) a statement win this week over Ajax.

3. Fortuna (+1) how long can they keep this up?

4. Ajax (-1) they could’ve won this week against PSV. But they didn’t.

5. Excelsior (+3) amazingly, I have them ranked one spot lower than they are in the table. Wowza.

6. Feyenoord (-) they’ll be glad to have escaped this week with a win.

7. Go Ahead (-2) you have to imagine that without the game being abandoned, they would’ve won that game against Utrecht. Tough week for them.

8. Twente (+1) I don’t love ranking them this high, but they are on a decent run now.

9. Groningen (-2) a week of what ifs—they should’ve gotten all three points.

10. N.E.C. (-) yes, they lost, but having watched the game, that felt more down to bad luck than anything else.

11. Sparta (+1) I really like what I see from them. They’re so easy to root for this year.

12. PEC (-1) for a team that’s usually a pushover, the fact that they’re not this year is an accomplishment.

13. ADO (-) no shame in losing to this Fortuna team.

14. Heerenveen (+1) they should be higher on this list, but we’re gonna need the results. It’s a shame for them that they didn’t notch the upset against AZ.

15. Utrecht (-1) a huge improvement to score two goals and nab the point. Is this a sign of other improvements to come?

16. Telstar (-) same as Heerenveen; super disappointing to not get all three points this week.

17. Cambuur (+1) I have a feeling they’ll be swapping places with Willem II a few times in these power rankings. This is one of them. Finally, a point for Cambuur!

18. Willem II (-1) no shame in losing to Excelsior nowadays, but it’s still another L.

Usual disclaimer: I should be clear that my power rankings are not representative of the standings. This is about momentum and vibes, not about how many points you’ve collected. That being said, for context, here are the standings after this week:

European Corner

Our Champions League boys are up this week. And at the time of writing, we’ve already had one game.

• Feyenoord against FC Barcelona 🇪🇸 (1-5)

  • Yeah, I mean, what are you going to do here? No one expected Feyenoord to stand a chance against this high-flying Barca team oozing with world-class talent. I would’ve predicted 4-0, I think. Just very little you can do here.

• PSV against Shakhtar Donetsk 🇺🇦

  • This is one of the games where PSV should really get three points (no disrespect to Shakhtar, but they are one of the weaker teams PSV is facing this year). I’m hoping for a huge win for the Eindhovenaars, but I have a feeling they’ll scrape by with a 2-1 win. Let’s hope.

Oranje Corner

Hey, Xavi, don’t listen to the hullabaloo. Ruben van Bommel should be in your squad, no question.

He announces his first-ever team on the 18th of this month—I’ll write a Special Edition on who I think he should pick, and why. But especially if he’s thinking about the future, Van Bommel needs to be included. Everything this week was just noise.

Stray Thoughts

• Ajax said goodbye to Mika Godts this weekend—it’s common for Dutch clubs to bring recently-departed players back for a true farewell/sending off. See the Ajax fans sing his name here.

• What was your goal of the week? See the top three here. I say “top three,” but it’s absurd that Ihattaren’s goal (see ADO-Fortuna above) is not included here. Even he responded “[laughing emojis] ridiculous” in the comments when Fortuna tagged him and asked if he was free this weekend. I agree!

• If you watch the ESPN+ broadcast of the N.E.C. game, they show clips from way before the game, of the home players just… rolling up to the stadium like they’re going to Home Depot. In England, the most you can hope for as a fan is seeing them drive by you into the stadium’s garage. Not here! You can see N.E.C.’s top players like Tadić and Chery stopping to pose for photos with the few kids/families who got there early for just that. Nijmegen seems like a lovely place to live; I love that most Dutch clubs are not global brands (special shoutout to my most-loathed club brand, Tottenham Hotspur) and are instead community clubs. It’s what sports, and soccer especially, should be.

• Gjivai Zechiël did an interview with ESPN, and he’s just a very likable gozer (dude/guy). I’m in favor of Xavi selecting Oranje players who help create a good vibe within the team. And it helps that Zechiël is very talented.

  • I very much appreciate when players are Christian without making it their entire personality. In that second video, he mentions his talks with other players about God, but it’s clearly not his entire brand. Cough, Wout Weghorst, cough.

  • One fun exchange in that interview (first video, but I don’t know why I’m specifying unless you speak Dutch) with the legendary analyst Hans Kraay Jr.:

    • HKJ: You almost went to Lille! [the French club]

    • GZ: Says you!

    • HKJ: Says you too—

    • GZ: The media said that, mainly.

    • HKJ: Well, I’m not the media, I’m Hans.

      • Dutch humor at its finest.

    • GZ: That’s true.

• For the first time since 1995, not a single home team won this weekend! I don’t know what that means (it means nothing) but it’s a fun fact. Did you have fun with that fact? I hope so!

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Moment of Nature

This video was turned into a GIF, which became a worldwide meme (what does that word even mean anymore?) in a matter of hours. The referee calls the penalty for Telstar, which prompts the Cambuur player to, well, this. This had millions of views on Twitter and such. See the video/meme here.

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• Salivating. It’s a terrible word, if you think about it. And why would I be salivating about a soccer game? Am I going to eat the soccer game? Is it going to taste good? Anywho…

  • I am salivating (ew!) over this week’s games. And yes, they’re on ESPN+.

    • N.E.C. against Feyenoord. The former is arguably the most attack-minded team in the league, and the latter is desperate for a win after a disappointing (embarrassing?) tie with newly-promoted ADO. This’ll be some good soccer.

    • Ajax against PSV. I cannot remember a time when these two teams, usually the most talented in the league, both played such an attacking style of soccer. This game could end 6-5. Seriously. This is going to be an advertisement for the Eredivisie. I cannot wait.

    • Groningen against Twente. There’s more talent in the above game, but this matchup will be just as good—seriously. These are two teams eager to prove themselves against an opponent of this quality (I know this sounds like classic sports-writer BS, which is exactly the kind of thing I try to stay away from. But what I’m saying is true: Groningen had the air let out of them in last week’s loss to Fortuna, a game they could’ve won. Beating a club like Twente would show the league that the Fortuna game was a fluke. For Twente, on the other hand, last week’s big win against Cambuur was an expected and unimpressive feat—they want to show their fans that the slow start to the season is behind them.)

• GOALS. Last weekend—which I wrote over 4,000 words about (eesh!)—involved 43 goals. That’s the most in seven years. Right now, we’re averaging 4.03 goals per game after four weeks. That’s more than the highest season-average ever: 3.88 goals per game, in the 1958-1959 season. Yeah. This was a good year to start the Orangerie.

• 70 years. A couple days ago was the official 70th anniversary of the Eredivisie. If you took every game from those 70 years and made one big all-time standings, it would look like this:

• These standings are so interesting. A few notes:

  • Two of the top 10 teams, NAC Breda and Roda JC, don’t play in the Eredivisie.

  • Excelsior and PEC Zwolle are doing well for themselves.

  • This really shows what an anomaly it was to have Almere City in the Eredivisie last season.

  • Twente 4th and Sparta 5th is a trivia question, the latter being more surprising. This just goes to show how relatively “new” it is that AZ are one of the biggest clubs in the country.

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A Look At Each Game

Sparta should pull through in this one. PEC’s win a couple weeks ago against Heerenveen was looking like a reason for optimism, but Willem II tying with Heerenveen last week suddenly makes that seem less impressive. Sparta, on the other hand, are reeling after a last-minute (literally) loss to Rotterdam rivals Excelsior. Sparta are the more talented team here, and they have a chip on their shoulder. 1-0 Sparta.

What a game this is going to be. I’m almost not sure about who needs this win more—but truthfully, it’s Feyenoord. They’re the ones with the new coach and the high expectations of being one of the top three teams in the country. N.E.C., we must remember, have no business playing in the Europa League. Before this year, N.E.C. had played 10 European games total. Ever. Feyenoord have played 300+. Even Willem II have played more European games than N.E.C. in their history. All that to say: the fans in Nijmegen won’t be displeased if the cost of performing in Europe is a lower-placed finish in the standings. Feyenoord, on the other hand, are mid-transition. Even the club’s GM admitted that they’ve made no promises about a championship this year. As for this game? I have no idea. This is anyone’s guess. It could end 3-1 for N.E.C. or 2-1 for Feyenoord. My final answer, Regis, is based on the fact that N.E.C. have more momentum and fewer departed players to manage the absence of. 2-2.

I want this to be a competitive game so badly. But I just don’t think that Utrecht are ready to face any good teams yet. Have you ever wished that you could stop time, hibernate/work on yourself for a few months, and then re-start the world? Every millennial secretly longs for the powers of Adam Sandler in Click. And I think Utrecht coach Anthony Correia is sharing those thoughts. It’s a blemish to Correia’s record so far that Go Ahead coach Joseph Oosting has made significant strides with his team in the same amount of time. But the Utrecht squad is devoid of the talent that lies in Deventer—a sentence that is wild when you look at the above all-time Eredivisie standings. 3-1 Go Ahead.

What a matchup. Ahhhh! I’m so excited. I cannot wait. I cannot emphasize to you enough how great this game is going to be. Two incredibly talented teams who are attack-first facing off. Remember how it would feel when Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City would play against Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool? This is the Dutch version of that. I have no idea how this will go—except that there will be goals. I would bet the house on this not ending 0-0. Any of you sports-bettors out there, that’s a freebie. Ugh, the prediction… Not a clue. I really don’t want to suggest that either team won’t win. Can I predict that everyone has fun? I know we will. Ugh. 3-3? No. 3-2 PSV.

Excelsior can further fan the wind behind their waves. This should, should, be a slam-dunk game for them. I can feel the nervousness of the Excelsior fans. Their start to the season—two wins and one loss—is usually the record of their Rotterdam older brother Feyenoord. Win here, and fans will start to believe in what is truly unthinkable. Excelsior have never finished higher than 11th in the Eredivisie. They’ve only even played in the Eredivisie in half the time since the turn of the century. Hey, don’t say I didn’t warn you about the talents of Excelsior coach Ruben den Uil! They’re slowly joining the ranks of teams I’m really rooting for this season. My hope has nothing to do with the win they should secure here. 3-0 Excelsior.

Hahaha, what a freakin’ treat. Groningen against Twente. To think that this is only being televised in the U.S. because ESPN airs four games every week—Ajax/PSV are playing each other, and N.E.C. is already televised against Feyenoord. So, through the fortunes of fate, we are delivered this delicious matchup on a silver platter. On any other week, this would be the game to watch. Can Twente put a muzzle on Groningen star Thom van Bergen? Can Groningen be solid enough defensively to thwart a Twente attack that is only continuing to gel? I’m thrilled that we actually get to see this one unfold. This is another game, though, that’s tough to predict. Ultimately, I think Twente continues this unlucky Groningen run. 3-2 Twente.

Hey, sports-bettors, over here.1 If Ajax and PSV producing goals was a lock, then AZ continuing their win streak against Heerenveen is the next best thing. This isn’t even David vs Goliath; this is like a prime LeBron playing one-on-one with Kwame Brown. Yeah, I bet you haven’t heard that name in a while. This is a stroll in the park. 4-0 AZ.

Telstar are favored! That’s not going to happen much this season. To the credit of new Telstar coach Henk Brugge, they don’t look nearly as bad as I expected them to after losing Anthony Correia. We’ll eventually find out if that’s just a carryover from Correia when players leave and new ones are brought in. Telstar can’t hold a candle to most of the teams in this league—but they should dispatch Cambuur pretty easily. 3-1 Telstar.

This is the thinking man’s game of the week. ADO’s Manchester City-style possession soccer meets its kryptonite opponent. This game will tell us a lot, actually: do ADO have the talent to pull off their style of play against Fortuna? They got a bit lucky against Feyenoord to have an all-timer from their goalie, who had 10 saves. Fortuna, meanwhile, are at the precipice of the tippity-top. Win this game, and they’re up there in the standings with PSV and Ajax. Win this game, and fans start to dream of European soccer in Sittard. I’m tempted to say ADO makes it tough on them, but I think Fortuna get it done. They have the talent to do so, at least. 1-0 Fortuna.

The Standings Going In

Teams with an asterisk have played one fewer game than the rest.

1. 12 — AZ

2. 10 — PSV Eindhoven

3. 8 — Feyenoord

4. 7 — Ajax*

5. 7 — Go Ahead Eagles

6. 7 — Fortuna Sittard

7. 6 — Twente*

8. 6 — N.E.C.*

9. 6 — Excelsior*

10. 6 — Groningen

11. 5 — Heerenveen

12. 4 — Sparta Rotterdam

13. 3 — Telstar*

14. 3 — PEC Zwolle

15. 1 — Willem II*

16. 1 — ADO Den Haag

17. 1 — Utrecht

18. 0 — Cambuur

• Utrecht in a relegation place… Damn. Not what I would’ve expected. It’s tough to see.

• Excelsior win this week, and they’re in 3rd place (before any other results) with a “game in hand,” as they say. This is huge for Excelsior.

• Remember the days of Groningen flying high? Me too. Sigh.

• 4th and 10th place are separated by one point. Obviously, it’s because it’s early days, but there’s a lot of potential movement this week.

One Player To Know

Don’t get me wrong, Schuurs isn’t a superstar player by any means—but I think his story is worth highlighting. This is a defender made in the Ajax mold: yes, he’s a strong, tall (6’3”) player, but his greatest attributes are his ball control and passing. It’s no wonder he signed for N.E.C., a team that likes to have a lot of the ball and get it from A to B with short, precise passing.

