Ajacied
Stay strong Appie! ❤
Here's my Eredivisie preview. Fun to look back at when it's all said and done.
PREDICTIONS 2019/2010
STANDINGS
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[/TBODY]TOP SCORERS
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[/TBODY]*Will likely leave before the end of the season.
** Currently injured
BREAKOUT PLAYERS
I think Martinez and Alvarez will surprise those who haven't seen them play, but if he can work his way into the first team, I think Perr Schuurs (19) will be Ajax' breakout candidate for 2019/2020. Holland brightest defensive talent who captained Fortuna Sittard to the Eredivisie at just 17; pegged as De Ligt's replacement and after a rather dull 2018/2019 season with Ajax II, he seems totally back on track.
Donyell Malen (20) from PSV. Went through the academy's of Ajax and Arsenal before making the wise decision of joining PSV. Malen is the reason PSV sold Luuk de Jong and how Lozano is now often benched. He's a trickery, fast paced winger with good ball control, but will likely play striker this year due to his goal instinct. I see him score between 15-20 goals and perhaps even double digit assists as well. He will make his Oranje debut this season as well, count on it.
Orkun Kökcü (18) from Feyenoord. Was very impressive as a 17 year old last season. He instantly made Feyenoord much more dangerous whenever he came on, yet van Bronckhorst was too cautious with him and preferred more experience. He seems to be the main man at midfield now under Jaap Stam. All-round CAM. I think he'll contribute a lot. About 10 goals and 10 assists wouldn't surprise me. Not sure about an Oranje invite. He represented the Oranje youth teams, but has hinted he likes to play for Turkey, where his parents were born. He'll make his debut for them this year.
AZ's academy has been sprouting out talents like no tomorrow these past few years, but their most notable ones might be Myron Boadu (18) and Calvin Stengs (20). Both already made their debuts last season, but both also had season ending injuries. Boadu is a striker in the Patrick Kluivert mold. If he starts, which looks like it, he could score 15. Stengs is much like Donyell Malen, but more of a true winger in that he's a bit more light footed. Both could make their Oranje debuts this season and are expected to be important pieces for Oranje in the future.
AWARDS
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[/TBODY]Edit: updated with latest transfers.
PREDICTIONS 2019/2010
STANDINGS
Finish | Team | Points | Reasoning |
1) | Ajax | 82 | Lost two elite players, but bought in well. Deep at every position. Ten Hag will fine tune his system even better, but the team isn't close playing to its potential right now, meaning they might lose a point here and there during the first few games. Midfield still worries me a bit as Marin hasn't won me over at all. |
2) | PSV | 72 | PSV is never to be underestimated in the domestic race, but they have glaring holes at defense and midfield. Van Bommel is a stubborn, weak tactician. Has yet to find a fitting system for his current players. Lozano left, but in his current form won't be nearly as missed. They will miss the target man that Luuk de Jong was. Mitroglu enters here, but he's merely a sub. Too many offensive weapons to not finish in the top 2. Could challenge Ajax for the title if they play their cards right (ie: Ihattaran at midfield. Buy Doan). If not, I think there will be a gap between them and Ajax. |
3) | AZ | 63 | Idrissi, Stengs and Boadu up front. Felix Correia, highly touted teenager from City will fit in well. Koopmeiners behind them. Experienced defense. They always play an entertaining and attacking brand of football as well. Will be close with Feyenoord, but they don't have as much pressure. I see them finishing 3rd if they remain healthy as they aren’t as deep as the Big 3. Hopefully they can manage to hold on to Stengs and Boadu for the entire year. |
4) | Feyenoord | 62 | Lost Vilhena, van Persie, St. Juste and replaced them with interesting, but still questionable players. Team is filled with loanies and different nationalities and they have a new coach to boot. Senessi (8M) will be their new leader on defense and big things are expected. Haps and Karsdorp, the widebacks, are Oranje material when fully fit and in form, while Ie, the other CB is already a fan favorite this early in the season. They've greatly improved its defense. Their midfield is solid and they still have a very nice attack. Jury is still out on Stam. I have them fighting for #3 with AZ and it can go either way. |
5) | FC Utrecht | 56 | Bought in extremely well. By far the best in the entire Eredivisie when you factor in budget. Bart Ramselaar was a major talent for them and was even capped for Oranje. He now returns from PSV and should be entering his prime. Dalmau will pop in 15 at least while fellow forward Kerk seems to have improved even further. Cerny is an interesting option on the wings, while Maher and Hoogma are absolutely excellent players fort hem at MF and CB respectively. Utrecht is always a pain to play against. They will steal points from those teams ahead of them in De Galgenwaard, guaranteed. Tough place to play at. Wouldn't shock me if the gap between them and Feyenoord is just a few points and close all season. |
