“11tegen11 is enjoying a well-deserved, but short holiday break. In the meantime, here’s an overview of the Eredivisie so far, updated to include match day 7, finishing off with part three.” (11 tegen 11)

“11tegen11 is enjoying a well-deserved, but short holiday break. In the meantime, here’s an overview of the Eredivisie so far, updated to include match day 7, kicking off with part one.” (11 tegen 11)

“Last year’s Eredivisie top two share the points in an open, attacking game. Michel Preud’homme played a 4-3-3 system that was basically similar in nature to the formation Steve McClaren used at the club last year, even if there have been numerous changes in personnel. Luuk de Jong started upfront in the absence of Mark Janko, and Nacer Chadli returned on the left wing.” (Zonal Marking)

“This weekend saw the first clash of last year’s Eredivisie’s top two sides. Both clubs managed to win an impressive 16 out of 17 home games last season . Ajax’ only draw was, ironically against to-be-relegated Sparta (0-0), in the second home game of the season and Twente’s against PSV in their first home game of the season. Ajax managed to win their final 14 games of the season, scoring a magnificent 50 goals while conceding only 4 in these series. In spite of that, Twente managed to just hold on to their early season lead, keeping a one point margin intact over the final six matches, ensuring a thrilling end to the 2009/10 Eredivisie season and claiming their first ever title.” (11 tegen 11)

“Seven games into the new season and not a word spent on Vitesse yet in 11tegen11. And yet, in some regards Vitesse has been one of the most dynamic teams so far. Disappointingly, however, this only held true for the off-pitch events so far. A change of ownership last August meant that Vitesse is the first, and so far only, foreign owned club in Holland. Georgian Merab Jordania took over the club, speaking of title challenges within three years and building the club into a stable force in European club football. Not the smallest of ambitions for last year’s number 14 of the Eredivisie, is it?” (11 tegen 11)

“Willem II and ADO Den Haag are amongst the teams that expected to battle against relegation this year. The ‘Tilburg Tricolores’ avoided relegation only in the play-offs of the past season after finishing in 17th place, while ADO only just avoided these play-offs by grabbing six points from the final four games of the season.” (11 tegen 11)

“Feyenoord and Ajax contested each other in the 164th edition of ‘The Classic’ today. Regardless of actual rankings and present from, this Classic encounter remains one of the high-points of the year for both teams. The fierce rivalry between these clubs tends to bring out the best of games on the pitch ,but unfortunately also the worst of ‘supporters’ behaviour outside of it. In an effort to control this violence, until 2014 the Eredivisie matches between Ajax and Feyenoord are to be played without any attending away fans, taking away much of the stadium atmosphere.” (11 tegen 11)

“Yesterday evening saw the much awaited kick-off of the Dutch Eredivisie. And it was the defending champion’s honour to feature in the first match, away against last year’s number nine, Roda JC. A potentially tough fixture as Roda performed particularly well in the second half of last year’s competition and, in contrast to Twente, succeeded in keeping much of their squad together during the summer transfer window. Of their regularly featured players, only midfielder Marcel de Jong and central defender Jean-Paul Saeijs departed. New signing Jimmy Hempte from Belgian outfit KV Kortrijk was attracted as the new central defense partner to the athletic and passionate part-Norwegian, part-Gambian Pah-Modou Kah.” (11 tegen 11)

Hubert Robert, The Bridge
“Another slightly delayed post on our recent national team’s performance. And yet again, for future reference and for the message conveyed in this particular match, it still is important to review Holland’s performance against a stubborn and, apart from the first 20 minutes, well organized Finland side. Oranje, as always, lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with man-in-the-hole Sneijder given a high degree of positional freedom, looking to see a lot of the ball and being involved in a very high proportion of the attacking plays.” (11 tegen 11)