The Eredivisie has been a topic of conversation in the Netherlands for many years. Especially the top clubs often occupy the minds of millions of people. From the first round in 2023, Football Zone will also monitor the performance of Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord from a statistical point of view. What is going well and what needs to be improved? In collaboration with Opta, this is round 31 in numbers.
Ruud van Nistelrooij, PSV’s trainer, said after the 0-1 away match at Sparta Rotterdam that he would sit down on Sunday afternoon. He secretly hoped for a stunt from Excelsior in the match against leader Feyenoord, which would give the Eredivisie some tension back and the people of Eindhoven might still think about the title. It didn’t come that far, although Feyenoord played one of the worst games of the season. The numbers also indicate that.
Worst game of the season takes Feyenoord towards the title
Excelsior came close to a goal every now and then via Couhaib Driouech and Marouan Azarkan, but the effectiveness of Santiago Giménez and all of Feyenoord was ultimately too powerful for the Kralingers. The Club van Zuid simply could not bring more than that effectiveness. Goal was shot as often as Excelsior (both five times) and the ten attempts in total are a shared depth record this season for the team of coach Arne Slot. The fact that Yassin Ayoub, who came on in minute 62, was the player with the most chances created of all players on the field, says enough about the low-quality match that Feyenoord played in particular. However, the champion also wins bad matches and that is exactly what the Stadium Club has done.
PSV has a true super sub in Anwar El Ghazi
What does Anwar El Ghazi have in common with Jürgen Locadia, Donyell Malen and Noni Madueke since Saturday night? They all scored at least five times in one season as a substitute for PSV. El Ghazi did that against Sparta Rotterdam and, provided he scores two more goals in the remaining three games as a substitute, he can crown himself as super sub of the century in the Philips Stadium. The wing forward not only impressed with his goal, but also with his dribbles. He put in seven and completed six: the second-best dribbling performance in the Eredivisie in one half in the past twelve years. Cheers, Anwar.
Ajax closes a season without top victories in style
The numbers of Ajax in league matches against Feyenoord, PSV and AZ this season are harrowing. After the 0-0 against the Alkmaarders last weekend, in which Brian Brobbey failed to score despite an Expected Goal figure of 1.29, Ajax has drawn two top league matches and lost all the other four. That has never happened in the entire club history of the retired national champion. Add to that the ignominious defeats in the Johan Cruijff Scale and the cup final against PSV and then there is only one conclusion: it was a disastrous season for Ajax. The semi-final win in the TOTO KNVB Cup against Feyenoord cannot change that at all.
Featured: the deep valley in which Jasper Cillessen finds himself
It’s not nice to be Jasper Cillessen the last few weeks. The NEC goalkeeper was decisive for his team so often this season and took points, but in the last three games he cost the team from Nijmegen twice a good result. First there was that inexplicable blunder against Vitesse, when he just allowed the ball to be stolen from him and a goal came out of it, and on Saturday evening there was an error that was as bizarre as it was crazy. Cillessen thought Antoine Colassin’s attempt would go wide and let the ball run, until he saw in horror that the shot went into the net. It is the second time in the past three games that Cillessen made a mistake with a goal against as a direct result, and that is as many mistakes as in the 130 Eredivisie games together.