Luuk Brouwers revealed after the surprising draw against Ajax (0-0) that FC Groningen’s playing style had served as an example for Go Ahead Eagles. FC Groningen fought the team from Amsterdam earlier this season with a 5-3-2 system, but nevertheless lost 3-0 in the Johan Cruijff ArenA. Brouwers said in conversation with ESPN that the scoreless draw for Go Ahead felt like a win.
“This feels like a win for us. We looked at the fragments of Groningen, they also played 5-3-2. We thought: we can do better. You come here with only one goal: to kick every ball you come across and hope you keep a clean sheet. It feels like a victory that we succeeded,” said Brouwers. His trainer Kees van Wonderen said that he had presented his players with more examples for the formation that was used in Amsterdam.
“We also kept the the Dutch game at Portugal, the second game under Ronald Koeman, in mind,” Van Wonderen – Koeman’s assistant at the time – said. “If you play against a team that wins 4-0 against Borussia Dortmund, 5-0 against PSV and 9-0 against SC Cambuur, you can play very openly here, but you can’t compare us with that. You have to come up with something that allows you to get something in a different way. I think that is also top football.”
“’A big compliment to the boys for how they have completed it”, emphasized Van Wonderen. “It came out the way we envisioned it. If you had all the luck in the world, we could have even won with Marc’s chance. We also had luck on our side at the right time. We are incredibly happy and proud.”