The Eredivisie returns to action with the ‘Klassieker’ between Ajax and Feyenoord on Wednesday 19 January. The Dutch classic was postponed due to extreme weather conditions in December.
Frank de Boer has signed at Ajax until June 2014 during the winter stop and the new head coach aims for the title this year already. Ajax are fourth on the table six points behind league leaders PSV, but with a game in hand. This game is ‘De Klassieker’ versus arch rivals Feyenoord, where technical director Leo Beenhakker announced his departure by the end of the season.
The Dutch classic has devaluated over the past years because Feyenoord were not able to live up to their standards as a traditional top three club in the Eredivisie. In contrast to the revived Ajax, who are aiming for the title, Feyenoord are struggling to keep out of relegation trouble.
Meanwhile number two ranked FC Twente will play a tough derby at neighbors Heracles Almelo. The title holders are can reduce the gap with PSV to one point. The other two previously postponed matches are AZ-NEC and VVV-FC Utrecht.
“This not just another match for us”, Hercales coach Peter Bosz said about the derby at FC Twente on Wednesday. At home Heracles drew 0-0 against the title holders, who restart well after they were blown away 6-2 at sc Heerenveen in their last league match before the winter break.
Twente overcame their frustration with a 5-0 Cup win against Vitesse just before Christmas. Coach Michel Preud’homme will hope to have Bryan Ruiz back in his squad on Wednesday. The Costa Rican striker was absent due to a knee injury in December. He recovered well, but it’s not sure whether he’ll be able to play on Wednesday. Twente’s top striker Mark Janko will probably not be available yet. The Austrian forward suffers from a groin injury.
Twente had a training camp in Spain during the winter break and played two friendlies, losing 4-1 against 1.FC Kaiserslautern en drawing 1-1 against Hoffenheim. Heracles travelled to Turkey, where the won a friendly against Gençlerbirligi (2-0) and drew against Turkish champions Bursaspor (2-2).
“Our goal is survival, how we do it is of less importance”, said VVV’s technical manager Mario Captein before the restart of Eredivisie action on Wednesday 19 January. The Limburg club is in clear relegation danger on the 17th spot of the ranking.
VVV attracted three new players during the winter break: Robert Cullen (Roasso Kumamoto, Japan), Funso Ojo (PSV) and Dario Vujicevic (FC Twente). Question is whether interim manager Wil Boessen will be able to turn things around in Venlo.
FC Utrecht are in contention for Europa League tickets. If they grab three points against VVV, they will equal the points total of ADO Den Haag en NAC Breda and climb to the eighth spot on the table. Coach Ton du Chatinier will miss club top scorer Ricky an Wolfswinkel, who is recovering from a broken clavicle. He will probably be back in February. Frank Demouge took care of his job providing the only goal in a friendly against Standard Liege (1-0) during the winter break. Utrecht also lost a friendly against sc Heerenveen (2-1) during their training camp in Portugal.
The restart of the Eredivisie after the winter break features the showcase match between Ajax and Feyenoord in Amsterdam. The Dutch classic has devaluated over the past years because the Rotterdam club were not able to live up to their standards as a traditional top three club in the Eredivisie. In contrast to the revived Ajax, who are aiming for the title, Feyenoord are struggling to keep out of relegation trouble. Technical director Leo Beenhakker made things worse with his announcement to leave the club after the current season.
In total Ajax and Feyenoord met 55 times in Amsterdam, with Ajax winning 29 times and Feyenoord 11 times. The home team won the last four editions of this match. The last Feyenoord victory came on 28 August 2005: 2-1. In home and away matches Ajax are undefeated nine times against their Rotterdam arch rivals and the last time Feyenoord managed to keep a clean sheet in Amsterdam was in 1978.
For Frank de Boer it will be his first ‘Klassieker’ as head coach, but as an Ajax defender he was present 19 times, winning 15, drawing twice and losing twice. Mario Been coached Feyenoord three times against Ajax, losing twice and drawing once.
This season, on 19 September, Ajax beat Feyenoord 2-1 in De Kuip. Siem de Jong and Mounir El Hamdaoui put Ajax in front and André Bahia scored the consolation goal for Feyenoord in the 80th minute. El Hamdaoui is a question mark for Wednesday’s match. The striker, who settled a dispute with trainer Frank de Boer during the winter break, suffers from a light knee injury.
AZ returns from a confident building training camp in Turkey. The team grabbed friendly victories against Ankaragücü (1-2) and Metallurg Zaporizja (0-1). “The players did what we discussed beforehand and our teamwork is gradually improving”, coach Gertjan Verbeek said.
NEC spent their winter break in Spain, sparring with Belgian KV Mechelen, losing 3-0 and drawing 0-0. The ended the training camp with a solid 2-0 victory against Club Brugge, thanks to two Lasse Schöne free-kicks.