6) | Vitesse | 54 | Lost Odegaard, which is a huge miss, but they did buy Bazoer. Will be a great opportunity for him to realize his huge upside. Solid team all-around. Linssen stayed, which is huge for them. Matavz now healthy. Sloetsky is an entertaining character as a coach, but he seems to deliver. Will be fighting with Utrecht closely for 5th. They always put up a fight. |
7) | FC Groningen | 47 | Lost their vacuümcleaner in Reis to Barcelona but replaced him with a player that might be even better as they bought Matusiwa from Ajax. Also lost Chabot, their best CB to Sampdoria. No replacement bought for him. Groningen is a very stingy, defensive orientated side. Scored barely over a goal a game last season while doing nothing to improve on that, so I’ll expect much of the same. Should be fighting more with Heracles and Heerenveen than they will with Vitesse and Utrecht, though. Doan still with them, which is huge, but rumors are he might leave to PSV. Also like Schreck, a MF from Leverkussen, which they already bought as Doan's replacement. Expect big things from him. Sierhuis could break through for them as their main striker. |
8) | SC Heerenveen | 41 | Lost a lot of talent in Vlap, Pierie, Lammers, Thorsby. Especially Vlap and Lammers carried them a lot offensively last season. They scored exactly 50% of their totals. I do like their acquistions (van Rhijn, Ejuke, Odgaard and Faik). Their scouting is usually money. I expect Odgaard, loanie from Sassuolo and former Inter product, to be their leading scorer. Might even score in double digits. Heerenveen might drop a few places all the way to 10th or 11th rather than I see them moving up. |
9) | Heracles | 41 | Lost their entire attack for peanuts (barely 4M). And it was a good one as well. Kuwas, Dalmau and Peterson combined for 41 goals (67% of their entire goal total) and 21 assists last year. That trio ranked third in the Eredivisie that year. I think they did way too little to replace them, even though their hands are tied with such a small budget. They did manage to get Mauro Junior on loan from PSV. He’s a pretty entertaining player to watch. I don’t think it’s nearly enough nor do I feel they have the talent that will step up in their absence, but Heracles seems to have a lock on that 8/9/10 spot these years and I keep underestimating them. Don't think they will reach European football this year, even though they've been close these past few seasons. |
10) | Willem II | 40 | I have Willem II finishing 10th again. Decent roster with a lot of grit and spirit. Will miss Isak’s goals, but Pavlidis seems to have a nose for the net as well. He could really breakout this season. Will likely finish higher than 10th rather than move down. |
11) | FC Twente | 40 | Newly promoted side making their return. Lost a few players, but managed to keep most of its core in tact. They are excellent in finding fallen or forgotten talents from bigger sides. This year was no exception with acquisitions from Fiorentina, Mainz, Arsenal and Wolfsburg. Watch Aitor (a Barcelona product himself) prove his worth in the Eredivisie as well and earn himself a move to a bigger side. Twente plays attacking football and should be getting a lot of praise this year. I believe Twente is back and here to stay. They’ll slowly find their way into the top 5 again, IMO. First up, the top 10, which I think might come too early for them this season |
12) | ADO Den Haag | 39 | Transfer market is still open and they’ll likely be active with the money they received from the El Khayati deal. He’ll be missed, as will Kishna a bit and Troupee. Got Kramer back. He’ll be good for a few goals. Immers and Beugelsdijk are still there; two real “Hagenezen” who play with their hearts on their sleeves. I think they’ll drop a few places in the standings as they overachieved a bit last season. Could move ahead of Twente and Willem II if they spend the El Khayati money wisely, but can’t see them finishing higher than 9th. |
13) | VVV | 38 | Didn't manage to keep Mlapa, which sucks for them. They were already having trouble scoring goals and he was lethal in the box. VVV furthermore lose Lars Unnerstall, one of the better goalkeepers in the Eredivsie to PSV and Rutten, a wingback to Crotone. Especially the former will hurt them, but they believe Kirschbaum to fill the void just as well. Still a fun, entertaining team to watch. They like to play an offensive brand of football, but always get scored on pretty easily. Germany is close to Venlo, so they scout a lot over there. They hauled in a few new Germans again this summer which brings their total at 7. They always seem to blend in well with the team. |
14) | PEC Zwolle | 37 | Lost three of their best players (Namli, Ehizibue and Sepp van den Berg). Replaced them from within or with players from lower leagues. A bit concerning as they did haul in 6M. Kersten and Paal are solid, lowbudget acquisitions. PEC Zwolle will likely hoover between 12th and 16th all season long, but should be save from relegation. They finished top 10 in 3 of the last 5 seasons, including 6th in 2015, but I think that's not realistic these next few years. |