Anyway, his story—Schuurs amassed four years at Ajax, who swooped him up after he captained Fortuna Sittard in the 2nd division at just 17 years old (!). Imagine giving your captain’s armband, the sign of a team’s leader, to a 17-year-old. That alone should tell you the maturity and personal skills that Schuurs possesses. But after those Ajax years, despite good performances, he wasn’t guaranteed playing time, so he left for Italian club Torino. At the beginning of his second season (October 2023) in Bella Italia, however, Schuurs tore his ACL. Badly. Unfortunate setbacks in his recovery meant that he never played another game for Torino, and this past summer he signed for N.E.C. to begin his comeback on the soccer field (where better to do that than a team back “home” in the Netherlands, where you’re close to your support system, and where they have a desperate need for someone with your skillset?).

Last weekend, Schuurs came on as a substitute for N.E.C., marking his first appearance on a professional field in 1,043 days. And then, three minutes after he comes on, he scores (watch the goal/reaction here). The elation, the relief, the emotion—it’s all there in his reaction and his family’s in the stands. It’s a thing of beauty. The entire bench cleared out to come support him for his goal. The kind of camaraderie that brings a tear to your eye.

Here’s an English-subtitled video that puts the romance into perspective.

“Feeling like a soccer player again—that’s what puts that smile on my face.” — Perr Schuurs

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Transfer Corner

“You said the transfer corner was boring and lame!”

Yeah, yeah. Regardless, let’s recap a bit of what happened this past week around the end of the summer transfer window, AKA Deadline Day.

• Ajax completed their squad revamp. Only two (!) players in their presumed starting 11 were here last year: midfielder Davy Klaassen and right-back Lucas Rosa. But man, has new Ajax GM Jordi Cruijff done a fantastic job. He brought in tricky dribbler Simon Adingra to replace Mika Godts (who left for Paris Saint-Germain).

• PEC Zwolle added a familiar face. Sydney van Hooijdonk, son of the famous Dutch striker Pierre, is back in the Eredivisie. He’s a fun striker who will be a player to watch in PEC’s games.

• Feyenoord made one semi-splash. It was an underwhelming transfer window for the Rotterdammers, but they did secure a familiar name of their own: Reiss Nelson. The Englishman previously played at Feyenoord on loan under Arne Slot, and after his contract with Arsenal wasn’t renewed, he’s returned on a free transfer. Solid business for Feyenoord, even if Nelson isn’t the player people thought he would be a few years ago.

• A funny bit of drama from Enschede to Eindhoven. FC Twente had the injury-prone, but talented, Sam Lammers at striker. They then bring in the aging Wout Weghorst, who supplants Lammers as a starter. Twente then tell Lammers hey, sorry, but you’re now the third choice striker behind Weghorst and youngster Lucas Vennegoor of Hesselink (son of former player Jan, who went viral back in the day for the back of his jersey). Lammers is then bought by the league champions PSV, as his play style and skillset are exactly what the Eindhovenaars are looking for. And personally, I think Lammers is a better player than current PSV starter, the American Ricardo Pepi. All of this makes very little sense, but given Twente is now being run by Erik ten Hag, perhaps that’s not all that surprising.

• The Amrabat bros are back. Sofyan Amrabat was a key free transfer for Ajax—he fills a role in their midfield that they desperately needed—and his older brother Nordin just slotted into the team at FC Utrecht.

• Wesley Hoedt is back at AZ. His career since leaving AZ has taken him to Italy, England, Belgium, Spain, Saudi Arabia, and now he’s back at AZ. A solid defender who will be good experience to have on the bench, especially since he is a kid of the club.

Moment of Nature

There’s nothing like seeing a flurry of strictly positive reactions under the following post, which details a partnership with the Eredivisie and WonderboyZ, an initiative that provides work and daily routines for people with physical and mental disabilities.

Maybe I’m cynical, but if this kind of thing were posted on an ESPN NFL page or the like… I think there would be some tasteless jokes. It warms my heart that the comments are everyone supporting and being loving toward this wonderful thing. The hashtag #VoetbalGeeft, by the way, translates to #SoccerGives.

Video and link here:

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Perr Schuurs. Not to spoil things you’ll read below, but what a story this weekend (video in English!):

Who is going to stop AZ Alkmaar? This is only the 4th time ever that AZ have won their first four games. One of those times, they won the title.

So who can do it? Well, their next two games are against Heerenveen and Willem II; anything but two wins there would be a shocker with how they’ve been playing. Which means that the next real test for AZ is a European one: against English side Sunderland in the middle of September.

It is looking very likely that AZ Alkmaar will be leading the table after six games with six wins and a maximum-possible 18 points. Who would’ve thought? I mean, we knew they would do well this year with their sneakily-talented squad. But this will have the people of Alkmaar dreaming of only their third-ever title: the previous two came in 1981 and 2009.

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A Look At Each Game

This was the classic Fortuna game. Groningen had 68% of the ball. They had 23 shots to Fortuna’s nine. They had 1.9 expected goals (xG) compared to Fortuna’s 0.9. None of it mattered. This is how Fortuna and manager Danny Buijs would like to win every game. Notably, though, Fortuna had five of their shots on goal compared to Groningen’s… two. As great of a result this is for Fortuna, this is on Groningen for not taking their chances. 23 shots, and only one goal (the other was an own goal)? Pff. This was my biggest whiff of the week: I thought Groningen would take this game 3-1.

This was a beautiful opening goal for Fortuna, and exactly why they brought in the strong and quick Lequincio Zeefuik (the creator of this goal). I’ve mentioned Mohamed Ihattaren a few times before… he’s been a (dramatic) longtime fixture of Dutch soccer, and he makes no new fans here by not thanking Zeefuik for setting him up so cleanly, instead running straight to the camera… an action that visibly annoys Zeefuik as well:

Groningen’s equalizer in this game—the only goal they scored—was beautifully worked, starting with their goalkeeper, Etienne Vaessen, who is maybe the best ball-playing goalie in the league right now.

Hey, remember that Zeefuik fellow I just mentioned? Well, this is the third time he’s been loaned out to a different team by his club AZ. This was a game where he showed why AZ are holding on to him. Look at this phenomenal finish:

A win secured in literally the last minute. What a way for Excelsior to win this Rotterdam derby! This was the winning goal—always fun for that to happen for the home team, as we get to see the stadium erupt:

I predicted a 2-2 draw in this game precisely because I’m impressed with Ruben den Uil’s Excelsior team. But I was hesitant to predict for them to win. Granted, there was some drama in the Sparta dressing room before the game—coach Rogier Meijer left out star player Ayoni Santos because “his head was not at Sparta.” Santos made a transfer to PSV Eindhoven in the ensuing days.

One Excelsior player I’m rooting for is Aymen Sliti, who they loaned from fellow Rotterdam club Feyenoord (what a great situation for Sliti, who gets regular playing time without having to move to a new city!). He’s a talented player who could break out this season with consistent minutes. He scored the first of Excelsior’s goals, this bomb of a strike:

AZ are unstoppable. No one is going to stop them. I’m convinced. This was supposed to be a tough game for them; I predicted they’d eke out a 3-2 win. Nope! Add two more goals on top of that. Go Ahead looked in the game when it was 1-1, but even the first 15 minutes were foreshadowing a game where AZ controls, attacks, and dominates. Who the fuck is going to stop them? I watched this game—as I do the ones that are aired on ESPN+—and I couldn’t wait to show you some of the goals. Here’s the opener, a straight-up banger:

Speaking of bangers… this was AZ’s fourth:

And this was the fifth goal, the icing on the cake—Ro-Zangelo Daal with a peach of a finish. I’ve told you to watch out for him before, but seriously, remember the name… Watch AZ and you’ll immediately notice the trickster with ball-glue on his shoes. Leeroy Echteld, the AZ coach, said this came after a kerfuffle on the practice field. Echteld, by the way, seems like a fantastic fellow and the exact coach this young AZ team needs. Anyway, I digress. Look at this finish:

The scoreline here is deceiving. Yes, I predicted a 2-1 win for N.E.C., and this score makes it seem like they dominated further. But the expected goals (xG) here was actually in PEC’s favor: 2.0-1.9. This game also featured not one, not two, not three, but four penalties; N.E.C. scored both of theirs while PEC only nabbed one goal from their two penalty kicks. This chaotic game also featured two PEC goals called off thanks to the video-assistant referee. PEC will feel hard done by this score, and they deserved at least a point. Of all the supposed bottom-feeder teams, PEC is seeming like the cream of that crop. Maybe that’s why Arne Slot decided to come watch his hometown club.

One of N.E.C.’s goals, though, gave many people kippenvel, or goosebumps (the Dutch word translated literally is “chicken skin”). Perr Schuurs, a player who will be the player to know in next week’s preview, was a gifted player with Ajax before moving to Italian club Torino in search of consistent playtime. But it was there that he suffered a severe ACL tear, which was followed by surgical complications and setbacks, leading to his contract being mutually terminated. Schuurs signed with N.E.C. this summer to begin his comeback, and his substitute appearance in this game was his first competitive game in 1,043 days. And then, three minutes after he joins the field, he scores a goal—look at the joy that is just bursting out of him. As the Dutch commentator says, Schuurs almost doesn’t even know how to celebrate. It cuts to the audience where you can see his mother and his girlfriend shedding tears of joy at this moment. Kippenvel. Here’s the goal below; more scenes of Schuurs being lifted up by his teammates can be seen here; in the postgame interview Schuurs says, “it still feels like I’m dreaming.” There’s a clip of his former Ajax teammate, former N.E.C. player, and Eredivisie legend Lasse Schöne saying, “this is what sport does to you” about all this emotion and this beautiful story. I’m rooting for Schuurs to have a spectacular season with N.E.C.

We knew this would happen… and yet… the storylines we knew would continue (PSV good, Utrecht bad) are further etched in stone by this game. At minute 85, this game was 3-1 for PSV; a respectable scoreline for Utrecht against the three-peat champions. But 6-1 is a score that deepens the wounds felt by Utrecht so far this season. Do I believe Anthony Correia will make it work, eventually? I do. But I’m not sure he will be given the time. The temperature of his seat is sweltering. I wish I could say it’ll get easier for Correia and Utrecht, but looking at their upcoming schedule (Go Ahead at home, Excelsior away, Feyenoord away, Willem II at home) only that latter game feels like a guaranteed three points. Coming out of their next four games with four points might not be enough for Correia to keep his job. It’s good to see comments strictly supporting the coach and arguing (very fairly) that this is a subpar squad (it is). But it feels like we’re creeping closer and closer to a heartbreaking divorce between Correia and Utrecht. There was a moment in this game, I think just before the clock hit the 14th minute, where Utrecht were trying to play out of the back (in true Correia-style) and the keeper gave his defender a chipped pass, which the defender struggled to control before losing the ball to an opponent for a throw-in. You then see the defender chirp a bit at his keeper. And herein lies the issue. Correia was playing in this manner last season with Telstar, a team far less talented than Utrecht, and his Telstar defenders were controlling difficult passes with ease. The Utrecht defender I’m talking about is fully able to control the ball in that situation; but he wasn’t composed. He panicked. So much of the secret sauce for Telstar last season is that each player had the composure of a champion. That’s a trait harder to teach when you’re not a highly-regarded club legend like he was at Telstar. For many Utrecht players, he’s just a coach that they need to wait out. Let’s hope, for Correia’s sake, that this doesn’t happen. It’s notable, by the way, that Correia beat champions PSV in both of their league matchups last year. Nothing is ever as straightforward as it may seem.

There were some great goals in this one. Ruben van Bommel’s path to superstardom continues1:

Sven Mijnans, who PSV bought from AZ over the summer, missed a penalty in this game—what would’ve been his first Eredivisie goal for PSV. But then, not a minute later, Mijnans makes up for it and does this:

Feyenoord did not pass the test! We knew one of these weeks that a mighty team would fall to ADO Den Haag. I just didn’t think it would be this one. I predicted that Feyenoord would nab a 3-1 win. They simply ooze talent, especially in comparison to ADO. But it mattered not. It truly is something to see ADO, a newly-promoted team, attempt to play like Manchester City or PSG when they have the ball. That’s really what makes the Eredivisie so exciting. But I mean, look at this goal. This is a team.

This is absolutely a spectacular result for ADO, but it’s tough to say they earned it. Yes, they attempt to play exciting, attacking soccer—I only expect them to improve as the season goes on and they get used to the different level of the Eredivisie—but they only had 29% of the ball at halftime. Feyenoord had 33 shots, with 12 on target. ADO had eight shots with three on target. Feyenoord had 2.5 xG to ADO’s 0.2. Feyenoord completed 618 passes, ADO a mere 275. But: both teams scored two goals. Them’s the breaks, sometimes. A huge, huge amount of credit to the Burkinabé ADO goalkeeper, Kilian Nikiema.

A quick-cut of his 10 (!) saves in this game:

But, unfortunately for him, he couldn't stop this beauty:

Welp. I thought Heerenveen would run away with this one with a 3-0 scoreline. I literally wrote in my preview:

Turns out, Willem II matched ADO, to my great shock. It raises the question: are Willem II decent or are Heerenveen bad? To even greater shock from yours truly, Willem II produced more xG than Heerenveen: 1.7-1.4. Is the world ending? Are winged swine populating our skies? Not exactly. A Heerenveen fan will tell you this is typical: win against teams you’re not supposed to, lose against the teams you should win against. Longtime readers may remember my mention of Dylan Vente as one of Heerenveen’s key players—not so much anymore. Fans are calling for his head after this performance. Willem II fans, on the other hand, are very pleased with this point.

