Football Season Guide

At their first season under the guidance of Arne Slot, Feyenoord had a rather positive past campaign, as they finished 3rd, sensibly reducing the gap from the eventual champions, Ajax. Compared to the previous campaign they ended up 12 points away from the top instead of 29. Moreover, they had a wonderful European campaign, failing to triumph in the first edition of the Europa Conference League only because of a superior Roma. Feyenoord displayed a prolific attack and a solid defence, the third best and the second best in the Eredivisie respectively, and they will aim at building on that for the new campaign. They did not have an easy summer, though, as several protagonists of the past season left for pastures new. Despite bagging 13 goals and serving 8 assists, striker Linssen was never a supporters’ darling and his departure for Japan will not be regretted. 22-year-old Pereira, who had an anonymous past campaign, but had previously been impressive at Twente, should be his replacement. With 9 goals and 2 assists in his tally, also back-up striker Dessers can be considered a bit of a loss, as he returned to his parent club but he has not been replaced yet. Attacking midfielder Til had a great last season but returned to his parent club, Spartak Moscow, before signing for rivals PSV. Szymanski, also coming from the Russian Premier League, could represent a valid alternative. On the left, they lost both starting left-back Malacia and impressive winger Sinisterra, having been offered huge amounts of cash: the former should be replaced by Pedersen, originally a right-back, who did not a great last season, while Dilrosun came from Hertha to replace the Colombian, with Idrissi as his alternative.