Football Season Guide

NAC Breda endured a traumatic end of last season when they suffered a 2:1 home loss to NEC Nijmegen in the decisive play-off game and missed out on promotion. It was a painful end to what was a mostly positive season and the extreme reaction of the fans after that, rioting and clashing with police, made the bitter feeling even more pronounced. The fans eventually turned their anger to coach Maurice Stijn who was forced to step down from his position as a coach after the season due to threats sent to him and his family. Now the hope is for a fresh start as NAC make another attempt to return to the top-flight. Edwin de Graaf, who was an assistant to Stijn last season, has taken over as a manager and will look to keep the same principles of attacking football and make sure that NAC remain one of the leading sides in the division. Yet he surely realises that there is still tension and unease around the squad given the last season and a strong start is vital. NAC lost their talisman from last season, Sydney van Hooijdonk, whose 15 goals were what propelled the team to the play-offs, as the forward sealed a dream move to Bologna. Another one who will be a massive loss this season is Mounir El Allouchi, who got 13 goals and 14 assists the last time out and was the main creative force of the Breda outfit. In terms of new arrivals, Danny Bakker is a proven player at this level and can have a real impact as an attacking midfielder. Ralf Seuntjens will be the man relied to get the goals after moving from De Graafschap and, while he is a proven quality, he is certainly on the wrong side of 30 and may well be slowing down and getting injury prone. The squad needs some additions due to the lack of too many reliable options beyond five or six regular starters but De Graaf will hope that the likes of Colin Rosler and Robin Schouten continue their growth in defence while Nick Olij is one of the better keepers in the league.