This feels like a good time to spotlight that Willem II of Tilburg, known as the Tricolores because of their red-white-blue colors,2 purposefully removed shirt sponsors from this year’s jersey, which they managed to somehow turn into double of their sponsor revenue. Witchcraft, yes, but it’s given us this beauty of a shirt:

Ajax are so fun to watch. Gone are the days of keeping the ball for possession’s sake. When Ajax have the ball, the players are looking to attack. To score. This is what we all imagine and expect from the club synonymous with Johan Cruijff and the Total Football (Total Soccer?) that gave the Dutch their fame. I was surprised to not see Telstar knock one in—I predicted a 4-1 Ajax victory after all, and Telstar had 1.1 xG—but Ajax got the three points, and they looked good doing it. Now’s a great time to be an Ajax fan, that’s for sure. Their new GM, Jordi Cruijff, is performing minor miracles. There was one moment during this game that convinced me that we’re in for something special this year: Oscar Gloukh looking up after receiving the ball to find Steven Berghuis for the 2-0. I cannot tell you how frustrating it’s been to watch Gloukh continually choose to do it all himself instead of looking up to find the pass. No coach last season made him do this. Míchel Sanchez did. In each counter-attack, Ajax players are making team-first decisions at every turn. Ajax fans will be pleased. They’ll also be pleased to see Marcos Leonardo finally put one in the back of the net—hopefully now the 17.5 million euro man can relax into playing like he’s used to.

Business as usual for Twente. I thought they’d win 3-0—but this is functionally the same. As I said in the preview, Cambuur are not the team that’s going to test Twente or give them trouble. Cambuur are now the only team in the league still without any points, after both ADO and Willem II snatched a point apiece. Twente’s goals were scattered across the team, scored by their striker (Wout Weghorst), a winger (Marko Pjaca), an attacking midfielder (Younes Taha), and their up-and-coming star defender Ruud Nijstad. Maybe this is the beginning of a climb up the standings for Twente, whose next few games include matchups with Telstar and ADO, two games they should win.

Pff, the goal from the defender Nijstad might be the most beautiful of them all…

And here’s something you don’t see every day: a goal assisted by the keeper!

Nijstad’s may have been the best goal… but this was the best assist. Look at the skill from the Norwegian winger Sondre Ørjasæter. I remember when Ørjasæter was brought in, his transfer fee (around 5 million euros) was one of the highest amounts Twente had ever paid for a player—but boy, that Twente scouting department deserves a raise. This is world-class stuff:

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Power Rankings

1. AZ (-) — they still look unstoppable.

2. PSV (+3) — any early season struggles are behind them.

3. Ajax (-) — they have way too much talent to sink below the top 3 here.

4. Fortuna (+2) — let’s see if they can keep this up, though.

5. Go Ahead (+2) — yes, they lost 5-2, but it was away from home against the #1 team.

6. Feyenoord (-2) — I was tempted to sink them further, but maybe this is just bad luck?

7. Groningen (-5) — this is a steep fall, but the worry is that the honeymoon is over.

8. Excelsior (+3) — I’m tremendously impressed with their win this week.

9. Twente (+4) — they might be putting this together. They have the talent. TBD.

10. N.E.C. (-1) — this week’s win wasn’t as convincing as the score suggests.

11. PEC (+4) — I like what we’re seeing from them so far.

12. Sparta (-2) — tough loss this week. But they’ll bounce back.

13. ADO (+1) — this’ll be a huge boost for belief in the locker room that they can do even more.

14. Utrecht (-2) — they are still bad, but you can tell they’re improving.

15. Heerenveen (-7) — that’s what happens when you tie with Willem II, sorry.

16. Telstar (-) — hard to move them up after losing 4-0, but they still are a fun team to watch.

17. Willem II (+1) — let’s see if they can prove this wasn’t a fluke.

18. Cambuur (-1) — the only team in the league with zero points.

I should be clear, that my power rankings are not representative of the standings. This is about momentum and vibes, not about how many points you’ve collected. That being said, for context, here are the standings after this week:

European Corner

We have six (6) Dutch clubs in Europe this season! Shoutout to FC Twente, who defied both the odds and my disbelief to qualify for the Conference League. Last week, the draws were made, and each team found out who they’re facing.

PSV — Champions League

• Home games:

  • Atletico Madrid 🇪🇸

  • Club Brugge 🇧🇪

  • Shakhtar Donetsk 🇺🇦

  • VfB Stuttgart 🇩🇪

• Away games:

  • Real Madrid 🇪🇸

  • FC Porto 🇵🇹

  • RB Leipzig 🇩🇪

  • Viking FK 🇳🇴

I think PSV should get wins against Brugge, Donetsk, and Viking, putting them at 9 points already — a tie with Stuttgart would put them at 10, which should be enough to continue in the competition. That would mean losses against both Madrid clubs, Porto, and Leipzig, which all sound plausible. Porto coach Francesco Farioli beat Peter Bosz’s PSV twice with a far inferior Ajax squad two seasons ago.

Feyenoord — Champions League

• Home games:

  • Inter Milan 🇮🇹

  • FC Porto 🇵🇹

  • RB Leipzig 🇩🇪

  • Como 🇮🇹

• Away games:

  • Barcelona 🇪🇸

  • Real Betis 🇪🇸

  • Galatasaray 🇹🇷

  • Viking SK 🇳🇴

I’ll be honest: I don’t see how Feyenoord make it past the initial league phase. I could see them winning against Viking, but beyond that, they’d be lucky to tie any of the other games. They didn’t make the necessary splashes in the transfer window to justify any expectations in Europe’s premier club competition. A shame.

AZ — Europa League

• Home games:

  • Juventus 🇮🇹

  • Dinamo Zagreb 🇭🇷

  • Sturm Graz 🇦🇹

  • Hapoel Beer-Sheva 🇮🇱

• Away games:

  • Benfica 🇵🇹

  • Sparta Prague 🇨🇿

  • Sunderland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

  • Ararat-Armenia 🇦🇲

I’d rather swap AZ and Feyenoord’s games. I will admit I know nothing about most of these teams here, but I think AZ should notch wins against Hapoel, Sturm Graz, Sparta Prague, and Ararat. That’s 12 points right there, but all of these games are winnable. AZ could win this competition if they play in Europe like they’ve been playing domestically.

N.E.C. — Europa League

• Home games:

  • Benfica 🇵🇹

  • Stade Rennais 🇫🇷

  • Omonia Nicosia 🇨🇾

  • Levski Sofia 🇧🇬

• Away games:

  • Juventus 🇮🇹

  • Dinamo Zagreb 🇭🇷

  • NK Celje 🇸🇮

  • Ararat-Armenia 🇦🇲

Our team from Nijmegen got a pretty decent draw here. They should win against Omonia, Levski, Ararat, and Celje—12 points already. I don’t think they’ll beat Benfica or Juventus, but Dinamo and Rennais will be great games and more opportunities for points. Also, we should just recognize how crazy it is that N.E.C. Nijmegen is playing a European game in Turin against Juventus, one of the most legendary clubs in Europe. The N.E.C. fans who travel for that game will have an experience they’ll never forget, regardless of the scoreline.

FC Twente — Conference League

• Home games:

  • Pafos 🇨🇾

  • Kairat Almaty 🇰🇿

  • Thun 🇨🇭

• Away games:

  • SC Freiburg 🇩🇪

  • Lincoln Red Imps 🇬🇮

  • Aarhus GF 🇩🇰

This is absolutely doable for Twente. Freiburg will be tough, but every other game is winnable; I think one of the more talented clubs in the Netherlands should be able to beat any club from Gibraltar and Kazakhstan, with respect, especially if they continue to gel—I say this, but Twente were almost knocked out by an Azerbaijani team in the last qualifying round. I shouldn’t diminish other nations. That being said, Twente should cruise into the next round.

Ajax — Conference League

• Home games:

  • Atalanta 🇮🇹

  • Getafe 🇪🇸

  • Thun 🇨🇭

• Away games:

  • Midtjylland 🇩🇰

  • Sint-Truiden 🇧🇪

  • Hajduk Split 🇭🇷

You have got to be kidding me. Are Ajax and Twente playing in the same competition? Gone are the clubs I have to google to see what country they’re from. Statistically, Ajax got the most difficult draw of teams to face out of any club in this competition. By far. I still think Ajax should be able to make it through to the next round of the Conference League, especially with this impressive squad they’ve amassed, but it’s a little more questionable after this draw. But they should beat Thun, Sint-Truiden, and Split. They should also beat Getafe and Midtjylland. I would bet on Ajax making it through—but I really have no idea how exactly they’re going to cobble together the necessary points. On paper, they have the talent to win all of these games. But also, on paper, they should’ve beaten FC Sion 12-2 over two games in the qualifying rounds, not 9-5. Let’s hope for the best here.

Oranje Corner

There’s a lot of discussion around who Xavi should pick—many are naming a lot of Eredivisie players, since Xavi has signed a four-year contract and has the opportunity to look further than just the coming year. But… I think it would be a mistake to get excited about the youths too quickly. The players of the English Premier League are there because they’re the fastest, strongest, and most talented. The worst team in the PL would be a top-10 team, at minimum, in any other league.

Do I think he should look toward the Eredivisie for a few selections? Sure. Feyenoord’s Gjivai Zechiël is clearly talented and deserves to be called up. Same with PSV’s Ruben van Bommel. But suggesting that Xavi should be looking at AZ’s Wouter Goes—a fine player, no doubt—is ludicrous considering the wealth of Dutch riches we have at our disposal for defensive positions.

But, that being said, I think there’s a lot of innovation to happen in international soccer. Everyone likens it to club soccer, as if they’re just different sides of the same coin—they’re not. I support Xavi making some unconventional choices. I just want everything to be in service of a North Star of winning.

Stray Thoughts

• Which was your goal of the week? (You’ve seen them all in the above, but why not watch them again?)

• How is it possible to miss this (from the Dutch second division):

• What a goal from the Dutch-American (hey!) Austyn Jones in the second division for Jong PSV3:

• Another fun goal, this time from the legendary (he’s not legendary because he’s the best of all time or anything, but he’s a very sociable and likable striker who is 6’7”) Hank Veerman.

• Notable: the Ajax coach says (in English) that youngster defender Aaron Bouwman could become the next Virgil van Dijk. From what I’ve seen of Bouwman, I believe it. He radiates composure. Now how do we adapt the chant, “Cool as you like, it’s Virgil van Dijk” for Bouwman?

• It’s the most Dutch thing ever for Twente coach John van den Brom to respond to a moody player upset to be subbed with “be normal!” I imagine Weidmann will start from the bench next week.

Moment of Nature

Time for a quick history lesson: this Groningen game fell on August 28th, a local holiday in the Groningen region that celebrates the Dutch victory at the Siege of Groningen in 1672. Naturally, Groningen fans created a banner (technically called a “tifo”) to honor the strategic mastermind behind that successful siege: Karel Rabenhaupt (AKA Carl von Rabenhaupt).

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The Stories Going In

• Can Groningen keep this up?

  • Groningen are flying high, yes, but can they continue? We’ve seen this story before: a club has a hot start to the season, raises expectations, and then slowly falls back to more of a natural position; whether it’s because other teams adapt to their play style, because of the pressure, or what have you—it’s usually what happens. A recent example was Sunderland last year in the Premier League, who were floating around the top of the standings at the beginning of the season but ended up finishing seventh (still a good result for them, no doubt!). Groningen, I imagine, are thinking of greener pastures than seventh place.

• The last two winners of the Dutch Cup go head-to-head.

  • AZ won last year’s edition against N.E.C., while Go Ahead Eagles won the previous year’s against… AZ.

• There are two “Game(s) of the Week” this week.

  • And both are watchable/streamable. AZ against Go Ahead and Utrecht against PSV are going to be two interesting watches… more details on that below.

• Will the Europe-playing clubs carry that energy forward?

  • N.E.C. have a sour taste in their mouths after missing out on the Champions League. Ajax feel like they took care of business as usual. While Twente are on cloud nine after a miraculous (but fully deserved) comeback that lands them in European competition for the second time this decade.

  • N.E.C. have a game against PEC that looked easier before the latter secured a surprise win against Heerenveen—can N.E.C. bounce back and re-focus themselves on the season ahead? Will Ajax score 4 or more goals against Telstar and win like we expect them to, or will they hit another wall? Will Twente prove that their comeback was the start of greener pastures ahead by etching a dominant win into the books against a less-talented Cambuur side? Gosh, that was a long sentence. But these are the questions!

A Look At Each Game

You can’t help but root for Groningen. They’re a team that was in the 2nd division as recently as 2024, and now they’re fighting for a place at the top of the standings. Fortuna are a good barometer for how Groningen are doing, but regardless of the end result, I’d be curious to see the Expected Goals statistic—Fortuna are the type of team that will create one chance, punish you, and then absorb attacks the rest of the game. I’m not sure if this prediction is a true one, or a wishful one—I want Groningen to keep doing well. They’re a fun, romantic team. But I think they take this one. 3-1 Groningen.

Ah, a Rotterdam Derby. I’ll be interested in seeing how Excelsior do here more than Sparta. As you may remember, I’m big on Ruben den Uil, the young Excelsior coach. This is the kind of game—against a Sparta team that’s a little more talented—that will tell us the capabilities of this Excelsior team. I think they show that they’re no pushovers and force a tie. 2-2.

Let’s be real: this is the Game of the Week. My indecisiveness has left me. A high-flying AZ team, chock-full of talent, against a Go Ahead team that has arguably been this season’s most entertaining under Joseph Oosting. I’m very excited to watch this one. This is the game where AZ either prove how good they are or show that they are, in fact, fallible. I think they do the former. AZ are really good. 3-2 AZ.

N.E.C. are in recovery. The Champions League dream is over—even though the people of Nijmegen did get to hear the famous hymn at the Goffertstadion one time. But hey, the Europa League is still a fantastic accomplishment for N.E.C. I would’ve predicted an easy win for them, but PEC (by the way, it’s N-E-C, obviously, but PEC is said as “peck”) have shown in their previous games that they’re not the pushover. I think that’ll be reflected in the scoreline, but there’s also the possibility N.E.C. run rampant. 2-1 N.E.C.

