“Each match this season Ajax seems to have more ball possesion than her opponents, just like last sunday in De Kuip. But again it didn’t help them any further. With match statistics we evaluate how Koemans side succesfully countered the naive Ajax of De Boer back to Amsterdam. Koemans team didn’t have much possession, but when they did, they moved the ball to the strikers quickly, which gave them time and space to become very dangerous in front of Kenneth Vermeer. It ended in a historic 4-2 punishment leaving the Feyenoord fans celebrating.” Catenaccio

“With the second half of the Eredivisie just a few days away, this may be the right time to refresh our memory of the current state of affairs in the Eredivisie. This post will try to do that by plotting the teams’ offensive and defensive performances. Drawing on earlier posts on this same subject, teams will be evaluated regarding their amount of goals scored/conceded and their rate of converting/stopping goal scoring chances.” 11 tegen 11

“Regular followers of the blog know by now that I try to take a particular interest in measuring the performances of football teams, and should more and better data be available in the future, of individual players too. This post continues that trend, being the first of a planned three-part mini series looking at team performances in the Eredivisie, with 13 of all 34 games played.” 11 tegen 11: Measuring performances in the Eredivisie – Goal scoring chances, Measuring performances in the Eredivisie – Shot Accuracy, Measuring performances in the Eredivisie – Conversion

“Friendly international matches are usually good for two things: testing out different tactics and/or assessing the usefulness of alternative players. In that regard, Van Marwijk must have had a useful experience to see his side play to a disappointing draw against Switzerland, who came out with a cunning strategy that proved very successful in negating the Dutch offensive strengths, while highlighting the lack of offensive alternatives.” 11 tegen 11

“The last time Ajax regularly played three at the back, Sandra Bullock was one of the hottest young actresses in Hollywood with a bright future ahead, and the same could be said for Ajax who dined at the top of Europe’s elite table. Since those halcyon days Bullock has gone on to amass a fortune and bag an Academy award in the process whereas the Godenzonen have been in the doldrums, slowly losing their identity and barely feasting on the crumbs.” Just Football

“The first of this season’s clashes between two of the Eredivisie top three teams produced a passionate match that ended in a 2-2 draw, respecting the fact that, in terms of footballing quality, both sides put in an equal share. However, during various phases of the game one of either teams dominated the other, making this an attractive match with an unpredictable outcome till the very end.” 11 tegen 11

“Guided by a superb performance of playmaker Wesley Sneijder, Holland managed an eighth straight Euro 2012 victory by beating Finland by two goals. Smart exploitation of the space conceded behind the Finnish defensive line allowed a fair share of through ball, one of which was beautifully finished by Strootman, who scored his first international goal in an otherwise strong appearance.” 11 tegen 11

“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

“Only six games into the season, PSV manager Fred Rutten has seen his side transform from a toothless bunch to a free scoring title contender. This post will first glance over the match tactics involved, in order to identify the positive changes made by Rutten, before taking a dive into some detailed match stats to illustrate the effects of Rutten’s tactical changes.” 11 tegen 11

“Based on the 2-0 final score line you wouldn’t tell that Twente had a tough time breaking down their Romanian opponent at home. Twente missed four key players and had severe problems building attacks from the back. As a result, the transition from last season’s double holding midfielder system to an offensive 4-3-3 didn’t go all that smooth yet.” 11 tegen 11

“Judging by the score line of 2-0 ADO did a good job beating Lithuanian side FK Tauras, admittedly of a lower standard, to reach the third qualifying round of the Europa League. But the performance to go along with it was rather flat, with ADO only taking full advantage of their superior playing qualities in the second half, when the pressure on their opponents was significantly increased.” 11 tegen 11

“The question posted in the title of this article seems to deserve a rather simple and straightforward answer, doesn’t it? Compile a simple list of the amount of goals scored by each player and, voilà… N.E.C.’s Björn Vleminckx managed to score 23 goals during the past Eredivisie season, outscoring ADO’s Dimitry Bulykin by two goals and the Belgian striker is rewarded with the trophy.” 11 tegen 11

“In a first leg of what many expected to be a tight affair, ADO trashed Groningen and went on to win 5-1, thereby virtually securing their win in this season’s Europa League qualification playoffs. Groningen conceded the midfield to ADO by playing a formation bordering on 4-2-4 against ADO’s compact 4-3-3. In turn, ADO played to their strength very well and consequently circulated the ball to the feet of wingers Kubik and Verhoek. In the end, a weak performance by Groningen goal keeper Luciano did the rest.” 11 tegen 11

