The last round in the Eredivisie of 2021 is over. It’s time to look back on the competition so far and so has Football zone a selection of the best players so far. Formally, the first half of the season ended after the seventeenth round, but the first eighteen rounds were taken into account for this team. Ajax is the main supplier of the selection with three basic players and three reserve players.
Reserve bank: Remko Pasveer (Ajax), Maximilian Wittek (Vitesse), Lisandro Martínez (Ajax), Jamie Jacobs (SC Cambuur), Lois Openda (Vitesse), Sébastien Haller (Ajax).
Trainer: Henk de Jong (SC Cambuur)
Lars Unnerstall (FC Twente)
Although Remko Pasveer put in an impressive performance by only being passed three times in fifteen matches, the choice still falls on FC Twente’s Unnerstall. With strong performances against FC Utrecht (1-0 win), Vitesse (1-4 win) and Feyenoord (0-0), he was more than once important in collecting points. Rob Boudrie, the right-hand man of technical director Jan Streuer, let slip this week that his club has ‘a phenomenon’ under the bar.
Noussair Mazraoui (Ajax)
Mazraoui has already scored four goals for Ajax this season; together with Robin Pröpper of FC Twente, he is the only defender who achieved that. The right back also prepared two goals from Ajax. It’s clear that he makes a significant contribution to his side’s attacking play, but Mazraoui rarely gets into trouble defensively either. He would have set his sights on a transfer to Barcelona and given his form, the interest from Spain is understandable.
Gernot Trauner (Feyenoord)
With a bald head and a bandage on your nose, you have everything you need to become a Feyenoord cult hero. But if you can also play football well, the audience will embrace you completely. The purchase of one million euros turns out to be a bull’s eye. He is constructively strong with his pass purity of 89 percent, wins 67 percent of his duels and conquers a ball every 11 minutes on average. Hans Kraay junior already called him ‘the best purchase in years’ from Feyenoord.
Jurriën Timber (Ajax)
Timber was already three times in the official Team of the Month of the Eredivisie and that says enough about his strong season. The only twenty-year-old defender, also named Talent of the Month in November, has the highest pass purity of all defenders in the Eredivisie with at least ten matches (92 percent), also wins 67 percent of his duels and conquers a ball every 9 nine minutes on average. . The defense of Ajax is by far the least passed in the Eredivisie and Timber has an important part in that, as he had a base place in seventeen of the eighteen matches.
Owen Wijndal (AZ)
With six assists, Wijndal, along with Maximilian Wittek from Vitesse, gave the most assists of all defenders in the Eredivisie. The left back played strong matches this season against Feyenoord and Ajax, among others; in Amsterdam he prepared the winning goal of Zakaria Aboukhlal. He then had his reservations about the fact that AZ celebrated that victory with a group photo. “I also said to the boys: hurry up. It should actually be normal that you win such matches,” said the wing defender, demonstrating his ambition as a professional.
Mats Seuntjens (Fortuna Sittard)
Fortuna Sittard is having a disappointing season, but the concerns would be much greater without Seuntjens’ contribution. The attacking midfielder escaped the malaise by scoring seven times and gave his team points against FC Twente (2-1), RKC Waalwijk (2-2) and Vitesse (1-1). It is hoped for Fortuna that interested clubs will keep aloof in January.
Guus Til (Feyenoord)
Not all supporters were enthusiastic about Til’s arrival, but the Spartak Moscow mercenary immediately proved his added value. His goals earned Feyenoord points against clubs such as sc Heerenveen (3-1), NEC (5-3) and RKC Waalwijk (2-2). In total, Til scored ten times in the Eredivisie, making him the most scoring midfielder; only two forwards (Bryan Linssen and Sébastien Haller) scored more goals. After his unparalleled start, sand got into the engine for a while, but in December Til picked up the thread again with goals against Fortuna Sittard and sc Heerenveen.
Ibrahim Sangare (PSV)
Sangaré has had to overcome many doubts, but is now of great value to the leader of the Eredivisie. The midfielder impressed with goals during victories over clubs such as Sparta Rotterdam (2-1), Fortuna Sittard (1-4) and Vitesse (2-0), while his footballing qualities were previously doubted. His qualities as a ball taker were always undisputed, but Sangaré also makes great strides in passing. He was voted Player of the Month in November
‘Ibrahim Sangaré’s agent deserves a big compliment’
This season, Ibrahim Sangaré has better figures than last season in almost all offensive aspects.
Dusan Tadic (Ajax)
With seven goals and eleven assists for Ajax, Tadic was involved in a goal in every game this season. The brand new Serbian Player of the Year immediately started the season with two goals and an assist against NEC (5-0) and later also distinguished himself in top matches against PSV (5-0 victory) and Feyenoord (0-2 victory). Whether he provided 35 or 37 assists – Ajax’s tweet about it brought about a lot – the Ajax captain can look back on a very successful 2021.
Bryan Linssen (Feyenoord)
The high-scoring competitor Cyriel Dessers gasped in his neck, but Linssen was never distracted and continued to prove why he is in the starting lineup. In total, he was good for eleven goals and five assists; Sébastien Haller has twelve goals and four assists. So they were both involved in 16 goals. It was a difficult choice, but in the end it fell to Linssen. The Feyenoord striker needed fewer minutes to be involved in a goal (an average of 81 to 89). In addition, he scored more than could be expected based on expected goals (7.7 at 11), while the opposite is true for Haller (14.5 at 12).
Jesper Karlsson (AZ)
Karlsson has had eight goals and six assists this season. He played an important role in AZ’s resurrection: his goals against Fortuna Sittard (2-1), Sprata Rotterdam (3-1) and FC Groningen (1-0) already gave AZ nine points this month. The goal in the final match against Groningen was probably the most beautiful and ensured that AZ end the calendar year as number five, after the club dangled in the middle for a large part of the season.
Trainer: Henk de Jong (SC Cambuur)
Johan Derksen called De Jong a ‘naive boy scout’ after the 9-0 defeat against Ajax and there was something to be said for that. But De Jong’s daring style of play, in which players such as Alex Bangura, Mees Hoedemakers and Jamie Jacobs flourish, also ensured nine victories this season. Cambuur is in eighth place and can even dream of European football halfway through the competition. De Jong is currently sidelined due to a cyst in the head and we therefore have nothing but to wish the Cambuur trainer, and of course all our followers, a healthy and happy 2022.