The Club of the People: Feyenoord Rotterdam

Very smart idea as you do not want to disrupt the squad at this point. Are you going to start looking for targets for the summer and sign a few pre-contract deals?

Consistency is important in situations like these, and a familiarity among the players will provide that!

2017-06-05 22:19#243398 MJK46 : Very smart idea as you do not want to disrupt the squad at this point. Are you going to start looking for targets for the summer and sign a few pre-contract deals?

The squad is settled and harmonious and it would be risky but there are also areas where perhaps we could do with adding some extra quality. Potentially man but finances are tight at the minute and again any pre contract deals would have to be for the benefit of the team going into next season!

2017-06-06 18:27#243420 Justice : Consistency is important in situations like these, and a familiarity among the players will provide that!

Exactly and with not long to go until the end of the season, the team spirit amongst the side at the minute might be what fires us to the title!

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26 January 2017

Feyenoord Seal Semi Final Spot

Feyenoord sealed their spot in the Semi Finals of the KNVB Beker with a 3-1 victory that at times was far from comfortable. As has often been the case this season it was Danish forward Nicolai Jorgensen who fired his side to victory as he scored another brace to take his tally in the competition to three and ensure that Feyenoord would be in with a serious shot of making the final. Eljero Elia was also on the scoresheet as Feyenoord dominated the first half but after allowing N.E.C. to pull one back just before the hour mark, it meant that a nervy last half hour was in store for the visitors at the Stadion de Goffert. Elsewhere, in the other Quarter Finals, FC Utrecht, Ajax and ADO den Haag all secured their place in the draw for the Semi Finals.

Feyenoord dominated the early exchanges and found the lead in the 19th minute as Nicolai Jorgensen once again rose above the defence and sent a thumping header past the N.E.C. goalkeeper to make it 1-0. 10 minutes later, the lead was doubled as a loose ball fell to Eljero Elia who sent a cannonball of a shot past Joris Delle to seemingly put Feyenoord on course for a last four berth. However after half time N.E.C. came out with the intent of at least going out with a fight and when Jan-Arie van der Heijden sent a sloppy back pass towards Brad Jones, the Australian goalkeeper was left stranded as Taiwo Awoniyi collected the loose ball and slotted past Jones to pull one back. N.E.C. then started to come at Feyenoord with a lot more intent and attacking purpose but Feyenoord’s defence held strong and in the 78th minute sprang the perfect counter attack as a long ball to Nicolai Jorgensen saw the Dane surge through on goal and sealing Feyenoord’s spot in the Semi Finals by placing the ball out of Delle’s reach and making it 3-1.

Speaking after the game Giovanni van Bronckhorst praised his side for managing the game well, even when N.E.C. appeared to be in the ascendancy. ”Right from the off, I thought we were the better team today. We dominated in the first half and probably should have been two or three goals ahead but when N.E.C. pulled one back you could feel that they were perhaps getting more confident and thinking they could get back to 2-2 but we played well and did well to hit them on the break the way we did. We have done really well today and I am really proud of my side and what they’ve achieved tonight and hopefully we can go on to win our Semi Final now and have a shot at retaining this trophy.”

A fantastic victory to seal your place in the final, however you've made a mistake in your graphic.

Congrats on the semi final birth

Olé! Brilliant to reach the semi final, now one more obstacle awaits you before playing in the kind of games you want to be playing in!

2017-06-07 20:47#243447 ScottT : A fantastic victory to seal your place in the final, however you've made a mistake in your graphic.

Thanks man! But as for the graphic I don't know what you're talking about

2017-06-07 22:29#243449 MJK46 : Congrats on the semi final birth

Thanks man, one step away from the final!

2017-06-08 19:15#243464 Justice : Olé! Brilliant to reach the semi final, now one more obstacle awaits you before playing in the kind of games you want to be playing in!

Brilliant and now a huge game in the Semi Final to come! Silverware is in touching distance!

