Want to know if the Eredivisie is a league for you?
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.
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:
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.