SC Heerenveen has not been able to book four victories in a row in the Eredivisie for almost a year, so the term ‘volatile’ applies to the team of trainer Johnny Jansen. Things are not going well for the Frisians this season either. Heerenveen is in the middle of the Eredivisie with thirteen points from nine matches, but will have to become more stable to have a chance of participating in the play-offs at the end of the ride. Football zone went to the Abe Lenstra Stadium and spoke there with veteran Siem de Jong and newcomer Milan van Ewijk.
By Mart Oude Nijeweeme
The numbers don’t lie. Heerenveen has already lost six home games in the Eredivisie this calendar year and must fear that the negative record will be broken this century. Only twice before have the Frisians lost a home game more often, in 2011 a 2017: seven. “Given the last few years, reaching the play-offs has proven to be a difficult goal, but that is something we want to go towards,” De Jong admits honestly. “But I think we are still too unstable as a team and I also play an important role in that. I take that role off the field, but sometimes I have to bring more inside the lines. we show that we can do it. The question is why we don’t keep it up.”
Heerenveen managed to keep Joey Veerman on board, but had to watch as basic customers Jan Paul van Hecke, Lasse Schöne, Mitchell van Bergen and Sherel Floranus left the Abe Lenstra Stadium. The position of Floranus is now flawlessly filled by Milan van Ewijk. The right back came over from ADO Den Haag and has secured a place in the base in no time. That doesn’t surprise him, though. “I always assume my own quality, so I think I’m the best in that position,” said a confident Van Ewijk. “But of course you have to show it. I did that. I make sure that I am better than the other right back. I have enough experience in the Eredivisie, so I know what I should and should not do to convince the trainer .”
Van Ewijk has already succeeded in the latter. The defender did not miss a minute this season and already seems undisputed. Yet he sees a clear difference with how things went at ADO. “Sometimes guys get away with one assumption,” he says. “Joey (Veerman, ed.) For example. That goes so ridiculously fast. His assumptions are almost always right. You have to go with his pace to keep up during a position game. I had to get used to that. If you look at the quality I can only enjoy that. The connection he has with Henk (Veerman, ed.) is also nice to see. But there are more guys that surprised me. Sven van Beek, for example, you really don’t go there.”
View the report with Siem de Jong and Milan van Ewijk here
For Van Ewijk it has also been a major cultural change. The fullback has exchanged the city for the village and can now hear the birds chirping. “I was surprised how quiet it is here,” said Van Ewijk. “If I compare that with where I come from, in the Randstad. I hear frogs and birds when I’m in bed. Earlier I heard a tram, buses and cars. The people in the club are also very laid back. That’s nice for me, because I’ve had clubs where something always happened. I am also calm myself, so the puzzle pieces are falling together.”
Van Ewijk noticed that he was ready for a new challenge, after having become one of the defining players at ADO last year. However, he was unable to avoid relegation. He regrets that it is still noisy at the club. “It’s annoying to see such a big club struggling, especially if you’ve played there. On the other hand, I still don’t understand that it hasn’t been arranged. It’s strange to experience. The guys I know and still playing there do not understand it either. This season I can enjoy ADO again, they are doing well. I am confident that they can continue and secretly hope that we will hit them in the battle for the TOTO KNVB Cup. “
De Jong also seems to have found his place in the Netherlands again. After spending a year in America with FC Cincinnati, he returned last winter to the village where his grandmother has lived for years. “The year in America was not really allowed to have a name”, De Jong looks back on his adventure in the United States. “When we were abroad, family and friends always came by, that made it a different experience. We now have our own place, our own house for the first time. We live in the west, I occasionally stay here. We’re finally in the process of putting up pictures of ourselves, rather than pointing it out knowing you’ll be leaving in a little while.”
And yet De Jong cannot assure that he can still be admired in Heerenveen’s shirt after this season. The midfielder still has a contract until mid-2022 and has not yet spoken with the club. He does not rule out that he is in his last year in Frisian service. “I have to say that I don’t know what the future will bring,” said De Jong. “I’m not going to say at home that I necessarily want to stay here. Traveling and seeing places has brought us beautiful things. Maybe even after my career. But at the moment I don’t know what the future will bring me. “It is important for me to have a good season and then I will see. It can of course just come out of nowhere. I also don’t think many people expected it from Luuk. Who knows, another year at Barça”, concludes De Jong with a wink.