Dutch Eredivisie to start…

It’s about time too… The Olympic football tournament didn’t do it for me (while at this very moment Nigeria and Argentina play for the gold…). I think partly due to the horrible broadcast of this here Olympics, and due to Holland’s inability to live up to their reputation and ambitions.

So, let’s see if the Dutch competition can revitalize my hunger for the ball.

Ajax has done well in the last months. Van Basten, Blind, Van ‘t Schip, Witschge, Bergkamp… And these are merely the technical staff members… But, it seems the Hunter stays, they also secured the services of some new exciting players, Aissati being one of them … All in all, it seems Ajax is in pretty good shape!

PSV starts with a new coach as well, former defender and PSV youth coach “tough Huub” Stevens left HSV Hamburg to finally take the spot PSV offered him many times. PSV lost Gomes and Farfan, but they signed Nordin Amrabat as Farfan’s replacement. And in England, they already know who he is.

Feyenoord is the third top club with a new coach. Heerenveen coach Gert Jan Verbeek took over from Oranje’s new team manager Van Marwijk. Jon Dahl Tomasson is one of Feyenoord’s new signings.

PSV and Feyenoord will start the competition tomorrow with the traditional Super Cup (the so-called Johan Cruyff cup), which is the confrontation between the champs and the cup winners.

Feyenoord and Oranje captain Gio van Bronckhorst: “I’ve never been in such extreme circumstances, what with all the injuries. Makaay, De Guzman, Tomasson… They’re all out. It’s going to be tough. We’re not ready yet, which is why we recently lost against amateur club Barendrecht. We need to play players that last season where on the transfer list. But, that’s football. We’ll do what we can against PSV of course.”

Gio knows that in a normal situation, Feyenoord is one of the candidates for the title. “Sure! We’re Feyenoord! We always play for the title. But, reality is reality. If you can’t play your best players it will be tough. Don’t forget Ajax did well last summer, and PSV will not be much weaker than last year. They will miss their goalie of course, but still… AZ won’t have such a weak season this time around, so it will be tough. And then I’m not even talking about FC Twente or NEC…”

Being the skipper for Feyenoord and Oranje doesn’t give the former Arsenal and Barca star more pressure. “Not at all. It comes with the territory. As player of Barca, Arsenal, Oranje or Feyenoord there’s always pressure. I am 33 years old now and have a deal at Feyenoord till 2010. That’s when I plan to play my last World Cup tournament. I’m very much looking forward to that, but first we’ll try to snatch the Super Cup. It’s a prize and there aren’t a lot of those…”