Eredivisie: How Feyenoord leads the table ahead of Ajax despite upheaval

Most recently champion in 2017

“What a story, what a day!” said a reporter to Dirk Kuyt after he had just won the Eredivisie with Feyenoord Rotterdam in the 2016/17 season. “I can’t believe it… I can’t believe it,” responded the then 36-year-old club legend, who would soon end her career. The championship was only decided on the last matchday, Kuyt had scored all three goals in the 3-1 win against Heracles Almelo. Chaser Ajax Amsterdam finally finished with one point less. Now, six years later, history could be repeating itself.

Feyenoord are ahead after 25 matchdays and have a three-point lead over Ajax. On Sunday (2.30 p.m.) there will be a direct encounter in the Dutch capital. “It will definitely be a good game. We’re going there to win,” said Timon Wellenreuther in an interview with Transfermarkt. The former Schalke goalkeeper moved to Feyenoord on loan from RSC Anderlecht last summer and was initially a backup there, but since the injury to regular Justin Bijlow at the beginning of February, the former DFB junior is set and right in the middle of possibly writing club history.

Feyenoord has won the championship 15 times, most recently in 2017 – the only time in this millennium. In this five teams could become “kampioen van Nederland”, as it says on the championship trophy: Feyenoord, Twente Enschede, AZ Alkmaar, PSV Eindhoven and record champion Ajax. At the start of the season, “hardly anyone expected” that Feyenoord and not another team would lead the Eredivisie this year and that the club from the port city would also be represented in the cup and Europa League.

Feyenoord reached the final of the UEFA Europa Conference League last season (0-1 against AS Roma) and then lost several top performers to wealthy clubs, especially from England. Luis Sinisterra became the most expensive sale in club history with his €25m move to Leeds United, while Marcos Senesi and Tyrell Malacia (€15m each to Bournemouth and Man United) and Fredrik Aursnes (€13m Euro to Benfica) ranked in the top 10. “Ideally, we wouldn’t have let them all go, but that’s a utopia,” director Dennis te Kloese told the TV channel “NOS” in September. It was important “to make transfers that bring the club to a stable financial level”. Feyenoord earned a little more than 69 million euros from player sales in the summer, which was offset by expenses of 32 million euros – both values ​​​​are the second highest in the league comparison behind Ajax.

Points average: Slot slightly better than master maker van Bronckhorst

Although Feyenoord had to put up with such an upheaval, there is still no sign of it today. Jesper Siereveld, Data Administrator NL at Transfermarkt, makes that particularly clear about coach Arne Slot. The Dutchman has been on the sidelines since 2021 and has long been associated with a move to a bigger club, with Leeds said to have been his last.

“He is a very good and talented coach. He showed last season how he can shape a team – and he’s done it again. It’s amazing how he can do it so quickly,” says Netherlands expert Siereveld. Slot “did it very well”, emphasizes Wellenreuther. While the 44-year-old had an average of 2.06 points per game across all competitions in the previous season, this is currently 2.19 and thus above Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s 2.18 from the 2016/17 championship season. Wellenreuther does not see a “real weak point” in Feyenoord, who have only lost three of their 36 games this season (one of them in the league).

The most valuable professional in the squad is captain Orkun Kökcü with a market value of 30 million euros. The 22-year-old Turkish national player, who has already been linked to Borussia Dortmund in the TM rumor mill, was one of the winners in the market value update in the Netherlands on Friday and gained EUR 3 million.

Kökcü have boasted 15 goals so far this season – surpassed by two players signed in the summer. Forwards Santiago Gimenez and Danilo have 17 and 16 points respectively. Meanwhile, ex-Hertha professional Javairô Dilrosun (14) is also involved. While Dilrosun and Gimenez each cost 4 million euros, Danilo was even available on a free transfer. The Brazilian moved from Ajax to Feyenoord of all places. The biggest market value winner in the team was defender David Hancko, he recorded an increase of 7.5 million to 20 million euros. The Slovak mastered the task of filling the gap after Senesi’s departure. Only Ajax’s Mohammed Kudus (+10 to 30) and Eindhoven’s Xavi Simons (+12 to 30) received a major upgrade within the Eredivisie.

Wellenreuther: Feyenoord always at 100 percent, “regardless of how tired we are”

“We don’t have a long-established team, but we have great guys, a great team. Everyone is open and everyone is there for everyone,” says Wellenreuther. About his own style of play, he says: “We have the ball and when we don’t have it, we press really well. When we win the ball, we go forward quickly and look for the goal. We also defend really well.” The greatest strength of the team is that they never give up: “We always have a lot of chances, that’s in our heads. We are dominant in most games, sometimes it takes a while before we score, but when we do, it usually bursts.” This mentality is what differentiates Feyenoord from the rest of the league, emphasizes Siereveld.

And yet the lead over Ajax is just three points. The record champions separated from coach Alfred Schreuder at the end of January after a series of seven games without a win. Ex-professional Johnny Heitinga took over and has only lost one of eleven games since then (1: 3 against Union Berlin in the Europa League). While Feyenoord goes into the “classic” with five league wins in a row, Ajax have seven. “I think Feyenoord can be happy if they get a point in Amsterdam. They’re not the favorite because they haven’t won there since 2005. They also had to play against Shakhtar during the week,” says Siereveld. However, Feyenoord doesn’t mind the triple burden, says Wellenreuther: “We always give 100 percent, no matter how tired we are. We have a fit team and we know how much we can run.”

When asked what goal Feyenoord is aiming for this season, he replies: “We want to do the best we can. We’ve never stated a goal, but when you’re at the top near the end, you want to stay there. And if you’re still in the Europa League, you want to reach the next round there.” You want to approach every game “as if it were the last”. According to Netherlands expert Siereveld, the people in Rotterdam are already dreaming of the championship, but Wellenreuther warns: “We have to stay true to ourselves and not get too optimistic. So keep the ball low. We should not calculate what could be. We have to watch from game to game.” But if Feyenoord wins their games, “then we’ll be champions,” the keeper knows.

Nine games are still open and Feyenoord could benefit from the fact that they have what is supposedly the simplest remaining program in the league. On average, the upcoming opponents have a placement of 10.8. On the other hand, pursuers Ajax (8.3) and also Alkmaar (7.8) and Eindhoven (9.3), who are also still fighting for the title, expect some difficult tasks. However, Wellenreuther does not look at such statistics, it makes no difference “whether we play against a supposedly strong or weak opponent”. One person who believes in Feyenoord winning the title is none other than Dirk Kuyt. “I think they can do it,” he recently told ESPN. He knows best how to do it.

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