In my weekly previews, I’ve been trying to predict the games—and I’ve had a pretty decent run so far.
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!
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.
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.
Every time I say “bet” I should note that I do not endorse sports-betting of any kind. But, for some reason, a Dutchman filling out a Toto is far less problematic than an American using DraftKings or FanDuel. I’m sure that’s a something-ism.