Dutch competition will be a unpredictable feast!

Johan Derksen’s column on www.vi.nl:

Thanks to a couple of sponsor with a big heart for the club Feyenoord can join the title candidates for this coming competition. Four teams will fight for the championship. And that is a guarantee for exciting and thrilling matches. And top entertainment after the match, because both Louis van Gaal and Henk ten Cate are funny under stress. Better stand up comedians are not available in Holland.

The PSV and Feyenoord coaches, Ronald Koeman and Bert van Marwijk, are much better at hiding their emotions and frustrations. About Van Gaal I always read that he is who he is because he can’t stand injustice and because he is so honest. Most coaches seems to have a split personality. Ten Cate is a friendly and smart cosmopolitan gentleman but after matches he sometimes almost explodes. HSV coach Huub Stevens is a great example. I never met a more friendly and warm personality in my life. We became close when we both analysed Bundesliga matches for RTL Sport. But when his team loses a game, the slightest can set him off. The wrong remark and you’ll need to visit a dentist for new front teeth.

AZ has arrived. AZ can’t be stopped. Not by Ajax, PSV or Feyenoord. In Holland, ridiculously rich people are always suspect, but without Scheringa AZ would be of the level of Telstar and Volendam. Today, AZ is the cream of the crop in the Eredivisie and if that means I will need to tolerate that genuine coach, so be it.

Sneijder’s decision to stay with Ajax another year means that Ajax will also play for the title. Without the two-legged playmaker, Ajax is a different, weaker team. And it’s almost impossible to replace him. Ajax does not have money for that. So, Ten Cate will be happy, although I do think the Ajax management underestimated the fickle behaviour of their coach. His football technical skills as a coach are top notch, but his social skills – or lack there of – get him in trouble everywhere he was in charge.
Ten Cate is not an easy man to work with and his due date is approaching quickly. Martin van Geel, Ajax technical director, has a special bond with Co Adriaanse and my sources tell me Adriaanse will succeed Ten Cate next season, or maybe even sooner…

PSV will have a tough season. Alex will probably leave for Chelsea, Cocu retired.. The foundations are there, and the future looks bright thanks to talents like Afellay, Aissati and Bakkal. But there are no real successors to the throne abandoned by Alex and Cocu. Zonneveld has a strong left foot but is a mediocre player overall and Danko Lazovic failed at the last top club – Feyenoord – he played for.
I have more faith in the restored Feyenoord team, led by the new director on midfield Giovanni van Bronckhorst. The group van Marwijk assembled is so strong that a sale of Drenthe now, for a lot of money, would be most welcome. Feyenoord’s debt is bigger than 17 Mio Euros so a successful transfer to Madrid, Barcelona or London would make life for the financial director much more comfortable.
Drenthe played a good tournament with the U21’s but his qualities are a bit overrated. It’s even the question if the youngster will grab a starters’ position in Van Marwijk’s line-up. All positions are taken, maybe Drenthe can excel in the left winger position, but as a left back he never really impressed. With or without Drenthe, Feyenoord will probably report back in the top ranks of the competition and who knows…? Every football fan will applaud that.

The clash in the subtop will also be fascinating. Heerenveen has always led the pack, but can they do it without phenomenal chairman Riemer van der Velde. FC Groningen wants to steal the Crown of the North. FC Groningen made quite some big leaps with success coach Ron Jans and the move to the Euroborg stadium. FC Twente chairman Munsterman must be happy to. The ambitious and energetic entrepreneur sees his club going into Europe, led by underrated coach Fred Rutten. FC Utrecht planned their coupe for this year not so much by buying new exciting players but by attracting Willem van Hanegem as their new coach.

Although the expectations with De Kromme at the reigns have skyrocketed, still Van Hanegem is the right man at the right place. He wants to finish off his wonderful career with one last stint. Willem had a luxurious and well-paid job as analyst for Voetbal Insite and enjoys himself golfing, but he wanted to coach a team just one more time. He flirted with the Morrocan National Team and some other options in England, but he went for his old club FC Utrecht. This way, he could stay with his family too. I do wish Willem a better group, because even a living legend like him can’t really turn water into wine. But, Utrecht is ready for a change. The number 5 City in Holland needs better support from the business world and particularly the local government to make the jump to the top.

I will not make the same mistake as last year and try to predict the outcome of this competition. Last season I predicted that AZ would become champs, and just to annoy me, Van Gaal instructed his team to lose on that last match day.

But no worries, even Cruyff and Van Gaal were never able to win the Football Lottery.