No surprises in the Dutch Eredivisie…

Daley Blind: bright future ahead…

Not true of course…

Surprise number 1. Feyenoord didn’t win, again! At home, against low rider De Graafschap, Feyenoord lost 1-3 after having been down 0-3!! The support of the fans is wavering, now newspaper De Telegraaf (Amsterdam based, mind you and pro-Ajax) published an article before the De Graafschap game with “secret statements from anonymous Feyenoord players” that they’re fed up with Gertjan Verbeek’s way of working.

“He treats the players like kids. Is not clear in his communication. Makes weird tactical choices. Is too dominant in his nutrition and fitness methods, etc etc”. The newspaper tells how Verbeek and Tomasson had a huge row during training – in front of the whole group – about Tomasson’s recovery program. And how Verbeek told experienced players like Makaay, Hofland and Lucius to go to bed after the Deportivo game, in front of some friendly fans, etc.

Verbeek shrugged when confronted with this news. “We’re not a 100% happy family at Feyenoord, but that’s normal when the results are disappointing. But the examples De Telegraaf gives are nonsense. These things didn’t happen. I am actually very pleased with the way Tomasson works to get back.”

Peter Bosz can’t ignore the rumor and has announced that he will talk to the players about this. “That’s part of my role. But I talk to them on a daily basis and I can’t imagine this to be true. And, we signed Verbeek because we wanted significant changes in our club. Those changes won’t happen without friction, we know that. Don’t think we will now suddenly change our vision because of one article in the newspapers.”

Proud Dad Danny and wife watch their kid impress the fans…

Surprise number 2: Daley Blind shows himself… Ajax won their game against Volendam (in the national cup Ajax lost) 2-1. That in itself wasn’t remarkable. What was, was the first official game in Ajax 1 of one Daley Blind, son of former Ajax captain Danny Blind, CL winner in 1995 and now technical manager at Ajax. The 18 year old has been hailed as Ajax’ next big thing and he showed as much when he came on in the second half and immediately forced the corner kick resulting in an Ajax goal.

Surprise number 3: AZ can play bad and still win. AZ won their game, without playing great football. The mark of a champion. Is this AZ’s year, finally?

Surprise number 4: PSV can suffer. So maybe we shouldn’t rule out PSV. They were 0-2 down, but fought themselves back into the game, winning 4-2.

This proves to be a remarkable Dutch season….