Football Season Guide

Almere City looked doomed and well below their depth in the Eredivisie last season as they got stuck in the bottom two early on and never managed to climb out of trouble despite changing coach midway through the season and making some ambitious moves in the winter window. Yet relegation from the top-tier is a natural outcome for a club of their size given their size and resources and these two years there were a time to cherish and collect a lot of memories. Now the Sheepheads start the new season as a main favourite to finish in the top places given the quality of the squad they have assembled over the last year. They of course lost some key starters after relegation as Vasilio Zagaritis, Thom Haye, Hamdi Akjoubi and goalie Nordin Bakker. But they also invested smartly and made probably the most eye-catching signing of every team in the division this summer in bringing Ferdy Druijf on a free transfer. He is a former AZ academy product who did not really work out in Europe but is still quite young, prolific and quality player that could easily bag 30 goals this season at this level if he stays fit. The main issue for him is injuries, having not played a competitive game since January 2024, but he is supposedly fit and ready at the moment. That would be a massive help for Almere given that their main striker last year Thomas Robinet contributed just two goals last season and their main top scorer was winger Junior Kadile with five goals. Moreover, they grabbed another excellent option in attack going Ajax forward Julioan Rijkhoff joining on a loan deal as he provided alternative and can play further behind. They also grabbed Enzo Cornellisse and Joey Jacobs from Vitesse and Voplendam that should bring a lot of solidity in midfield while Boyd Rieth and Teun Blijveld are excellent captures for the full-back roles. Jeroen Rijsdijk will want to see his side play aggressive football on the front foto and pace and production on the wings will be vital for that, especially given that Almere will be a facing a lot more defensively oriented sides than last season. All that amounts to a very strong and impressive summer from Almere as a whole and they just look very formidable across the squad and as long as they avoid too many injuries or bad luck, they will be hard to stop at the top of the standings.