Scott Musgrave
The long respected powers of Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord are diminishing. That is to say if we take anything from the current state of the Eredivisie. Outside of these three clubs there are only two others in the Netherlands that have ever won the Dutch title. Heracles Almelo (twice) and AZ Alkmaar (once), both of whom lifted the trophy some years ago.
The last title won by a team outside the big three was AZ Alkmaar in 1981. Since then it has all been but a power battle between the company team of PSV and the traditional giants of Amsterdam, with Feyenoord occasionally being in the mix.
However, ever since a wily old manager by the name of Louis van Gaal re-emerged onto the scene with an ambitious Alkmaar outfit the traditional trio has had a shake up. It was as recently as 2006 that the title was within the grasp of the DSB Bank sponsored team, only for them to fall at the last hurdle losing to Excelsior Rotterdam on the final day of the season to hand PSV their third title in a row.
After an indifferent season in the 2007/08 edition, finishing 11th, AZ bounced back to lead the Eredivisie for the majority of this season. It hasn’t helped that PSV, Ajax and Feyenoord have experienced managerial changes in the past 12 months, but all credit has to go to Louis van Gaal for leading his team to an, at the time of writing, 11 point buffer over second placed FC Twente.
But it is not just AZ that have been turning heads this season. The ever growing FC Twente and SC Heerenveen have caused many teams a headache or two on their way to upsetting the historical favourites.
English manager Steve McClaren has continued what his predecessor Fred Rutten had started by maintaining the Enschede machine to an impressive second placing (thus far). It has been a combination of youth and experience that has powered them forth. 19 year-old Austrian Marko Arnautovic with 11 goals and the ever present 33 year-old Swiss international Blaise N’Kufo chiming in with 16 goals so far this term. It is also notable that with the second stingiest defence in the Eredivisie much kudos must be given to defensive structure Twente employ.
SC Heerenveen have been another team taking leaps and bounds in the Eredivisie in recent years. Seemingly powered by an expert scouting team and a board willing to squeeze top dollar for their best players, the Frisian club will be one challenging for top honours in the future. It is worth noting that all players that have moved from the Abe Lenstra stadium for sizeable amounts have become hits with their next clubs. Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Alfonso Alves and most recently Miralem Sulejmani have all moved on to become stars of the highest calibre and it seems that Daniel Pranjic might be the next (scoring 11 goals from midfield).
But no small thanks should be given to Geertjan Verbeek and his predecessor Foppe de Haan who worked extensively on the Heerenveen legacy before current Norwegian coach Trond Sollied picked up the reins. Now, the Frisian team stand only three points behind Ajax and a chance at the Champions League.
Perhaps a more important point though is that it is not only these three clubs pushing the traditional giants, the likes of NAC Breda and FC Groningen are continually growing in presence and always competing for European places.
It could be said that Dutch football is reaching a crossroads or maybe the traditional teams are simply having a year of transition. Time will tell, but the landscape of the Eredivisie has been changed and there is more than enough confidence swimming around the top 10 to challenge for Europe and the top Dutch honours.
Don’t be surprised to see the titles darting around a bit in the next few seasons as there’s more than enough quality nowadays to see the Eredivisie shield end up anywhere. From Alkmaar to Amsterdam, from Eindhoven to Enschede, where will the famous trophy end up next? This season points to Alkmaar, but after that who knows?
