If I have one note about this season, it’s that Eredivisie clubs and coaches seem to have taken the World Cup personally. All that criticism that came the Dutch way about Ronald Koeman’s style of play was warranted—I don’t need to remind anyone how atrocious that game against Morocco was—but it was driven by claims that Dutch soccer had lost its way.
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.”
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
PSV — 16
AZ — 16
Feyenoord — 14
Ajax — 13
Twente — 13
Excelsior — 10
Fortuna — 10
Go Ahead — 9
Groningen — 8
N.E.C. — 7
Heerenveen — 6
Sparta — 5
Telstar — 5
Utrecht — 5
Cambuur — 4
PEC — 4
Willem II — 2
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.
I almost let Marco Rubio’s bad grammar rub off on me. “Dispel with” is incorrect.
You can watch them live on ESPN+ or stream the games at your convenience for up to ~four weeks after they air. I personally make use of the “Disney+ bundle” that includes ESPN+.