The football weekend is over, but not with regard to the Kitchen Champion Division. Young AZ and NEC meet each other on Monday evening. Both teams are not impressed and the difference in the ranking is three points. Can NEC rise to the left row or will they only get in worse trouble?
Young AZ:
The first period of Young AZ had gone quite varied. The Alkmaar promises made it difficult for every team every week, but never really took the points. Koen Stam’s team won only two of the ten matches played, but never lost by more than one goal difference. That is a great achievement if you have already visited title candidates NAC Breda and Excelsior. Go Ahead Eagles and FC Den Bosch were also held on a tie and TOP Oss was even won.
Last Friday, Young AZ managed to record the second victory of the season. It had to play against Young Ajax and the promises played nicely. Led by Michel Vonk (due to Koen Stam disease), 3-2 was won after goals by the outstanding artists Des Kunst and Thijs Oosting. This victory offered prospects for Young AZ.
NEC:
The Nijmegen people have a similar start as the upcoming opponent, but the difference is that the expectations are much higher for the Nijmegen fans. NEC wants to return to the Eredivisie as soon as possible, but then most of the games will have to be won. That is not the case with NEC, as they only won three of the first ten games. The people of Nijmegen seem hard to beat, but football is not sparkling. The trainer trio is still switching on a weekly basis and is looking for the right tactical interpretation of the game. After the late departure of center striker Sven Braken, NEC tried it with Zian Flemming, Ole Romeny and Etien Velikonja in the point of the attack. Nevertheless, it is not very convincing for all three players and NEC remains searching.
Last Friday the trainer trio tried Flemming in the rush. The young talent should bring walking power and dynamics into the attack. The tactical change turned out well, as Flemming scored the only goal of the game. It wasn’t sparkling again, but NEC beat Young PSV with 1-0. After the victory, François Gesthuizen sees no reason to change the basic eleven for the match against Young AZ.
