The pre-season was satisfactory. We faced some easy opponents such as AFC Astra which led to us dominating them and sealing the game a solid 5-0 victory. Verviers was our next opponent at De Kuip who was another victim and lost 7-0 with my strikers causing a demolition job. NAC was our first away game and we were able to edge NAC 3-2. My first defeat of the pre-season game to Torino humiliating us on television 1-2, however it's not the end of the world, it's just a friendly. Excelsior was our last away game in which we defeated them 2-1 in quite boring game for a friendly. As reported on, the Super Cup is almost the starting of the season and we were able to seal a win at Amsterdam ArenA 4-2 against the reigning champions PSV.
Moving onto the Eredivisie, we began the season with quite a difficult fixture of Twente. Twente finished high last season at 5th, moving up 9 places from the season before. We took the game by the scruff of it's neck, controlled it, kept a clean-sheet and defeated them solidly 2-0. Roda JC was a arguably the hardest game of August due to us just edging them by 1 goal however, witnessing the game was a different story. We took the game to them, however defensively they had it sound, hence why we only scored 2 reluctant goals. AZ was a big gamble on my part as a manager as I changed my tactical system to counter AZ's regular 'big game' tactic which is just to soak up the pressure and hit us on the backlash. We kept them quiet and stopped them from scoring multiple times, we netted 4 leading us to win 0-4. On with the next game, Groningen was another victim to my new tactical system with them losing 4-0. I decided to stick with this as it seemed to be working against relegation favourites Zwolle, we continued to score goals however conceded 2, the most goals we've conceded in August. This gives me the impression that teams are finding out how to break down my tactical defence.
Looking at the league, we are exactly where I am expecting us to be. In August alone, we scored a total of 16 goals and conceded a low amount of 3. However, what's so surprising is Vitesse, they are actually conceding less goals however scoring less goals. Cambuur is very unexpected, winning the Jupiter League last season to contending for the title after 5-6 games being done, in all honestly, I don't see them being in the top 10 by the end. Ajax is right where they should be. They are gaining points and dropping a few, but they are adapting to there new manager. AZ is where they should be with 4 of there 5 conceded goals were actually us when we played them away.
The bottom half of the table consists of dutch 'giants' PSV sunk to 9th and Twente below them at 10th. This is not a good start for PSV, but they had a similar start last season. They weren't performing to expectations last season after 6-8 games and then they kicked on. This could be because of there old manager (the manager that won them the title 3 times in a row) now managing Manchester City which is a big loss in the heart of PSV. Twente, I think have been quite unlucky with there fixtures, starting with facing the champions and losing can be a big loss of confidence.
Barcelona, Napoli and AS Monaco. A very difficult group, very difficult. Highlighting Barcelona in particular, possessing the talents of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez, will no doubt be putting our defence under pressure. Napoli who is our affiliate club will definitely be a tough clash as we look to secure a knockout spot. AS Monaco is a team I feel is actually beatable, I think we can secure 6 points against them because they aren't a superpower unlike Barcelona. I am looking to get into the Quarter Finals or perhaps the Semi-Finals, so I can get a hands-on experience on European football.
Future fixtures consist of huge games in the Eredivisie as well as Champions League. These games feature against my Champions League opponents - Barcelona, Napoli and AS Monaco, very key games if we want to advance to the next stage. We also have key matches in the league such as against Ajax, PSV and Cambuur. Ajax I see as game that is winnable by a huge amount, of above 2-3 goals. PSV is a team that is desperate to gain points and it will be a very interesting bout. Cambuur is very 'iffy' game. Cambuur has great form however its unlikely that they will be able to hang on to it.
"This was a fantastic month. My strikers are being the real cutting edge this season so far. Elvis Manu has netted five goals in five appearances. Jean-Paul Boëtius and Will Overgard has equaled assisted four times a piece. The attacking players in the team has really stood out this season. The defending players has also played there great part in keeping clean-sheets in the pre-season and the league."