The Club of the People: Feyenoord Rotterdam

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12 July 2017

Feyenoord Complete Record Breaking Haller Signing

Feyenoord have today confirmed the signing of their new record signing by announcing the arrival of French forward Sebastien Haller from FC Utrecht for a fee of £8 million although this is expected to rise to around £12 million should Haller meet several additional clauses in the deal. Haller was the top Goalscorer in the Eredivisie last season as FC Utrecht finished 3rd in the division to seal a return to European football and now Haller will have his sights set on putting the ball in the back of the net on a regular basis for Feyenoord in both the Eredivisie and the UEFA Champions League.

The man who broke Feyenoord’s transfer record, Haller scored 25 goals in 34 appearances for FC Utrecht in the Eredivisie last season as Erik ten Hag’s side secured their highest league finish since the 1981/1982 season. One of Feyenoord manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s highest priorities in the transfer window this season was to address the distribution of goals problem that Feyenoord had last season with Nicolai Jorgensen being the only Feyenoord player to score more than 15 goals last season. Haller said that ”I am delighted to have joined such a big club after what I feel was one of my best last season, having scored a lot of goals. I was aware of Feyenoord’s interest in January, but it is my understanding that they were priced out of a move. I asked Erik at Utrecht that if I stayed until the summer that I wanted to leave in the summer if there was still interest in me and fortunately for me there was and now I am here.”

His new manager at De Kuip in van Bronckhorst said he was delighted to have secured the signing of 25 goal man Haller, and was confident that Haller, alongside Nicolai Jorgensen could fire Feyenoord to success this season. ”In Sebastien and Nicolai we have two players that are both capable of scoring a lot of goals this season and it is the hope that they will go on to do that this season and really push this side forward as we look to have another successful campaign both domestically and in the Champions League.”

Comments

Justice: Hopefully they can develop beyond their potential and become key players for this team. If we have to keep selling our best players we are going to need these youngsters to come in and really raise the bar in terms of their own standards.

ScottT: Yeah it was good to be able to bring them through and save the cash that can now be spent elsewhere, on areas that our youth squads don’t seem to be developing too freely.

Story of the Month

Just a quick note,

I just wanted to write a few words to say thank you to those who voted for The Club of the People: Feyenoord Rotterdam in this months Story of the Month award. It's my first Story of the Month for over a year since I won it with my Marseille story and it is great to be amongst a very select group of very good writers who have won the award. There are some brilliant stories running at the minute so to have won the award alongside one of the best in Justice's Ryan Ferguson Story is amazing.

Thanks to those who voted and to all the now 9500 viewers, whether you've viewed it once or 200 times it doesn't matter, I am just glad you took the time to check it out. A lot of effort goes into writing it so winning the award goes to show how much people enjoy it so thank you! There is a lot more to come from this story too, so enjoy!

Once again, thanks!

Mgriffin2012

Big big signing in the form of Haller! Hopefully he can prove to be a reliable hitman, both domestically and in Europe.

Also, a big congratulations on winning the Story of the Month award! Very much a deserved victory. The sheer quality of your writing, combined with the consistency of its deliverance, has made this story somewhat of a treasure of this site! You've really set the bench mark at a high level now, but I can only imagine you'll raise it once again in the coming months!

Comments

Justice: He could be the big difference between a successful season and unsuccessful one, but one thing is for certain, he will guarantee us goals and although we won the league last year, we didn’t have a forward who could bag a lot of goals in the league.

You are too kind though sir, to come from a legendary writer on this site like yourself, those words are amazing and I’m really glad that the story is enjoyed as much as it is.

Those wins against Hoffenheim and Sevilla will surely do much to boost confidence heading in to the new season! That double header against Ajax looks nasty, but they're the kind of games that could make or break your season, even this early in the campaign! Go out there, and give 'em hell!

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30 July 2017

Feyenoord Thump Ajax To Retain Johann Cruijff Schaal

Feyenoord have retained the Johann Cruijff Schaal they won a year ago by thumping KNVB Beker winners Ajax by 4 goals to nil in a very one sided affair at the Amsterdam Arena. It was a victory that meant that Feyenoord kicked off a set of back to back fixtures with their rivals with a big victory that will fill them with confidence when Feyenoord visit the Amsterdam Arena next week, as well as beginning their season with another piece of silverware. Goals from Eljero Elia and a strike a piece from Jens Toornstra and club record signing Sebastien Haller sealed the victory as Feyenoord’s season got off to the perfect start.