15) | Sparta | 32 | The oldest club of the Eredivisie. Everyone is a closet fan of them. I see Lars Veldwijk score 12+ goals in the Eredivisie as well. I like how they managed to get Rigo on loan from PSV, very talented MF. Rumored they are working on Piroe as well, who's even better. Will lose Dervisolgu in January to Brentford, which is a shame. He’s a big talent bigger Eredivisie sides should’ve jumped on. They should avoid relegation but might not escape the relegation playoffs. Will be rooting for them, though. |
16) | Fortuna | 31 | They will likely finish above Sparta, but I am very weary about the chemistry here. They have 17 foreign players in their group of 22. Added 15 new players as well. No identity, but like to play opportunistic football. Not to mention they play on an artificial pitch. Bleh. I have low expectations, but they are very unpredictable right now. Wouldn't mind them relegating, to be honest. |
17) | Emmen | 28 | Lost Scherpen to Ajax, but not sure he’ll be missed seeing as he made so many errors last season. Acquired a boat load of unknown new players, most were free agents, so the jury is still out on those. Nikolai Laursen is probably their best player. Nice dribbler with dangerous through balls. I think he'll join a team such as Heerenveen or Groningen within a year. Emmen and Fortuna should be lucky RKC somehow got promoted as they are no longer leagues worst now. |
18) | RKC | 19 | RKC promoted by somehow overachieving at the right time during the playoffs, but I can’t see them staying up. I like how they got Fred Grim as a coach. He was once Oranje’s interim coach. I just don’t think he’ll make enough of a difference. Even if he does, I am not sure they will be in the Eredivisie in 2020/2021 when it's all said and done. Just lack overall talent and depth, though they've showed they aren't pushed over easily. |
1) | Dusan Tadic | AJA | 26 |
2) | Donyell Malen | PSV | 21 |
3) | Myron Boadu | AZ | 19 |
4) | Hirving Lozano* | PSV | 18 |
5) | Adrian Dalmau** | UTR | 16 |
6) | Hakim Ziyech | AJA | 16 |
7) | Steven Bergwijn | PSV | 16 |
8) | Nikolai Jorgensen** | FEY | 14 |
9) | Steven Berghuis | FEY | 14 |
10) | Donny van de Beek | AJA | 14 |
11) | David Neres | AJA | 13 |
12) | Bruma | PSV | 13 |
13) | Tim Matavz | VIT | 13 |
14) | Lars Veldwijk | SPA | 12 |
15) | Oussama Idrissi | AZ | 12 |
16) | Gyrano Kerk | UTR | 11 |
17) | Vangelis Pavlidis | WIL | 11 |
18) | Bryan Linssen | VIT | 11 |
19) | Jens Odgaard | HEE | 11 |
20) | Klaas-Jan Huntelaar | AJA | 11 |
21) | Evert Linthorst | VVV | 10 |
22) | Teun Koopmeiners | AZ | 9 |
23) | Calvin Stengs | AZ | 9 |
24) | Thomas Necid | ADO | 9 |
25) | Vito van Crooy | PEC | 7 |
** Currently injured
BREAKOUT PLAYERS
I think Martinez and Alvarez will surprise those who haven't seen them play, but if he can work his way into the first team, I think Perr Schuurs (19) will be Ajax' breakout candidate for 2019/2020. Holland brightest defensive talent who captained Fortuna Sittard to the Eredivisie at just 17; pegged as De Ligt's replacement and after a rather dull 2018/2019 season with Ajax II, he seems totally back on track.
Donyell Malen (20) from PSV. Went through the academy's of Ajax and Arsenal before making the wise decision of joining PSV. Malen is the reason PSV sold Luuk de Jong and how Lozano is now often benched. He's a trickery, fast paced winger with good ball control, but will likely play striker this year due to his goal instinct. I see him score between 15-20 goals and perhaps even double digit assists as well. He will make his Oranje debut this season as well, count on it.
Orkun Kökcü (18) from Feyenoord. Was very impressive as a 17 year old last season. He instantly made Feyenoord much more dangerous whenever he came on, yet van Bronckhorst was too cautious with him and preferred more experience. He seems to be the main man at midfield now under Jaap Stam. All-round CAM. I think he'll contribute a lot. About 10 goals and 10 assists wouldn't surprise me. Not sure about an Oranje invite. He represented the Oranje youth teams, but has hinted he likes to play for Turkey, where his parents were born. He'll make his debut for them this year.
AZ's academy has been sprouting out talents like no tomorrow these past few years, but their most notable ones might be Myron Boadu (18) and Calvin Stengs (20). Both already made their debuts last season, but both also had season ending injuries. Boadu is a striker in the Patrick Kluivert mold. If he starts, which looks like it, he could score 15. Stengs is much like Donyell Malen, but more of a true winger in that he's a bit more light footed. Both could make their Oranje debuts this season and are expected to be important pieces for Oranje in the future.
AWARDS
Award | Player/Coach | Club | Previous winner |
Player of the season | Hakim Ziyech | AJA | Frenkie de Jong |
Talent of the season | Myron Boadu | AZ | Angeliño |
MVP (grade average) | Daley Blind | AJA | Matthijs de Ligt |
Golden boot | Dusan Tadic | AJA | Luuk de Jong |
Silver boot | Donyell Malen | PSV | Dusan Tadic |
Best Coach | Arne Slot | AZ | Erik Ten Hag |
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