Every year the summer transfer market ensures a coming and going of players in the Eredivisie and because of the corona crisis this season a lot of creativity is demanded from technical directors. They have to deal with almost empty portfolios, which in many cases makes them fish in the same pond. SC Heerenveen decided to keep its hand on the cut for a long time due to the resulting budget deficit, until suddenly financial space was created thanks to the sale of star player Chidera Ejuke. Now a strong selection is being put in place as quickly as possible, with the goal of finishing higher than the tenth place of last season. Is that ambition realistic or is there still too much to be done for the Frisians? Soccer Zone is putting the selection under the microscope with the help of sports analysis company SciSports.

By Thijs Verhaar

Six practice games, six defeats. Those are the non-disguising figures from Heerenveen’s preparations. What’s more, the team only scored three goals and got seventeen against. “And yet I can’t blame this team”, coach Johnny Jansen sighed after the 0-1 lost practice game against PEC Zwolle. The coach saw thirteen players leave and got only four in return during the preparation. As a result, he was forced to play with young talents of eighteen, seventeen and, in the case of Timo Zaal, even sixteen. They did what they could, but are not yet of Eredivisie calibre. It was therefore a great relief when Ejuke moved to CSKA Moscow on 28 August for a sum of 11.5 million euros. In one fell swoop the operational shortfall was closed and there was even enough room left to bring the selection up to standard. This has since resulted in the arrival of Henk Veerman, Oliver Batista Meier, defender Pawel Bochniewicz and Ulysses Llanez, while the arrival of Jan-Paul van Hecke will probably be officially announced on Friday at noon.

Football zone takes a closer look at their statistics and those of Sieben Dewaele, Erwin Mulder and Joaquin Fernández, who also welcomed them this summer, and ventures to predict their added value on the basis of SciSports’ figures. The sports analysis company collects data from nearly 200,000 footballers and hundreds of leagues, making it easy to compare players. The company also awards ratings to players and uses an algorithm to determine a level that the player can reach in his peak years. The SciSkill Index (a score between 0 and 180) by definition does not say whether someone is the best or worst football player, but shows whether someone at a certain level has had an influence on the team result. The higher the score is, the higher the chance that it has a positive effect on the outcome of the match. The data is of course based on the past and therefore does not guarantee the future, where the players have to ground themselves in a new environment. However, it does give an indication of what Heerenveen can expect from the newcomers.

Technical director Gerry Hamstra (right) with Dewaele. He then switched fast for Mulder and Fernández two more times, but after that it remained quiet for a long time, so he now has to start a strong final sprint.

Among the fourteen departed players were three goalkeepers, so technical director Gerry Hamstra had to start working this summer to find successors to Warner Hahn, Filip Bednarek and Trevor Doornbusch. Veteran Maarten Stekelenburg was briefly mentioned, but he chose Ajax and saw how Erwin Mulder accepted the offer from Friesland. The 31-year-old closing post was already under the bar at Heerenveen between 2015 and 2017 and returned this summer after a stay of three years at Swansea City. There he ended up on a dead end in the last season and no transfer fee was required for his arrival. With his SciSkill of 47.0, he is not as strong on paper as his predecessors, but his experience is particularly welcome in the youthful team. He doesn’t have a real competitor yet, as seventeen-year-old Jaimy Kroesen is currently the only other goalkeeper in the 22-strong squad.

In the defense, Heerenveen also took off a big coat this summer, although after the sale of Ejuke, they started to work effectively to close this gap. The Frisians decided not to extend the expiring contracts of centre defender Daniel Höegh and Ricardo van Rhijn, while the lease of Van Hau Doan also came to an end. The Vietnamese is not a great loss, but Sven Botman’s farewell does require a lot of attention. The youngster was hired from Ajax and had a very strong season. He turned out to be a real leader in the defence and from now on that role should be taken up by Pawel Bochniewicz. The 1.96 meter long pole comes from Górnik Zabrze and was captured just before the competition start. With a SciSkill of 56.1 he is slightly lower than Botman, but with his potential of 68.0 he is not out of place with a team like Heerenveen.

The tall Pawel Bochniewicz scored his first goal in his debut match as defense leader and in the back he held the zero.

Bochniewicz seems to form the central duo this season with Ibrahim Dresevic, the Frisians have remained loyal. Together they are both stronger than Joaquín Fernández, who was picked up this summer at Club Atlético River Plate from Uruguay. The youth international seemed to be hired at first, but Heerenveen managed to capture him definitively right away. He therefore has three years to work towards his potential of 70.5. In the long run, this will enable him to grow into a permanent basic player; something that seems to come too soon at the moment with his SciSkill of 45.7. Presumably the Frisians will soon also strengthen themselves on a rental basis with Jan-Paul van Hecke, who impressed last season at NAC Breda and was bought by Brighton Hove & Albion. In terms of figures he is more or less comparable with Fernández, which further increases competition. Also a left back is still on the wish list to keep Lucas Woudenberg sharp.