This game. This game is why I couldn’t decide the Game of the Week… but the reason I said “let’s be real” is because I think everyone would predict a PSV thrashing of Utrecht. Unfortunately, I am too. Alongside Groningen, Utrecht are another team I’m rooting for this season because I think highly of their new coach, Anthony Correia. But he’s clearly hit obstacles in the implementation of his vision. And the ensuing struggles will only continue against arguably the best team in the league. 4-1 PSV.

I’m laughing. Because once again, ADO function as a standardized test1 for their opponents. This is a game Feyenoord should win based on talent alone, but ADO are well-coached and well-organized under Robin Peter. And so once again, ADO are the antagonists; this is the trap game. One day, when their incredibly difficult start to the season begins to wane, will ADO experience the thrill of being the favorite in a game. I think Feyenoord pull through as they’re supposed to, but that’s not something I’d want to promise until right before the referee’s final whistle. 3-1 Feyenoord.

This one’s easy on paper. Heerenveen should win, full stop. All three of the Eredivisie newbies have a combined zero points. ADO is the team that’s most likely to break that streak, not Willem II. I would genuinely be shocked if Willem II get a result here. 3-0 Heerenveen.

Ajax are fun to watch again. Which is great! A couple seasons ago, under Francesco Farioli, there was a very high chance Ajax would win—but you could use the style of gameplay to put yourself to sleep. It was still possession-based, but incredibly conservative; Ajax would not try to attack until they had a clear opening. It would secure a 1-0 win, but at what cost? Well, now Ajax are a little less likely to win, but they’re going to be fun to watch. I think the legendary Johan Cruijff was right: you’d rather win 5-4 than 1-0. I don’t think Telstar will put four goals past Marc-Andre ter Stegen, but considering they like to play with bravery, there will be ample opportunities for Ajax to knock in a few goals. I think this’ll be a fun watch. The question is becoming not “can X team score against Ajax” but “how many will X team score against Ajax.” Risky, yes, but very fun. 4-1 Ajax.

What are Twente? Are they now the team we thought they’d be, after that incredible comeback against Qarabağ? Or was that a lucky fluke that gives no insight into the state of their team? We’ll not get a very clear answer here against Eredivisie newbie Cambuur. This is like a special election in a midterm year. It’s a Republican district, you know the Republican will win, but it’s a matter of by how much that will give you insight into the state of politics. I think Twente, like Feyenoord, pass this test. 3-0 Twente.

The Standings Going In

(Note: since three of last week’s games [N.E.C. against Excelsior, Twente against Telstar, and Ajax against Willem II] were suspended due to teams trying to qualify for European competitions, some teams have played one game fewer. But I think it’s worth just presenting the standings as they are, without making much ado about this fact, which is very European-style.)

1. 9 - AZ Alkmaar

2. 7 - Go Ahead Eagles

3. 7 - PSV Eindhoven

4. 7 - Feyenoord

5. 6 - FC Groningen

6. 4 - Ajax*

7. 4 - Sparta Rotterdam

8. 4 - Fortuna Sittard

9. 4 - Heerenveen

10. 3 - Excelsior*

11. 3 - N.E.C.*

12. 3 - FC Twente*

13. 3 - Telstar*

14. 3 - PEC Zwolle

15. 1 - FC Utrecht

16. 0 - Willem II*

17. 0 - ADO Den Haag

18. 0 - SC Cambuur

One Player To Know

Don’t let the serious face fool you—this guy creates chances for fun. He is easily Groningen’s biggest star; they had to resist offers from larger clubs like AZ to keep him at the “Pride of the North” for another season. ESPN NL recently featured a look into Van Bergen’s upbringing:

“[Thom] could, so to speak, watch the birds, look up at the sky—but the ball stayed at his feet.” — Jurgen Hazelwinkel, youth coach at VV Gorecht

“He didn’t come back fit enough [after the summer], so we made clear to him that things had to change. He flipped that switch right away. That’s what I love about Thom: when he needs to improve something, he gets to work.” — Paul Matthijs, Van Bergen’s coach in the Groningen youth system

“Thom was already playing at FC Groningen at the time, but he never let that show around the other boys [his classmates at school, presumably]. He didn’t want to act like, “Look at me, I play for Groningen.” In fact, he actually let other boys play better. That shows he’s a sociable guy, who doesn’t need to be in the spotlight himself.” — Johan van der Veen, Van Bergen’s uncle

Clearly, this is a good player and a good person. Groningen are just too easy to root for this season.

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Transfer Corner

I’m not sure if this section is worth keeping—I don’t think there’s a lot to say about transfers, because obviously, if a club is bringing someone in, they think they’re good. And obviously, if a player is leaving, it’s because they either want to leave, or are wanted to leave. Like Casper Tengstedt, for example, who just left Feyenoord for Toulouse. That’s not because he was so good that clubs came calling for him; it’s because he was deemed surplus. Another Feyenoord departure, Ayase Ueda, was because he was wanted by others. See? Boring. Pure speculation, the all of it.

If someone new has come in, and is playing well, you’ll hear about it.

Moment of Nature

In case you hadn’t heard… this is the English version of “Links Rechts” by the Snollebollekes; this new tradition took over the celebrations of the Dutch fans in the US.

Well, go watch the first 10 minutes of this week’s PSV game against Groningen. And then decide, after those first 10, if you want to watch the next 10 (you will).

The first 20 minutes of that game were an advertisement for this league: dominant, attacking soccer. Beautiful stuff.

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Stories of the Games

Utrecht are on the board! Hey, one point is better than zero points. This weekend was not the worst possible scenario for Anthony Correia and his team! But only one point after three games is still unacceptable for a club of Utrecht’s stature.

ADO are better than they seem. Yes, it’s been three games now, and still zero points for the newly-promoted team that I felt was one to watch. That is still true: they have created chances in each of their games, and it just so happens that they started the season against AZ, Groningen, and Go Ahead: three of the best teams in the league. My apologies to Go Ahead, who I predicted to finish beneath ADO in the standings this year at 13th. Clearly, I will be wrong about that one. Severely wrong. Go Ahead are going to chase a European playoff spot. But for ADO, things may get worse before they get better: they face Feyenoord next week.

We have six Dutch clubs in Europe. PSV and Feyenoord in the Champions League, N.E.C. and AZ in the Europa League, and Ajax and Twente in the Conference League. As they say in Dutch: smullen. PS: if you’re skimming this, at least scroll down to the European Corner and get a taste of how Ajax are playing.

A Look At Each Game

I got this one pretty much right. I predicted 2-0, and here we are: 2-0. It’s a meager scoreline, but AZ once again looked fantastic. It’s notable that they created 4.3 (!) xG, or Expected Goals. Fortuna only created 0.4. Despite this, the game was closer than it looked—AZ were only up 1-0 and were sweating dropped points until striker Jizz Hornkamp secured the win in stoppage time.

Oh, Utrecht. They’re already a main character of the season. I thought this would be a 1-1 draw, and well, at least I was right about one thing. But I would rather not have been, for Utrecht’s sake: they conceded a goal in the 96th minute to end up with one point instead of three. They’re still building—that’s for sure—but this result means they’re on the come up.

If only Utrecht had been able to last for 60 more seconds…

Woah woah woah! This was quite a win for Henry van der Vegt’s PEC Zwolle. They may have only had 35% of the ball, but they had more shots (20) and more shots on goal (7) than Robin Veldman’s Heerenveen team. This was a bit of an embarrassment for Heerenveen; it had been a year since PEC had won away from home, and they were on zero points for the season. I thought Heerenveen would walk through this one and win 3-1. This only speaks to the increasing competitiveness we’re seeing in the Eredivisie.

Go Ahead are no joke. But this was a closer game than it looked: the teams were about evenly matched, both created 1.0 xG, and it was a 2-1 lead until the last minutes of the game. I predicted a 2-0 win for Go Ahead, so I’ll give myself this one. Go Ahead should be happy: they survived this trap game. And hey, I told you to watch out for Victor Edvardsen and Søren Tengstedt. Guess who each scored a goal?

Here are the two of them combining for Edvardsen’s goal (it’s a really nice one!):

This was the game of the week on paper. And for most of it, the billing was lived up to. Like I said to start this recap, the first 20 minutes of this game were like watching a game of tennis. When PSV scored at minute 35 to pull ahead 2-1, you thought this would be a game that ended 3-2… not 5-1. PSV scored right before halftime to make it 3-1, and then 10 minutes into the second half, they’d scored another two goals. That’s talent, folks. PSV created 4.4 (!) xG to Groningen’s 1.1.

Americans, here’s who the PSV fans call “Turbo Sergiño:”

Fireworks? Fireworks. This game had a bit of drama around it after Feyenoord fans in the away fans’ section lit fireworks, which even hit some Cambuur fans and was aimed at a family section. Not great. This led to the game being delayed along with a lot of heated reactions. Either way, it gave Cambuur—one of the least talented teams in the league, unfortunately for them—a great excuse for a loss. Feyenoord player Gjivai Zechiël is turning into a bonafide star.

One of the goals he scored in this one:

Power Rankings

Not every team played this week, so I won’t do a full Power Rankings. But let me tell you: PSV’s sitting at the top. The way they were able to get past this Groningen team was downright impressive, and claims of their downfall (certainly not made by yours truly…) may have been premature.

Honestly, all I can think about is how we’re in for a great season. So many teams are good this year. It’s exciting!

European Corner

Well, I could pretend that I’m not writing this after the European games have been played. But I won’t.

• N.E.C. lost to Bødo/Glimt and is out of the Champions League. They’ll play in the Europa League this season—which is still a formidable feat for a club like N.E.C.

  • You could argue that they were going to turn around a 3-1 deficit… but three minutes into the second of two games, the N.E.C. goalkeeper came out of his box, got a handball, and then the subsequent red card. Which essentially was a way-too-early death blow to their chances of clawing their way back. Which is a true shame—they had lined up with pretty much seven attacking players. Had they finished out the game with 11 men, we would’ve seen all-out N.E.C. attacking like never before. And who knows, maybe they could’ve done it.

• FC Twente performed a minor miracle to get past Qarabağ and make it to the Conference League.

  • I cannot begin to tell you my disbelief here. They lost the first game 1-0, and then went 1-0 down in game 2—my dear reader, my hope had all but vanished. I actually stopped following the game around the 78th minute, because I couldn’t bear to watch another Dutch club meet a frustrating end in Europe. But lo and behold, Twente scored in the 79th minute to give themselves hope (it was then 2-1 on aggregate). And then two minutes into stoppage time… the goal we’d all been waiting for. Twente took the game into extra time and scored two more, winning the game 4-1 and the tie with Qarabağ 4-2. What a relief this was.

• Ajax made easy work of FC Sion to make it to the Conference League.

  • Yes, Ajax let in three goals, but they scored five. It is a little worrisome to let in five goals in total over two games against opposition like FC Sion, who do not exactly make waves in the Swiss League. But one thing’s for sure: Ajax are fun to watch again. Just look at this beautifully-worked goal:

Oranje Corner

Xavi’s first press conference as Dutch national team coach was this week.

Did anything stick with me? No. But as more time passes, the more I get excited about his appointment. He seems like a great guy who will light a fire under his players. And I know a lot is made about Xavi’s illustrious career as a player, but the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of having a seasoned winner being the head of a team most notorious for its losses.

Of course, all of those feelings can come crashing down. It’ll be interesting to see who Xavi picks in his first team selection, but he seemed to point toward wanting more youth, and he cares less about the league you’re in and more about the performances you give. Either way, he seems to be doing everything with intention. I can’t wait until the first competitive game against Germany, even if we won’t be able to fully judge Xavi on that result (interestingly, the Germans also have a brand-new head coach: Jürgen Klopp).

Stray Thoughts

Which of the three was your goal of the week?

I’ve long been a fan of Ruben van Bommel—which I will repeat, given how people laughed at me years ago when I said I saw a star in him—and this is his breakout year. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s going to make the Dutch national team this year or next. Just look at his dribbling; this is a player you go to the game to see:

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Moment of Nature

If there’s one thing Dutch clubs take seriously, it’s honoring their players. Players who transferred on to greener pastures will be brought back and thanked for their service to the club during a game, and usually they’ll walk around at halftime to cheers and thank-yous from the fans. This week, it was Ismael Saibari’s turn—the attacker left PSV for Bayern Munich over the summer, but he’s beloved in Eindhoven. The chant fans created for him goes to the tune of “Angels we have heard on high,” which can be heard here.

The Stories Going In

A lighter load this week. Ajax, N.E.C., and Twente all have critical European games this week, so the league has postponed their games to a later date to give them the ability to focus on their European opponents. More on this down in the European Corner section.

AZ look unstoppable. But this week’s game against Fortuna, maybe the most defensive team in the league, is an excellent test. Fortuna have the talent in Mohamed Ihattaren and Ole Romeny to punish a team with a quick counter-attack.

Utrecht desperately need points. Their start to the season has been against AZ and Groningen, two teams that are playing better than anyone expected. Given that next week is against reigning champions PSV, this game against a tricky Sparta team is their best opportunity to put points on the board. But there’s a full possibility that Utrecht are at zero points after four games come September. I want to see manager Anthony Correia be given time—but how much time on the hot seat can the leadership at Utrecht bear from the fans, before they feel the need to step in?

A huge game on Sunday morning. PSV against Groningen is a game that a commentator would call “mouthwatering.” It almost reminds me of the last Super Bowl: a deep, experienced team (Seahawks) facing a young, upstart group (Patriots) led by a good coach (Mike Vrabel).

We say goodbye to a couple of Eredivisie stars. They didn’t die. They just moved teams. More on that below in the Transfer Corner.

…And hello to a new one. Ditto RE: below, but PSV brought in an experienced Dutch player to give their defense much-needed help.

