Football Season Guide

AZ Alkmaar's Eredivisie title back in 2009 shocked the nation in a positive way but that achievement proved to be an anomaly as the Alkmaar outfit failed to repeat this feat later on. The club doesn't have the budget available to compete with clubs like Ajax, PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord but they are always pushing for a ticket into the Europa League. The sixth spot last season provided John van den Brom's men with a play-off ticket but they eventually lost the final against FC Utrecht. This was a bit unlucky as they wasted two chances to enter Europe. Van den Brom's men entered the KNVB Cup final as well but a 2-0 defeat against Vitesse wasted that dream. The Alkmaar side will push for a top 5 poisition again in the 2017/2018 season and Van den Brom has the potential available to do so. The club haven't added that many names to the squad thus far though and it remains to be seen if this will be enough to keep up with teams like Vitesse and FC Utrecht. The promising youngsters Ridgeciano Haps and Derrick Luckassen left AZ Alkmaar to play for bigger clubs in the Eredivisie (Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven respectively), while goalkeeper Tim Krul went back to Newcastle United. Only two promising signings have joined so far but these two players are expected to claim starting spots at the AFAS Stadium. Marco Bizot came over from Racing Genk and Marko Vejinovic will get a new chance to show his qualities again as he was a bench player in Rotterdam last season. AZ Alkmaar's quality in the squad is there again but it won't be enough to push for the title. That isn't a disaster at all though. A ticket for the Europa League will be their main goal again.