The Club of the People: Feyenoord Rotterdam

One step closer to another trophy, the smell of silverware must be a teasing one now!

The Dutch Cup is also a prize! Unlike what people say..

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31 January 2018

Mike van der Hoorn Arrives As van Beek Replacement

Feyenoord have confirmed that Swansea City centre back Mike van der Hoorn has completed his transfer to De Kuip as a direct replacement for Sven van Beek who just a few hours ago completed his transfer to Atletico de Madrid. The deal to bring van der Hoorn to De Kuip is believed to be worth around £950K meaning Feyenoord profit from their transfer dealings after van Beek joined Diego Simeone’s side for a deal believed to be worth around £12 million to Feyenoord once van Beek meets certain clauses in the deal.

van Beek, who has made 17 appearances for Feyenoord in the Eredivisie this season as Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side moved 21 points clear at the top of the table, is believed to have been interested in a move to a bigger club for a while now and reports suggest that he was told by van Bronckhorst that if their was interest in January he would be allowed to leave if the fee was right. Subsequently the La Liga giants have secured the signature of a very capable young centre back. Meanwhile Feyenoord swooped quickly to sign van der Hoorn who has found first team chances limited this season after Swansea dropped into the Sky Bet Championship after relegation from the Premier League last season.

van der Hoorn said in a statement after joining the club that he was thrilled to be back playing his football in the Eredivisie. ”I enjoyed my time at Swansea I really did but for me when I heard Feyenoord were interested it was a no brainer. I haven’t played as much as I would have liked this season and to return to the Eredivisie and get the chance to play for such an exciting team in Feyenoord was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up this time.” Meanwhile, manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst said he was saddened by the departure of van Beek but was confident that van der Hoorn could prove to be a more than capable replacement. ”Losing Sven was a big blow for us. He was amongst the best defenders in this league but it shows the power of the elite clubs in that Atletico came and registered their interest and Sven asked if he could leave. I didn’t want to keep Sven here against his wishes especially after he had shown us tremendous loyalty last year when there was a massive amount of interest in his services. In signing Mike though we have a defender who is more than capable of stepping into Sven’s shoes and helping us continue on the fantastic path we are currently walking.”

Comments

Justice: The Final is within touching distance, but we’ve got to get over the hurdle of the Semi Finals first, which we didn’t last year so we can’t get complacent.

De Magere: Yep, it is a trophy I desperately want us to win.

Getting a replacement with Premier League experience in your squad must give a massive boost.

Shame about losing van Beek, but you got good money in for him and his replacement should be more than capable of adding quality to your squad!

Comments

De Magere: It is a good addition, although losing van Beek was a big blow. He could have been the best defender in the league had he stayed but he has moved onto bigger and better things at Atleti

Justice: Yeah was a hard one to take losing van Beek but hopefully van der Hoorn will be able to fill his shoes well.

You're doing amazingly well in the league, nobody can deny that. Also further progression in the Cup, it's turning out to be quite the season from you and the boys. It's a shame to see that Van Beek has gone but as Magere said, you've brought in a very suitable replacement who can definitely put a shift in and for a relatively cheap fee too.

Nicolai Jorgensen celebrates after scoring Feyenoord’s second goal.
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20 February 2018

Feyenoord Put One Foot In The Quarter Finals

Feyenoord, tonight put one foot towards being the first Dutch side to reach the Quarter Finals of the UEFA Champions League for the first time since PSV Eindhoven in 2007, by beating Ligue 1 side AS Monaco 2-0 at De Kuip. It was a special night for Feyenoord as their fans celebrated the fact that they were playing a game in the latter rounds of the Champions League for the first time in 18 years, and despite being the underdogs in the tie, the runaway Eredivisie leaders pulled off a huge result by overcoming stronger opposition in Monaco. Not only that but the ability to keep a clean sheet by Kenneth Vermeer and his defence means that Monaco will have no away goal going back to the second leg at Stade Louis II in mid-March. Elsewhere tonight, Celtic also claimed a huge win in their Round of 16 tie by beating Manchester United 1-0 to give their chances of qualifying for the Quarter Finals a huge boost.

Back at De Kuip though both sides appeared to be nervy in the first 45 minutes with neither side pushing too many forward for fear of their oppositions ability to counter with pace and flair, although Kamil Glik was perhaps guilty of missing an easy chance as he failed to put Abdou Diallo’s cross goalmouth ball in the back of the net. Both sides appeared to be happy with a goalless scoreline at half time although Feyenoord came out much the more attacking side in the second half and less than a minute after being introduced Eljero Elia opened the scoring with a sublime effort as his right footed effort from outside the area cracked off the post to give Feyenoord the lead. It was a goal that meant Monaco had to come out and search for their equaliser and the important away goal but it wasn’t forthcoming, especially when in the 87th minute, Nicolai Jorgensen fired in from just inside the area after a lovely lay off from Louis Schaub. It was a goal that sent the home fans wild as their side now go to Monaco in a few weeks time with a 2 goal lead to protect, knowing that a goal for them in Monaco will force Monaco into needing to score 4 goals to progress.

