Feyenoord tumble further down

Monday 20 October 2008

Everything seems to go wrong for Feyenoord these days.

The club from Rotterdam suffered it's fourth defeat of the season on Sunday.

Willem II Tilburg won 1-0 - not without fortune - thanks to a goal by Frank Demouge.

A depleted Feyenoord without Makaay, Tomasson, Lucius and Landzaat didn't play well, but based on a strong second half they deserved at least a point.

Verbeek's brigade however lacked any scoring ability and were unfortunate when Hofland hit the post twice with a header.

Because of the absence of two strikers Verbeek improvised.

The normal stand-in for Makaay - Michael Mols - started on the bench.

Instead of the former Rangers forward midfielders Diego Biseswar and Jonathan de Guzman formed a duo up front.

Teenager Georginio Wijnaldum played right behind them.

In the first half the result of the experiment was zero.

Because of an aggressive home team Feyenoord had trouble setting up a decent forward move.

De Guzman, Tim de Cler and Giovanni van Bronckhorst (his goal was disallowed for a push) were able to get into the Willem II penalty area, but without success.

Defensively Feyenoord were a mess, as was shown clearest halfway through the first half.

A free kick clipped the heads of Tim de Cler and Danny Schenkel before Demouge could push it over the line from close range and unhindered: 1-0.

The lead was deserved for the hosts, who showed more determination than lackluster Feyenoord.

After the break Verbeek finally did put on Michael Mols for an invisible Luigi Bruins.

Feyenoord did create a number of chances but lacked any quality up front to finish any.

Especially El Ahmadi and De Guzman did not the show a killer mentality when it was needed.

Defender Kevin Hofland was Feyenoord's most dangerous forward heading on the post twice.

For Feyenoord it means the worst start of the season since the beginning of professional football in Holland in 1956.

And although the team suffered some injuries that can explain a lack of scoring ability, missing two forwards does not explain the total lack of willpower and energy.

Something else is wrong within the team that has little to do with the capabilities of the players and one can bet that speculation will be wild in the coming days in Rotterdam.