Football Season Guide

Last season the Lancers underperformed, especially if compared to the previous one when they did the double by winning both league and KNVB Beker. They also surprised everyone by reaching the Champions League semi-final. This year in Europe was a disaster by not going through the group stage of the Champions League and being immediately eliminated in Europa League. As for the national cup they reached the semi-final where they lost 2-0 to Utrecht. The Eredivisie was suspended when they were leading, along with AZ Alkmaar (they had better goal difference but had lost both matches with AZ!). It's hard to say what did not work. They certainly did not manage to make up for the sales of De Ligt and De Jong, but they also faced a large number of injuries as they could not count on Neres, Blind and Mazraoui for a long time. In addition, some important signings such as Ryan Babel and Edson Alvarez did not meet expectations. Also this summer, as per club policy, another valuable player has left Amsterdam as Hakim Ziyech headed for Chelsea. His replacement will be interesting Brazilian winger Antony, coming from São Paulo. Another important farewell, perhaps a bit surprising, was that of Joël Veltman. In terms of purchases, besides Antony, a very interesting one is the versatile Ghanaian Mohammed Kudus who is able to fill multiple roles in midfield. Summing up, the team seems to be more or less similar to the previous year, and they probably need some extra reinforcements in midfield.