Football Season Guide

Eredivisie

Netherlands

Eredivisie

2016/2017

PEC Zwolle

In

Ted van de Pavert (def) (De Graafschap), Calvin Verdonk (def) (Feyenoord - on loan), Django Warmerdam (def) (Ajax - on loan), Philippe Sandler (def) (Ajax), Anass Achahbar (att) (Feyenoord)

Out

Sheraldo Becker (r) (att) (Ajax - loan ended), Ouasim Bouy (r) (mid) (Juventus - loan ended), Lars Veldwijk (k) (att) (Nottingham Forest - loan ended), Thomas Lam (r) (def) (Nottingham Forest), Bart van Hintum (r) (def) (Gaziantepspor), Dario Tanda (sp) (mid) (Go Ahead Eagles), Sander Thomas (sp) (att) (Heracles Almelo), Boban Lazic (sp) (att) (FC Oss), Abdelmalek El Hasnaoui (sp) (mid) (released)

PEC Zwolle finished the previous season at the 8th place on the Eredivisie league table. As a result of claiming this position, they qualified for the Europa League play-offs, but FC Utrecht proved too strong in the semi-finals of those play-offs. However, PEC Zwolle have become a stable factor in the Eredivisie in the last four years. Since their return in the Eredivisie in 2012, their final rankings were twice 11th, 6th and 8th. One could expect them to finish the upcoming season somewhere between those spots again. It would be a very good result for PEC Zwolle, if they could claim a Europa League play-off place for a third successive year, but it will not be easy. Quite a lot of clubs are aiming for the same target and PEC Zwolle will probably be satisfied with a 9th, 10th or 11th place as well, but still they are aiming for more. Several changes have appeared in the PEC Zwolle squad so far this summer, as some regular players have left the club. The loan of Lars Veldwijk, Ouasim Bouy and Sheraldo Becker has ended, so they will return to Nottingham Forest, Juventus and Ajax respectively. Defenders Thomas Lam and Bart van Hintum have decided to continue their career outside the Netherlands with transfers to Nottingham Forest and Gaziantepspor respectively. Queensy Menig, who played for PEC Zwolle on loan from Ajax in the previous season, will stay in Zwolle to play another season for PEC, on loan from Ajax. To deal with the departure of a few defenders, the Zwolle side has added a few new defenders to the squad. Django Warmerdam and Calvin Verdonk will play for PEC Zwolle in 2016/2017 on loan from Ajax and Feyenoord respectively, while Philippe Sandler has also been taken over from Ajax, even though he did not play any match for either Ajax or Jong Ajax yet. Ted van de Pavert has been taken over from De Graafschap, after their relegation at the end of the previous season. Anass Achahbar will be facing a tough task in his first season at PEC Zwolle, as he will be the successor of Lars Veldwijk in the attacking line. He came over from Feyenoord, where he never became a regular player. It will be yet another interesting season for coach Ron Jans, who is on the brink of starting his fourth season as the PEC Zwolle coach, to work with some new players again and create a new successful formation.

Target

After having reached the Europa League play-offs in the previous two seasons, PEC Zwolle will be aiming to make it three in a row. It is not like they will have had a terrible season, if they do not succeed, but the club is ambitious. They will be hoping to reach those Europa League play-offs again, but a final ranking between the 9th and 12th place on the league table will probably satisfy the Zwolle side as well.