The opening goal of the game took just 20 minutes to come as Linus Wahlqvist shoved Sven van Beek as Jens Toornstra floated a free kick into the area and the referee immediately blew for a spot kick. The resulting penalty was then converted coolly and calmly by Sebastien Haller who registered his first goal for Feyenoord after a big move from FC Utrecht. It was doubled just over a minute after half time as Eljero Elia was played in by Marko Vejinovic with the Dutch winger smashing the ball home for 2-0 before seemingly repeating the goal in the 64th minute. The victory was sealed in the 69th minute as Jens Toornstra deliberated his box to box duties extremely well by bursting into the area and slotting home to make it 4-0 and send the travelling Feyenoord fans crazy as the league champions retained the Johann Cruijff Schaal for the second season running.

Speaking after the final whistle, victorious manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst said he was overwhelmed by how good his side were on the night. ”We were fantastic tonight and I am amazed, I was confident of victory and I knew after last season that the lads had performances like this in them but performances like that don’t tend to happen in the first game of the season and we have absolutely battered them tonight and I am overwhelmed.”

Comments

Justice: Yeah beating bigger European sides was very nice and a huge confidence booster. Ajax won’t be easy but with the added firepower and the players we’ve brought in over the summer, I think we can give them a surprise or two, especially going in to that opening
Eredivisie game! Let’s go raise some hell!

A very convincing victory, well done. Hopefully you'll be able to enjoy another great season in both the league and the Champions League.

Hammering Ajax by four goals at their own stadium! Hats off to you, that's an incredible win!

De Kuip will host Champions League football for the first time since 2002.
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24 August 2017

Dutch Sides Handed Tough Draw In Champions League

The draw for the Champions League Group Stage has not been kind to the two Eredivisie sides in the competition with Ajax and Feyenoord facing up hill battles if they are to qualify for the First Knockout Round. Instead a third placed finish in their groups may be the more realistic target with the draw throwing up trips to some of Europes biggest sides and the most difficult venues to visit in the game on the continent.

For Ajax, a side that have won the European Cup/Champions League four times, with their last triumph coming in 1995, the draw has thrown up a trip to 5 times winners Bayern Munich, last year’s beaten finalists Atletico Madrid and somewhat unknown force Ludogorets Razgrad, who may or may not prove to be tricky opposition. With a top two finish in the group unlikely, manager Peter Bosz has said that his side will ”try to play our own game against them and go from there. If we can press them like we like to do in the Eredivisie then I don’t see why we can’t go into every game with at least a fighting chance.”

Meanwhile for the reigning Eredivisie Champions, Feyenoord have been drawn in Group G of the competition. Joining them in Group G are Portuguese Champions SL Benfica, Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk who Feyenoord beat and drew with in last season’s Europa League Group Stage and La Liga side Athletic Bilbao meaning a difficult trip to both Lviv and the San Mames is in store for Feyenoord. Feyenoord manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst said he was delighted with the draw saying ”for our first trip back into the Champions League proper for a long time to go to such prestigious venues as the Estadio da Luz and the San Mames will be a real treat for our fans and I can’t wait for that first matchday at De Kuip. Seeing the stadium under the lights with the Champions League anthem playing over the top when the teams walk out will be special and it is going to be a very enjoyable ride for us.”

Comments

ScottT: Thanks man, felt good to really show ourselves off in a huge game! It’s going to be a long season but a very exciting one to say the least.

Justice: Haha thanks man, there’s more to come!

Well, RIP Ajax. You have a difficult group, no doubt, but you probably got drawn against the weakest/2nd weakest of each pot, so there's always that to be grateful for!

Comments

Justice: RIP Ajax indeed, in more ways than one after reading this post It is a tough group but I am quietly confident of getting out of it which in itself would be an achievement. Dutch football isn’t quite what it used to be on a continental context anyway!

Nine goals against Ajax at the Amsterdam ArenA in one week! You deserve the domestic treble for that alone! Long live Feyenoord, and what a start Haller has made to his debut season for the club!

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11 September 2017

UEFA Champions League Group H Preview

The UEFA Champions League returns tomorrow night with the first 16 teams in the Group Stages of the competition competing in their opening games. UEFA.com is previewing all of the groups and here is our preview of Group H. Group H sees 2 times winners SL Benfica, meet Ukrainian giants Shakhtar Donetsk, Basque and Spanish side Athletic Club Bilbao and Feyenoord Rotterdam.


