The 20/21 Eredivisie season begins this Friday and we will preview the expectations of each Eredivisie club. In this article we look at VVV-Venlo.

VVV-Venlo have established themselves as an Eredivisie club now and are heading into their fourth straight season in the top flight.

The club looked in relegation trouble last season before Hans de Koning came in and turned the club’s fortunes around and they were in 13th when the season was cut short. De Koning will now be hoping to get off to a good start in order to avoid being dragged into trouble with the club one of six to seven sides that could easily be in the drop zone.

Transfers

VVV-Venlo has managed to boost their attack by signing Guus Hupperts on a free, while Vito van Crooij returns to the club from PEC Zwolle. Joshua John, Jafar Arias, and Greek striker Giorgos Giakoumakis also come in.

Lee Cattermole decided to retire at the end of last season, while Roel Janssen, Peter van Ooijen, Haji Wright, Nils Roselar, and Johnathan Opoku have all departed.

Head Coach

Hans de Koning is an experienced head coach and he boosted VVV-Venlo when he was appointed last season.

The 60-year-old steadied the club and brought in some confidence. However, how will he fare when coaching the club from the start of the season? De Koning hasn’t managed to remain at a club for a while since his three year spell with Volendam ended in 2015, but he looks happy at VVV and could be the right man for the club.

Key Player

Vito van Crooy made a big name for himself for VVV-Venlo before joining PEC Zwolle two-years ago. It didn’t work out and the winger is now back at VVV. If the forward can rediscover his form from his first spell with the club then VVV has an excellent attacker, who can create and score goals.

Giorgos Giakoumakis could turn out to be an excellent signing with the Greek forward experienced and has experience in European football with AEK Athens. His goals could be crucial in the campaign, although he has only scored more than three in a season once.

Young Players to watch

Evert Linthorst (20) broke into the VVV first-team last season and looks a big talent for the Venlo club. The midfielder is technically excellent and can score goals. Another good season could see him linked with a bigger club in the Netherlands.

Pre-season

Easy wins over amateur sides Sporting ST (19-0), EVV Echt (2-0), and VV Reuver (16-0) got VVV’s pre-season off to a good start. However, since then they have lost to Willem II (2-1), Fortuna Sittard (2-1), and SV Straelen (1-0).

Pre-season ended with a 4-0 loss to Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach.

Strongest line-up

Kirschbaum, Pachonik, Gelmi, Schmitz, Kum, Post, Linthorst, Van Crooij, Hupperts, John, Giakoumakis

Predicted finish

VVV-Venlo’s squad looks stronger than last season, especially up front with the additions of Hupperts and Van Crooy. If Giakoumakis can score the goals then VVV should be far away from the drop zone.

VVV isn’t strong enough for a top ten finish, but 11th or 12th could definitely be achieved.




Email, RSS Follow
admin (14736 Posts)

Follow @Footballoranje_ on Twitter