The Club of the People: Feyenoord Rotterdam

__________________________________________
05 August 2016

van Bronckhorst: “Kuyt Injury Will Inspire Not Stop Us”

Ahead of Feyenoord’s opening game of the Eredivisie season, Giovanni van Bronckhorst faced the press today to preview Sundays match against NEC Nijmegen at de Kuip. Amongst the topics discussed were the injuries that would prevent players from being selected, the previous Sundays Johann Cruijff Schaal victory over PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord’s title chances and the form of the two sides going into the game.

FOX Sports: “Albert Smit, from FOX Sports here Giovanni. Tell us, how is your squad doing in terms of fitness coming into the opening game of this Eredivisie season?”
Giovanni van Bronckhorst: ”We’re in good shape, obviously we have a few injuries that have been well documented since we came back from injury. Kenneth Vermeer will miss quite a long period and Dirk Kuyt will miss the first few months of the season. Sven van Beek is suffering a little with an ankle injury, so it is unlikely that he will feature on Sunday against Nijmegen, but we will leave it late to see if he is eligible.”

FOX Sports: “With van Beek out of the side then, who will be deputising for him against NEC on Sunday?”
GvB: ”We still have Eric Botteghin who is in brilliant shape, and Terence Kongolo is perfectly capable of playing out on the left so we have more than enough options to fill the gap left behind by Sven. The squad on the whole is in good shape and I am confident of being able to field a very strong 11 on Sunday.”

ESPNFC.com: “Ross Bird, ESPN, will the result against PSV last weekend influence the starting 11 for this game at the weekend? Surely you should show some loyalty to the players that won you the trophy last Sunday, coming into a game against considerably weaker opposition?”
GvB: ”Yes, maybe I should a little bit. We were very good last Sunday, and I think we were the better team against PSV and deserved to win the game, and that is down to the players that played on the night last weekend. Unfortunately some of the players that featured last week won’t be able to feature this weekend just because of injury so others will come in. We’ve trained very well all week though and choosing a starting 11 for Sunday will be very difficult, and the decision may be made to drop some of those that featured.”

de Telegraaf: “Klaas James here from de Telegraaf Giovanni. After winning the KNVB Beker last season, there are a few people predicting that you can rock the top of the table this season and challenge for the Eredivisie title this year. Obviously Feyenoord haven’t won it for a little while and you come into this season in fine form, do you think you can make a good start to the campaign and push for the title this year?”
GvB: ”We set the bar high last year by winning the cup, and that does mean that the expectations placed upon us this season are going to be far greater. Winning the title will require a massive amount of effort, and obviously it is about who is best over the 34 games of the season. We’re confident of doing our best though and I am sure that our best is enough to go on and make a good push for the Eredivisie title. We haven’t won it for a little while, you’re right, but we won’t let that affect us and we will make sure we put in 100% over every game. We are in good form but so are NEC and we have to make sure we take the chances we’ll create against a good side in NEC.”

Great interview man, Kuyt better not retire at the end of the season.

Feyenoord head in to the league campaign as underdogs in the title race, but that might just suit you. No pressure on you as the other contenders will be the focus of the media. This should certainly take the pressure off the less experienced players in your squad!

2017-05-17 20:53#242626 MJK46 : Great interview man, Kuyt better not retire at the end of the season.

Thanks man Those are my thoughts exactly

2017-05-17 21:53#242630 Justice : Feyenoord head in to the league campaign as underdogs in the title race, but that might just suit you. No pressure on you as the other contenders will be the focus of the media. This should certainly take the pressure off the less experienced players in your squad!

We're capable of beating anyone in the league on our day I think so being underdogs will suit us! Media thinks we'll finish 3rd but at the very least we need to achieve Champions League football, but no pressure!

__________________________________________
26 August 2016

Feyenoord Handed Straight Forward Europa League Group

The UEFA Europa League Group Stage draw in Monaco has handed Feyenoord with a relatively straight forward group. To qualify for the knockout stages of this season’s competition, Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men will need negotiate their way past Shakhtar Donetsk, Belarussian side BATE and Romanian side Astra Giurgiu.

The draw has handed Feyenoord with three trips to Eastern Europe but manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst told the media that he was excited by the task handed to his side. ”Shakhtar are a very experienced Champions League side that will make things interesting in this group and I am sure they will give us two very challenging games,” said the man who played in European competition for Feyenoord and both Barcelona and Rangers.

