GOONERSGUIDE DUTCH EREDIVISION NEWS SECTION

This is our Dutch EreDivision news section where we provide any news items that might have a significant effect on the matches being played - or sports betting in general.

Dutch EreDivision News :: Top Five Teams for 2008-09 in the Netherlands

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Posted on 2008-08-24 by Billie

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The Dutch season is going to kick off with the Supercup this weekend, Feyenoord-PSV, and the week after that the Eredivisie will start.

I'm posting a summary of this season, with my predictions. Of course the transfer market is still open and much can happen in 10 days, but this must pretty much be it ...

Ajax

Some drastical changes were made to make the club as succesfull as it once was. Manager Marco van Basten was appointed, and he has got all power at the club now.

Ajax has been the most active club on the transfer market, investing over 30 million euro's in new players. Those new players are almost all offensive players, while it was obvious Ajax defence was their weak line. And looking at the friendlies played, nothing changed about that.

They lack a decent left-back, and are kind of short with defensive midfielders. But as long they outscore their opponent, there's no problem. That should be very possible, with record signing Miralem Sulejamni (€ 17 mil), talented Aissati of PSV, defender Oleguer and offensive Cvitanich. Latest signing is Evander Sno, a good one I think.

Ajax seems at their strongest compared to last 5 years, but the lack of a quality defense could break them up. Also Marco van Basten hasn't proved anything when it comes to club managing, this is his first club after he was at Ajax 2 and the Dutch national squad.

Transfers in:
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Darío Cvitanich Banfield F
Miralem Sulejmani SC Heerenveen F
Ismail Aissati PSV M
Oleguer Presas Barcelona D
Evander Sno Celtic M

Transfers out:
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Erik Heijblok De Graafschap GK
Edgar Davids Free M
John Heitinga Atlético Madrid D
Ismael Urzaíz Free F
Sammy Kufour Free D
Jurgen Colin Sporting Gijón D

My prediction: Champions (1st)

Feyenoord

Feyenoord has had 2 dramatic seasons in a row, and are doing everything to step up. Verbeek of Heerenveen was appointed as manager, and he's making drastic changes to the club's facilities.

Important players stayed, Tomasson is their biggest addition, but they still have only 2 strikers, him and Makaay, with 37 year old Mols as back-up. This could turn out to be problematic, as Makaay isn't top fit any more, and they really rely on his goals.

Their defense still looks shaky, midfield is talented, so again the big guns will be hard to catch with this squad, but play-offs seem possible.

Transfers in:
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Kermit Erasmus Supersport United F
Karim El Ahmadi FC Twente M
Dwight Tiendalli Sparta Rotterdam D
Jon Dahl Tomasson Villarreal F
Manteiga Gama M

Transfers out:
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Jordy Buijs De Graafschap D
Michael Jansen Cambuur Leeuwarden D
Nuri Sahin Borussia Dortmund M
Chun-Soo Lee Samsung Blue Wings F

My prediction: Play-offs CL (2-5)

SC Heerenveen

Heerenveen has finished 5th twice in a row, and are hoping to go on like that.

They lost manager Verbeek to Feyenoord, and appointed Trond Sollied as their new manager. Sulejmani was sold, and Bonaventure Kalou is his (capable) replacement.

Attacking football brought success to Heerenveen, and it looks like Sollied is willing to go on with that.

Transfers in:
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Milan Kopic Mlada Bol. D
Goran Popov Aigaleo D
Bonaventure Kalou Al-Jazira F
Tarik Elyounoussi Frederikstad FK F
Daryl Janmaat ADO D

Transfers out:
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Gonzalo García-García FC Groningen M
Timmi Johansen Odense BK D
Gianni Zuiverloon West Bromwich D
Miralem Sulejmani Ajax F
Jeroen Drost Vitesse D
Niklas Tarvajärvi Vitesse F
Cecilio Lopes FC Volendam F
Jakob Poulsen Aarhus M
Will Johnson MLS F

My prediction: Play-offs CL (2-5)

PSV Eindhoven

PSV dominating the Eredivisie last 9 years, with 7 championships in those years. Every year key players leave, but they find a way too keep the magic and the title in Eindhoven. Now Gomes left, who was really one of the most important players, together with Farfan.

Isaksson will be Gomes' successor, and furthermore mostly defensive additions. With this squad they seem almost as strong as last year, and Afellay will be their main man. That could also be a bit of a problem, as he has injuries now and then and mentally not the best.

A decent squad with a good manager, Huub Stevens, and they will fight with Ajax for the title. Honestly it's a coinflip, but looking at their squad, they seem a bit short on class strikers, and finding a new one is hard. That's why I'm thinking the dominance could be ended.

Transfers in:
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Francisco Rodríguez Chivas D
Nordin Amrabat VVV-Venlo F
Reimond Manco Alianza Lima F
Jérémie Bréchet FC Sochaux D
Andreas Isaksson Man City GK
Erik Pieters FC Utrecht D

Transfers out:
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Jefferson Farfán Schalke 04 F
Heurelho Gomes Spurs GK
Ismail Aissati Ajax M
John de Jong Retired M
Slobodan Rajkovic FC Twente D

My prediction: Play-offs CL (2-5)

FC Twente

Twente finished 4th twice in a row, and new manager McClaren will do everything to keep those results. Twente played some good attacking football, and they have the players to keep doing that.

The match against Arsenal showed they can play well, but just lack qualities for the top. This is why I scale them like other play-off clubs. 2 important midfielders left, 2 good midfielders came.

Transfers in:
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Cheik Tioté Anderlecht M
Theo Janssen Vitesse M
Slobodan Rajkovic Chelsea D

Transfers out:
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Alfred Schreuder Vitesse M
Arnar Vidarsson Cercle Brugge M
Marcel Kleizen FC Zwolle F
Karim El Ahmadi Feyenoord M
Orlando Engelaar Schalke 04 M

My prediction: Play-offs CL (2-5)

 

Sourced From : Gooners Football Forum

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