The first week of Barclay’s Premier League action did not fail to disappoint, with more than 20 goals scored and plenty of excitement as teams geared up for the season ahead. The seven Dutch players involved in the matches on Saturday and Sunday (none took part in Burnley – Chelsea) put up some mixed results, as some excelled while others were quite dissatisfying. This is what hopefully will become a weekly piece from me, wrapping up the best, and worst, performances of the Netherlands’ players in the Premier League.
- By Daniel Gutman
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Saturday
The first day of the 2014/15 Premier League Season saw four Dutch nationals take the pitch for four different sides: Patrick van Aannholt lined up for Sunderland, Ron Vlaar featured in Aston Villa’s lineup, Erik Pieters started for Stoke City, and Dwight Tiendalli was used as a substitute for Swansea City. Van Aanholt put in an inspired man-of-the-match performance for the Black Cats (where he is on loan from Chelsea), assisting n Larsson’s match-tying goal late in the second half. He also registered a team-high five tackles and eight clearances in addition to a league-high eight interceptions. Fellow left-back Erik Pieters also bossed the opposition in Stoke’s undeserved home defeat to Aston Villa, where the Oranje’s World Cup star Ron Vlaar plies his trade. Pieters was a constant threat down the flank while shutting down many an Aston Villa attack with his superb defensive play. His two key passes were not enough to salvage at least a draw, but Villa’s victory would for sure have been by a larger margin should the 26-year-old not featured. On the other side, Vlaar put in a solid but relatively unspectacular performance, perhaps losing a bit of motivation with a move to a bigger club looking less and less likely to happen with each passing day. Finally, Dwight Tiendalli, the third left-sided Dutch defender in action today, took the field as a substitute in the Swans’ 2-1 upset of Manchester United at Old Trafford. Coming on in the 53′ for the thoroughly disappointing Neil Taylor, Tiendalli had a very good 40+ minutes against the Red Devils as he and the other two other Swansea subs helped mastermind United’s first day 1 home defeat in over 40 years.
Sunday
All the Dutch players featuring on Sunday were part of Newcastle’s 2-0 home defeat to reigning Premier League champions Manchester City. Vuron Anita, Daryl Janmaat, and Tim Krul all started the match and were not particularly effective in trying to prevent the defeat. Krul was decent, making three saves but letting in two goals, on directly down the middle. Janmaat and Anita were quite poor, with the duo failing to contribute to either the attacking or defensive play. The two had one tackle, three interceptions, and two clearances between each other. Toon fans will be expecting more of their World Cup stars in the coming matches, as Krul and particularly Janmaat are expected to be major factors in Newcastle’s supposed revival this season.
In summary, Saturday was a good day for the Premier League’s Dutchmen particularly the left-backs, while Sunday is one to forget for Newcastle’s trio of Netherlands internationals. Van Aanholt and Pieters particularly impressed, and Janmaat was especially and strangely poor.
TOP: Patrick van Aanholt, Sunderland
FLOP: Daryl Janmaat, Newcastle
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Leandro Bacuna at Aston Villa is also a dutch national and he played this past weekend