“Ajax needed to win to clinch the title, Twente needed just a draw – but Frank de Boer’s side emerged victorious. The Ajax manager named an unchanged 4-3-3 side from the one that beat Herenveen last weekend. Michel Preud’Homme’s selection was also unchanged from the previous weekend’s 4-0 thrashing of Willem II.” Zonal Marking

Ajax 3 – 1 Twente: Eredivisie decided in fantastic final
“A home victory over title rivals Twente meant that Frank de Boer’s Ajax secured the 30th Eredivisie title in the club’s history. Both title contenders faced each other on the final match day with Ajax needing a win for the title. And just one week after losing the Dutch Cup final to Twente in overtime, Ajax managed a 3-1 win in a tight and very exciting match that was ultimately decided by small tactical adaptations, which become clear when comparing this match to the Cup final.” 11 tegen 11

We won it 30 times!
“I still can’t believe what happened yesterday. I woke up this morning and thought that I had a beautiful dream last night. But it’s not a dream. It’s reality. Ajax are champions of Holland. For the 30th time in their history. It’s actually too good to be true. When I watch videos of the boys celebrating it feels unreal. It’s a dream that came true.” World of Ajax

“In a match that superseded all expectations, Twente claimed the victory with a dramatic overtime winning header by Janko to win the Dutch Cup for the third time in the club’s history. In contrast to what might have been derived from both team’s managers pre-match, when they stressed the importance of next week’s fixture deciding the Eredivisie title, both teams did not hold back and a true football fest was the result.” 11 tegen 11

“In their third and fourth match up of this season, Twente and Ajax will meet in both the final of the Dutch Cup next Sunday and in what may be called the final of the Eredivisie on Sunday May 15. Both managers have already expressed themselves in clichés such as “the Cup is a very important prize” and “our next match is always the most important one”, but the general feeling is that this weekend’s Cup final is overshadowed by the importance of the Eredivisie title decider next week. And it’s not just the title that is decided, but both teams may even end up losing their Champions League ticket in the case of a loss next week, with PSV aiming to regain second place.” 11 tegen 11

“While writing this I’m still shaking. My dad just called me to ask what the final score was. With a smile from ear to ear I told him Ajax won. Goals from the Serbian, Miralem Sulejmani and wunderkid Christian Eriksen gave Ajax the three points. Once again it wasn’t a great performance but I couldn’t care less in this phase of the season. A win and only a win counts. The lads gave us that today.” World of Ajax

Heerenveen 1 – 2 Ajax: Eredivisie title race still open
“Ajax managed a narrow win in this must-win game away at Heerenveen. But with both sides putting in far better offensive than defensive performances, this match could easily have gone another way.” 11 tegen 11

“Benfica will take a commanding lead to Holland next week after a confident performance in Lisbon. Jorge Jesus was able to bring back Oscar Cardozo and Maxi Pereira after they missed the weekend defeat to Porto, whilst Jardel started at centre-back. Fred Rutten named an unchanged side from the XI that lost to Twente last Saturday (the teams came into this game off the back of similarly devastating results) in 4-2-3-1 system. The game was open and exciting throughout – five goals were a fair reflection of an attack-minded contest.” Zonal Marking

“FC Twente moved ahead of PSV Eindhoven, thanks to two goals from Theo Janssen. Nikolay Mihaylov replaced Sander Boschker in goal, in Michel Preud’homme’s only change – Bryan Ruiz was only on the bench. Fred Rutten named an unchanged side from the XI which beat Utrecht the previous weekend. The game started at a slow tempo.” Zonal Marking

“Good technique, though while widely accepted as an essential weapon in the armoury of any professional footballer, is rarely cast as a game-changing element. Having good technique usually means simply being able to control the ball easily, weigh passes appropriately or maintain one’s balance when shooting. Occasionally, however, technique is the difference between winning and losing. More precisely, in the case of Ibrahim Afellay in the Netherlands’ 4-0 defeat of Hungary last Friday, it was the difference between scoring and not scoring.” Football Further

“After their dominant away ’tiki taka style’ victory only a few days ago, Holland manager Van Marwijk will not have felt the slightest incentive to change his line-up either in terms of tactics or his choice of a starting eleven. And with all players fully fit he wasn’t forced into any changes either. This allowed the unique situation of two consecutive matches started by 11 players all playing for different clubs.” 11 tegen 11