Football Season Guide

2020-21 was Sparta's best season in 25 years, as they ended in 8th place, thus qualifying for the playoffs for a spot in Conference League. Unfortunately, their journey stopped at the semi final where they lost to Rotterdam rivals Feyenoord. Coach Henk Fraser, who almost never changed froml 4-2-3-1, gave his team the typical Spartan character, very compact and full of determination and fighting spirit, far from spectacular and lacking in quality. As per the club's tradition, at least up to now, Sparta have not made many movements on the market. Among the players often in the starting eleven only Deroy Duarte left, while coming in are the experienced right-back Laurens Jans from Standard Liege, young midfielder Kenzo Goudmijn on loan from AZ Alkmaar and interesting striker Vito van Crooij. The first will compete for the place with Dirk Abels, while the other two, at least at the beginning, will have to struggle to find a place in the eleven. The best move of the Sparta in the transfer market was certainly to have kept, at least up to now, the midfielder Abdou Harroui, coveted by many other clubs. The advantage of Sparta this year is to have a well-established team in which the players know each other well and know their coach's ideas perfectly. The downside is the clear lack of quality players.