Roda JC Kerkrade wants to continue selecting in the transfer period in January, but much depends on a possible transfer from Roland Alberg.
Several clubs have shown interest in the man who is the club’s top scorer with eight hits, and that is not bad for Roda.
Explainable
He is not sure of a starting place under coach Jurgen Streppel. That sounds strange, but can be explained: five of the eight goals came from penalties and the player does not return optimally in the system that Streppel has in mind. In the two striker positions, preference is given to Fabian Serrarens and Erik Falkenburg and for the ‘ten’ position, the coach with Benjamin Bouchouari and Patrick Pflücke has two players in his selection who are satisfactory and will also be committed next year.
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Expensive
This does not apply to Alberg, whose contract expires in the summer. In addition, he has done himself a disservice with a clumsy red card that cost Roda a victory at NEC, and he earns a generous salary by Roda standards; the attacker is too expensive to languish on the bench. And that while Roda could use some bacon on the ribs in the defense. With Kees Luijckx, Xander Lambrix and the often injured Richard Jensen as serious options, those positions are sparsely occupied.
Vulnerable
“We are vulnerable there,” said Roda’s technical director Jeffrey van As on Sunday after the 0-3 defeat against Go Ahead Eagles. “We can still move a bit from midfield with, for example, Danny Bakker and Niek Vossebelt. But if we want to get something defensive, someone will have to leave from a different position first.” There is no doubt that Alberg is the lead candidate to leave the field.
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Van As indicates that he can imagine that Alberg is dissatisfied with the number of playing minutes he makes. “But he has not yet been to my office to say that he wants to leave,” says Van As. “Roland is in a lesser phase and plays little, but there have also been matches in which he has been important to us.”
Vietnam
Alberg himself knows about the interest. “Yes, there is,” he says. “But we’ll see how it goes. I have a contract, so in principle I’ll play here until the summer.” There is a Vietnamese club among those interested. Those involved do not want to say anything about that, but it is crystal clear that the player who already played in Turkey, the United States, Greece and Turkey in the past is not averse to a football adventure.
Coming seasons
It is also clear that Alberg is not part of the Roda plans in the coming seasons. That does apply to other players that Streppel also wants to see at work now. It is an important task for Streppel to forge a team that will be able to storm the top, especially after this season. In that context too, relocating Alberg seems best for all parties. Roda JC currently occupies eleventh place in the Kitchen Champion Division, between Jong Ajax (10) and TOP Oss (12).
Current selection
The downside is that with a departure from Alberg, in addition to an extra defender, an extra attacker may have to be brought in. Financially this should be feasible with the salary margin that has become available. “But due to the corona crisis, I do not expect that, outside the top clubs, many clubs will be able to transfer players”, says Van As. “And it is also true that in the summer everyone was satisfied with the selection that is now there. I have every confidence in these players and staff.”
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