The group stage of the Europa League and Conference League is over for the Dutch clubs. FCUpdate.nl draws five conclusions after the last group matches of AZ, Feyenoord, PSV and Vitesse.
1. Naive PSV
A draw would have been enough for PSV to spend the winter in the Europa League. The team of trainer Roger Schmidt could therefore have chosen to let Real Sociedad make the game and watch the counterattack. Instead, the attack was sought from the first whistle. Real Sociedad took full advantage of Eindhoven’s risks and struck in the counterattack. Wouldn’t a more businesslike approach have been better suited to PSV’s starting position? In any case, Schmidt does not seem to have learned from the diptych with Benfica in the Champions League play-offs, when the Portuguese kept the door closed for 90 minutes in the decisive game. Naive, that’s what PSV’s playing plan can be called.
2. Revenge Vitesse could have been sweeter
With the fastest goal of this European campaign by the Arnhem team and the marked 3-0 score at halftime, Vitesse made a clear statement towards UEFA. It had the revenge feelings converted into motivation and wanted to set a high result against the diminutive Mura NS, which had just won against Tottenham Hotspur two weeks ago. In the second company, Thomas Letsch’s team had plenty of chances for a fourth, fifth or perhaps sixth goal via Daan Huisman, Loïs Openda and substitute Nikolai Baden Frederiksen. But the only goal of the second half fell on the other side (3-1), leaving Spurs with a 1-0 win over Stade Rennes enough for the next round. In that regard, the revenge could have been sweeter for Vitesse, which is currently in the waiting room.
3. Youth has the future
Arne Slot seized the final group match against Maccabi Haifa to give players who normally don’t get much time to play a chance. For example, Ramon Hendriks, Mark Diemers, João Teixeira, Reiss Nelson and Naoufal Bannis had a basic place. A lot of self-trained talents also got playing time from Slot. Mimeirhel Benita (18), Lennard Hartjes (18), Sem Valk (19), Antoni Milambo (16) came in the second half. For Benita and Valk it was even their official debut. A great moment for the young players, which would probably have been even better if De Kuip had been full.
4. Defensively very strong AZ
Admittedly, AZ took the closing in style on Thursday evening quite literally, given the performances in the previous matches. The Alkmaarders were again not really convinced on the ball, but they won again, kept the zero again and therefore end the group stage on a neat fourteen points. And Pascal Jansen’s team also owes this to the excellent defensive figures. The Alkmaarders conceded only nine (!) shots on goal in the entire group stage (no club did it better!), of which only three ended in their own goal. Only LASK Linz (1) and AA Gent (2) conceded fewer goals in the group stage of the Conference League. Good looking!
5. Wider coefficient base in the Netherlands
In the Netherlands you either love Ajax or hate Ajax, but everyone will still have a certain respect for the European achievements in recent years. With, among other things, the Europa League final and semi-final in the Champions League, the team from Amsterdam collected a cartload of points, but this season the ratio has changed due to the introduction of the Conference League. Not everything depends on the performance of Erik ten Hag’s team, but Feyenoord, AZ, Vitesse and PSV (already a huge mountain in the preliminary rounds) also scored a lot of points. It led to an all-time coefficient record, where Ajax ‘only’ won about forty percent of all points. That was a lot higher in the past, so the coefficient base seems to have become significantly wider.