Football Season Guide

Following the steps of Arne Slot, his predecessor, who almost led AZ to a Dutch title, Pascal Jensen did well last season but his boys could have gone further than a 4th-place finish and aimed for the top 3. In fact, even though they held one of the best defences of the league despite an incredible injury crisis, they would often concede one goal too much, thus throwing away sure wins, as occurred in a famous 5-5 home draw with Utrecht. This will be the 4th season in charge for Jensen and, in the new campaign, he will have to deal with a squad only partially touched over the summer. In fact, the Alkmaar side lost only 2 major players in Beukema, one of the few centre-backs to have been spared from injuries last season, and Reijnders, the mastermind of the midfield, with 7 goals and 12 assists overall in the campaign. In the heart of the defence, Jensen will have to deal with Martins Indi’s absence, he is still recovering from serious injury, while surprising 19-year-old Goes, who stepped up in the XI for lack of alternatives, is also out for a longtime. Luckily enough, Bazoer and Dekker are back while Penetra arrives from Portugal. No Reijnders’s replacement was signed yet but Mijnans and Mihailovic are expected to play major roles after mostly acting as back-ups last season. Starting left-back Kerkez was also let go but Wolfe, coming from Brann, should represent a valid alternative once he adapts to Dutch football. A lot is also expected from Van Bommel, arriving from Maastricht, who could provide an effective back-up for injury-prone key left winger Karlsson, considering that 19-year-old Van Brederode is not experienced enough.