Sinisterra leaves Feyenoord coach Slot astonished | Football

The most important thing is that De Kuip did win for a while. After all, defending third place is paramount for Feyenoord in the competition. AZ and FC Twente are panting in the neck of the Rotterdammers. The tukkers, who had come close to a point, lost two almost certain points against PSV earlier on Saturday evening (3-2 became 3-3) in the 94th minute and so Feyenoord was able to take some distance again.

With a sold-out house and a fairly fresh Luis Sinisterra in the attack (returned late from two international matches in South America), that didn’t seem the most difficult task. But for almost seventy minutes it was a squeeze for the Legion and for Arne Slot on the bench of Feyenoord. So many opportunities and just as many misses, plus a brilliant Willem II goalkeeper Timon Wellenreuther, made just about everyone pretty desperate well into the second half.

Sign up for the Football Update and stay up to date with the latest football news.

But it is precisely Sinisterra, who, according to Slot, has returned very disappointed from his trip with the Colombian team, showed that at the age of 22 he has already grown into a real professional and also has the class to be decisive for Feyenoord again and again. Despite the mental blow he received by missing the World Cup with his national team, the wing striker immediately made a fresh impression in De Kuip. On his own, he forced the important 1-0 against the team of Feyenoord’s former technical director Martin van Geel in the 68th minute.

The latter is the man who recorded Sinisterra for Feyenoord and the Rotterdammers enjoy that to this day. If Sinisterra also yields a record amount in transfer fee, it is best to get some flowers for the ‘td’, who is now again general manager at Willem II.

Three fight in a head-on: (from left to right) Feyenoord player Gernot Trauner and Wessel Dammers and Jizz Hornkamp of Willem II.

Ⓒ ANP/HH

The start of the match resulted in spectacular attacking football, with Feyenoord already getting Cyriel Dessers ahead of Willem II goalkeeper Timon Wellenreuther after eight (!) seconds. The Belgian striker tried to outwit the keeper with a lob, but aimed just a little too high.

Then opportunities followed for Guus Til, who blasted a cross from Marcus Pedersen into the top corner, Reiss Nelson who released himself in the box after a nice passing movement and Luis Sinisterra struck again from the edge of the box. Every time, Wellenreuther rescued, sometimes with his fingertips.

The force majeure of Feyenoord is of course not new. The way in which Arne Slot has ingrained the pressure on the opponent is known to every opponent, but the majority of the opponents have little to offer and can be pushed far back into their own penalty area.

What has been frustrating at Feyenoord since the winter break is that force majeure is too often not expressed in numbers. The Rotterdammers need many, even very many chances to score. That cost points and that also cost second place.

In the first half, Slot saw how his team made no fewer than 18 goals against Willem II and had 75 percent of the ball. And yet the scoreboard just showed the chilly numbers 0-0 after the first 45 minutes.

Willem II’s new coach, former Feyenoord player Kevin Hofland, was allowed to treat his goalkeeper Wellenreuther to a luxurious armchair and a cigar during the break, because only thanks to the man who once started his career at Schalke 04 and also at Mallorca and Anderlecht under the bar, his crew was still alive halfway through.

Suppliers of sports data have already figured out that Feyenoord has not shot so many shots on goal in one half in eight years. Nice numbers all, but it probably only drives Slot to despair at such moments. The question is, after all, what else you need to do as a coach to make your team succeed.

A few remarkable details on the Rotterdam side: Reiss Nelson creates more danger with speed and actions, but continues to achieve a poor return and Marcus Pedersen remains an excellent alternative in the absence of Lutsharel Geertruida (injury). With the latter it is always said that he has more to offer offensively and that Geertruida stands up more defensively. But that attacking must lead to something and that was out of the question against Willem II because of his wild way of shooting.

In the second half it kept banging and ramming on the goal of the Brabant. Just about every Feyenoord player was allowed to dock once for a shot at the goal of the German goalkeeper, who was eventually surprised by Sinisterra. In the final second it was Bryan Linssen who made it 2-0.

View the program and the position in the Eredivisie here

Slot is disappointed with careless finish

Slot thought that Feyenoord was especially careless in the finish. “In the first half we shot on goal so many times and at times we were a bit uncontrolled,” Slot said in front of the camera of ESPN† „You can shoot better positioned, now it was often very wild. It is a matter of finding a quiet moment and holding it back. But that is also a quality of a player.”

“It took too long before we made the difference in the game. But that is a repetitive story and that kept it exciting until the last second. While, to put it exaggeratedly, they have been on our half for less than a minute.”

All in all, Slot was satisfied. “It was good to see how well disciplined we played and defended. At one point we didn’t give anything away and I’m glad the ball didn’t go in. Moreover, we have created enough. At the end of the day it’s quite a good win.”