Yeah, that first half stunk big time. Starting lineup: Mulder; Janmaat, Martins-Indi, Mathijsen, Nelom; Leerdam, Clasie, Immers; Schaken, Fernandez, Cisse. Nelom made the defensive errors that set up both first half goals by Sparta's Kadlec. It is a big mistake to either head the ball, or kick it, back across the area to an opponent. Better to send it out-of-play on that side. In the second half, Nelom stepped up when given space and sent a left-footed kick into the far right corner for the 1-2. In 93', Immers crossed low from the right (it wasn't a corner) to Achabar who back-heeled the ball by the clueless keeper. Feyenoord escape with a 2-2 draw, but need to win in Prague given Sparta's two away goals. Subs in second half: Omar E for Cisse (62'), Achabar for Fernandez (81'), Vormer for Leerdam (62').
It seems that Ronald Koeman was foaming mad at the team in the break. He said they played like they shitted their pants and that if they wanted to win they should be daring. Anas showed why I love to see him play. Thank God Ramadan is over so we can see him play with full strength. He is a master in thight spaces with a sublime technique. John Guidetti said he saw Anas in practicing do things he never saw before...I believe him.
In a press conference Feyenoord expects to get serious money from the export of their Jouth Academy Education knowledge to foreign clubs, that are eager to plug in the Feyenoord expertise. Brard says they can buy knowledge or Feyenoord could go abroad to put up Academies in local clubs.
^ I wouldn't get too excited here. Ajax have been down this road before and in some cases lost a lot of money. They are trying to do something like this in China right now and it's not clear what the end result will be.
I would love to see Feyenoord set up a youth academy or two in the USA. Not only would it help USA futbol, but it could give Feyenoord a pipeline for talent. At 310 million population, and thousands of kids playing, that would be a great place for recruitment.
Ajax did this some years ago in Orlando Florida and lost a lot of money. Feyenoord cannot afford to do this.
Feyenoord playing the 4-4-2 against Heracles Almelo. Mulder; Janmaat, Martins-Indi, Kongolo, Nelom; Vormer, Clasie, Leerdam; Immers; Schaken, Cisse.
Feyenoord go into half time with a 2-0 lead. First goal was from Janmaat in 4'. Second goal was an Immers to Schaken back to Immers for the shot at 43'. Cisse got pulled down in the box by goalkeeper (only shown yellow), but then struck the PK off the cross-bar with his rushed shot.
Cisse was not the designated penalty taker. Immers was. So that is a violated agreement. He is not taken off for it though, but hope he is set straight by Koeman. I always get annoyed by those kind of players. Feyenoord is in trouble after the first half and should have been 4-0 up. Now they are defedning a 2-1 lead, it's starting to rain. 10 minutes still to play.
Second-half subs, Fernandez on for Schaken (67') and Singh on for Vormer (79'). Mulder made an excellent save near the end to preserve the 2-1 win. Schaken assisted on both goals so he is my MoM.
Feyenoord deserved to be punished by their inability to finish off the game early. Very unprofessional (especially Cisse) and I am sure Koeman will tell them. They can go thank their keeper it didn't happen. Also props to Kongolo for his first real minutes in the first team and starting place debut. It was funny to see how the artificial grass pitch looked like a golf course an hour before the game as water accumulated under it from a sudden rain burst coming out of the sky. 3 points for Feyenoord and I am sure they are glad to take them.
Important to win games like these dispite a very poor 2nd half (Starting to take all the missed 100% shouldhavebeengoals as a given though). Im not sure if Mulder gets away with the goal, but atleast he makes up for it with some good saves. Mulder has had enough time to get all the beginners-mistakes out of his system last year, he will be crucial for us this year I reckon. And ofcourse on top of this team, we have Vilhena, Achahbar, Elabdellaoui who can strenghten us during the season. Kongolo played a good game, glad to see we have 4 competent centraldefenders now
Wondering if the poor 2nd half had anything to do with the teams15minutes of angry Koeman during halftime. Wouldnt suprise me. Koeman said that he talked to them in halftime about the penalty and that further discussion shouldnt be needed. We can all read between the lines here.. http://eredivisielive.nl/video/74541-koeman-dit-is-gewoon-onvolwassenheid.html So happy we have him.
couldn't believe some of the lack of finishing. good for feyenoord that it didn't come back to bite them. On another note, I was pleasantly surprised that ESPN Deportes televised 3 Dutch league matches this past weekend. I think that it might happen here and there now that La Liga and Serie A went over to BeIn sports channel.
I am worried about Vilhena. He now has Raiola the Rat as his agent and that often only means 1 thing. Koeman is also choosing for guys like Immers and even Sing. I don't know why. What has Sing done lately? He had that opportunity on goal vs Heracles, which he outplayed in a wrong way and missed. Vilhena cán score, as one can see from his performances in the Dutch youth squads. Actually him and Achabar have a telepathic connection. Why not play them both against an opponent Feyenoord will dominate in the Eredivisie league. Achabar is great in smaller spaces and will run havoc with his buddy behind him. Just a thought to keep these players engaged and hungry and preventing another Castaignos situation.
Talking about the youth. What the hell happened to Manu after he scored that cracker against Heerenveen in the '71 minute making it 1-3? Also why is the media not firing these question on Koeman? It does not make any sense to me. It only makes sense to me if Koeman is waiting until the transfer deadline is over, to then phase in the youth and try to solve the striker situation with the players he has. Holding this off, is his way off telling van Geel that there is a big problem and if a youthful kids starts to score before the deadline, he might en up with a hot prospect running out of juice in the second phase of the season. Koeman wants van Geel to invest in a striker with experience and a consistency level to score all season long. My best guess. If this is not the game Koeman is playing and is just not trying out these guys as he does not deem them good enough, I would start to question him. It's not like Fernandez is scoring for fun or something.
If you are okay with waking up early, The Feyenoord match will be on ESPN deportes this Sunday at 6:25 am EST. It is the first of a triple header of Dutch football on the channel.
Cabral to Swansea apparently, even more reason now for me to cheer on them. Their Dutch contingent is getting bigger and bigger with hopefully Emnes to join as well.
Sparta Prague - Feyenoord Starting for Feyenoord: Mulder; Jamaat, De Vrij, Mathijsen, Martins-Indi; Vormer, Clasie, Leerdam; Immers; Schaken, Cisse. De Vrij taken off at 18' with slight knock only, hopefully. Nelom replaced him with Martins-Indi sliding over into De Vrij's CB slot. 0-0 at the half. Feyenoord had only one shot ON goal in the first half.
Feyenoord looking very slow on the pitch. Tough penalty call as it looked like the ball played the hand. I have seen these not called at times. Looks like their Euro adventures are now over.
Terrible defending on the corner. At least three Sparta players were unmarked. Koeman cannot be happy with this performance.
Poor game. We havent won a single european match and for good reason. I trust that we will fare better in the Eredivise with lesser opponents and more time to fix our problems. On the upside, I found Immers to be probably our best man on the field, loads of movement and the only one constantly asking the ball. Cisse was beyond bad, Vormer seemed out of place. But as I said im pretty sure we will be better in the Eredivisie, im not worried.