”BATE and Astra won’t make life easy for us either, both at de Kuip and away from home but I am sure that the Legion, will come good and help inspire this side to victories where possible. We’re a confident side and we are in this competition for a reason so I am confident we can get out of this group,” van Bronckhorst said in his pre-match press conference before Feyenoord’s game against FC Groningen.

The full UEFA Europa League Group Stage draw can be found below:

Good luck mate, I expect to see you progress out of that - my bets been placed on it.

2017-05-18 15:24#242654 ScottT : Good luck mate, I expect to see you progress out of that - my bets been placed on it.

Thanks man, yeah its no the hardest draw so we're in with a great shot at topping the group!

Looking good in the league and that Europa League graphic is clean man, I love it

2017-05-18 22:12#242664 MJK46 : Looking good in the league and that Europa League graphic is clean man, I love it

Thanks man yeah we've made a good start, confident of at least CL football at the very least!

__________________________________________
15 September 2016

Rotated Feyenoord Squad Grab Win In Lviv

A Feyenoord side, without several key players, came away from the Lviv Arena in Ukraine with a 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk to open their UEFA Europa League campaign with three points. With the ‘home’ sides Donbas Arena still reeling from the devastation caused by the war over the Crimea, Shakhtar never seemed to really feel at home as Feyenoord pressed the Ukrainian’s into giving the ball away cheaply and taking the three points.

The opening goal of the game came from young Turkish winger Bilal Basacikoglu who cut inside from the left wing and drove the ball into the bottom corner past Andriy Pyatov. Shakhtar didn’t look their usual self as their Brazilian talents failed to find top form. The home side’s night was made worse when Maxym Malyshev was dismissed for his second yellow card meaning Shakhtar contested the final half hour with only 10 men and really Feyenoord should have gone on to seal the win with more goals. Elsewhere in Group G, Romanian side Astra Giurgiu put 2 goals past Belarussian side BATE Barysaw to move top of Group G.

Feyenoord Head Coach, Giovanni van Bronckhorst told BT Sport after the game; ”I am very happy with my sides performance tonight. We came here in unusual circumstances and executed our game plan perfectly, arguably in our most difficult game of this group stage campaign. We have a good base to build on now to qualify from this group and I can’t praise the boys enough tonight.”

Nice win there!!

Good win for you, especially with a rather second string side against probably the best side in the group beside yourselves.

2017-05-19 18:20#242693 MJK46 : Nice win there!!

Thanks man, hardest game of the group stage managed with a big three points! Onwards and upwards!

2017-05-19 19:34#242697 ScottT : Good win for you, especially with a rather second string side against probably the best side in the group beside yourselves.

Yeah was great to grab the win against a very good side, and like you say probably the best side in the group! For it to be second string players makes it an even better result

__________________________________________
20 September 2016

Feyenoord Ease Into Second Round Of KNVB Beker

Against second tier de Graafschap, Feyenoord secured a place in the second round of the KNVB Beker, as Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men began their defence of the competition. Despite a rigid defensive performance from the hosts in the first half, Feyenoord managed to find a breakthrough after the break and goals from Nicolai Jorgensen, Steven Berghuis and a stunning goal from Eljero Elia secured the 3-0 win for current holders of the competition.

An unfortunate injury to Karim El Ahmadi before the half time whistle was the only downside for Feyenoord, with the midfielder sustaining a similar injury to club captain Dirk Kuyt that will now leave him out of action for around 2 months. However Feyenoord didn’t allow the injury to their vice captain deter them as in the 50th minute full back Rick Karsdorp whipped a ball into the area to find Nicolai Jorgensen who slotted home to continue his fine form. Steven Berghuis added a second 13 minutes later as some nice interplay between Berghuis and fellow winger Eljero Elia saw the on loan Watford midfielder smash home for 2-0. The highlight of the game for Feyenoord fans though was Eljero Elia’s stunning dribble to the edge of the area before powerfully curling the ball into the top corner to make it 3-0 and seal Feyenoord’s place in the next round.

Speaking to the media after the game Giovanni van Bronckhorst revealed his frustrations with his sides first half performance. ”We should have done a lot better in the first half and over the course of the season we are going to have to learn to break down sides that play very defensively against us. Fortunately we came out flying in the second half and managed to grab the goal that opened the gates so to speak. They had to come at us after Nicolai’s goal and we managed to pick them off and seal an important win for this club.”