At times, AZ supporters were able to enjoy beautiful combinations and frivolous football. FC Volendam was defeated 3-0 at home. “It was a good game from us,” said defender Bruno Martins Indi, who felt that his team had to respond to the poor series before the international break.
Coach Pascal Jansen also felt as if his team was finally shaking off their trepidation. “It’s been a while since we played our matches this way,” says Jansen, who saw his team hit the post twice and saw a goal disallowed. “Overall, I quite enjoyed it.”
Text continues below the video.
In the period before the international matches, AZ was in a difficult phase. They lost twice to Aston Villa in the Conference League and when they visited Feyenoord (1-0 loss), AZ had nothing to say. The Alkmaarders did not even manage to produce a shot on target in De Kuip. “That was typical of the image of the six games we played,” Jansen looks back on the past period.
De Wit was sacrificed
Remarkably, Dani de Wit was killed at AZ. Jansen felt that a change had to be made to get the team playing more football again. Against Volendam he opted for a midfield with Jordy Clasie, Tiago Dantas and Sven Mijnans. “You try to give the game in the middle a dimension again.”