NOS Football•
The intention was to keep the laptop closed during the short Christmas holidays, but that was not entirely successful, admits Feyenoord coach Robin van Persie. Not surprising, because things haven’t been going well for the Rotterdammers in recent weeks.
Feyenoord started the season strongly, but after a home defeat against PSV at the end of October, the situation came to an end. The former leader is second in the Premier League, no less than eleven points behind the rival from Eindhoven, elimination from the Europa League is imminent and in the cup, just before the winter break, SC Heerenveen proved to be too high a hurdle.
Although he is primarily responsible, Van Persie does not blame himself too much. “You make a lot of choices as a coach and I think I made most of the choices well. Some may not have turned out as well, but I don’t regret them, because I made them with full conviction.”
Moreover, you learn from this, he notes during the training camp in Marbella in the run-up to the resumption of competition. “I think that is the only way to grow as a trainer, and also as a person.”
Don’t look far ahead
In any case, his team will enter the second half of the season with a new first captain: goalkeeper Timon Wellenreuther takes over from Sem Steijn, whose initial election in August led to many discussions among football followers.
Van Persie was not bothered by that. “At a club like Feyenoord, everything is made big. That is also what you actually sign up for as a player and trainer. You know that in advance, that there will be a lot of opinions.”
Feyenoord coach Van Persie: ‘Steijn did not want to be the second captain in the shadows’
The national title, which Van Persie had emphatically aimed for last summer, is as good as out of sight. He does not want to speak out about a new goal now. “I don’t think we should look that far ahead. We can say a lot now, but we just have to start winning games.”
“I have been very open about the expectations that come with a club like Feyenoord. But during the season the season runs as it runs and opinions are adjusted. From within and from outside. Ultimately, it is important that you adapt to the reality of the moment.”
Goals conceded
This reality shows that Feyenoord conceded few goals in the first games of the season, but subsequently conceded a remarkable number, especially in the closing stages. And the continuing wave of injuries is also striking.
“That all started from October onwards. We look at where things can and should be improved. Certainly in terms of switching moments, I think. But things also have to be better in attack and defense. I do wonder whether things necessarily have to be completely different. It’s more about accents, although we always pay attention to that.”
Goalkeeper Wellenreuther has an idea of what is wrong at the back. “What we need is more self-confidence, defending on the ball earlier and acting more like a man, putting everything into play. I thought that was a bit lacking in the last few games.”
“We talked about it and worked on it,” says the new captain. “Hopefully it will come back. Of course you can’t keep a clean sheet every match, but you can try to do that as often as possible. That is the intention.”