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A Look At Each Game

Only six games this week, instead of the usual nine, but we’ve still got some interesting matchups on the cards.

This is the kind of game that’s going to look like exactly what it is: AZ attacking and Fortuna defending. Until the first goal, that is. I can’t imagine this game ending 0-0, and once that first goal goes in, then we’ve got a game on our hands. Either Fortuna are then forced to attack and play direct (which they can do), or AZ switch into fifth gear. Either way, we’re in for a treat. Watch the movement of Fortuna attacker Ole Romeny (#10), and keep your eyes on the tricky footwork of Ro-Zangelo Daal (#11). I think AZ are able to crack the Fortuna code and keep their winning streak going. 2-0 AZ.

Ah, the aforementioned Panic At The Galgenwaard! Here’s the thing: I’m not sure that Utrecht are in a position to win just yet. Last week’s game showed that they’re clearly still adapting to the style of play and expectations of Anthony Correia. Sparta coach Rogier Meijer doesn’t play as exciting a brand of soccer, but he’s gotten this Sparta team under control quicker. This is a home game for Sparta at Het Kasteel (The Castle, the name of their stadium), which you’d think would add to the Utrecht pressure, but I think it’s the opposite. Imagine being an Utrecht player. Last week, you were getting booed and whistled by your home fans. Imagine the pressure you feel whenever you have the ball? Imagine the fear of hearing thousands of people boo you if you lose it? I think it’ll help—but I don’t think Utrecht come away with a win. I’d more easily bet on them losing than winning. 1-1.

Hey, this Heerenveen team don’t look so bad! Luca Oyen is a gifted attacker who scored the only goal in their win over Twente, and then the team from Friesland came back from 2-0 behind to tie 2-2 with Ajax. Yes, they had fewer expected goals (0.4-1.4 against Twente and 1.4-2.0 against Ajax) in both games, but the Dutch-born trio of Dylan Vente, Ringo Meerveld, and Dirk Proper form the spine of the team, and are complemented by the talented Jacob Trenskow, who has started the season with great performances. This week they face a PEC team that has had a rough go of things to start the season, but they have only faced two talented teams in Ajax and Twente. I think Heerenveen shows that they’re a step above PEC. 3-1 Heerenveen.

Hey, this Go Ahead team looks good. Victor Edvardsen—who has become synonymous with the club at this point—is anchoring the offense, and attacker Søren Tengstedt is firing on all cylinders. I feel like every week I’m going to say that ADO “present a test” for the team playing them, but that’s what happens when a newly-promoted team is low on squad talent but high on managerial talent. You can only beat a well-organized team, regardless of talent, if you too are well-organized. Lucky for Go Ahead, their coach Joseph Oosting is proving that he didn’t deserve to be fired by Twente last year. I think Go Ahead escape from this trap game with a win. 2-0 Go Ahead.

GAME OF THE WEEK ALERT! I’m excited for this game. These are two teams who want to score and keep the ball. It’ll be an interesting chess match between two good coaches in Peter Bosz and Dick Lukkien. Can the PSV defense stop star attacker Thom van Bergen? Can PSV keep their creative spark despite losing maybe the Eredivisie’s most creative player, Joey Veerman? If you watch/stream this one, be sure to catch the preview from the commentator in the 15 minutes before the game. This one is tough to predict; it really could go either way. I’ll roll the dice on a 2-1 win for PSV.

Let’s just be real: anything less than a win by at least 2 goals is going to be disappointing in Rotterdam. Feyenoord should beat this Cambuur team. We’re two weeks into the season and Cambuur have scored one goal while letting in seven. Funnily enough, Cambuur’s games are of added interest if you’re an Ajax fan, as youngsters Skye Vink and Lucas Jetten are on loan at the Leeuwarden club. I think Feyenoord have the palate-cleansing win that everyone expects of them. 3-0 Feyenoord.

The Standings Going In

1. AZ Alkmaar — 6

2. FC Groningen — 6

3. Go Ahead Eagles — 4

4. Fortuna Sittard — 4

5. AFC Ajax — 4

6. PSV Eindhoven — 4

7. Feyenoord Rotterdam — 4

8. SC Heerenveen — 4

9. Excelsior Rotterdam — 3

10. N.E.C. Nijmegen — 3

11. FC Twente — 3

12. Sparta Rotterdam — 3

13. SC Telstar — 3

14. FC Utrecht — 0

15. PEC Zwolle — 0

16. ADO Den Haag — 0

17. Willem II — 0

18. SC Cambuur — 0

One Player To Know

Where do I even start with Wout Weghorst? Maybe the fact that he’s the scorer of this legendary goal that will live in the Oranje minds forever? Maybe the fact that he’s an anti-vaxxer who the Dutch have nicknamed “Wappie Wout” (“wappie” is slang that means “not right in the head” that was used to describe anti-vaxxers during the pandemic)? Or maybe the current conundrum: the fact that, at 34, he’s simply not the player he used to be. You know how Russell Westbrook was no longer a great player once he aged, after he couldn’t rely on his athleticism? Well, Weghorst’s whole thing is his high work ethic on the field, his many strides complemented by the length of his 6’6” frame. It’s why Erik ten Hag brought him to Manchester United. But the decline has been real. In 2022, it was fine to have him coming off the bench for the Dutch at the World Cup. It has made less sense in subsequent tournaments. I’d argue that him being the first attacker subbed on in the Euro 2024 semifinal against England was what cost the Dutch the game.1 You should also know—and you’ll notice this if you watch him play with Twente this season—that he, erm, has the emotional range of an infant. That’s always the small risk of bringing him on: that Weghorst’s emotions will get the better of him, and he’ll earn himself a yellow card, or worse. When he scores, you can feel the joy radiating from his body. But when he’s losing, he can turn fiery pretty quickly. Perhaps it’s the anti-vaxxer stuff that makes me sound so negative; I agree with Victor Wembanyama when he refuses to carry the burden of hiding any emotions. I guess I just wish Weghorst was more in-control of his own. Especially now that he’s playing for Twente, his hometown club.

Why did I select Weghorst, though? It’s not because of anything said previously. It’s because regardless of his current skill level, he is a name, and that’s not usually a thing available to a club like FC Twente. New GM Erik ten Hag—another who is from the region—brought Weghorst to the club, saying:

I’m not so sure about the penultimate sentence. So far, a lot of Twente’s early-season struggles are because they’ve had to fit Weghorst into the lineup. In their all-important 1-0 loss to Qarabağ, Weghorst, the sole striker in the team, was one of the worst players on the field. He is no longer the striker who can shoulder all that responsibility, as much as it pains me to say it, because Twente are an easy team to root for, and they need to beat Qarabağ to be playing in Europe this season. Let’s hope that Weghorst finds some pixie dust before Thursday.

Transfer Corner

The Eredivisie waved goodbye to AZ striker Troy Parrott and PSV midfielder Joey Veerman. Both had grown into two of the league’s stars, and they’re now off to bigger things (read: bigger paychecks) at Real Betis in Spain and Borussia Dortmund in Germany. But there’s reason to believe both teams will be okay. AZ, actually, will definitely be okay. They made a smart move last season in signing striker Jizz Hornkamp (It’s pronounced “Yizz”), who yours truly has always been a fan of, to back up the now-ready-to-go Mexx Meerdink. Don’t be fooled: this is Meerdink’s breakout season, and he’s been primed for one. A true striker, that one. PSV, on the other hand, just have too much firepower to let any one player leaving throw a wrench into things. But they’re going to miss him in the Champions League, that’s for sure.

Former Feyenoord player Lutsharel Geertruida is back in the Eredivisie, having been signed on loan by PSV from RB Leipzig. Geertruida is a good Swiss army knife to have in the team because he can play any-and-all defensive positions on the field (left back, center back, right back, defensive midfield), and he’s solid with the ball, meaning he is great for a possession-based team like PSV. He’s played for the Dutch national team, and went with them to the World Cup this year; but he’s never impressed me when I’ve seen him play. Granted, the national team is a whole different ballgame. Let’s hope he proves me wrong and stars at PSV.

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Moment of Nature

Let’s throw it back to an oldie-but-goldie; a goldie oldie.

This is a famous meme in the Netherlands of an Eredivisie player—the Frenchman Nicolas Isimat-Mirin—reacting to the heat. “Snikheet” is a Dutch word for “scorching heat.” But if you ever go to the Netherlands in the summer, and meet a man between the age of 25-35, impress him by referencing this:

Stories of the Games

History written, technically. This was the first time ever that Ajax, Feyenoord, and PSV—the traditional top three in the Netherlands—all failed to win their first home game of the season. Each of their opponents deserved the draw, too. There’s no question that there is more parity in the league now than ever before. This also happened to be the first week in over a decade where every club scored a goal—we’re in for a treat this season in terms of action.

Alarm bells are sounding at Utrecht. Yes, they’ve lost their first two games. Yes, they looked a little lost this week. But here’s the thing: their opening games were against the two teams that currently top the table. Outside of playing PSV/Feyenoord/Ajax, Groningen and AZ are maybe the toughest test you can imagine. But—but—I think we should all have trust and patience in new Utrecht coach Anthony Correia. He’s already said before that there are a lot of steps that the team needs to take, and if you watched this weekend’s game, you can see why. Correia does not like boring games; you probably remember how I’ve referred to Telstar as the most entertaining team in Europe last season. I held great anticipation for how Correia would fare with a better team, thinking that better players = better results. But I didn’t think about how it might be easier to get players to go along with your risky style of soccer when you’re a club legend like Correia was at Telstar (he played his entire professional career with the club; a one-club man). Especially when said players are closer to amateurs, who are happy to be playing in the Eredivisie, compared to players who might have greater aspirations for their career. When you’re a player on a team everyone is expecting to lose, why not try to play this way? The expectations are that you’re going to lose. But Utrecht is a club that wants to be playing in European competitions every season. There’s pressure there; amongst the beautiful canals are a people who want to win. Speaking of people—one thing that further endeared me to Correia (as if that was possible) was him saying that he chose to coach Utrecht because he wanted to be at a “people’s club.”

“[FC Utrecht[ is a true people’s club with a resilient spirit. I think that’s something that suits me well.” — Anthony Correia

He knows his job is to entertain the working class with attractive soccer while bringing them the joys of victory. I have full faith that Correia will get there, if they give him time.

He’s clearly completely overhauling the way the team plays and how the players make decisions while on the field. That takes time. I think back to ADO coach Robin Peter saying in an interview that he would want six months at a club to instill his vision of play style. I hope that the Utrecht GM and Board of Directors give Correia that six months before making a decision on his future.

Ajax are already missing their former star player… but not too much. Mika Godts was electric for Ajax, and he’s the exactly the kind of player who could score the winning goal in a game like this week’s. Too bad he now plays for Paris Saint-Germain, who are surely paying Godts an ungodly amount per week. But the incredible goal from his replacement in the starting 11, Abdellah Ouazane (feel free to skip below to the Ajax game part to watch it, or exhibit patience), definitely helped heal the wounds a bit. He’s no Godts, but the Moroccan is absolutely the future for Ajax in the attack.

Recap of the Action

Suddenly, Sparta look really good. Telstar surprised everyone with their win last week against NEC, but NEC’s minds were elsewhere. Anthony Correia left big shoes to fill, and new coach Henk Brugge is trying his best. But this was a resounding defeat: the Expected Goals (xG) were 1.4-3.1. This one’s scoreline was about right. Regardless of how poor Telstar were in this game, though, Sparta look ready to surprise people this season. Perhaps taking Feyenoord down to the wire last week was a sign of Sparta’s strength.

• The lone Telstar goal, which involved a nice little bit o’ footwork:

The boys from Nijmegen bounced back. Which is what we’d expect, given that their game on Tuesday—3pm ET on Paramount+—is the first of the two biggest games in their history. This was a solid win to send them into the Champions League trenches with joyous moods. It’ll also give some extra confidence to NEC’s star players Bryan Linssen and Tjaronn Chery, who both nabbed a goal in this one.

• The 4-0 for NEC was a really nice goal, scored by their new striker (and longtime Eredivisie player) Kaj Sierhuis:

AZ are no joke. Obviously we covered Utrecht’s issues above, but let’s not overlook how talented AZ look this season. Ro-Zangelo Daal (who is an incredibly entertaining player) and Weslley Patati (ditto) on the wings, Mexx Meerdink up front, and Kees Smit controlling the midfield. My goodness, that is just hordes of talent. This game was just more proof that AZ are going to mount a serious title challenge this year, which would be their first championship since 2009. They’re usually perennial fourth-placers, but were top of the table when the 2020 season was called off due to the coronavirus. The cancellation of that campaign left a sour taste in AZ mouths, who felt like they had the momentum to finish as champions under promising head coach—maybe you’ve heard of him—Arne Slot. Those wounds won’t be healed until they bring the title to Alkmaar.

• This pleasing-on-the-eyes goal is a good microcosm of the kind of soccer AZ are bringing to the table this season:

PSV is just so talented. I don’t think Excelsior played badly—but they’re still one of the Eredivisie bottom feeders as the third biggest club in Rotterdam, and that means a lack of talent in comparison to the three-peat champions. But that being said, anyone who watched the game will tell you that PSV could’ve scored a couple more goals. Perhaps allegations of PSV’s downfall were premature; however, it was reported this weekend that this was star player Joey Veerman’s last game in an Eindhoven shirt. He’s off to Borussia Dortmund. A fun note: at the beginning of ESPN’s stream of this game, in which they show the fans and stadium area, some Excelsior fans had made shirts showing the Eredivisie standings, which had Excelsior on top after Week 1.

