Football Season Guide

Although it ended with their 5th triumph in the KNVB Beker, last season was a troubled one for AZ. They offered bright football until early November but then faced a deep crisis and, come January, they fell off the top 4 and coach Maarten Martens was sacked with Lee-Roy Echteld, manager of JONG AZ, taking over ad interim. Results did not improve much afterwards, also due to the heavy toll paid to injuries especially in the midfield, and they closed the campaign on the 7th spot, drawing the last 4 games played after the Cup final. Experienced Echteld, the architect of their Cup success, was then confirmed at the helm of the team for the new season and will be expected to bring them back among the elite of Dutch football, relying heavily on players coming from that youth system he knows so well. Their transfer campaign was not a very busy one, so far. In fact, they only lost their creative mind Mijnans, also second-best scorer with 11 goals and 6 assists, sold for good cash to title-holding PSV. He has not been properly replaced yet and this was evident in their poor preseason. Elsewhere, they signed valid De Busser as goalie Owusu-Oduro’s understudy, since Zoet is not getting any younger and the young starter is rather injury-prone, as he sat 1 third of the last campaign out. Youngsters like Kwakman and Schouten, a midfielder and a centre-back respectively, returned to the club following successful loans and they could both earn relevant playing time in the new season. Moreover, players like right-back Maikuma and midfielder Clasie, who were both heavily missed, are expected to become protagonists again, after a season spent on the sidelines, with Smit always given more responsibilities. More will also be expected from the wings since Wesley, Jensen and Daal all disappointed last season while Lahdo and Sadiq should not be considered anymore.