Finally, FC Groningen’s game offered the prospect of better times. Yet afterwards there was criticism of Dick Lukkien. Why didn’t the trainer bring in striker Kevin van Veen to get the job done in Kerkrade?
The past few months may well have been hopeless for Dick Lukkien. The Veendammer coach just couldn’t get his team going. On Sunday evening, another trainer walked around the catacombs of the Parkstad Limburg Stadium. One with a cautious smile on his face. Finally the pieces of the puzzle seem to be falling into place at FC Groningen. At 0-0, a victory was still not forthcoming in the South, but if one team could claim it, it was the northerners.
Triangles on the field
“I saw good fielding combined with a lot of energy,” Lukkien said with satisfaction. “It seems that we are starting to get used to each other and to the desired way of playing football. I now see triangles on the field, executed with finesse, as we have wanted all along. Fewer mistakes were also made defensively and the build-up was good. That’s what you get when you can play in a fixed formation, like we have been doing lately. We could be quite dynamic.”
Lukkien singled out one player in particular. “Jorg Schreuders was unparalleled,” said the trainer. “Sometimes he pops up on the side, other times in the middle. As an opponent you have to make so many choices that we can use to our advantage.”
Where was the top scorer?
However, there was also criticism of Lukkien afterwards. Supporters would have wanted to see the top scorer Kevin van Veen in the final phase to score the winning goal against Roda JC. Lukkien saw it differently. “We chose not to let him come on, because I thought we regained the initiative in the final phase of the match. It would have been crazy to bring Van Veen on at that moment, because we were fully and well in the game.”
Lukkien says he is confronted with a devilish dilemma. FC Groningen forces more pressure than at the start of the competition thanks to the tireless efforts of attackers such as Romano Postema and Thom van Bergen who pin down and rush the opponent. On the other hand, Van Veen is the better finisher, but the striker does not deliver the same energy as Postema and Van Bergen.
‘He can’t bring it’
“We get opportunities precisely because of the way we approach things at the front,” is Lukkien’s belief. “It has been shown several times that Kevin van Veen cannot deliver that at the moment, which means we have fewer opportunities with him in the team. In my view, these are the facts. With the energy of Thom van Bergen and Romano Postema, we have many more possessions in the opponent’s half. I also still think that we should capitalize more on the opportunities we create, but I am convinced that things will naturally go our way if we continue to play like we have the last two weeks.’ ‘
Lukkien received confirmation from the competition in Kerkrade. “I spoke to Roda players such as Niek Vossebelt, Rodney Kongolo and Teun Bijleveld. They ask me how on earth it is possible that we have so few points when we play like this. We have pretty much knocked Roda JC from pillar to post. The leader, in an away match of all things. The only thing we can’t be satisfied with is that it remained 0-0. We have to look for more points, but this should give our players confidence. There is no other way.”