These threads are starting to pop up, so I'd better be quick before I lose my thread starter status! (And what great use did I make of it last season!)
So, what's happening in the Netherlands? Obviously, Ajax took last year's title, meaning they've qualified directly for the Champions League group stage. Having come second (while they also won the cup), PSV enters it in the third qualifying round. Feyenoord will be in the EL group stage, while Twente and AZ (as European play-offs winners) are entering the qualifying rounds of the Conference League, and will be looking to play a gazillion matches only to be outfoxed by an Italian or Spanish club in the finals. At the bottom, PEC Zwolle, Willem II, and Heracles (as relegation play-offs losers) got relegated to the Eerste Divisie, to be replaced this year by Emmen, Volendam, and Excelsior.
In terms of predictions, everything is up in the air for this year. Ajax obviously lost Ten Hag, and may also be losing all of Mazraoui and Gravenberch (Bayern), Onana (Inter), Haller (Dortmund), Timber, Anthony, Martinez (all to United? why not!), Brobbey, and Ihattaren (end of loan; might be bought or renewed?). The only big name coming in that I've heard about is Bergwijn from Spurs. Some of that remains to be confirmed, Onana wasn't playing anymore anyway, and Ajax always have a great academy and scouting network; but still, that's a lot of quality gone, plus a relative unknown in their new coach, Alfred Schreuder. So let's see how that will play out.
Similarly, PSV lost their coach Roger Schmidt and replaced him with Ruud van Nistelrooij in his first top-flight job. They have also lost Mario Götze (Frankfurt), Bruma (Besiktas), and may be without Zahavi, Sangaré, and Gakpo by the end of the transfer window. In turn, they are signing Walter Benítez from Nice in hopes of geting their first reliable goalkeeper since... Waterreus?, and are looking to bring Luuk de Jong back. Not as wild as Ajax maybe, but all remains to be seen here as well.
Feyenoord then? At least they got continuity at the top with Slot starting his second season, which I think is their greatest asset. I don't know too much about most of their confirmed and rumoured transfers, but certainly Cyriel Dessers returning to Genk will be a big loss for them. And as always, Feyenoord are severely strapped for cash, so they can't sign big names and will probably again have a relatively thin squad. For them to win the league, there would have to be a significant drop in performance from both PSV and Ajax, I think.
If PSV and Ajax do drop off and Feyenoord can't capitalize on it, then we can start looking at the subtop. I expect Twente's season to have been a flash in the pan, so I would rather be looking at AZ and Vitesse for any challenge to the top 3. Vitesse is the Dutch Neverkusen though (and of lesser status; even if they did win the cup in 2017), and even though I rate AZ's coach Pascal Jansen irrationally high, they'd have to make a pretty big step up. On the other hand, part of their issue last year was longer periods where they were losing a lot of points, so if they can reduce that (and again, if the top 3 aren't very consistent), maybe they can be competitive.
That's potentially pretty exciting, and so is the bottom of the league, for those interested. Or maybe it's rather very unexciting, cause it seems to me that there's so much poor quality in the league that literally half its clubs will go into the season worrying that they might be part of the relegation battle. I would expect this to apply for all of Cambuur, Emmen, Excelsior, Fortuna Sittard, Go Ahead Eagles, NEC, RKC, Sparta, and Volendam. (Yep, that makes 9!) If I'd have to bet, I'd put Volendam, Excelsior, and RKC in the bottom spots, but who knows really.
So, what do we think!
So, what's happening in the Netherlands? Obviously, Ajax took last year's title, meaning they've qualified directly for the Champions League group stage. Having come second (while they also won the cup), PSV enters it in the third qualifying round. Feyenoord will be in the EL group stage, while Twente and AZ (as European play-offs winners) are entering the qualifying rounds of the Conference League, and will be looking to play a gazillion matches only to be outfoxed by an Italian or Spanish club in the finals. At the bottom, PEC Zwolle, Willem II, and Heracles (as relegation play-offs losers) got relegated to the Eerste Divisie, to be replaced this year by Emmen, Volendam, and Excelsior.