• The 2-1 for PSV… nicely done, but if I were an Excelsior defender, I’d be grumpy with myself:

Fortuna are going to be tricky this season. For a club like Fortuna—who were only promoted to the Eredivisie in 2018 after 16 years in the 2nd division—this is about as good as you can hope for. Your team plays defensively balanced, aggressive soccer with talented creatives up front. You haven’t lost either of your first two games. Suddenly, I’m looking very silly for thinking they’ll finish as low as 14th. However… I should note that Cambuur could’ve (should’ve?) won this game. They had most of the ball (64%); the xG was 2.5-1.9 in favor of the team from Leeuwarden (Cambuur). This game wasn’t available to watch in America (legally), but from what I’ve seen, Cambuur deserved at least a tie here. I’d delete my first few sentences if “grind out a win in a game you should lose” wasn’t central to the Fortuna ethos.

• The one goal from Cambuur was a nice one, though:

Groningen are showing they’re a serious team. Last week’s 2-1 win over Utrecht was seen more as a game that Utrecht lost rather than one that Groningen won. But a 4-1 win over this ADO team—a team that’s well-coached, organized, and is always playing to win—means we ought to take a closer look at their expectations for this season. This writer predicted they’d finish 8th, but if they are able to keep star player Thom van Bergen around (which looks likely), they could give the top four teams a run for their money.

• The ADO fans/hooligans showed out with this tifo; the top translates literally to, “by the entire nation feared,” or more accurately to “Feared throughout the country.” RE: the scoreline, well, Groningen are a good team?

• The opening goal by Groningen’s star player, Thom van Bergen, came after only 15 minutes. People were making jokes that he was inspired by what he saw when “inspecting the field” before the game. Here’s another look at that below goal, with focus on the work of the Groningen goalkeeper, the Surinamese Etienne Vaessen.

• ADO doesn’t like to play defense, and you know what, we’ve got to love that about them. The bravery of playing with a high defensive line (i.e. leaving a lot of open space between your defense and the goal) means that sometimes, you’ll concede goals like this:

As the Dutch say: oei [ooey]. I actually started writing this section around the 70th minute, as Feyenoord were 2-0 up and were bringing on the talented Sem Steijn. Needless to say, it required a rewrite: Go Ahead played some surprisingly direct and entertaining soccer and clawed their way back. Feyenoord had dominated the game for the most part—the xG was 2.8-1.8—but Joseph Oosting’s Go Ahead team kicked into a different gear in those final 30 minutes. There was no better entertainment than the ~14 minutes after the 2-2 was scored. I don’t really think Feyenoord coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst deserves much criticism here, because 1. he’s still new on the job and 2. Oosting is a tough coach to beat. But someone here has learned to not write game summaries until the fat lady sings.

• This is how close each team was to winning the game in those final minutes:

Maybe Twente are back on track. Blah blah blah. They did create chances: xG was 2.6-0.8. But I’m just so unconvinced by this Twente team. I have very little faith in Erik ten Hag, to be honest with you. I think he’s a better man manager than a GM, and I think Twente are in trouble until they can inject some super serum into an aging Wout Weghorst, whose name and clout guarantee him a starting spot as their striker/albatross.

• Is this a foul? Maybe. But the referee didn’t think so. And so even in the one goal they let in, we find ourselves saying, “Oh, Twente.”

• It does seem like Twente got some help, with a beautifully taken own goal if I do say so myself:

Worries are brewing at Ajax. Meh, you know what? No they’re not. I wrote that before really thinking about the game I just saw. Not only do Heerenveen look good/well-coached this season, but I really liked what I saw from Ajax. Say what you want about their new coach Míchel, but Ajax are a guaranteed fun watch. They play direct, attacking soccer; none of that pass-around-the-defenders boring nonsense. And you know they’re going to let a goal in. Not the most ideal start to the season, but players like Marcos Leonardo, Julian Brandt, and Daley Blind haven’t been fully integrated yet into the team. They will only go up from here. And hey, let’s not make this all about Ajax: Heerenveen looked really good. They were also very fun to watch. Not to be all gushing over here, but I’m just supremely happy with the state of the Eredivisie, coefficient points be damned. There are a lot of quality teams led by quality coaches. Heerenveen, under Robin Veldman, are one of them.

• It looked like luck was on the home team’s side after this very fortunate own goal:

• The 1-1 by Heerenveen was a beauty by the Danish Jacob Trenskow; Ajax fans will want to avoid the fact that it was the result of an error by new star goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

• I think the 2-2 by Heerenveen showed that Ajax have work to do on their defense:

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Power Rankings

1. AZ Alkmaar — they look unstoppable.

2. Groningen — the only other team to have won both of their games.

3. Ajax — they look good, and they’re only going to get better.

4. Feyenoord — exact same as Ajax.

5. PSV — they’d be higher if they weren’t losing the creative feet of Joey Veerman.

6. Fortuna — it feels like they have every piece of the puzzle under coach Danny Buijs.

7. Go Ahead — Joseph Oosting is a clear improvement over last season’s Melvin Boel.

8. Heerenveen — they look really good! They’ll be streamable on September 6 in a tasty game against AZ. Can’t wait to watch them.

9. NEC — we’ll see how playing in Europe affects their ability to keep momentum up the entire league season. But they’ve got a lot of talent and arguably the best coach in the league in Dick Schreuder.

10. Sparta — let’s see if they can keep up this early form under Rogier Meijer.

11. Excelsior — this is maybe supremely high for Rotterdam’s third best club, but I think Ruben den Uil is going to get the absolute most out of his players.

12. Utrecht — how dare I put them so high despite being on zero points, but I have faith in Correia.

13. Twente — hoo boy, what a downfall this is. They should be among the top six every week at least.

14. ADO — they’re only going to get better as they adapt to the level of the Eredivisie, something that I’m sure takes a few weeks for every newly-promoted coach and team.

15. PEC Zwolle — Twente and Ajax are talented teams; a rough start to the season could’ve been predicted for them.

16. Telstar — yes, they are higher in the standings than some of these teams, but I just don’t think they’ll be able to keep that up. I really do think Correia performed a minor miracle last year by keeping them in the Eredivisie.

17. Cambuur — they at least had a nice goal/highlight this week.

18. Willem II — long gone are the days when yours truly was supporting Willem II in the qualifying rounds of European competition (they lost to Steven Gerrard’s Rangers in 2020; just about 2-3 years ago right?). Avoiding a bottom-three finish to stay in the Eredivisie would be this year’s version of a minor miracle.

European Corner

There are three teams trying to qualify for Europe: NEC, Ajax, Twente. They all play this week.

• NEC vs. Bodø/Glimt of Norway (Game 1 of 2). 3pm on Paramount+

  • Bodø are a very good team with a very good manager (who was in the Netherlands this weekend watching NEC); they consistently outperform the quality of their players. Deep down I’m worried NEC don’t stand a chance against a team that beat Atlético Madrid and Manchester City in the Champions League last year.

• Ajax vs. FC Sion of Switzerland (Game 1 of 2)

  • This is the Conference League, and Ajax have faced favorable teams so far, a streak that continues with a Swiss team that cannot match Ajax on paper. I don’t have too much worry here; I trust Ajax will get it done over the two games.

• FC Twente vs. SK Qarabağ (Game 1 of 2)

  • Now, here… here, I have worry. I have talked about Twente’s struggles, and this Qarabağ team competed in the Champions League last year—making it through to the qualifiers for the playoff stage. I think this will be won or lost by the Azerbaijani team. If anyone knows any Etsy witches, please call them in. Twente need all the help they can get.

Oranje Corner

Nothing new about the Dutch national team lately… except for, well, the first non-Dutch coach in about 50 years. Xavi Hernández, previously of beating-the-Dutch-in-the-World-Cup-fame (and a number of other trophies, I’m told), is the first foreign coach since the legendary Austrian Ernst Happel led the Dutch to the 1978 World Cup final. I plan to do a deeper dive into the selection of Xavi/the Dutch outlook as a whole, so TBD on that. But let me say swiftly: I’m not thrilled. I would’ve rather had the last dance of Louis van Gaal. Xavi has not proven himself as a top coaching mind, apologies to anyone who thinks that winning trophies with a top-2 club in Spain and a top-1 club in Qatar is evidence of such. But hey, I’d love to be proven wrong. The goal is now just to win. I don’t care. Just win, win, win. Win the Nations League to give the players the taste of victory (even though no one really cares about this tournament of glorified friendly games, I think the players need an appetizer of winning before they can finish the full meal at the Euros or a World Cup). The last thing the Dutch men’s team won was during the Bush administration. The first Bush. H.W. It’s been too long.

Stray Thoughts

• Mika Godts left Ajax. Why? Well, one has to imagine, money. “Stay another year,” they say. Well, imagine you’re Godts. What if you then tear your ACL in the middle of the season? It can happen. And then you come back a year older and possibly not the same player. And then a team like PSG isn’t looking at you, and therefore isn’t one you can put on your resume. Maybe you’ll get your move to England and play for like, Sunderland. But instead, by taking this opportunity, you’re playing under one of the best coaches in the world (Luis Enrique), one of the most exciting teams in the world (they play attacking soccer), one of the richest clubs in the world (facilities, perks, salary…), with some of the best players in the world/a squad that could win any league in Europe… I get it. Go get that bag, Mr. Godts.

  • Most mentions of PSG will include the disclaimer that they are owned and funded by the government of Qatar. Pre-Qatari owners, PSG were just another French club. Many disagree, but if you ask me, the Qatari cash severely taints all of their success.

• My faith in humanity rises a little after watching an entire stadium observe a minute of silence to honor the dead.

• Of the 2010 Dutch World Cup Team that lost in the final, Mark van Bommel’s son Ruben is starring at PSV and Robin van Persie’s son Shaqueel is breaking out at Feyenoord. Might we also see Ruud van Nistelrooij’s son in Oranje some day? This is a really nice finish:

• What do you think: is this a penalty?

Moment of Nature

Longtime Eredivisie player Mats Seuntjens and his partner suffered the death of their newborn daughter last week, and fans of Fortuna showed their support (in the video below).

Seuntjens plays for 2nd division club NAC Breda (relegated from the Eredivisie last year), and supporters of his club chanted for him, lit sparklers, and raised a banner with the daughter’s name that says, “De hemel is een sterretje rijker,” which literally translates to “Heaven is one little star richer,” or more accurately, “the sky has gained another little star.” No tears were shed by this here writer. No sir-ee.

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Well, you might have noticed that my entries into your inbox have so far arrived tardy. That’s because my North Star isn’t immediately visible. Trust, I had a goal coming into this: I (a Dutch-American) wanted to cover the Eredivisie (a league with no dedicated American coverage) in a way that is accessible. Usually, reading a soccer article requires you to decipher soccer-specific terms, and most of what they’re discussing flies over your head because you’re missing context—that’s exactly what I wanted to do differently.

In the back of my mind, this blog is something I could send to my most American of American friends (e.g. an Idahoan who works in banking; a Wisconsinite who works as an attorney) and they could immediately understand the story of what’s going on. But how does one best do that? For Week 1, I focused on the games; but I also recognize that this “structure” of formatting for a soccer blog is already an invisible barrier to entry, because me saying “let’s preview PSV v. Excelsior” means nothing to you unless you know who those teams are, what’s interesting about them, and why they matter. And so for Week 2, I tried a bit more of a looser, less-structured vibe akin to someone talking to you at a bar about the games. Ultimately, I think the right answer is somewhere in between. It’s also important that I finish my “Eredivisie overview” article, which is meant to help you choose which team to support, but would also provide context. I think that a potential solution is having a living, breathing “Context” document that lists each team and tells you what’s going on with them currently. But even that raises questions: what makes the cutoff for interesting?

Do I continue doing the little flags to signify non-Dutch people? Do I continue linking to Wikipedia pages, or does that mean nothing when there’s no photo? Maybe, I should instead link to Instagram pages, but that doesn’t tell you about their playing history. There are just so many questions in addition to these that I must face and answer through the most effective strategy: trial-and-error.

All in all, I’m a textbook over-thinker. Usually, that benefits me, but in moments like these, I think the added element of you, a spectator, puts that into overdrive. And that’s on me.

Relatedly, a big reason why I’ve been slower with Orangerie has been because I, at the same time, launched another blog: Heterofactual, a blog that recaps episodes of a reality TV series & franchise (go subscribe!!!). But I didn’t tell anyone about it because spoilers were more of a threat. It’s been easier to find my North Star for that one. But that’s also being written more for the insider’s ear—I think part of my struggle for the Orangerie is that I haven’t decided how much my audience knows about soccer.

Either way, thank you for subscribing and receiving (and hopefully reading?) my erratic Eredivisie posts.

It took a whole season of The Office (US) for them to make things click. I won’t take a whole season. And I’m sure that in due time, we’ll reach the Substack-equivalent of an Emmy.

This week, we begin to answer those questions.

PSV, after starting off with a disappointing tie with Fortuna, face a huge test against Excelsior. Feyenoord will have to be at their best to beat Joseph Oosting’s Go Ahead Eagles. And maybe the most mouthwatering matchup of the week is AZ against Utrecht, two teams that both love to attack with intention. That’s gon’sta be some good soccer.

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Games You Can Watch (ESPN+)

Let’s start with PSV-Excelsior: this is a game on upset alert. It is completely within the realm of possibility that Excelsior win this game against a PSV that’s in a bit of a tailspin. I think this could be a high-scoring game. I’m going to go with PSV eking out a 4-3 win; I would also comfortably make a 2-1 Excelsior prediction.

Feyenoord looked good in Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s first game last week, the 1-0 win against Rotterdam rivals Sparta. But the team is still going to be under the microscope. I think this week, against Go Ahead, they struggle a bit more. I’m tempted to predict a draw, but I think Feyenoord have the talent to get the win here. Watch for Feyenoord’s striker Ayase Ueda (#9) to score his first goal of the season, and for Go Ahead’s Victor Edvardsen (#16) to create chances on offense. 2-1 Feyenoord.

