There is great frustration at AZ after the fourth away defeat in a row in the Eredivisie. The Alkmaarders lost 3-1 at PEC Zwolle on Saturday, after Ajax was defeated in the KNVB Cup three days earlier. Peer Koopmeiners and Maarten Martens are in disbelief.
Afterwards, Koopmeiners had no explanation for AZ’s weak performance. “I also ask myself that. Both after Wednesday’s match and the difference between the first and second half,” the midfielder responds to ESPN. From the start, the Alkmaarders were behind the times. “That’s just outrageous. Especially after Wednesday. If you want to play for something, these are the games you have to win.”
According to Koopmeiners, there was a storm halfway through the AZ dressing room. “The first five minutes you change everything together, you hear harsh words and you shout at each other. But then a plan is made to turn it around. You still end up with 2-1, but you don’t deserve to equalize for the entire match.”
Martens: ‘Wouldn’t consider dropping him in’
Martens also appeared in front of the camera with the plague in his body. “Unbelievable and incomprehensible. You look for answers, but they are not found. We throw the match away in the first half hour,” says the Belgian coach. “Ultimately, it’s all about winning the duels. That if things can’t be done well, things have to be done differently. That you continue to implement the plan. That didn’t go in the right direction after the first setback.”
Martens is also disappointed with Matej Sin, who had to come on, but turned out to be wearing the wrong socks. “It is indeed going through my mind not to let him come in. But Matej is a very professional boy, who always has his affairs in order. We will have a good conversation about this. This should not happen to him,” he says about the Czech.
Sin came on for Sven Mijnans shortly before half time. The attacking midfielder dropped out with a serious injury. “That will not be solved in a few days,” Martens fears.
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