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ajax (C) | 34 | 26 | 5 | 3 | 98 | 19 | +79 | 83 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
2 | PSV Eindhoven | 34 | 26 | 3 | 5 | 86 | 42 | +44 | 81 | Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round |
3 | Feyenoord | 34 | 22 | 5 | 7 | 76 | 34 | +42 | 71 | Qualification to Europa League group stage[a] |
4 | Twente | 34 | 20 | 8 | 6 | 55 | 37 | +18 | 68 | Qualification to Europa Conference League third qualifying round |
5 | AZ (O) | 34 | 18 | 7 | 9 | 64 | 44 | +20 | 61 | Qualification to European competition play-offs |
6 | Vitesse | 34 | 15 | 6 | 13 | 42 | 51 | −9 | 51 | Qualification to European competition play-offs |
7 | Utrecht | 34 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 51 | 46 | +5 | 47 | Qualification to European competition play-offs |
8 | SC Heerenveen | 34 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 37 | 50 | −13 | 41 | Qualification to European competition play-offs |
9 | Cambuur | 34 | 11 | 6 | 17 | 53 | 70 | −17 | 39 | |
10 | RKC Waalwijk | 34 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 40 | 51 | −11 | 38 | |
11 | NEC | 34 | 10 | 8 | 16 | 38 | 52 | −14 | 38 | |
12 | Groningen | 34 | 9 | 9 | 16 | 41 | 55 | −14 | 36 | |
13 | Go Ahead Eagles | 34 | 10 | 6 | 18 | 37 | 51 | −14 | 36 | |
14 | Sparta Rotterdam | 34 | 8 | 11 | 15 | 30 | 48 | −18 | 35 | |
15 | Fortuna Sittard | 34 | 10 | 5 | 19 | 36 | 67 | −31 | 35 | |
16 | Heracles Almelo (R) | 34 | 9 | 7 | 18 | 33 | 49 | −16 | 34 | Qualification to Relegation play-offs |
17 | Willem II (R) | 34 | 9 | 6 | 19 | 32 | 57 | −25 | 33 | Relegation to Eerste Divisie |
18 | PEC Zwolle (R) | 34 | 7 | 6 | 21 | 26 | 52 | −26 | 27 | Relegation to Eerste Divisie |
In terms of predictions, everything is up in the air for this year. Ajax obviously lost Ten Hag, and may also be losing all of Mazraoui and Gravenberch (Bayern), Onana (Inter), Haller (Dortmund), Timber, Anthony, Martinez (all to United? why not!), Brobbey, and Ihattaren (end of loan; might be bought or renewed?). The only big name coming in that I've heard about is Bergwijn from Spurs. Some of that remains to be confirmed, Onana wasn't playing anymore anyway, and Ajax always have a great academy and scouting network; but still, that's a lot of quality gone, plus a relative unknown in their new coach, Alfred Schreuder. So let's see how that will play out.
Similarly, PSV lost their coach Roger Schmidt and replaced him with Ruud van Nistelrooij in his first top-flight job. They have also lost Mario Götze (Frankfurt), Bruma (Besiktas), and may be without Zahavi, Sangaré, and Gakpo by the end of the transfer window. In turn, they are signing Walter Benítez from Nice in hopes of geting their first reliable goalkeeper since... Waterreus?, and are looking to bring Luuk de Jong back. Not as wild as Ajax maybe, but all remains to be seen here as well.
Feyenoord then? At least they got continuity at the top with Slot starting his second season, which I think is their greatest asset. I don't know too much about most of their confirmed and rumoured transfers, but certainly Cyriel Dessers returning to Genk will be a big loss for them. And as always, Feyenoord are severely strapped for cash, so they can't sign big names and will probably again have a relatively thin squad. For them to win the league, there would have to be a significant drop in performance from both PSV and Ajax, I think.
If PSV and Ajax do drop off and Feyenoord can't capitalize on it, then we can start looking at the subtop. I expect Twente's season to have been a flash in the pan, so I would rather be looking at AZ and Vitesse for any challenge to the top 3. Vitesse is the Dutch Neverkusen though (and of lesser status; even if they did win the cup in 2017), and even though I rate AZ's coach Pascal Jansen irrationally high, they'd have to make a pretty big step up. On the other hand, part of their issue last year was longer periods where they were losing a lot of points, so if they can reduce that (and again, if the top 3 aren't very consistent), maybe they can be competitive.
That's potentially pretty exciting, and so is the bottom of the league, for those interested. Or maybe it's rather very unexciting, cause it seems to me that there's so much poor quality in the league that literally half its clubs will go into the season worrying that they might be part of the relegation battle. I would expect this to apply for all of Cambuur, Emmen, Excelsior, Fortuna Sittard, Go Ahead Eagles, NEC, RKC, Sparta, and Volendam. (Yep, that makes 9!) If I'd have to bet, I'd put Volendam, Excelsior, and RKC in the bottom spots, but who knows really.
So, what do we think!
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