From a sporting point of view, the month of March was a disaster for the North Holland professional clubs. Ajax and AZ flew from Europe. The unbeaten run of AZ and FC Volendam came to an end and Telstar gathered more compliments than points. You guessed it, in the NH Sportforum our reporters crossed swords and that resulted in some striking statements.
Of course, the elimination by Benfica in the eighth final of the Champions League (0-1) still hurts. Reporter Stephan Brandhorst saw with his own eyes how Ajax struggled with itself in the Johan Cruijff Arena. “It is the story of the last few weeks. Ajax dominates, but does not kill the matches.”
It is also striking how narrowly the national champion of RKC Waalwijk (3-2) and SC Cambuur (2-3) won, while the Classic against Feyenoord also only led to a 3-2 victory in the final phase with art and flying work. “They don’t have the momentum. There is no one who wants to take the team in tow,” reports reporter Thomas Brood. Nevertheless, he expects that Ajax can place the cup and the bowl in the trophy cabinet at the end of the ride. Van der Meijden and Brandhorst keep it on the championship scale. The KNVB Cup goes along with PSV.
Sand in the engine
Still, the game of the Amsterdammers worries everyone. “If one or two links are lost, it will collapse like a house of cards,” says reporter Frank van der Meijden. “Ajax played a large part with a fixed base eleven. It is also due to Ten Hag’s policy of sticking to that base and changing late. If you then have to fit in new players, they are not equal and sand gets in the bottom. engine.”
“You can expect millionaires to wipe RKC and Cambuur off the mat, right?”
Brood thinks that’s crazy. “You can expect those millionaires to wipe RKC and Cambuur off the mat, right?” Van der Meijden agrees. “Young Ajax should also beat those teams, yes.” Brandhorst suspects that the expiration date of trainer Erik ten Hag has passed. “The Ten Hag effect seems to have worked out. He has been there for quite a long time, certainly by Ajax standards.”
The coach still has a contract in Amsterdam until the summer of 2023, but seems to be leaving after this season. Manchester United’s interest came out last week. Van der Meijden advises against this switch. “If you look at his performance, he’s someone for the European top, but in modern football there is more to it. I think the pressure from the English media and everything that comes with it, that he will eventually go under. .”
“He has a past in Munich. German football suits him better than English football”
Brood: “His English is dramatic and it will remain that way or he will have to spend a year in the monastery with the monks. People will laugh a lot about that. With Van Gaal that was not really a success either. I have no idea that Ten Hag will make Manchester United champion for a while. Brandhorst understands the interest from England, but would rather see Ten Hag leave for the Bundesliga. “He has a past in Munich. German football suits him better than English football.”
Disappointing AZ
Few saw the fact that AZ only managed to beat NEC in the Eredivisie in March and flew out of the Conference League and the KNVB Cup tournament at the last NH Sportforum. “I predicted that they would compete with Feyenoord for third place. The convincing is gone. AZ has both feet on the ground, but there will be games again in April that they can get it on track,” says Brandhorst optimistic ahead. The Alkmaarders meet Vitesse, PEC-away, Heerenveen and Sparta Rotterdam-away.
Brood estimates the future of the Alkmaarders as less rosy and thinks that fourth place is the highest achievable. “They should be happy with that. They have a keeper, Vindahl, who is wearing a uniform that is too big and who cannot convince me. I think the same about Pavlidis. I would get Glynor Plet,” says Brood with a smile.
Brandhorst and NH Sport presenter Edward Dekker do not agree with Brood. “Pavlidis was the best man against Bodø/Glimt, although they were deservedly eliminated. The goals against were especially painful,” says Brandhorst.
“Midtsjø provides stability in midfield with Clasie”
Dekker cites the lack of Fredrik Midtsjø as the main reason for the disappointing performance of the Alkmaarders. He hasn’t played a minute in the past month. Van der Meijden thinks the Norwegian’s lack is enormous. “With Clasie, he provides stability in midfield. He is an important cog that is missing in the team.”
FC Volendam wavers
Halfway through March, FC Volendam experienced a black weekend in which Excelsior first gave the Volendam team a punch (2-5) and FC Emmen hit it (4-1). The duels against VVV-Venlo (0-0) and ADO Den Haag (1-1) yielded two difficult points. Van der Meijden had already warned about this. “The game after the winter break was very mediocre. Kasius is an important link that is gone. Brian Plat is not playing and Benamar is not yet bringing what may be expected of him. The attack is also out of shape. I am sorry that Twigt is out the base is gone. Antonucci is playing, but is he a reinforcement at the moment?”
“Antonucci has really not forgotten about playing football. He also had a bit of bad luck”, Brandhorst parries. “I think that trainer Wim Jonk is seduced by his vision to play offensively. That goes wrong, especially in top matches. It is better not to lose some matches instead of wanting to win them.” Brood: “I hear that Jonk puts up three numbers ten in matches. That seems two too many to me.”
“You can also have too many choices. The interim reinforcements had to be tinkered with”
“You can also have too many choices”, adds Dekker, who thinks that you should be able to recite the eleven names of a champion team. “Due to the interim reinforcements, too much work had to be done. If you have many choices, you sometimes make the wrong choice. It was good before the winter break.”
Brood thinks that the point at ADO may turn out to be a crucial one in retrospect. “Losing three times in a row is a very bad series. Emmen is number one for me as champion candidate and Volendam should be very ashamed if they don’t make it to second place. They have a selection that you can tell.”
Van der Meijden expects FC Volendam to be promoted as number two ‘normally’. Dekker is worried about the competition from Excelsior. “I wonder if the finish isn’t just too far? If they don’t graduate, the project has failed. Especially with that budget.”
“I think Volendam should become champion. Second place is a consolation prize”
Brandhorst wonders whether a second place for Volendam is worth a party. “I think they should become champions. Second place is a consolation prize.” Dekker disagrees. “Emmen also has a good selection. It’s about promotion and you don’t necessarily have to become champion for that.”
Praise for Telstar
Telstar is only briefly discussed in the NH Sportforum. The game is often okay, the place in the ranking (seventeenth) does not match. “Amazing that Telstar is so low,” says Van der Meijden, who saw Telstar play perhaps the best game of the season against FC Dordrecht. “I think it’s great that they have been doing well in recent weeks. That gives hope, but nothing happens with it,” adds Brandhorst.
“I know that riff of ‘well played, but empty hands’. I’ve been hearing that for three years,” Brood shouts a little annoyed. “I think they are really not good enough in quality. Everything also has to do with money. That is the fate of Telstar. This season is over.”
“I know that riff. Telstar is really not good enough in terms of quality”
Van der Meijden thinks it is a pity. “All those matches in which they had so many personnel problems, I have to think about that. How many more points would they have had if that had not happened? Telstar might have been tenth or twelfth.”
You can hear the next NH Sportforum on the radio on Sunday 1 May in the broadcast of NH Sport between 18.00 and 19.00!
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