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“Now in the coming days it will probably be about the team, what went wrong, about me as coach,” he said at yesterday’s post-match press conference. “It really doesn’t interest me at all. That is also my strength. What I find annoying is that we couldn’t give the supporters a nice day.”
The cup match with SC Heerenveen awaits in De Kuip on Wednesday. According to former Feyenoord player Michiel Kramer, a crucial match for Van Persie. “You have to win that,” he said Studio Football. “If you are also eliminated in the cup, he has a big problem. That cannot be otherwise at such a club.”
Fewer points than under Priske
The numbers don’t lie. In mid-December, Feyenoord now has 34 points from 16 Premier League games and three points from six games in the Europa League. Last season under Brian Priske, Feyenoord had 35 points from 16 matches and ten points from six Champions League matches.
Injury wave at Feyenoord continues: ‘Apparently something is not going well structurally’
Two months later, Priske was fired, when the Rotterdam team was fifth in the Premier League (shared third in terms of losing points), had advanced to the intermediate round in the Champions League, had been eliminated from the KNVB Cup and had won the Johan Cruijff Shield.
Feyenoord is now second in the league under Van Persie, is as good as eliminated from the Europa League and starts the KNVB Cup on Wednesday. The game under Van Persie is generally better than under Priske, but the results are not. Recurring themes this season are injuries and the substitution policy.
Injury wave
Feyenoord is moving rapidly towards the winter break. Bart Nieuwkoop, Luciano Valente and Gijs Smal dropped out against Ajax, Jakub Moder, Gernot Trauner and Thomas Beelen have been sidelined for a long time and Givairo Read and Sem Steijn were injured in recent weeks.
In the last two matches until the winter break, Van Persie is also missing Anis Hadj Moussa, Oussama Targhalline and Gaoussou Diarra, who have been called up for the Africa Cup.
“It is a problem that we are missing so many players,” Van Persie said. “It is logical that this has an influence on the team. Every player has his own story, but we look at it very critically together.”
“Injuries should not be an excuse,” the coach emphasized. “Every team struggles with injuries at a certain period of the season. Ajax also missed many players today and PSV also went through a similar phase.”
It is striking that Feyenoord also struggled with many injuries last season under Priske. “How is that possible?” Pierre van Hooijdonk wondered in SVoetbal studio. “Apparently something is structurally wrong in the performance department,” said Ibrahim Afellay.
Changes
Related to the many injuries, the different compositions and substitutions are also noticeable, although this was also the case last season. Priske changed his starting eleven on average 3.3 places compared to the previous match, Van Persie changed 3.1 places this season.
Van Persie has used a total of 27 players in the Premier League so far. That is quite a lot: only Ajax and Excelsior deploy more players, 28 each. What is sometimes missing is logic, at least to the outside world.
Leo Sauer, Aymen Sliti, Gonçalo Borges and Gaoussou Diarra have played as left wingers in the past four games. And against Celtic and Telstar, Shaqueel van Persie replaced Ayase Ueda in the center of the front and in recent matches the Dane Casper Tengstedt was given another chance.
Van Persie’s substitution policy at Feyenoord under scrutiny: ‘Substitutes poorly instructed’
Last Thursday, Feyenoord collapsed against FCSB (4-3) after a 1-3 lead, with a negative role for substitutes Jordan Bos, Gonçalo Borges, Ayase Ueda and Cyle Larin. Van Hooijdonk questions the substitution policy.
“Those players do not come on to get a result, but to prove the trainer wrong,” said the former Feyenoord player. “They are going to take attacking actions instead of going up safe to play. Then it falls apart.”
‘External pressure has no influence on my actions and thoughts’
These are the coach’s choices. Van Persie understands that the pressure on him is increasing. “External pressure has no influence on my actions and thoughts,” he emphasized. “I believe in our working method. I am very satisfied with how we work together, empowering everyone, from staff to players.”
“That is separate from winning or losing games,” Van Persie continued. “We are doing very well, working in a pleasant way and think we will win most matches. I firmly believe that we will turn things around in this way.”
