The 20/21 Eredivisie season begins this Friday and we will preview the expectations of each Eredivisie club. In this article, we look at ADO Den Haag.

Last season was a disaster for the Hague club, who sacked Alfons Groenendijk after a poor start to the campaign, before appointing Alan Pardew, who brought in several average players on loan before the club was saved from relegation by the coronavirus ending the campaign early.

Now, club favourite Aleksander Rankovic has been appointed as the new head coach and ADO Den Haag has overhauled their squad. Will it be enough to keep the club away from the drop zone this season?

Transfers

It has been a busy summer for ADO Den Haag in terms of transfers out and in. Key players and fan favourites Tom Beugelsdijk and Lex Immers have both been allowed to leave the club, while Tomas Necid, Elson Hooi, and a number of loanees from last season are gone.

In their place is an exciting bunch of youngsters including Kees de Boer from Swansea City and winger Vincent Besuijen from AS Roma. Former Ajax winger Ricardo Kishna has also returned to the club after leaving Lazio on a free transfer.

FC Twente centre-back Peet Bijen joins to add experience to the defence, while Dante Rigo (PSV Eindhoven), Jonas Arweiler (Utrecht) and Andrei Florin Ratiu (Villarreal) are loaned.

The Head coach

A former defensive midfielder, Rankovic made over 100 appearances for ADO Den Haag as a player and now returns to the club as a head coach.

He was an assistant with Sparta Rotterdam last season, but Rankovic now takes on his first head coach role.

He is tasked with leading the club away from the relegation zone this season. A tough task for an inexperienced coach but Rankovic will have the club and the fans backing.

Key Player

ADO Den Haag will need goals to stay up and up front Michiel Kramer will be important for the club. He has also captained ADO Den Haag in pre-season.

The target-man is in his second spell with ADO Den Haag, having also played for Feyenoord, Utrecht and Sparta Rotterdam. He is more than capable of scoring ten goals a season.

Goalkeeper Luuk Koopmans and centre-back Shaquille Pinas are also key, while Ricardo Kishna could be an excellent signing if he stays fit.

Young Players to watch

An exciting winger, Vincent Besuijen joins ADO Den Haag after a spell in Italy with Roma. The 19-year-old Netherlands youth international will be keen to make a big impression in the Eredivisie.

Midfielders Kees de Boer (20) and Dante Rigo (21) will also be ones to watch in the Hague this season.

Pre-season

ADO Den Haag are unbeaten in pre-season and recorded a confidence-boosting 1-0 win over AZ Alkmaar. They also drew 0-0 with MVV, 2-2 with Vitesse Arnhem, and 1-1 with Sparta Rotterdam, while also beating Almere City 2-1.

Strongest line-up

Koopmans, Van Ewijk, Kemper, Pinas, Bijen, De Boer, Goossens, Rigo, Arweiler, Kishna, Kramer

Predicted finish

Many are predicting ADO Den Haag to be battling relegation again this season but they have added some exciting talents to their squad. If Rankovic can prove himself as a capable head coach, and the young talents add life to the club then a mid-table finish is definitely achievable.

If not it could be a long season in the Hague. It is possible the club could finish anywhere from 17th to 10th.




Email, RSS Follow
admin (14736 Posts)

Follow @Footballoranje_ on Twitter