Feyenoord picked up Mark Diemers earlier this summer at Fortuna Sittard and the midfielder’s arrival was received with some scepticism. However, Diemers has had a good preparation and was even allowed to start in the base against PEC Zwolle in favour of veteran Jens Toornstra. For Diemers himself his base place didn’t come as a huge surprise.

“I saw it coming the week before PEC.” Algemeen Dagblad. “Does that surprise me? I wanted to enter Feyenoord quietly, get to know the guys well first, and then quickly pick up on the level required. But I think I did a good preparation right away. I’ve known Jens Toornstra for a long time, he’s an arriving player of course, the coach could have let Jens play against PEC as well. But I was the lucky one.”

Diemers, however, knows that he hasn’t won the battle definitively yet and he sees with João Teixeira an additional rival coming in for the position of attacking midfielder. This gives trainer Dick Advocaat, who would like to see more competition for the base places, his way. The decision to let Diemers start above Toornstra has been called a ‘matter of feeling’ by the experienced practice master: “Diemers is just a little further ahead than Toornstra at the moment”.

“I told Toornstra that, players never agree by definition, but that doesn’t matter. If I have that feeling as a trainer, I have to act accordingly. That is what I am trainer for. Diemers played very strong against PEC Zwolle.” The midfielder has already realised that Feyenoord expect something different from Fortuna. He no longer has the free role he had in Limburg, for example: ‘That’s not possible here. Then I’ll just have to adjust myself. It’s hard work. And it’s watching.”

“If Orkun Kökçü goes deep, I must remain in my position. And vice versa, of course. And when you play for Feyenoord, you have to make an occasional sliding in midfield. Not too much, you know. It’s best to let the ball go around.” At practice he’s also busy with captain Steven Berghuis, who wants to be served as much and as well as possible by his new team mate: “I think he’s a great player. I’m glad he thinks I’m a good player too”.