SC Cambuur is perhaps the surprise of this Eredivisie season. The team of coach Henk de Jong surprises friend and foe and occupies a handsome seventh place in the ranking with 21 points from the first 13 matches. Last weekend, the third league win in a row was booked against FC Utrecht (2-1), something the club only managed twice before at the highest level, in 1993 and 2014. Time for a closer acquaintance with two stars of the club from Leeuwarden. , Alex Bangura and Mees Hoedemakers.
By Mart Oude Nijeweeme
The fact that Cambuur is going crescendo this season is shown by the fact that the team has already achieved more points than five years ago, when the Leeuwarders finished last as number and relegated to the Kitchen Champion Division. “We have been playing together for a while”, Hoedemakers tries to indicate the good performance. “You can see that there are a lot of certainties. We play from a good organization and know what we can do with each other. I think that is our strength.” The fact that Cambuur sticks to its own game principle at all costs did mean that the team in the Johan Cruijff ArenA was beaten 9-0 by Ajax.
“It was intense against Ajax”, Bangura adds to his teammate. “But we stick to our own playing style. That has been ingrained for two years. That started in the Kitchen Champion Division and we stick to it. Building up from the back, that is the key“For Bangura, it is in any case a season that will not soon be forgotten. The defender experiences his absolute breakthrough at the highest level in the left back position and proves his worth every week. And that while three years ago he still went through life as a left winger.” I knew this would be a position to go far,” the defender refers to his new role within the team.
Watch the report with Alex Bangura and Mees Hoedemakers.
Bangura entered Cambuur’s boardroom three years ago with the question whether he could be turned from attacker to defender. A decision that worked out very well for him. “I’m always busy with my career,” says the fullback. “You can help yourself by making the right choices. You know what qualities you have for a certain position. I thought that as a left winger I did not have the right qualities to reach the top. And that is what I want I asked myself in which position I would be the furthest in professional football.”
Henk de Jong had just been appointed as the new trainer at the Leeuwarders at that time and told Bangura that he would act as second choice in the left back position. “I thought that was fine. I still had to learn all aspects of defending. I am especially happy that everyone has given me the time to develop myself in it. I think you should always be honest with yourself, even if it can sometimes be very be hard. You can only help yourself by making the right choices. I didn’t expect it to come out the way I had it in my head.”
The stormy development has earned Bangura praise from his trainer. “That Alex Bangura, that is potentially a player for the Dutch top”, said De Jong not so long ago. “I heard it,” Bangura admits. “I try not to be too busy with it. I have read it and it was forwarded to me. They are beautiful words from the trainer. I regularly speak with the trainer, it is nice that he has confidence in me and lets me play like that the best for me.”
That Bangura has come a long way is apparent from the fact that he was told at Feyenoord in 2018 that he was not good enough. A message that hit hard at the time. “That was painful, certainly. If you play at Feyenoord, you want to get to De Kuip. You want to break through. If you are then told that you are not good enough, it will come in. I wondered what would come, fell into a hole. On the other hand, it motivated me to be where I am now. It was a wise lesson. How do I look at this Feyenoord? They are doing well at the moment. I think it’s nice to see that the guys with whom I played together (Tyrell Malacia, Orkun Kökcü and Justin Bijlow, ed.) to hold their own.”
Hoedemakers also has a past with a Dutch top club. The midfielder went through the youth academy of AZ, before making the switch to Cambuur in 2019. First as a mercenary, a year later permanently. Hoedemakers played at AZ under John van den Brom and had Arne Slot as assistant coach. Yet it never came from a breakthrough in Alkmaar. “From the moment I joined Jong AZ, I have made the biggest steps,” said the man who did not miss a minute at Cambuur this season. “I then started playing from 6, before that I had not yet made that clear to myself. From that moment on I have made great strides.”
Mees Hoedemakers is jumped by teammates when he has put SC Cambuur ahead against PEC Zwolle with a nice shot from the distance.
Hoedemakers also acts as a controlling midfielder at Cambuur. Where he often played in the lee last year, he also hopes to contribute in an attacking sense this season. With hits against Heracles Almelo and PEC Zwolle, he seems to be succeeding for the time being. “A goal like this against PEC Zwolle is fantastic, also for myself, but it’s about having a share in the game over an entire match,” Hoedemakers is aware. “There is more to it than scoring a goal. I have to win duels and play balls ahead, so I stand out in my position.”
Hoedemakers cannot deny that he is also recognized more often outside the lines. “Now that I’ve scored, I suddenly hear in the gym that I’ve scored a great goal,” he laughs. “I am approached more often, that did not happen often before. Fortunately, I can still walk through the city center anonymously. The people here are very level-headed. Maybe they recognize me, but I am not often addressed.” Despite his current role, the midfielder does not want to call himself indispensable. “I wouldn’t say that quickly, but if you don’t miss a minute and you do it well, you do play a significant role.”