Dutch football has had an excellent group stage in Europe. Ajax, Feyenoord and AZ over the winter as leaders and PSV and perhaps Vitesse are also still active at European level after the winter. Nevertheless Valentijn Driessen wanted to temper the ‘European euphoria’ in his column.
‘Whether the hosanna vote regarding Dutch club football is justified can only be determined in a year, if these performances turn out not to be an incident,’ Driessen wrote in De Telegraaf . He stated that ‘several peat fires are still raging in Dutch football’, referring, among other things, to the dismissal of trainers John van den Brom, Ronald Koeman, Erwin Koeman ( not fired , ed.), Mark van Bommel and Jaap Stam. ‘Only the appointment of Giovanni van Bronckhorst at Rangers FC was opposed to that.’
According to him, the Dutch players abroad are also not doing well. “In addition to the fallen Dutch delegation at FC Barcelona and eliminated internationals such as Donyell Malen, Wout Weghorst, Noa Lang, Marten de Roon and Teun Koopmeiners, almost all other Orange customers play a marginal, subservient role in their team.” He pointed to Arnaut Danjuma and Steven Berghuis – who do excel in the Champions League on behalf of Villarreal and Ajax – as ‘exceptions’.
The third point that Driessen raised was that it is also foreigners in the Dutch clubs who stand out. Berghuis and Daley Blind are important for Ajax, but the big eye-catchers are really Sébastien Haller and Antony. PSV regularly manages to be on the field except for keeper Joël Drommel without a Dutch player. Justin Bijlow, Guus Til, Tyrell Malacia and even Bryan Linssen are developing well at Feyenoord, but Luis Sinisterra is the eye-catcher , followed by Gernot Trauner and supersub Cyriel Dessers.’
“At AZ, the Swede Jesper Karlsson and Icelander Albert Gudmundsson are the exception in the parade of gray mice and Vitesse has been known for years for its foreign legion, in which everything revolves around the Belgian striker Lois Openda,” he finished his point. ‘It’s nice to have that European euphoria, but vigilance is still required for Dutch football. Under the surface peat fires rage, which can just be a harbinger of bad times.’