Fit AZ captain Clasie thinks the selection has grown in width: “Many options in the front”

“We played quite maturely”, says Jordy Clasie after the 2-0 win over Vitesse. Vangelis Pavlidis scored twice for the Alkmaarders. “We were in control and gave little away, although we didn’t play particularly well.”

“Understatement”

Trainer Pascal Jansen had the same feeling about the match as his extension in the field. The only point of criticism from the Alkmaar coach was the sharpness in front of the goal. Afterwards, Jansen also said that he was very happy with Clasie’s return. “That’s an understatement.”

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AZ has started the competition excellently with nine points from three games. As a result, the Alkmaarders are at the top of the Eredivisie. Furthermore, Jansen’s team qualified for the group stage of the Conference League earlier this week.

Transfer violence

It is now also clear to Jansen which players he will be working with until the winter break, as the transfer period is over. While Ajax and PSV in particular have bought new players with tens of millions of euros, AZ has seen important players leave and only brought a few talented players to Alkmaar. “The battle is on the field and not on the negotiating table,” said Jansen.

Clasie is happy with the current selection and sees that the quantity of the group is better than last season. “We have a fairly broad line-up and many options in the front. Myron van Brederode and Ernest Poku, for example, constantly created a threat today.” The Haarlemmer does not want to make too many predictions and prefers to look at it from match to match.

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The goal of AZ in recent years has been to reach the group stage in Europe and top four in the premier league. After the international period, AZ will play Sparta at home on Sunday September 17 at 4.45 pm.