Football Season Guide

Heerenveen's last campaign wasn't fully satisfying despite reaching the Europa League play-offs. Jurgen Streppel's outfit contained enough potential but a disappointing run after the winter break put the pressure back on. Heerenveen weren't able to keep up with the top 6 and they even dropped to the 9th spot on the last day of the regular season. This was just enough to claim the ticket for the Europa League play-offs but the lack of confidence immediately proved fatal as Heerenveen failed to reach the final. Streppel will have to turn the atmosphere and the form around which isn't an easy mission at all. Key winger Sam Larsson left the club and regulars like Stefano Marzo, Erwin Mulder and Jerry St. Juste have gone to test their skills elsewhere too. The club did manage to add some exciting replacements to the squad however, which is positive news. Warner Hahn, who came over from Feyenoord, is expected to impress in goal while Denzel Dumfries is one of the biggest defending talents in the Eredivisie. The full-back will replace Marzo on the right-hand side. Daniel Hoegh, Nemanja Mihajlovica and Marco Rojas are all relatively unknown in The Netherlands but Heerenveen are famous for their scouting system and they should be able to push for a regular spot in the team. Manager, Streppel, will be motivated to push for better days this time around. The last six months didn't satisfy the fans at all and he will have to come up with results now to restore the confidence again. The main goal is to push for a Europa League ticket again and better football will be necessary to achieve this. Reza Ghoochannejhad's presence in attack will be key. The Iranian international produced 19 goals last season and he's now expected to lead the attack again if Heerenveen can convince him to stay at the Abe Lenstra Stadium.