De Kuip is a party place late on Saturday night with one hardcore classic after the other as coach Arne Slot walks towards the low-lying parterrestands. He takes a moment, under the glow of the stadium lights. With his hands he whips up the audience even further and then cheerfully shoots a ball high into the audience – something he rarely does, the almost maniacal trainer from down-to-earth Bergentheim.
Just before that, shortly after eleven o’clock, stadium speaker Peter Houtman emphasized that due to the narrow 2-1 victory over AZ “we remain at the top of the Eredivisie”.
Further on, Lutsharel Geertruida – boy from South Rotterdam, exponent of its own youth academy – is pushed forward to celebrate the victory with the supporters. Geertruida, who has been stuttering since he was four and for that reason never appears in front of the camera, is the captain this evening in the absence of the first three captains.
On other days you can just run into him in the supermarket in the Feijenoord district. He is proud of his roots. And proud of the Feyenoord shirt, Slot had said about him. He leads the defense with verve, after the loss of Gernot Trauner in the winter break. He is perhaps the personification of this Feyenoord, against all odds, has been the leader since mid-November. Coming a long way, through willpower and discipline.
Excited cheers
It’s only February, but the championship vibe is becoming tangible at Feyenoord. Excited cheers can be heard around the old stadium until after midnight, an atmosphere similar to that which prevailed in the period leading up to the last national title in 2017.
The road to a new championship is open, thanks to the hard-fought victory over closest attacker AZ. Everything is being pulled out of the closet to keep Feyenoord on course on this wet, windy evening. The stadium lights are dimmed briefly around nine o’clock to give way to a fireworks inferno – the kick-off is a few minutes later due to the smoke development.
The outward appearance cannot disguise the fact that Feyenoord is vulnerable. Due to injuries to goalkeeper Justin Bijlow, defender Trauner and midfielder Sebastian Szymanski, but the suspended captain Orkun Kökcü in particular is missed. Without him, there is no resting point in the build-up and the spaces in the depth are hardly found, partly due to the compact defense of AZ.
It means that AZ, especially due to the quick 0-1 after an own goal from Javairo Dilrosun, is in an excellent position to hurt Feyenoord. It is the winning culture of the All Blacks, New Zealand’s national rugby team, that AZ coach Pascal Jansen has been trying to get into for over two years – and which now needs to be capitalised. Do they want to become champions, which is the silent ambition in Alkmaar.
The excellent passing in the depth of Jordy Clasie, former Feyenoord captain, is delicious. Usually he finds the fast left winger Jesper Karlsson. AZ manages to trap Feyenoord for almost a half. But it doesn’t push through, just like PSV two weeks ago with a 2-0 lead in De Kuip. AZ only manages two shots in the entire game, not one of which is on target.
Tango dancing
They have been close together for the past five years – Feyenoord and AZ. Now dancing the tango at the top, but often together in pursuit of Ajax and PSV. They also play the same type of football, with a lot of attacking urge and ‘high’ pressure on the opponent.
AZ, seen as the best managed club in the Netherlands, is an example for Feyenoord, especially in the field of scouting and training. Many employees have left AZ in recent years – with Slot as the most important asset. It is known: in December 2020 he had to leave AZ immediately because he was in talks with Feyenoord.
This winter, AZ underlined its ambition to attack the top by buying Sven Mijnans from Sparta (for 2.5 million euros), and the previously contracted Djordje Mihailovic from CF Montréal (for 6 million). There where Feyenoord, which was also interested in Mijnans, failed to strengthen itself.
It doesn’t count this Saturday evening, on which the tension compensates for the lesser football. Shortly before the break, Alireza Jahanbakhsh nods in the 1-1, from a nice cross from Oussama Idrissi – both former AZ players. It is already an intense fight, with six times yellow. Geertruida and Jahanbakhsh whip up the audience as they walk towards the dressing room, where referee Dennis Higler sees beer and middle fingers pointing at him as he enters the tunnel.
The ninetieth minute runs, when a deflected corner from Feyenoord is picked up by right back Marcus Pedersen. Shortly before, the Norwegian gave a cross into no man’s land, much to the frustration of the public. Now he just shoots with the left, already in his youth he practiced with both legs. The tip of Karlsson’s right foot hits the ball, which is lifted extra by the impact and thus ends up in the intersection – untenable for goalkeeper Mathew Ryan (2-1).
Capital goal. Championship goal? Although that is on everyone’s lips, Slot says that this is “the last thing I’m doing at the moment”. He calls it “a lucky goal”. “If you want to become champion, you have to play better football than we do today.” Of the block with top duels in recent weeks – draws against Ajax, FC Twente and PSV – this was “our worst match”.
But, they still tried to win by continuing to attack, says Slot. He quotes basketball icon Michael Jordan. “He once said: the harder I worked, the luckier I got.” The quote is slightly different: ‘the harder I prepare, the luckier I seem to be’.
A wisdom is also: a champion often wins in the last minutes. Feyenoord has already scored five times in the ninetieth minute or later this season – recently against PSV and FC Utrecht, saving a point.
The program for the last twelve matches is very favorable on paper – except for Ajax. But Slot tries to keep his feet on the ground. Next week against Fortuna Sittard? They played a draw against that at home, he keeps repeating. And Feyenoord does not win a match easily, he repeats more often.
But just after midnight, with suppressed joy, he admits: “We are in very good shape.” In a soft voice, followed by: “That is clear.”