This AZ team against Anthony Correia’s Utrecht… a matchup I can’t believe we’re already getting in Week 2 of the season. I’ve said this before, but Anthony Correia’s Telstar last season were so entertaining to watch. Every move the team made was with intention. They all looked composed, comfortable, and motivated. AZ look much improved in their first full season under Leeroy Echteld. I think AZ are just miles ahead of Utrecht in their development. 3-2 AZ (unfortunately).

Ajax are facing a game against Heerenveen that was looking like a cakewalk before the latter’s win over Twente last week. Now that Mika Godts is out of the door… Ajax coach Míchel has some work to do. It’s been mentioned that new star Julian Brandt won’t have the fitness to play a full 90 minutes for a few more weeks. Ajax is suddenly oozing with talent, even with the departure of Godts—but I think they’re entering a lull sans-Godts. 2-1 Ajax.

Games You Can’t Watch… Legally

NEC has arguably the biggest games in their history coming up this week and next, to see if they can qualify for the UEFA Champions League. Can you really blame them for taking their focus off the Eredivisie? They lost 2-1 against Telstar last week, and now face newly-promoted Willem II. These are two games that should be easy on paper. But I think this time, they’ll get the win. 2-0 NEC.

Fortuna are coming off an impressive tie with PSV to start the season, and now they face another newly-promoted team: Cambuur. Fortuna, the “Atlético Madrid of the Netherlands,” look like they’re going to be sneaky good this season, led by coach Danny Buijs. It’s usually pretty difficult for recently promoted teams like Cambuur to have the talent to compete with the Eredivisie regulars. 2-0 Fortuna.

Ooohh, this is a game I wish we could all legally watch: ADO against Groningen. Robin Peter vs. Dick Lukkien. Two teams playing a brand of soccer that’s easy on the eyes. This genuinely is a “cracking” game as they say in England. This is either going to be a 1-0 final score with a lot of missed chances… or it’s going to end 3-3. I think they battle to a tie in this one. 2-2.

Twente, Twente, Twente… they’re in trouble. They could use a big ol’ beautiful win right about now. On paper, PEC Zwolle are the perfect team for that—but in reality, I’m not so sure. Yes, Ajax are still putting the pieces together, but they were barely skating by with a 1-0 advantage last week against PEC until the last minute of the game. I think that speaks to how PEC look under new coach Henry van der Vegt… they’re not going to be a walk in the park. I think Twente’s struggles continue, but I also think they are able to get away with a 1-0 win here.

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And so, the number of surprising results make sense. Like Telstar, the club that was supposed to spend this season hanging on for dear life, beating NEC, the club currently competing for a UEFA Champions League place. I predicted that NEC would wipe the floor in a 4-0 win. I was so confident that NEC would win a game that they lost 2-1 (xG: NEC 2.1 Telstar 1.7). But hey, can you blame them? Their focus is on the Champions League—which, by the way, they’ve never qualified for, ever. All that remains between them and Europe’s most prestigious club competition is Norwegian club Bodø/Glimt, who had a surprise run to the UCL Round of 16 last year. I’m worried for NEC; Bodø’s coach Kjetil Knutsen has shown his well-organized team can compete with anyone. First game is Wednesday the 19th.

Another result I got way wrong? Twente losing to Heerenveen 1-0 (xG: Twente 1.4 Heerenveen 0.4). I thought Twente would win 2-0 and start off the season with a bang. Despite selling Mats Rots, a star player, Twente are talented. But there is reason to worry that their summer acquisitions are making it difficult to put together a good team. Among them is Wout Weghorst, the guy who scored that goal which, as a Dutchman, I will never ever forget; Wout Weghorst is not a good player anymore. He’s a name. Yes, it’s romantic that Weghorst is playing for his hometown club (he is from the region of Twente; he’s a Tukker [took-er]). You may be wondering, “who’s behind this recruiting?” Well, it’s former Manchester United coach Erik ten Hag, who struggled at Manchester United in part because… of his recruiting. Twente are a team that should be very good this year. But they might have shot themselves in the foot with their team building. Let’s just hope they qualify for European competition by beating Azerbaijani club Qarabağ SK on the 20th and 27th. That wouldn’t usually sound intimidating, but Qarabag have put together some impressive European runs in recent years… and they’re still managed by the same coach, Qurban Qurbanov, a name that makes me think of former AZ coach Maarten Martens. Good luck, Twente.

I was allllllmost completely correct about the PSV-Fortuna game. I thought PSV would escape with a 2-1 win, thinking that the one goal from Fortuna would be them capitalizing on PSV’s defensive struggles. This was the sitch until the 92nd minute, when Fortuna doubled down on that storyline and scored a second goal to tie the game 2-2 (xG: PSV 2.6 Fortuna 1.0). This is a huge red flag for PSV; it’s Week 1 and they’ve already missed out on two points out of three. And, not going to lie, Fortuna either looked really good offensively, or PSV looked terribly defensively. We knew coming into the season that PSV would struggle on defense, but this needs to improve if PSV have any hopes of beating Europe’s best in the Champions League this season. Let alone become champions for the fourth year in a row.

Ajax on the other hand—arguably PSV’s biggest rivals for the title this year—started the season off with all three possible points. They won against PEC Zwolle 2-0 (yours truly predicted 3-0) (xG: Ajax 2.0 PEC 0.6) in a game that was closer than Ajax fans would like to admit; that second goal was scored seconds before the game ended. With star player Mika Godts likely off to Paris Saint-Germain, the Amsterdammers have huge shoes to fill. Ajax have looked like completely different teams when Godts has played/when he hasn’t. It’s really a shame—he’s not replaceable. Ajax have recruited some incredibly talented players like Julian Brandt and Marc-Andre ter Stegen, but Godts provided a burst of energy whenever he had the ball. Finding someone who can make the ball stick to their feet like glue… that’s tough. But Ajax GM Jordi Cruijff has earned our trust. We’ll see if Ajax can stop their ceiling from dropping significantly if Godts leaves.

The game I was anticipating the most this weekend was AZ against ADO. I predicted a 3-2 win (xG: AZ 2.7 ADO 0.9); ultimately, the scoreline wasn’t that close, as AZ won 2-0, but it was indeed a very entertaining game to watch. AZ look very, very good, and ADO look like the well-coached unit that their promotion last season promised. ADO are going to fear no one this year. They’ll go as far as their talent can take them.

Sigh… I was also almost right about Utrecht against Groningen. I predicted Utrecht would struggle to a 2-2 draw, but instead they struggled to a 2-1 loss (xG: Utrecht 2.3 Groningen 1.5). As you can see from the Expected Goals—Utrecht could’ve won. If I’m Anthony Correia, I’m feeling positive despite the loss. 2.3 xG usually means a win. Keep doing that and you’ll have a great season.

The last of the games you were able to watch was a treat, Feyenoord Rotterdam against Sparta Rotterdam. This was an entertaining one; Sparta truly are going to be a team to watch under Rogier Meijer. I thought Feyenoord would win 3-1, but they won 1-0 (xG: Feyenoord 3.6 Sparta 1.0). That made for some nervy final minutes for Feyenoord fans, but 3-1 would’ve been a more accurate scoreline for the game we watched. Yes, Feyenoord had a lot of chances, but Sparta totally could’ve won this game regardless. Both teams are going to be fun to watch this season.

I thought Excelsior would beat Cambuur 3-1—I’m very high on Excelsior coach Ruben den Uil—but they blew ‘em out of the water, 4-0 (xG: Excelsior 2.9 Cambuur 0.7). A very impressive start to the season for Excelsior. I’m looking forward to them being on our TVs next week against PSV.

Last but not least, Go Ahead Eagles beat the newly-promoted Willem II 4-1. I thought they’d win 2-0; yes, Willem II are arguably the weakest team in the league, but still a great start for a Go Ahead team that is increasingly interesting under new coach Joseph Oosting.

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Well, one of us did, and so we’re off to a false start, but there’s that wonderful advantage of the Dutch league not being covered in America: You have no idea that anything has happened yet.

“You’re doing a blog about Dutch soccer and you got the start date of the league mixed up?” Well, one of the beauties of life lies within its unpredictability. I’m sure some famous philosopher said something like that.

Let’s get prepared for the season as a whole, and for the matchups of Round 1 that kick us off for 2026-2027.

Top Storylines

• Ajax [Eye-yahks] have had an incredible summer. They’ve brought in All-Star level players thanks to the appointment of Jordi Cruijff [Krau-ff] (Son of the legendary Johan). Cruijff, both thanks to his name and his connections, has revolutionized the club in one summer. Concerns about a lack of quality players have vanished with acquisitions of the creative midfielder Julian Brandt 🇩🇪, the proven forward Marcos Leonardo 🇧🇷, legendary veteran goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen 🇩🇪, technically gifted left-back Caio Henrique 🇧🇷, and 6’6” talented striker Tolu Arokodare 🇳🇬. All fill positions of need. And questions about the head coaching position have quieted ever since Cruijff has brought in Míchel Sanchez 🇪🇸, previously of Spanish club Girona, who so far has had Ajax looking incredibly promising in preseason. They seem to have all the pieces on paper, but now the question is: Can Ajax actually contend for the title?

• PSV are looking to make it four-in-a-row. They’ve dominated Dutch soccer for the last three years, even if one of them only came after a total capitulation by Ajax. They’ve so far kept star player and creative midfielder Joey Veerman [Veer-mahn]. Despite losing Ismael Saibari 🇲🇦 to Bayern Munich, they still have a talented squad, and they’re managed by arguably the best Dutch coach in soccer, Peter Bosz [Pey-ter Bos].

• Feyenoord [Fye-uh-noort] don’t know how thick the ice is. They fired legendary former player and now-coach Robin van Persie [vahn Per-si] after the stench of mediocrity didn’t fade away (they were still able to scrape by some good results, but the level of soccer on display was rough). The truth is that, after a golden age under Arne Slot [Ar-nuh Slot], Feyenoord have struggled to fill his giant shoes. But now, after Van Persie, they’ve turned to another starter from the 2010 World Cup Final: Giovanni van Bronckhorst [vahn Bronk-horst]. Van Bronckhorst was previously Feyenoord manager from 2015-2019, and under him the club won their first Eredivisie title in 17 years in addition to the Dutch Cup. Feyenoord leadership are hoping he can emulate that success with a talented team at his disposal that includes Sem Steijn [Sem Stine], World Cup standout Jordan Bos 🇦🇺, World Cup starting striker Ayase Ueda 🇯🇵, and the tricky Anis Hadj Moussa 🇩🇿. This author isn’t so sure.

• AZ are going to surprise people. It looks like they’re keeping high-potential youngster Kees Smit [Case Smit] from the clutches of clubs like Real Madrid for one more year. Even though they lost gifted midfielder Sven Mijnans [Sven My-nahns] to PSV, they still have a sneaky talented team that blew PSV away in the lead-up to the season, the Johan Cruijff Shield (yes, that game was marred by an early red card for this collision, a certified ouchy, but still an impressive display by AZ). AZ won the Dutch Cup last year, and so they’re in the Europa League—and under coach Leeroy Echteld, they look promising.

• Competition will be incredibly tight. There are multiple teams to watch out for this year, even aside from the top four. NEC Nijmegen [Nye-may-ghun] are an attacking force under coach Dick Schreuder [Schr-oi-der]. FC Twente [Tven-tuh] are ambitious and have talent, including recently acquired Wout Weghorst [Vow-t Veg-horst]. FC Utrecht [Oot-trekt] are coached by Anthony Correia [Corr-ay-ah], who performed a minor miracle last year by keeping tiny Telstar in the Eredivisie—who knows what Correia can do with an Utrecht team that’s ten-times as talented? FC Groningen [Grow-ning-en] were incredibly fun to watch last year under Dick Lukkien’s [Luke-een] leadership, and they’re likely to be a well-oiled machine again this year. Sparta Rotterdam [Spar-tah Rohtterdahm] have coach Rogier Meijer [Meyer] back, and they’re going to be a tricky team to beat. Excelsior Rotterdam [Ek-cell-see-or Rohtterdahm] are led by Ruben den Uil [den Owl], a coach who showed last year that his team can compete with anyone by playing organized and well-intentioned soccer (they impressed this viewer every time they came on the TV). And even the newly-promoted ADO Den Haag [A-D-O Den Haahkh] are led by Robin Peter 🇩🇪, who impressed with free-flowing, fluid, successful soccer in the Dutch 2nd division. Personally, I can’t wait to see ADO in action. And they’re on our TVs this weekend in a juicy matchup against AZ. We’re in for a treat. But, I digress: the point is that almost all 18 of these teams are competitive. And for better or worse, Dutch soccer has playoffs at the end of the season, for teams who get places 4-7 in the standings, to see who makes it into European competition next year (and who gets that sweet cash that comes with it). And so places 1-7 in the standings mean something. And everyone’s gunning for a piece.

Season Predictions

Predictions felt easier a few months ago than they do now. So many teams have strengthened themselves, looked good in preseason, or have a reason to be hopeful that they can begin with a winning record. That being said, this is how I think it’ll end:

Predicted Final Standings

1. Ajax — UEFA Champions League

2. PSV — UEFA Champions League qualifying

3. AZ — UEFA Europa League qualifying

4. Utrecht — KNVB Beker Winners* — UEFA Europa League

5. Feyenoord — European Playoffs

6. Twente — European Playoffs

7. NEC — European Playoffs

8. Groningen — European Playoffs

9. Sparta

10. ADO

11. Heerenveen

12. Go Ahead

13. Excelsior

14. Fortuna

15. PEC

16. Cambuur (Into the Relegation/Promotion Playoffs)

17. Willem II (Directly Relegated)

18. Telstar (Directly Relegated)

*NOTE: The winner of the KNVB Beker [Baker], the Dutch Cup competition, qualifies directly for the UEFA Europa League.

