AZ seems to have lost it completely. After defeats against Apollon Limasol in Europe and Feyenoord, Excelsior was now too strong for the Alkmaarders. Former trainer Gertjan Verbeek casts his eye on AZ’s third defeat in a row.
Excelsior and AZ. That remains a trauma in Alkmaar, isn’t it?
Verbeek: ,,Ah, that was 15 years ago now. Those guys who went through that then don’t even play football anymore. It is logical that the media comes back to that so many years later, but I do not believe that the defeat of that time is alive with the selection and players. Don’t forget that AZ still played in the first division twenty years ago and has now become an exemplary club. If you just look at what flows through the youth academy, many premier divisionists can be jealous of that.”
But still, those defeats in a row for AZ…
,,You can lose to Feyenoord, but not to Limassol and Excelsior. AZ has performed reasonably stable in recent years. They also had dips in it, they overcame them and that is happening now. Don’t forget that AZ recently, despite a full sick bay, performed great and even beat Ajax. Now guys are coming back. Bazoer doesn’t always play, Sugawara isn’t a starter and Karlsson now played on the right. The fact that the selection is getting wider does not have to be a plus. I think there are also frictions now.”
You have worked at AZ. What pressure is involved?
,,If you play football at Ajax and PSV, you know that you have to participate for the championship. AZ is the big challenger of the top-3. They also like to see themselves that way. They often speak of a top 4 themselves, but they don’t really want that yet. The hinterland is also different. Ajax and Feyenoord effortlessly fill a stadium with 50,000 people, at AZ they can’t even fill the stadium of 18,000 supporters. It lives in the province, but nothing more. In Alkmaar it is not a must, but a want. That’s not right or wrong, just different. If they participate more often, that could change.”
Trainer Pascal Jansen was sitting on the bench for the hundredth time. How is he doing?
,,He has succeeded Arne Slot well and has become an ambassador for the club. He lets AZ play football very nicely and has chosen to fit in a lot of youth. That was the comment before and perhaps it was now forced to do so. What appeals to me in AZ is that they train as many players as possible. You see the opposite at Feyenoord. In the past they were forced to do it with their own youth and now that they have some money, they buy players. Then it is not for nothing that you hear dissatisfaction with the youth academy. That is what AZ has for.”
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