Feyenoord manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst, despite celebrating wildly on the touchline after Jorgensen’s goal, said in his press conference that his side would need to be wary going into the second leg. ”We can’t for a second think that the job is done. They are a very potent side with lots of attacking quality and if we go into the second leg in the wrong mind set we will be on the end of a disappointing result. We have to make sure we get the job done in Monaco now and although we’ve played well tonight we will need to play even better to ensure we qualify for the Quarter Finals.”

Comments

ScottT: It’s been an amazing season, nobody in the league has really challenged us so far and we’ve been able to acquire this massive lead and the title should be wrapped up soon. Hopefully van der Hoorn can reach the same levels, but I can’t help but feel that maybe we could have got more money for van Beek at the end of the season.

Great home performance! I expected nothing else in a sold out de Kuip!

You can throw almost all of your focus on to the Champions League now, with that huge gap in the league standings, and I can see you certainly have with a very strong result against AS Monaco! Those two late goals will inspire a lot of hope for the rest of the season!

An incredible result, you're in the drivers seat going into the second leg so perhaps we can expect a more defensive approach to ensure you progress? Can't believe that it's been that long since a Dutch side made any real impact in the Champions League!

Comments

De Magere: A great home performance indeed and a great base to build on

Justice: The league seems like a done deal nearly so the focus can switch to the cup and the Champions League. We’ve gone out and got a fantastic result against Monaco, we now need to make sure that we don’t throw it all away in a few weeks time

ScottT: In the driving seat with a great defensive record and a flying forward line which should be good enough to get us through. We’re capable of playing anyway so we shall see what strength side Monaco use and see how the opening exchanges go before deciding. Yeah it is mad, such a long time ago!

Well that's the league wrapped up! Might be a bit too early to congratulate you so I won't do that just yet! Now, go out there and kick some Monaco butt!

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01 March 2018

Feyenoord To Meet PSV In KNVB Beker Final

Feyenoord will meet PSV Eindhoven in the KNVB Beker Final at De Kuip on April 29th, after Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side beat Jupiler League side SC Cambuur 2-0 at the Cambuur Stadion. Many expected Feyenoord to ease through their semi final tie against lower league opposition but in reality the Semi Final was much tighter and tenser affair than many expected. Come the final whistle though Feyenoord have secured their place in the Final of the competition and will go for their 13th KNVB Beker success against a PSV Eindhoven side looking to win the KNVB Beker for the first time since 2012, and cap off a season of mixed results with a trophy.

In the opening stages of the semi finals first half it was the Jupiler League side that looked the more threatening with Dutch forward Michiel Hemmen and Jamiro Monteiro Alvarenga of the Cape Verde Islands missing chances that if perhaps they had fallen to Feyenoord’s forwards would have been nestling in the back of the net. The early impetus that Cambuur established though began to fade as the half went on and in the 24th minute Bilal Basacikoglu broke the home sides resistance by scoring a goal fans are becoming to recognise him for as he drifted in from the right wing and smashed the ball across goal and into the far top corner. Feyenoord knew that they now had Cambuur where they wanted them, and sat back a little and soon hit them on the break as Basacikoglu broke down the right wing before playing a superb cross field ball to Eljero Elia’s whose cross seemed destined for the head of Sebastien Haller but found Cambuur defender Joris Klein-Holte who headed into his own goal. It looked like Feyenoord had their place in the final sewn up but in the 48th minute Bilal Basacikoglu cut inside again and powered the ball past Andre Krul in the Cambuur goal to put Feyenoord 3-0 ahead and ensure that Feyenoord would be heading to the Amsterdam ArenA for the KNVB Beker Final for the second time in three years.

Speaking to the media after the game Giovanni van Bronckhorst claimed ”I am thrilled to be here tonight celebrating a place in the Final. This month has the potential to be a huge one for this club and this is the first step towards doing that and ahead of a big game at the weekend this is a big boost in confidence going into the game against AZ. Putting the league to one side though, we are in the Final of the KNVB Beker now and have the chance to get our hands on some more silverware and I for one can’t wait for the game against PSV.”

Comments

Justice: One more win and it’ll be all wrapped up and we can fully turn our attentions to the CL and the cup final!

Now there's a final to look forward to, two of the biggest sides in the Netherlands facing off for silverware! You couldn't ask for more out of a domestic cup competition!