Why I Think This Will Happen:

• Thanks to injuries, PSV are still a team of pieces that need to mesh together, and I think that coach Bosz has a cloud hanging over him: long story short, it’s known that coaching the Dutch national team is his dream job. Earlier this year, PSV were pushing him to sign a new contract with them and needed an answer; the KNVB clearly could make him no promises about having the job after the World Cup. So he re-signed with PSV. And then the Dutch World Cup collapse #embarrassing #toosoon happened, and coach Ronald Koeman quit. Bosz could’ve had his dream job, and the opportunity may not come again, and he knows it. No matter how hard he tries, it’s going to affect his work; they’ve won three titles in a row now. They know the goal this year is to excel in European games in the Champions League. Distractions abound.

• Meanwhile, Ajax have the motivation of a cannon to win their first title since 2022. I just think this influx of talent and smart coaching by Míchel will allow them to leapfrog PSV to a championship. While PSV will be facing Europe’s best in the Champions League, Ajax will be facing Europe’s sub-sub top, and will be able to put more of their focus towards the league.

• Utrecht is otherwise the most surprising feature of these standings. I saw Anthony Correia bring barely-professional players into his Telstar team and make them look like All-Stars. Genuinely, Correia’s Telstar were incredible to watch last year. Each of the 11 players on the field was composed. They were relaxed. They knew what to do with the ball and without the ball. And their play style was like what you’d imagine prime Barcelona would look like today. I know that sounds like I’m exaggerating. But I was just floored every time they played a televised game. And when you see Correia speak, you kind of get it; he’s a guy who carries an aura of assurance and warmth about him. That’s the kind of coach who can get the most out of every player. I don’t see any reason he won’t have incredible success with a team that is full of seasoned professionals, even if they don’t have the most talent.

  • I predict Utrecht to win the Dutch Cup competition for these reasons. Correia got tiny Telstar to the semifinals of the Cup last season, and they almost made it to the final after a very close loss to AZ. He’s clearly built for knockout-style soccer, and without the distraction of European games, I think Correia will be able to work his magic (I say this, but watch it just be Ajax winning both the league and the cup!).

• I think Feyenoord will struggle under Giovanni van Bronckhorst. I’m sorry to say it, because he’s a very likable character, but soccer is very different now than it was in 2019. And I think Feyenoord have talent, but I think it might take a minute for him to get everything to click. I might regret not swapping Utrecht and Feyenoord here, to be honest, but I fear that the instability at the Rotterdam club continues.

• ADO 10th is a great finish for a newly-promoted club. I think highly of coach Robin Peter after reading this interview he did with the Dutch Voetbal International. And his team did dazzle the 2nd division last year. I think that if he had more talent at his disposal, he could do better. It was notable last year that, if I remember correctly, Anthony Correia’s newly-promoted Telstar would’ve been 10th or so if games had ended five minutes early; regardless of the actual statistic, the potential is there for a team to enter the Eredivisie with a bang.

• I think NEC will suffer some surprise defeats/draws in the league as a result of competing hard in either the Champions League or the Europa League. They know that they’re competing on the world stage now—the first NEC appearance in Europe in 17 years. 2008 was a time when presidential candidates were lauded for having websites. Europe will be their focus; it’ll cause them to slip in the league a bit under a Twente side that feels determined in their second year under John van den Brom [vahn den Brom].

• I would like to see Groningen finish higher than 8th. They always entertain when you watch them. But every team above them simply has more talent.

• Heerenveen might be my most precarious pick. They seem solid under Robin Veldman [Velt-mahn], but it’s a question of whether they have the talent to keep up. I wouldn’t be surprised if they finish as high as 9th or as low as 14th.

Televised Game Previews

PSV v. Fortuna Sittard — Watchability Grade: B+

• Going In: PSV got demolished in the aforementioned Johan Cruijff Shield, and that has put a sour taste in fans’ mouths before the official start of the season. They’re going to be looking to jump out of the gates hot. Fortuna Sittard [For-too-nah Sitt-art] are actually a really good barometer-matchup for PSV in the first week. Fortuna are known as the Atlético Madrid of the Netherlands because of their preference for scoring an early goal and then battling out a physical and defensively solid 1-0 win. PSV fans should use this game to decide how they’re feeling about the rest of the season. I think PSV do make it past Fortuna and the talented Mohamed Ihattaren 🇲🇦, but Fortuna capitalize on the defensive struggles that PSV showed all throughout preseason. 2-1 PSV.

• Watchability Grade: PSV are always so fun to watch in a way that pleases the brain. They’re pretty much at a B minimum whenever they play just because of the beautiful soccer that you’ll likely see. But this’ll actually be interesting to see if PSV can break through Fortuna, and Fortuna have the talent to capitalize on an opportunity to break the Eindhoven hearts.

• Player to Watch (PSV): Ruben van Bommel [vahn Bomb-mel], #7. Son of esteemed former player and now-coach-of-Belgium Mark van Bommel, he’s clearly inherited some talent. I’ve been big on Van Bommel for years, and he’s slowly developing into a world-class player. Watch his dribbles, his passes, and the way he hits the ball—there’s a higher level that I think he’s going to reach this season.

• Player to Watch (Fortuna): Mohamed Ihattaren, #10. He is the creative engine of the team, and anything you see happen from Fortuna is going to have him involved. This is a player who has had a wild ride of a career for only being 24. He burst onto the scene in 2019 for PSV, and he oozed so much talent that he was courted by the Dutch soccer federation to commit his international future to the Netherlands, which he did. But then his father passed away. And then he fell out with the PSV coach over disciplinary reasons. He transferred to Italian giant Juventus, where he was immediately loaned to Italian club Sampdoria… where he fell out of favor due to a reported lack of professionalism. He then was loaned to Ajax, but in Amsterdam he reportedly got involved with gangs/criminality. A few clubs later, he impressed with Dutch club RKC before being signed by Fortuna. He’s only 24, and so he still has his future ahead of him (although he has now said any national team games he plays will be for Morocco. Bummer); you can see when he has the ball that there is so much potential still within him.

AZ Alkmaar v. ADO Den Haag — Watchability Grade: A+

• Going In: AZ is like the “almost” team—they’re always circling around the top, but they rarely actually bring home the bacon. However, what success they do see is a result of a talented youth academy and great scouting. Sort of like England’s Brighton in terms of intelligent decisions and smart squadbuilding. All of that is on display again this season. But this is going to be a tough matchup for them. ADO under Robin Peter isn’t just going to sit back and play for 0-0; they’re going to play to win. AZ will have to be sharp mentally; Peter is a good coach and will anticipate them. Ultimately, I think AZ have the talent to see it out. 3-2 AZ.

• Watchability Grade: What a matchup to start the season with. I mean, wow. AZ have looked so good to start—and ADO are like a heat check. You know ADO are going to be organized, disciplined, and well-trained. AZ, we already know, are talented and love to attack. This is going to be like watching a game of chess between two people who want to go in for the kill every time.

• Player to Watch (ADO): Daryl van Mieghem [Darryl vahn Mee-ghem], #7, but also really just the whole team. Most of these players didn’t play in the Eredivisie last year; this first game is them getting used to the intensity as much as anything. But the 36-year-old, Eredivisie-experienced Van Mieghem is the exception. If he’s cool and collected on the ball, that’ll help the rest of the team do the same.

• Player to Watch (AZ): Weslley Patati 🇧🇷, also #7. He’s an electric winger who makes you feel like something can happen whenever he has the ball. His name is also not technically Patati, even though that’s what he’s known by. As a kid, he couldn’t afford soccer cleats, and so he would borrow them from older players, leading to him usually wearing shoes too big for his feet. This earned him the nickname Patati, after the Brazilian clown duo Patati Patatá.

Sparta Rotterdam v. Feyenoord Rotterdam — Watchability Grade: A

• Going In: Feyenoord are going to be immediately under the microscope as fans hope that the level of soccer improves. And there’s no better first test than the Rotterdam Derby (technically one of three, as Excelsior are also a club from Rotterdam). Sparta are now under the tutelage of Rogier Meijer, who longtime Eredivisie fans know as the former coach of NEC Nijmegen. Meijer took NEC from the Dutch 2nd tier into the Eredivisie and kept them there before leaving last year; he was the foundation for NEC’s best-ever 3rd place finish under his replacement Dick Schreuder. This is a great barometer game for fans of both teams. I think it’ll be closer than the scoreline reflects. 3-1 Feyenoord.

• Watchability Grade: This should be such an interesting game; Feyenoord have so much talent, but Sparta also have enough talent to punish sloppy play. It’s truly a toss-up for how this game goes. I also wonder if Meijer came back to coach in the Netherlands after seeing his successor succeed so prominently with NEC. I have no reason to believe this other than it possibly being true—but if you were him, wouldn't you feel like you have something to prove? There’s a chance Sparta end up as one of the most entertaining teams in the league this season.

• Player to Watch (Sparta): Robin van Cruijsen [vahn Krau-sen], #18. He was one of the few bright spots for FC Volendam last year, despite the club’s relegation. Van Cruijsen is too good to not be in the Eredivisie. Look for the midfielder to display class with each of his touches. Just in case he doesn’t start, let’s go with Jens Toornstra, #8. He’s an experienced Eredivisie veteran in midfield. Look for him to deliver some balance in the center of the field.

• Player to Watch (Feyenoord): Sem Steijn, #14. He was scooped up by Feyenoord last summer after impressing at FC Twente, but got caught up in the drama that was Robin van Persie’s tenure as Feyenoord coach. He’s another that might not start from the jump—and even if so, it’s tough to pick just one Feyenoord player to watch. Luciano Valente, #10, drives their midfield. Tricky winger Anis Hadj Moussa, #23, is exciting whenever he gets the ball. And right-back Givairo Read, #26, is being watched by Europe’s richest clubs. There’s a lot to watch for in this game. And I didn’t even mention Robin van Persie’s son, Shaqueel van Persie, a striker who will probably come on late as a substitute.

PEC Zwolle v. AFC Ajax — Watchability Grade: B

• Going In: All of a sudden, Ajax are championship contenders. They have played some pretty entertaining soccer under Míchel so far, but PEC Zwolle [Peck Zw-oh-luh] is their first real test. Even if we don’t see their shiny new players on display today, expect Ajax to dazzle fans with the kind of soccer you’d expect from the inventors of Total Football. 3-0 Ajax.

• Watchability Grade: The question of what Ajax will look like—and the likely answer of them playing entertaining soccer for 90 minutes—makes this a solid B grade. To be honest with you, I’m not sure what to expect from PEC. They have a new head coach this season, Henry van der Vegt [vahn der Vekht], who has never head coached before. But, they do have quality in the team, and if their new coach turns out to be good at his job, they could give Ajax a run for their money.

• Player to Watch (PEC): Ryan Thomas 🇳🇿, #30. Fresh off representing New Zealand at the World Cup, Thomas is back with PEC as the heart & soul of the team. He’s a composed presence in the midfield, and look for him to dictate things when PEC have the ball.

• Player to Watch (Ajax): It’s hard to pick just one—let’s go with Julian Brandt, #8. He’s such a creative player, and he’s going to be dangerous whenever he has the ball. In case he doesn’t start, Oscar Gloukh 🇮🇱, #10, seems to have cemented a starting place under Míchel, and for good reason. Gloukh seems like he has soccer-ball-glue on his shoes when he dribbles. He’s the same height as Lionel Messi—5’7”—and is a similar type player. Look for him to entertain, and notice how selfish he is (or isn’t) on the ball; last year his biggest flaw was that he’d always try to go it alone.

UnTelevised Game Previews

Excelsior v. Cambuur

• Cambuur [Kam-brr] were just promoted into the Eredivisie, so they’re looking to show people that they deserve to stay. But they’re starting off against Ruben den Uil’s well-coached Excelsior team. I don’t think Cambuur will survive this one. 3-1 Excelsior.

NEC v. Telstar

• This’ll be a good game if you’re an NEC fan. Not so much if you’re a Telstar fan. This is going to be like feeding the lions. 4-0 NEC.

Go Ahead Eagles v. Willem II

• Go Ahead Eagles are an interesting club, even if they haven’t always played attractive soccer in the past. But they’re now coached by Joseph Oosting [Oast-ing], who I thought was hard-done-by when he was fired from FC Twente last year. Twente were simply fun to watch under him. It’ll be interesting to see (well, not legally for us Americans, sadly) how he has them play. Willem II [Vil-um Tvay] were just promoted, and beat the odds to do so by pulling out wins in the promotion playoffs. I don’t have high expectations for them, mainly because it’s always hard for newly-promoted teams to match the more-stable Eredivisie teams in terms of player quality. 2-0 Go Ahead.

Groningen v. Utrecht

• We’re all truly worse off that this game is not televised. Groningen [Grow-ning-en] are always bright and well-organized, and Utrecht’s debut game under Anthony Correia is one I could not be more excited for. If I were more annoying, I’d make a bigger stink about how we Americans are unable to watch this game legally. I have no idea how this will go, but it’s going to be fun. My best guess is that Correia’s Utrecht have growing pains that Groningen capitalize on. 2-2.

Heerenveen v. Twente

• I’ll be honest with you, Heerenveen [Hay-run-veyn] is one of the clubs I probably know the least about. No matter who they employ at coach or player, they always seem to finish in the 8-12 range in the standings. But either way, Twente is certainly the story here. Erik ten Hag [Eric ten Hahkh] is their Director of Football, and he recently lamented publicly about Dutch clubs underperforming in Europe—soon after, Twente were eliminated from the Europa League qualifying (they still have hope in Conference League qualifying). There’s a lot of pressure on Twente to start off strong, and I think they do. 2-0 Twente.

Enjoy the weekend!