2014–15 AZ Alkmaar season

AZ
Full name Alkmaar Zaanstreek
Nickname(s) The Cheese Farmers
2014–15 AZ Alkmaar season
2014/15 season
Chairman René Neelissen
Manager John van den Brom
Ground AFAS Stadion
, capacity: 17,023
Eredivisie 3rd
KNVB Cup Quarter-final
Top goalscorer Nemanja Gudelj
Home colours
← 2013–14 2015–16 →

During the 2014–15 season, AZ will compete in the Eredivisie for the 17th consecutive season and the KNVB CUP under new manager Marco van Basten and then John van den Brom after Van Basten relinquished his role after health issues, becoming assistant to Van den Brom.[1] Under Gertjan Verbeek and Dick Advocaat the previous season, AZ lost their title of KNVB Cup to PEC Zwolle after being eliminated in the semi-finals by eventual league winners Ajax and finishing eighth in the league.

Background

Following the 2013–14 season in which AZ broke their record for most competitive games in a season (58) [2] which started in the KNVB Cup on 27 July 2013 (an extra time loss to Ajax) and ended in the Eredivisie UEFA Europa League play-offs (3–0 loss to Groningen).

During this run of 58 games, Gertjan Verbeek was sacked and Dick Advocaat was brought out of retirement to replace Verbeek until the end of the season.[3] The club finished in 8th and lost at the final stages of the play-offs for European football.

League results were inconsistent, although the club managed to make the quarter-finals of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League, playing Atromitos,[4] PAOK, Maccabi Haifa, Shakhter Karagandy,[5] Slovan Liberec, Anzhi Makhachkala before being eliminated by Benfica.[6]

For the new season, Marco van Basten left Heerenveen to sign a two-year contract at AZ, expressing his desire for the new challenge.[7]

Transfers

Arrivals

Name Position Previous club Fee Date
Netherlands Guus Hupperts[8][9]RWNetherlands Roda JC€1,000,000 Summer
Netherlands Robert Mühren[10][11]CFNetherlands Volendam€300,000 Summer
Netherlands Djavan Anderson[12][13]RBNetherlands Ajax U19€200,000 Summer
Sweden Muamer Tanković[14][15][16]FWEngland Fulham U21Free (end of contract) Summer
Uruguay Sergio Rochet[17][18]GKUruguay DanubioUndiscolsed Summer

Departures

Name Position New club Fee Date
Netherlands Nick ViergeverCB/LB/CDMNetherlands Ajax[19]€2,000,000 Summer
Netherlands Roy BeerensRWGermany Hertha BSC[20]€1,500,000 Summer
Netherlands Ruud BoymansCFNetherlands Utrecht[21]Undisclosed Summer
Finland Thomas LamCBNetherlands PEC Zwolle[22]Free (percentage of next sale) Summer
Iceland Johann Berg GuðmundssonLW EnglandCharlton Athletic[23]Free (end of contract) Summer
Netherlands Etiënne ReijnenCBNetherlands Cambuur[24]Free (end of contract) Summer
Netherlands Erik FalkenburgCMNetherlands NAC Breda[25]Free (end of contract) Summer
Netherlands Hobie VelhurstGKNetherlands MVV Maastricht[26]Free (end of contract) Summer
Netherlands Erik HeijblokGKNetherlands Volendam[27]Free (end of contract) Summer
Netherlands Paul KokLB Netherlands Oss[28]Free (end of contract) Summer
Cameroon Willie OvertoomCAMBelgium Zulte Waregem [29]Contract terminated Summer
Netherlands Dirk MarcellisRBNetherlands NAC Breda [30]Contract expired Summer
Netherlands Mikhail RosheuvelRW Netherlands CambuurUndisclosed January
Sweden Viktor ElmCM Sweden Kalmar FFUndisclosed March

Loans

Name Position New club Loan period
Belgium Jonas Heymans LBNetherlands Willem II[31]Full season
Netherlands Joris van OvereemCMNetherlands Dordrecht[32]Full season
Sweden Denni AvdićSTNetherlands Heracles Almelo[33]Full season
Netherlands Donny GorterLB/CMDenmark Aalborg BK[34]Full season
Netherlands Fernando Lewis FWNetherlands Go Ahead Eagles[35]August–January
Netherlands Fernando Lewis FWNetherlands DordrechtJanuary–May
Australia Eli Babalj CF Netherlands PEC ZwolleJanuary–May
Netherlands Raymond Gyasi FWNetherlands Roda JCJanuary–May

Pre-season friendlies

AZ's pre-season began on 30 June with their first training session[36] and consisted of seven official matches which started with an away friendly match on 5 July 2014 against Dutch amateurs SVW '27 from Heerhugowaard, just outside Alkmaar, and amateur club AFC'34 from Alkmaar.

