AZ: season lost already??

AZ is kicked out of the national cup and lost three games in a row! Louis van Gaal can’t be a happy trooper. And the fans for the first time in years showed their dissatisfaction with the way things are going with the almost-champions of last season.

Without a doubt, the powers that be at AZ are questioning the decisions made in the summer by Van Gaal. Arveladze was allowed a free transfer to Spain and his buddy upfront, Danny Koevermans - neo-international and club topscorer, wasn’t so important to Van Gaal anymore. With the new signings, Van Gaal figured the Koev would be the number 4 striker in the pack. But, Koevermans is typically the type of striker AZ needs. There’s 9 guys on the pitch who can work wonders with the ball, and then you need that one guy upfront (Van Nistelrooy anyone?) who says “cut the crap” and just smashes the ball in the net. Danny can work his magic at rival PSV now and AZ isn’t looking to hot. They occupy the eleventh place in the Eredivisie standings at the moment (after having lost against Heracles, this time).

Louis van Gaal: “It’s not a bad thing. These are great lessons. We have a young team and they need to learn to handle upsets and setbacks. It’s quite a change with the last two seasons when everything went smoothly. Now we lost three times in a row. Technically and tactically we are doing fine. These boys can all play football, that’s not so much the problem. It’s the mental component at the moment. When it was 1-1 against Heracles, for us it was a downer, while Heracles found new strength. With that, the match was played. I saw it against Cambuur too (they lost the cup match). Players forget their tasks, leave their position and start doing things they shouldn’t. I can understand it, but I can’t allow it. But I cherish the situation, because we will be so much stronger when we get out of this.”

In defense for Van Gaal, due to injuries the average age of the AZ team against Heracles was 21,5 years.

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