Football Season Guide

VVV exceeded expectations last season by going all the way to the play-off semi-finals and being one of the sides that maximised their talent to almost 100% and were quite fun to watch. Now the task for Rick Kruys and his men is to sustain that level and make VVV once again a side that is a force to be reckoned with in the top six. That said, it looks like a tough ask for the young coach as he has seen his squad getting very much discombobulated by departures. The big loss is certainly that of skipper and main striker Sven Braken, who was superb for long stretches last season. Kees de Boer and Mitchel van Rooijen are moving on after being quite impressive in midfield last seaso while Brian Koglin will be tough to replace in defence. Ennio van der Gouw had a real breakout season on goal but he is heading to Belgium as well. It leaves Kruys with a skeleton of a squad ten days before the start of the season the only three new additions are players with little first-team experience who hardly look like being at the level of the ones who have departed. Soulaiman Allouch and Nick Venema are expected to carry much more of a load in attack this season while it will be interesting to see if youngster Joep Kluskens emerges as an undisputed starter in midfield after showing some good promise last season. That said, VVV seem primed for a rather testing season and may have to be content with a spot in the top ten.