The history of NEC at AZ favors the home team, who won 14 of the previous 27 encounters. The clubs drew 11 times and NEC only won twice. One of those victories came last season, when Lorenzo Davids scored the only goal in de 87th minute. Earlier this season AZ won 1-0 thanks to a Jonathas goal in Nijmegen. The Brazilian striker played his last match for AZ on 7 November and went to Brazil to support his ill mother afterwards. He did not return yet and the club is considering disciplinary action.
The Dutch classic has devaluated over the past years because Feyenoord were not able to live up to their standards as a traditional top three club in the Eredivisie. In contrast to the revived Ajax, who are aiming for the title, Feyenoord are struggling to keep out of relegation trouble.
Meanwhile number two ranked FC Twente will play a tough derby at neighbors Heracles Almelo. The title holders are can reduce the gap with PSV to one point. The other two previously postponed matches are AZ-NEC and VVV-FC Utrecht.
“This not just another match for us”, Hercales coach Peter Bosz said about the derby at FC Twente on Wednesday. At home Heracles drew 0-0 against the title holders, who restart well after they were blown away 6-2 at sc Heerenveen in their last league match before the winter break.
Twente overcame their frustration with a 5-0 Cup win against Vitesse just before Christmas. Coach Michel Preud’homme will hope to have Bryan Ruiz back in his squad on Wednesday. The Costa Rican striker was absent due to a knee injury in December. He recovered well, but it’s not sure whether he’ll be able to play on Wednesday. Twente’s top striker Mark Janko will probably not be available yet. The Austrian forward suffers from a groin injury.
Twente had a training camp in Spain during the winter break and played two friendlies, losing 4-1 against 1.FC Kaiserslautern en drawing 1-1 against Hoffenheim. Heracles travelled to Turkey, where the won a friendly against Gençlerbirligi (2-0) and drew against Turkish champions Bursaspor (2-2).
“Our goal is survival, how we do it is of less importance”, said VVV’s technical manager Mario Captein before the restart of Eredivisie action on Wednesday 19 January. The Limburg club is in clear relegation danger on the 17th spot of the ranking.
VVV attracted three new players during the winter break: Robert Cullen (Roasso Kumamoto, Japan), Funso Ojo (PSV) and Dario Vujicevic (FC Twente). Question is whether interim manager Wil Boessen will be able to turn things around in Venlo.
FC Utrecht are in contention for Europa League tickets. If they grab three points against VVV, they will equal the points total of ADO Den Haag en NAC Breda and climb to the eighth spot on the table. Coach Ton du Chatinier will miss club top scorer Ricky an Wolfswinkel, who is recovering from a broken clavicle. He will probably be back in February. Frank Demouge took care of his job providing the only goal in a friendly against Standard Liege (1-0) during the winter break. Utrecht also lost a friendly against sc Heerenveen (2-1) during their training camp in Portugal.
The restart of the Eredivisie after the winter break features the showcase match between Ajax and Feyenoord in Amsterdam. The Dutch classic has devaluated over the past years because the Rotterdam club were not able to live up to their standards as a traditional top three club in the Eredivisie. In contrast to the revived Ajax, who are aiming for the title, Feyenoord are struggling to keep out of relegation trouble. Technical director Leo Beenhakker made things worse with his announcement to leave the club after the current season.
In total Ajax and Feyenoord met 55 times in Amsterdam, with Ajax winning 29 times and Feyenoord 11 times. The home team won the last four editions of this match. The last Feyenoord victory came on 28 August 2005: 2-1. In home and away matches Ajax are undefeated nine times against their Rotterdam arch rivals and the last time Feyenoord managed to keep a clean sheet in Amsterdam was in 1978.
For Frank de Boer it will be his first ‘Klassieker’ as head coach, but as an Ajax defender he was present 19 times, winning 15, drawing twice and losing twice. Mario Been coached Feyenoord three times against Ajax, losing twice and drawing once.
This season, on 19 September, Ajax beat Feyenoord 2-1 in De Kuip. Siem de Jong and Mounir El Hamdaoui put Ajax in front and André Bahia scored the consolation goal for Feyenoord in the 80th minute. El Hamdaoui is a question mark for Wednesday’s match. The striker, who settled a dispute with trainer Frank de Boer during the winter break, suffers from a light knee injury.
AZ returns from a confident building training camp in Turkey. The team grabbed friendly victories against Ankaragücü (1-2) and Metallurg Zaporizja (0-1). “The players did what we discussed beforehand and our teamwork is gradually improving”, coach Gertjan Verbeek said.
NEC spent their winter break in Spain, sparring with Belgian KV Mechelen, losing 3-0 and drawing 0-0. The ended the training camp with a solid 2-0 victory against Club Brugge, thanks to two Lasse Schöne free-kicks.
The history of NEC at AZ favors the home team, who won 14 of the previous 27 encounters. The clubs drew 11 times and NEC only won twice. One of those victories came last season, when Lorenzo Davids scored the only goal in de 87th minute. Earlier this season AZ won 1-0 thanks to a Jonathas goal in Nijmegen. The Brazilian striker played his last match for AZ on 7 November and went to Brazil to support his ill mother afterwards. He did not return yet and the club is considering disciplinary action.