In midfield there are no major concerns for coach Johnny Jansen at the moment. The club managed to keep Joey Veerman on board and regular base player Rodney Kongolo also remains loyal to the Frisians. Hicham Faik has been sold and his departure has been prevented by mercenary Sieben Dewaele. The Belgian defensive midfielder played fifteen matches at Anderlecht last season and is now allowed to show himself for a season in Heerenveen. With his SciSkill of 42.0 he is in any case on paper much less strong than his comrades Veerman and Kongolo, both of whom can easily turn in the subtop. However, Dewaele does have a potential of 59.3, which allows him to crawl closer to that level. For now, even with his lesser score, the Belgian is assured of a base place on the three-man midfield, as the departure of Alen Halilovic, Jordy Bruijn and Emil Frederiksen means there is currently only competition from the inexperienced youngsters Hamdi Akujobi, Jan Ras and Rami Hajal.

Joey Veerman was in the spotlight with Feyenoord and others this summer, but decided to sign up anyway.

According to the Leeuwarder Courant The Frisians therefore plan to add at least two more midfielders to the team. However, it is still completely unclear who that will be. The club logically had scouting lists ready, but had to cross out a lot of names because they could only get into action after the sale of Ejuke. That deal took longer than planned, so many of the intended acquisitions have now signed elsewhere. Fortunately for Heerenveen, the basic candidates present are still free of injury and the transfer market is still open until Tuesday, October 6. This means that the Frisian club management still has more than two and a half weeks to close the last gaps. New purchases, however, start with a backlog because they missed the whole preparation, so the question is how quickly they can make their mark on the team.

In the vanguard Jansen now has enough to choose from. The team must continue without star player Ejuke, but great promise Mitchell van Bergen remained inboard. He seems to be sure of a basic position again this season and must ensure sufficient supply to striker Henk Veerman. The 29-year-old striker was last season at FC St. Pauli in 22 games good for 11 goals in the 2. Bundesliga and now returns to the old nest. With his SciSkill of 52.3 he is classified five points lower than mercenary Jens Odgaard, who returned to Sassuolo, but if all goes well he compensates that with his experience and torinstinct. From the left he is supported by Bayern Munich mercenary Oliver Batista Meier, who is also number 10. He currently has a fairly low SciSkill (42.3), but in the last six months he has already achieved a progression of more than ten percent and has a final potential of 87.7. This makes him look just a bit stronger than Ulysses Llanez rented from VfL Wolfsburg (SkiSkill 30.7 / potential 71.7). However, the nineteen-year-old American also deserves the benefit of the doubt, as he has shown a lot of scoring power in all national junior teams and on February 1 of this year, he also made his official inter-country debut with a hit.

To sum up, Heerenveen has reached five players with Mulder, Bochniewicz, Dewaele, Batista Meier and Veerman who (should) be in the base at least for the time being. As far as SciSkill is concerned, Fernández and the Van Hecke, which will probably be presented very soon, are close behind the central duo and ensure a healthy competition, which can certainly be said of Llanez in the front. Fact is that it’s very risky to start a season with a seventeen-year-old second goalkeeper alone, and left back Woudenberg also has no direct rival. Moreover, at least two midfielders still need to be welcomed, which means there is still a long way to go for a complete selection. It has to be said, however, that technical director Hamstra is very focused and it is certainly to be commended that the club decides in coronation time not to spend money until it has arrived. In sporting terms, however, it does mean that the Frisians have to make up for a considerable backlog in terms of competition rhythm and team building.

Despite the dramatic preparation Heerenveen managed to win the first league game, so that’s a nice boost for Jansen & Co. Defender Bochniewicz immediately showed his value in attacking and Erwin Mulder kept the zero in the 2-0 victory over Willem II. The Frisians still have a young and capricious team, but in width the team is now getting stronger at a fast pace. If Hamstra manages to capture a second goalkeeper, a left back and two midfielders in the next two and a half weeks, the first race against the clock is already won. After that, it’s up to Jansen to forge a unity and time will tell how badly the lack of joint preparation is going to prove itself. In theory, Heerenveen’s selection should already be strong enough to offer Fortuna Sittard and VVV a match, but heavy away matches against FC Utrecht and Ajax will follow in October. Only then will it really become clear whether it’s going to freeze or thaw this year.

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