Preview: Dutch Eredivisie is about to start!
This Friday, ADO and FC Utrecht kick off the 62nd season of the Eredivisie. As the Eredivisie is only a small league compared to the Premier League or La Liga and many of you do not live in the Netherlands, I can imagine you do not know the Dutch top league and are not interested in it. We do not have the top players, but that doesn't make it less entertaining. Almost all teams have an attacking style, which leads to attractive games with many goals.
Each game week I will discuss the matches, share nice goals and funny moments, and make predictions. Expecting you are new to Dutch football, I try to set the bar low. I will use the tag #eredivisieviews for the posts, so you can easily find them. Hopefully, I can arouse your interest this season!
Introduction
The Eredivisie consists of 18 teams, which play 34 matches in one season. The matches are nicely spread over the weekend. Usually, there is one match at Friday night, four at Saturday night and four on Sunday afternoon. Due to terrible European campaigns last seasons, Dutch football lost its group stage ticket for the Champions League. Even the fact that Ajax reached the Europa League final could not prevent it and therefore the new champions will only qualify for the third round of the biggest European league. But with a steady performance, we might reconquer the UCL spot.
The runner-up starts in the second qualification round, while this was third. Further, the number 3 qualifies for the second qualification round of the Europa League (was third) and another second round ticket goes to the winner of the play-offs between the numbers 4 to 7. Moving to the other side of the table, the number last relegates immediately and is replaced by the champions of the Eerste divisie. The numbers 16 and 17 take part in play-offs to defend their Eredivisie spots. By the way, Eerste divisie means 'first division' in Dutch and Eredivisie means something like 'division of honour'.
The Big Three
Since its origin the Eredivisie is dominated by three teams: Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord. Only six times they all missed out on the title and again there is no reason to suspect another squad battling with these three this season. Let's shortly discuss them the main rivals.
Feyenoord
After 18 years Feyenoord finally managed to claim the top spot again. They took the lead in the first week and never lost it. The key to success were the home matches in which they were unbeaten and only drew twice. The question is if they can repeat it. Playing in the Champions League will have some downside effect on their performance in the national league and more importantly, they lost some key players. Both backs were sold, as well as the left winger, while captain Kuyt retired. They bought replacements from other Dutch teams, but they still have to prove themselves, although they definitely have potential. On the other hand, the praised midfield and top scorer Jørgensen stayed, including manager Van Bronckhorst.
Ajax
Ajax got praise in the second half of the season, but in the end they missed out on all the prizes. They had one point short on Feyenoord, had no chance in the Europa League final against Manchester United and were kicked out of the national cup by a team from the second league. Ajax has had a quiet transfer window so far. Captain Klaassen earned himself a transfer to Everton, while manager Bosz was picked up by Borussia Dortmund. But the team from Amsterdam succesfully kept their most promising players: Dolberg, Ziyech and Sánchez. Keizer, who led the under-21 squad last season, replaced Bosz as head coach. Ajax did not use the transfer earnings of Klaassen for reinforcements. They only strengthened the bench as Klaassen is replaced by home-grown Van de Beek. Ajax is considered to have the best squad, but it will probably take some time to adapt to the new manager.
PSV
The short-term future does not look bright for PSV. Last season was a disappointment: their games were boring and the results were not good. Head coach Cocu had enough support to stay, but his position is even more shaky after PSV lost to the unknown NK Osijek from Croatia in the Europa League qualification. Result: PSV does not play European football for the first time in 41 years. They sold four key players and only bought two replacements. However, they spend the most of all Dutch teams on one player. They paid € 8 million for Mexican talent Lozano, but only time will tell whether he is the real deal. There is not much confidence in PSV winning the title, but on the other hand they might benefit from missing out on Europe.
Top transfers
The Eredivisie has always been a "training league" for the bigger European leagues. Not surprisingly, the sum of outgoing transfers is much larger than the one of incoming transfers. The biggest fee ever paid by a Dutch team was € 16.3 million, which is only half the amount Ajax received for Arkadiusz Milik last year. Nevertheless, as transfer fees in top leagues are rising rapidly, it also rains down on the Eredivisie. "The Big Three" always have the largest transfer fees, but teams right below Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord also did well this summer. Vitesse, AZ, FC Utrecht and SC Heerenveen all sold players for a good price.
In
| Player | From | To | Fee (€) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Davy Klaassen | Ajax | Everton | 27.000.000 |
| 2. | Terence Kongolo | Feyenoord | Monaco | 15.000.000 |
| 3. | Rick Karsdorp | Feyenoord | AS Roma | 14.000.000 |
| 4. | Davy Pröpper | PSV | Brighton | 13.000.000 |
| 5. | Jaïro Riedewald | Ajax | Crystal Palace | 9.000.000 |
Out
| Player | From | To | Fee (€) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Hirving Lozano | CF Pachuca | PSV | 8.000.000 |
| 2. | Steven Berghuis | Watford | Feyenoord | 6.500.000 |
| 3. | Ridgeciano Haps | AZ | Feyenoord | 6.000.000 |
| 4. | Derrick Luckassen | AZ | PSV | 5.000.000 |
| 5. | Jeremiah St. Juste | SC Heerenveen | Feyenoord | 4.800.000 |
Prediction
| Rank | Team | Rank | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Ajax | 10. | FC Twente | |
| 2. | PSV | 11. | Willem II | |
| 3. | Feyenoord | 12. | Excelsior | |
| 4. | AZ | 13. | PEC Zwolle | |
| 5. | FC Utrecht | 14. | NAC Breda | |
| 6. | Vitesse | 15. | ADO Den Haag | |
| 7. | SC Heerenveen | 16. | Sparta Rotterdam | |
| 8. | Heracles Almelo | 17. | Roda JC | |
| 9. | FC Groningen | 18. | VVV-Venlo |
Feel free to comment or share your predictions!