++ [ originally posted by Erik
] ++
file not found
Odd; the link works for me.
Okay, here it is in full:
Being an internationally reputed website columnist, people regularly stop me in the street or in a supermarket to ask me what my predictions for the coming season are. When I am cornered and can't run away, I firmly state that it will be PSV again this year. And, if not, then definitely Ajax or Feyenoord. And keep an eye on AZ Alkmaar as well. I won't burn my fingers on it anymore.
Last year most pundits were certain that PSV were to face an extremely difficult time. Ronald Koeman's Ajax would stroll to the title with Ruud Gullit's Feyenoord likely in its slipstream. Both coaches were sacrificed, during and immediately after the season respectively.
Meanwhile, PSV took the double and almost made it into the Champions League final. In its wake AZ came close to Champions League qualification and an UEFA Cup final as well, but an penultimate-minute goal by Sporting Lisbon in the semi-final pulled all strength out of the north Holland outfit in the remaining league games, leaving them in third place.
So this year the pundits are in a quandary whether to back Ajax again or go for the weakened PSV. Last year the southern club sold their entire strike force and now the champions have had to let their midfield go. Mark Van Bommel (Barcelona) and Johann Vogel (AC Milan) left on free transfers, while Ji-Sung Park helped the club to a considerable windfall in joining Manchester United. Timmy Simons (Club Brugge) and Mika Väyrynen (Heerenveen) replace them.
Will it be enough? At least PSV still have the Hiddink factor, which did wonders last year. Another bonus is that they have been promoted from the third to the second group in the Champions League draw, so they avoid one of two top clubs they usually encountered in the group stage, as PSV now belong among Europe's finest themselves. It may boost their confidence and ease the first months of the season a bit.
Ajax were lucky that they could sneak into the Champions League qualifiers with their end-of-season run of eight wins and AZ slipping up in the closing stages. Former talent Rafael van der Vaart (Hamburger SV) was the only player of note to leave. Promising youngsters Hedwiges Maduro and Ryan Babel made it into the first eleven, but one wonders if they can fulfil the enormous expectations.
Van der Vaart could not and Wesley Sneyder could be the next hot prospect to go bubbling under. Their latest striker Markus Rosenberg has already heard the first whistles during his debut in the World Tournament against Arsenal last week. Since Kluivert and Litmanen, a continuous range of number nine's have spearheaded the Ajax attack but few have succeeded in satisfying the home public.
Wesley Sonck and European champion Angelos Charisteas were last season's scapegoats. The latter is still around but will probably accompany his friend Yannis Anastasiou on the bench. Coming from outside the club it seems difficult to accommodate to the system Ajax plays, especially upfront. Only a few strikers that arrived without youth experience in Amsterdam have made it there.
Then we are left with the two dark horses this season. AZ saw coach Co Adriaanse leave for FC Porto, as well as right-back Jan Kromkamp move to Villareal recently. So the backbone of last season's surprise package is still there, getting their orders from Louis van Gaal now. It will be interesting to see whether the squad can endure another year with a similar coaching style.
When bullying Rinus Michels left Ajax in 1971 after winning the first European Cup, the board pulled off a masterstroke by appointing the easy and accommodative Stefan Kovacs, who just let the players do as they wanted. The team reached absurd heights and added a plethora of cups during his two year reign. It will be interesting to see what happens in Alkmaar under the reign of drill-meister Louis.
Just as exciting is life in Rotterdam, where new coach Erwin Koeman is picking up the pieces of a season with Ruud Gullit. The impressive striker Dirk Kuijt is still there, but whether quicksilver Salomon Kalou will face NAC Breda at the start of the season is extremely questionable. Kalou himself would like to play for PSV, who would not be afraid to splash a fortune on him. Feyenoord refuse to let him go.
Over the last couple of days there was mayhem in the harbour city when local paper Algemeen Dagblad claimed they had documents showing both Kalou and Kuijt were partly owned by investors and Kalou could be loaned to Benfica as a result. Feyenoord denied vigorously. Although the documents were signed by board members of the club, it now seems that the papers are fraudulent. Anyway, all is not well at De Kuip.
At least the Golden Jubilee season of the Eredivisie starts in the usual disorderly fashion with a game without spectators, as it looks at the moment. Over the years the fixture lists have been marred by local council interference, calling matches off when safety could not be guaranteed. As early as June police and mayors of every city or town with a professional football club are allowed to veto any matchday which they consider unsafe.
Reasons can vary from music festivals to horseshows and gay-parades. If they can't find enough cops to safeguard the public in and around the grounds, a date can be pulled off the game calendar. This time the KNVB administration received more than four hundred veto's, but the big football computer managed to publish a provisional fixture list at the start of July. Council and police then have a week to complain, before the list becomes official.
The mayor of Amsterdam waited another week before announcing Ajax versus ADO den Haag on the opening day was not to be. The capital's constabulary had other meetings to attend to. The KNVB however are on a tight schedule as the season ends with play-offs and the World Cup, so there was only one alternative date for the game to be played in the Amsterdam Arena: Saturday the same weekend. Veto again. Now the new regulations for these matters went in to full flow.
A reversal of the fixture to Den Haag was considered as step two, but was out of the question with the mayor of the parliamentary city. Step three: to look for a neutral ground, happy to host both teams. There were no volunteers as yet within the Dutch borders. Although this game will be played without public, there is no question that both sets of fans will travel to the location and hope to get a glimpse of the match or, even better: of each other.
As it stands now the KNVB is looking for a pitch somewhere abroad. If this does not work out, the game is off the calendar all together and both teams face a penalty of minus three points. Which makes it even more difficult for pundits. So no more predictions for me anymore, thank you.
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