After a season with two faces, Ron Jans hopes for a more stable FC Twente next season. The club from Enschede performed well above expectations before the winter break, but did not show any of that in the current calendar year. Jans saw a large number of players leave this summer, but was also able to welcome a few. Players with the necessary Eredivisie experience, that is. With Michel Vlap, Lars Unnerstall, Robin Pröpper, Virgil Misidjan and Ricky van Wolfswinkel, it is important to prevent the Enschede team from falling into decline, just like last season. In particular, the arrival of the latter caused many frowns.
FC Twente started last season energetically and lost only one of the first nine games. Only on a visit to FC Utrecht was a 2-1 defeat. Then the disaster started. Tastemaker Václav Cerný was seriously injured, his buddy Danilo had suddenly forgotten about scoring and Jans saw a totally unrecognizable FC Twente after the winter break. “The biggest lesson is that in times of injuries there was an enormous lack of experience”, Jans briefly looks back on the past football year. “No experience, no leadership. When it gets a little more difficult in terms of results, you see that a group is struggling to be mentally resilient.”
And so there was a sharp analysis at FC Twente this summer. There had to be players who know the tricks of the trade. Guys with the necessary luggage. And they came. Pröpper made the sensitive switch from Almelo to Enschede, Unnerstall was taken over from PSV, Vlap was hired from Anderlecht and Van Wolfswinkel came over from FC Basel. “You can see from those boys what we mean by being mentally resilient. Misidjan is also such an experienced boy. They provide coaching, experience and share their experience with the young boys. I am very satisfied with that in preparation. to do better this year than last year. The first half was very good, the second half very bad. Where it ends then, also with the guys coming in, we’ll see.”
Jans does not yet have a fit selection. Kik Pierie, Misidjan, Julio Pleguezuelo, Cerný and Jody Lukoki are all not available for the time being. The latter suffered a serious knee injury a week after his arrival in Enschede and will not be able to play for almost the entire season. It is the umpteenth knee injury in the selection of FC Twente. “That’s a coincidence,” says Jans. “Based on analyses, we always look at how injuries have arisen and in this case we don’t know. We see no structure in it, that we train too hard or the surface is not good. Sometimes it is inexplicable. We monitor everything, every day “Pierie trained in the beginning, then continued to have minor complaints and then we did a scan. It turned out that it was a little more serious than expected. That has nothing to do with overload. As soon as those players return, we only become stronger. “
Ron Jans saw how the selection of FC Twente was provided with a metamorphosis this summer.
In addition to the large number of absentees, technical director Jan Streuer has also managed to recruit the necessary players. Albeit sometimes on a rental basis, as the number ten of the past Eredivisie season does not yet have the resources to hand out long-term contracts. The arrival of Van Wolfswinkel was all the more surprising. The former Vitesse striker came over from FC Basel and signed a two-year contract with FC Twente with the option for another year. “It has been quiet for quite a while,” says Van Wolfswinkel. “At the end it went very quickly. People often associate me with Vitesse and FC Utrecht, because I played there. But they did not think about FC Twente. I did. I had a very nice time at Vitesse and there I’m very proud of it, but now I’m here.”
Van Wolfswinkel was about to go to Feyenoord in the summer of 2019, but saw a big line through that transfer after a brain aneurysm. “We were almost finished”, Van Wolfswinkel looks back. “The injury has thrown a spanner in the works. That’s life and that’s football. That happened. Those rumors have been going on for a while. How that went on is not important. In the end it turned out so that I stayed with Basel “That injury doesn’t matter to me anymore. It’s that you ask about it, I rarely think about it. It’s gone. Now it’s gone and I don’t have to think about it anymore. I never worried about my physical condition.”
Ricky van Wolfswinkel starts at FC Twente at his third club in the Netherlands, after having previously been under contract with Vitesse and FC Utrecht.
Jans also has no doubts about the fitness of Van Wolfswinkel. The fact that the attacker’s choice fell on FC Twente does not come as a surprise to the coach. “No, I was not surprised. Ricky had a strange injury and he has come back fantastically. Both physically and mentally. At Basel he was on the bench a lot. It is ideal for him to start in an environment like this. Twente is just a great club. This is a club that is going to grow. His role in the group fits very well. One step higher? He has to prove that at Twente. But we also want to go higher, then you are in the sub-top of Netherlands. That’s where he fits really well. He’s really fit, so I think not only should we be happy with his goals and personality, but it’s also good for him to take up the role he has proven many times. .”
The first time Jans had contact with Van Wolfswinkel was by telephone. “That was a nice conversation”, Jans confirms. “But then you can’t look each other in the eye. We soon got to know him. The team manager was contacted for the first time. Ricky immediately said: ‘Are you the new team manager or the one from last year, because there they were not so happy about it?’ He doesn’t even know who it is, but then he’s already playing around a bit. He likes that too. It’s about emotion in the game and the atmosphere around it. It just works. The atmosphere is excellent. The atmosphere was last year also good, only it was very quiet because we had a young, quiet, introverted group. In terms of age structure and personality, the group is better balanced this season.”
Ron Jans notices that his selection has improved. “In terms of age structure and personality, the group is better balanced this season.”
When FC Twente reported to Van Wolfswinkel and expressed his ambitions, the attacker was quickly convinced. “My choice has been very clear. I didn’t have to think about anything. I didn’t necessarily have to go back to the Netherlands, but it has been a very good option. I think you make a choice based on football. The Netherlands is also in my list. The Netherlands is in good shape for me. After many years abroad, a return beckoned, that turned out perfectly. When the season is successful? We want to finish higher than last year, make steps up. That is not the top three attacks, but a number of places rise. You hope to bring European football back to Enschede over the years. That is a nice goal, I think.”