Dutch Eredivisie 2008/09 – Same Procedure As Last Year

Early September, and all the European football leagues have kicked off with a few rounds. People with some insight in the game are already looking for trends to maybe predict the outcome of the season. However, if you ask me, a few rounds in the biggest leagues may give a few indicators for the new season, but a lot of things can happen. A good may give a team a head start that will decide the outcome in the end. The champions in the Premier League, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, and La Primera are not decided in September though, but rather in April at the earliest.

However, in the Dutch Eredivisie – mind you a league that is clearly below the “Big 5” in competitiveness and quality, but still the home of a few very successful teams and a seemingly endless producer of football talent – the standard appear to have been set after only one match weekend.

Since the season 1963-64, only once (AZ in 1981) outside “The Big Three” – Ajax, Feyenoord, and PSV Eindhoven – have won the title. Naturally other teams have a great season at the same time that one or two of the elite trio clubs have a bad season. At the end of the day though, the challenge of passing all of the three dominant clubs in the table proves to be too big. The trophy the last four years has ended up in southern Holland, in Eindhoven. After a disappointing last season for both Ajax and Feyenoord, the clubs have made serious efforts to be able to challenge PSV for the title this year. After only the first round in the Dutch league, I would like to say – not going to happen.

Managers of clubs in the Dutch league are faced with the challenge year after year that their teams may be scattered all over the continent when bigger clubs open their wallets and handpick the best players in the league. Particularly the biggest four clubs – add AZ to the trio – constantly find themselves in this situation in late August. In turn these clubs pick players from smaller clubs in the league or even from each other (never between Ajax and Feyenoord though, but that’s a different story). A frustrating situation of “football inbreed”, but nevertheless the reality. Therefore, I find it even more impressive that PSV can perform year after year, not only in the domestic but also on the European scene.

Ajax has a very disappointing season behind them, nowhere near the league title and missing out on a chance to qualify to Champion’s League. This year they are going for stability, getting rid of unwanted players and adding Marco van Basten as head coach. In the long run this could very well be a winning concept, but before he gets the team together, I’m afraid they will be distanced, unable to catch up.

Last season Feyenoord brought a couple of quality players back to De Kuip when they signed Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Roy Makaay, hoping that they would raise the team to glory. A Dutch cup title brought some satisfaction for the fans, but the league performance was uneven and didn’t even buy the club a top five position. With the addition of Jon Dahl Tomasson this season, maybe they have the experience and skills to put up a good fight. It seems like Feyenoord notoriously beat the top teams, but lose points to the lower ranked teams. Judging by their performance so far, I doubt that it will change this year.

While the only two serious contenders for the title – Ajax and Feyenoord – lost their first round matches to teams where they normally should walk away with three points, PSV put up an impressive performance and defeated Utrecht away with a 5 – 1 win. The club from Eindhoven is spoiled with the appearance of future star players; Romario, Ronaldo, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Arjen Robben, and Marc van Bommel to mention a few. Naturally players of their caliber are bound to find their way to bigger and more lucrative tasks in European top clubs. Yet, the club finds means of replacing them year after year. Be it top notch club management, a unique coaching philosophy, or complete harmony among the players and confidence in the system; it’s a winning concept.

The Ajax and Feyenoord fans may demand or even deserve a success for their beloved teams, and as an Amsterdam resident I would love to see it happen. I genuinely hope that it will be a tough race up until the end, but in the end I will be surprised if the title ends up in Amsterdam or Rotterdam. I realize it would be foolish and unprofessional to congratulate PSV already after only one round of matches. But from my experience with the Dutch league the last four years; you can afford to lose a few points here and there. However, you cannot afford to give PSV an edge, they will take advantage of it, and they will not return the favor. Playing catch-up with the champions is a dangerous game, and unfortunately for the excitement of the competition, this is not a game that the challengers master just yet. Therefore I say; in May PSV will win their fifth consecutive Dutch championship. Same procedure as last year.