August
After a shaky start losing 2-1 away to Haugesund, I was worried, however following that result we picked up maximum points in the league and progressed in the Europa League winning all 3 games.
A terrible performance throughout the team; my defence were sloppy and inconsistent, the midfield struggled to keep a hold of the ball and release the wingers and Luuk De Jong up front was abysmal.
Completely the opposite to the game against Haugesund, I made some slight changes as I felt some players didn’t perform to their expectations, Lucas Neill, Oscar Hiljemark, Luciano Narsingh and Jürgen Locadia came in for Santiago Arias, Stijn Schaars, Zakaria Bakkali and Luuk De Jong.
I was a little nervous going into this game due to the fact that we lost the first leg. However Locadia’s goal in the 19th minute calmed the nerves and after that we were able to settle in. Once the first went in the result was never in doubt.
AZ are a fairly good side in the Eredivisie, however they never really caused us much trouble, with their goal only coming when we tired later on. Memphis Depay picked up a slight knock but returned to training within the next few days.
I had a good feeling heading into this match however both Groningen goals came within the first 20 minutes. I stayed calm as we were creating plenty of chances and we recovered and were winning 3-2 at the interval. A great win in my opinion.
Being drawn against a Bosnian team that I had never heard of was exactly what I wanted to hear. Despite going 1-0 down we were always in control. Locadia was the class act once again.
I had a few fitness issues for this game, young Arne van Geffen impressed however Depay stole the show once again with an outstanding performance.
Our final game of August was the second leg of the Europa League qualifier, both of our young wingers, Depay and Bakkali impressed yet again and we are now into the group stage where we will face Everton, Dinamo Moscow of Russia and FH of Iceland.
Player of the Month
There were many candidates this year with Memphis Depay, Zakaria Bakkali and Jürgen Locadia all impressing with their fair share of goals and assists. However this month the award winner is Lucas Neill as he has impressed me with his solid performances at the back. Despite not having the highest average rating he really steadied the defence.