Football Season Guide

Groningen are coming off a difficult season, but overall, they've lived up to expectations considering they came from the Eerste Divisie. A strong start had given everyone hope, but then came a series of disappointments, but in the end, they managed to finish in 13th place. Coach Dick Lukkien, who led them to the Eredivisie, did a good job overall with the material at his disposal. What was missing most from his usual 4-2-3-1 was a striker who could finish the game with goals…none of the players scored more than 5 goals. The hope is to have identified a prolific striker in the Polish Oskar Zawada, who scored 9 times last year for RKC Waalwijk. However, this is not enough and other attackers are needed considering that Romano Postema and Thijs Oosting have left. The most notable departure was that of the talented Luciano Valente, who joined Feyenoord. To replace him, they brought in the promising youngster Younes Taha from Twente. In the pre-season they played 4 games, winning 3 and losing one. Twente loanee Younes Taha attracted the attention for some excellent performances.