FEYENOORD and PSV Eindhoven meet this weekend in the Eredivisie, a game that could strengthen the home side’s position at the top of the table or revive PSV’s title bid. At the same time, Ajax, who are one point behind PSV, could still have a say in the race for the top, although the reigning champions are in a state of flux at the moment.
Ajax sacked manager Alfred Schreuder a week ago after a run of seven games without a win, handing the job until the end of the season to John Heitinga, who moved across from Jong Ajax to take charge. His first game, away at Excelsior, ended in a 4-1 victory.
It was always going to be difficult for Schreuder to take over from Erik ten Hag, especially as Ajax lost Antony (€95m) and Lisandro Martinez (€57.4m) to Manchester United, Ryan Gravenberch to Bayern Munich (€ 18.5m) and Sébastien Haller to Borussia Dortmund (€31m). Ajax’s chief executive, Edwin van der Sar, said the sacking was “painful but necessary”.
P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | ||
1 | Feyenoord | 19 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 43 | 16 | 42 |
2 | AZ Alkmaar | 19 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 40 | 24 | 40 |
3 | PSV Eindhoven | 19 | 12 | 2 | 5 | 47 | 23 | 38 |
4 | Ajax | 19 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 51 | 21 | 37 |
It’s still too early to concede the title, but Ajax cannot afford any more slip-ups. They have drawn far too many games and also lost to PSV and AZ Alkmaar. Their Champions League campaign also ended in the group stage after they lost four of their six games in a group with Liverpool, Napoli and Rangers. They will resume their interest in Europe in the Europa League.
Feyenoord, meanwhile, have lost just once (against PSV) and are two points ahead of AZ. They have been boosted by the goals of Danilo Pereira da Silva, a 23 year-old Brazilian striker signed from Ajax, and their young Turkish skipper, Orkun Köksü, both of whom have eight goals in the Eredivisie. In defence, goalkeeper Justin Bijlow has kept nine clean sheets in his 19 league appearances. Feyenoord’s last Eredivisie success was in 2017 when they pushed Ajax into second place by one point.
Feyenoord’s president has spoken out about the gap between the Eredivisie and the Premier League, who regularly raid the Dutch league for reasonably-priced talent. Three of their stars, Tyrell Malacia, Luis Sinisterra and Marcos Senesi joined Manchester United, Leeds United and Bournemouth for fees totalling € 55 million. While losing top players creates problems, the money is hard to resist for Dutch clubs. It has almost become a way of life and a crucial part of the Dutch football business model. Feyenoord are not as proficient as the other big two clubs in the Netherlands in making profits from player trading.
Interestingly, Dennis te Kloese’s comment in the media came as leading French journalist Julian Lauren was talking about the massive imbalance in European football, created by the Premier’s wealth, the inability of other leagues to keep pace and the threat of the Premier’s counterparts becoming feeder leagues.
Feyenoord, with an average gate of 47,500 at their iconic De Kuip stadium, generated € 87.2 million in the 2021-22 season, of which only € 8 million was attributable to domestic broadcasting. The Eredivisie made the mistake of agreeing a 12-year deal back in 2013, which really puts Dutch clubs at a disadvantage. Feyenoord’s income is over € 100 million less than Ajax’s combined revenues and just slightly less than PSV’s earnings of € 93 million. Although Feyenoord have a lot of ground to make up, they are currently in a much better places than they were a decade ago when their financial situation almost tipped them into oblivion.
PSV, currently in third place, lost a few players in the transfer window, notably World Cup stand-out Cody Gakpo, who moved to Liverpool for €42 million and Noni Madueke to Chelsea for € 35m. Gakpo will be very difficult to replace, but PSV have secured three loan signings to reinforce their squad: Fabio Silva (Wolves), Patrick van Aanholt (Galatasaray) and Thorgan Hazard (Borussia Dortmund).
AZ Alkmaar are currently in second place but nobody really expects them to win the title. They are coached by London-born Pascal Jansen, the son of a pop singing duo from the early 1970s. Their recent 5-5 draw with Utrecht showed they know how to score – and concede – goals and they have one of the Eredivisie’s top scorers at the moment in 24 year-old Greek striker Vangelis Pavlidis.
Games to come
Feb 5 2023: Feyenoord v PSV
Feb 19 2023: Feyenoord v AZ
Mar 19 2023: Ajax v Feyenoord
Apr 16 2023: PSV v Ajax
Apr 23 2023: Ajax v AZ
May 28 2023: AZ v PSV