Country: Portugal

Stadium (Capacity): Estadio da Luz (64,642)

How They Qualified: Benfica won the Liga NOS for the 36th time last season meaning they were seeded into Pot 1 as one of the Champions of the top nations in UEFA.

European Pedigree: Benfica have won the European Cup twice, the last time being in 1962 when Bela Guttman put a curse on the club and as a result of this, Benfica have lost its last 8 European cup finals including the 2014 UEFA Europa League Final.

Last Season: Last season Benfica reached the Round of 16, finishing second in a group containing Napoli, Olympiakos and Dinamo Zagreb, before losing to Barcelona 6-2 on aggregate in the last 16.

One To Watch: Young French hot prospect Moussa Dembele signed from Celtic over the course of the summer for a fee worth around £5.75 million and scored on his Liga NOS debut.


Country: Ukraine

Stadium (Capacity): Lviv Arena (33,400)

How They Qualified: Shakhtar finished 2nd in the Prem’er Liha in Ukraine last season, meaning they had to come through the Best Placed Qualifying Rounds. Paulo Fonseca’s side beat Swiss side Young Boys in the 3rd Qualifying Round before beating German Bundesliga side Wolfsburg in the Play Off Round to secure their place in the Group Stage as a second seed.

European Pedigree: Were the last team to win the Europa League when it was known as the UEFA Cup beating Werder Bremen in the final in Istanbul. They have been regulars in the Champions League since the turn of the century and reached the Quarter Finals in 2010/2011 when they were knocked out by eventual winners Barcelona.

Last Season: Last season Shakhtar were eliminated in the Play Off Round for the Champions League by Roma before competing in the Group Stages of the Europa League where they met Feyenoord. They finished second in that group before being eliminated in the Round of 32 by Man Utd.

One To Watch: Taison is one of a number of dangerous Brazilians in Shakhtar’s side, and from his wide left position is very effective and lethal in front of goal. The Brazilian scored 10 goals in 15 appearances last season and was courted by a number of European sides in the summer.


Country: Spain

Stadium (Capacity): San Mames (53,332)

How They Qualified: Athletic Club finished 4th in La Liga last season, 29 points behind winners Real Madrid meaning they had to come through the Play Off Round. In qualifying they beat Viktoria Plzen by an aggregate score of 6-0 to take their place in the Group Stages.

European Pedigree: Have never won any UEFA competition but have reached the Final of the UEFA Europa League/UEFA Cup twice. They last competed in the Champions League in 2014/15 when they finished third in the group before being eliminated in the Europa League Round of 32.

Last Season: Last season Athletic Club competed in the UEFA Europa League, finishing top of a group containing West Ham, Panathinaikos and AS Saint-Etienne, before they were eventually eliminated by eventual winners Manchester United in the Round of 16.

One To Watch: Aymeric Laporte. The French central defender is one of the hottest properties in the European game at the minute but has continued to stay committed to Ernesto Valverde’s project at the San Mames and will be a key component in Athletic’s bid to qualify from the group and will form a crucial part of their defence.


Country: Netherlands

Stadium (Capacity): De Kuip (51,177)

How They Qualified: Feyenoord ended their 18 year wait for an Eredivisie title last season by beating PEC Zwolle on the final day of the season, meaning they qualified for the Group Stages automatically as Champions of the Netherlands.

European Pedigree: Feyenoord are the only side in Group H to have won both the European Cup and the UEFA Cup, winning the European Cup in 1970, before winning the UEFA Cup, or Europa League as it is now known, twice, the first time being in 1974 and the second being as recently as 2002. They last competed in the Champions League during the 2002/03 campaign.

Last Season: Last season, Feyenoord finished top of their Europa League group, containing the likes of Shakhtar, BATE Barysaw and Astra Giurgiu, before being eliminated by Spartak Moscow in the Round of 16.

One To Watch: Sebastien Haller. The club’s record signing has started the season in flying form scoring 6 goals in his first 6 games for the club including a hat trick against Heracles. Scored 25 goals in 34 appearances for FC Utrecht last season to win the Eredivisie’s golden boot before a big move to the reigning Dutch Champions.

Comments

Justice: Yeah we stuck it to them a bit, but I won’t lie, I loved it We have made an electric start to the season and we’re on fire in front of goal. Sebastien Haller looks like he could be the piece of the jigsaw that sows it all together for us going forward.

It is quite an interesting group, with a great mix of teams! All with very contrasting, yet similarly attacking, styles of football which will certainly bring plenty of excitement.

That group will be a difficult one to call, very similar level sides with exciting players to watch out for. Hoping you can pull through and get out the group!