Football Season Guide

With the highly controversial Robert Maaskant in charge of the team, last season VVV Venlo seemed to be heading for a fall. By mid-November they were sitting just above the bottom of the Eredivisie, having won 3 games and lost 10. Things immediately started improving when he was sacked and the team was first handed over to Jay Driessen. By the end of December, Driessen was replaced by the more experienced Hans De Koning, who proved capable of leading Venlo to safety thanks to a 7-game undefeated run. When the season was interrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they seemed to be in great shape. For this reason, De Koning was confirmed at the helm of the team for the new season. However, he will not be able to build on what he achieved last winter as the squad underwent a major overhaul over the summer. VVV Venlo live on a tight budget and so they had to see the departures of several loanees, while other players were either released or sold. Thus, they lost no less than 8 players that, at some stage or another had enjoyed a regular starting status. Among them, forwards Darfalou, Opoku and Van Ooijen, who accounted for 14 goals and 5 assists (58% of the goals scored by Venlo in the past season). Considering that they had the worst attack in the league, changes were certainly needed up-front but newly-arrived Giakoumakis, Arias, Van Crooy and Hupperts, who are all coming from disappointing seasons, will all have to prove their value. Promising Bastiaans is just returning from injury. The midfield saw solid Cattermole retire, but De Koning will hoping to count on wunderkind Linthorst, who spent plenty of time injured last season, while Janssen should also be given more playing time. Centre-back Roseler also left and he should be replaced by experienced Swinkels or Kums. New arrival Schmitz, who had a solid campaign at Wolfsberger, should claim the left-back position.