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16 February 2017

Spartak Take Commanding First Leg Lead

At the Otkritie Arena in Moscow, it was Spartak Moscow who took a commanding lead from the first leg in their UEFA Europa League Round of 32 tie against Feyenoord. On a night when the game was expected to be played out at a slow tempo with lots of tight, nervy play, the Russian side, powered by their forward duo of Ze Luis and Luiz Adriano, pushed Feyenoord to one side to all but seal their place in the Round of 16 of the competition. Feyenoord despite having the majority of the ball and the chances were poor in front of goal and were unable to take any of their chances and will most likely be wondering what could have been in Europe this year as they now seem destined to be heading out of the competition.

It took 11 minutes for the Russian side to take the lead as Ze Luis was on hand to head home at the back post after Dmitry Kombarov had headed the ball on from an Evgeny Makeev corner. The lead was doubled in the 43rd minute when Luiz Adriano picked the ball up just inside the Feyenoord half and charged forward to curl a beautiful effort into the top corner for 2-0 before the former AC Milan and Shakhtar forward had made it 3, twelve minutes after the break with a simpler tap in. With Feyenoord looking for any sort of lifeline and an away goal, Spartak then put the final nail in the coffin in the 89th minute as Luiz Adriano slipped Ze Luis in on goal and the forward slotted past Brad Jones to complete a brilliant night for Spartak and a desperately poor night for their visitors.

Speaking to the media after the game, Giovanni van Bronckhorst claimed he was bitterly disappointed with his sides performance and that their focus would now turn elsewhere in order to make sure their season could be considered a success. ”We will fight to the end next week in the next game but we were poor tonight and haven’t done ourselves any favour and we don’t deserve to be going through on the basis of that performance. We have other competitions that we are still capable of winning and now they have to take the priority in what is going to be a busy end to the season.”

Ouch! Plenty of work left to do in the second leg at De Kuip, but I'm sure you can muster some sort of comeback and maybe even better Spartak's goal tally!

Also, that was a big big win over Utrecht in the league! A win like that against a team like that will surely give you great hope in the domestic competition!

2017-06-10 10:01#243496 Justice : Ouch! Plenty of work left to do in the second leg at De Kuip, but I'm sure you can muster some sort of comeback and maybe even better Spartak's goal tally!

Also, that was a big big win over Utrecht in the league! A win like that against a team like that will surely give you great hope in the domestic competition!

So much work to do it is going to be an extremely large uphill battle! However you're right, at De Kuip we are more than capable of mustering a comeback of sorts and usually our defence is strong at home!

Domestically though you're right we continue to impress and look good to go on and really push for the title in the coming weeks!

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23 February 2017

Feyenoord Bow Out Of Europa League Despite Second Leg Win

A goal from Steven Berghuis secured a 1-0 second leg win for Feyenoord in their UEFA Europa League Round of 32 tie against Spartak Moscow. However despite their dominance of the second leg at De Kuip, Feyenoord crashed out though after their disappointing 4-0 defeat in Moscow last week, meaning Spartak’s staff and players were able to celebrate an emphatic victory and a place in the Round of 16 of the competition. The only goal of the game came from on loan Steven Berghuis, although the home side did have chances to reduce the deficit further although it seemed likely from the start that a 4-0 deficit would be too much to overturn for Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men.

The only goal of the came when Steven Berghuis connected with Bart Nieuwkoop’s low driven cross just after the break, with Feyenoord having crafted a brilliant opening. It was a rotated Feyenoord side with Giovanni van Bronckhorst having seemingly given up on Feyenoord’s chances of going through, and Michiel Kramer, deputising for Nicolai Jorgensen was perhaps guilty of missing a few easier chances that would have given Feyenoord more hope of coming through the tie.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst claimed after the game that Feyenoord had probably deserved more from the tie if their performances over the two legs were really looked at. ”Over the two legs I do feel we were the better side, when you look at the stats, we kept the ball better and created more opportunities but they finished a lot of their chances in the first leg and ultimately we gave ourselves too much to do back here at De Kuip.”

Tough way to go out but a victory in the second leg is a nice little boost. Hopefully next year you can advance farther or get deep in Champions League.

Very unlucky to bow out following a victory, but the win at home will certainly boost some confidence, following that first leg. Perhaps a European exit will give your side a boost to compete domestically, and the extra rest time may prove invaluable!