Following the games against amateur opposition the club played a friendly with the full AZ squad, with two teams (blue and red) where both teams were mixed with regular first team players.

Then followed a weeks training camp in Epe, the Netherlands where AZ played their first games against professional teams in the pre-season; they played reserves against NEC, newly relegated from the Eredivisie, on the Saturday and then on Sunday fielded a full strength team against Gabala FK of Azerbaijan on the final day of the training camp.

After the training camp in Epe, AZ had a specially arranged friendly against Eerste Divisie side VVV to celebrate exactly 60th year anniversary since the two teams first met in a competitive game.[37] This special fixture had silverware to be won in the form of the Herman Teeuwen Bokkal, a pre-season competition organised by VVV to play larger teams for the trophy named after the legendary VVV player and scout Herman Teeuwen. After VVV winning against OFI Crete last year on this occasion AZ were victorious and awarded the cup;here is the AZ captain, Nemanja Gudelj, with the trophy.[38]

After winning silverware, AZ agreed to play a friendly against German Bundesliga side 1899 Hoffenheim as part of their training camp in Switzerland. The final match of pre-season has been arranged for 1 August on the training field outside AFAS Stadion[39] and will once again feature players from just the AZ squad. This game featured the squad wearing their new kits for the forthcoming season.[40] The white (away) kit was worn by fringe members of the squad and black (away) kits were worn by the reserve and under-19 AZ players. This concluded the pre-season with only eight days remaining until the Eredivisie season opener against Heracles Almelo away.

Accurate as of 1 August

Statistics

Top goalscorers

Rank Player (pen.)
1. Sweden Muamer Tanković 7(1)
2. Netherlands Thom Haye 2
Sweden Denni Avdić 2
Norway Markus Henriksen 2
Netherlands Donny Gorter 2 (2)
6. Netherlands Steven Berghuis 1
Belgium Jan Wuytens 1
Sweden Mattias Johansson 1
Sweden Viktor Elm 1
Netherlands Mikhail Rosheuvel 1
Netherlands Ridgeciano Haps 1
Netherlands Djavan Anderson 1
Netherlands Joris van Overeem 1
Netherlands Jeffrey Gouweleeuw 1
Paraguay Celso Ortiz 1
Total 25(3)

Goals conceded

Against (pen.) Scorers
Germany1899 Hoffenheim 3 GermanyRudy
FranceModeste
Bosnia and HerzegovinaSalihović
NetherlandsAZ Rood 2(1) SwedenTankovic
NetherlandsGorter (pen.)
NetherlandsSVW’27 1 NetherlandsBakker
Netherlands AFC'34 1 NetherlandsBen Hamed
NetherlandsAZ Blauw 1 Netherlandsvan Overeem
Netherlands NEC 0 -
Azerbaijan Qabala 0 -
Netherlands VVV 0 -
NetherlandsAZ Wit 0 -
NetherlandsAZ Zwart 0 -
Total 8(1)

Accurate as of 1 August

Eredivisie

The regular domestic league season began with an away fixture in the start of August 2015 to Heracles Almelo and finished away to Excelsior in mid-late May 2015.[41]

Statistics

Top goalscorers

Rank Player (pen.)
1. Netherlands Steven Berghuis 3
2= Netherlands Guus Hupperts 2
Sweden Muamer Tanković 2
Total 7

Goals conceded

Against Scorers
Netherlands Ajax 3 Netherlands Davy Klaassen
Denmark Lasse Schöne
Netherlands Anwar El Ghazi
Netherlands Willem II 3 Brazil Bruno Andrade
Netherlands Ali Messaoud
Netherlands Charlton Vicento
Netherlands Dordrecht 1 NetherlandsMart Lieder
Netherlands Heracles Almelo 0 -
Netherlands Heerenveen - -
Netherlands PEC Zwolle - -
Netherlands ADO Den Haag - -
Netherlands Twente - -
Netherlands PSV - -
Netherlands Groningen - -
Netherlands Excelsior - -
Netherlands NAC - -
Netherlands Vitesse - -
Netherlands Cambuur - -
Netherlands Go Ahead Eagles - -
Netherlands Feyenoord - -
Netherlands Utrecht - -
Total 7

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 PSV (C) 34 29 1 4 92 31 +61 88 Qualification to Champions League group stage
2 Ajax 34 21 8 5 69 29 +40 71 Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round
3 AZ 34 19 5 10 63 56 +7 62 Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round
4 Feyenoord 34 17 8 9 56 39 +17 59 Qualification to European competition play-offs[lower-alpha 1]
5 Vitesse (O) 34 16 10 8 66 43 +23 58
Updated to match(es) played on 17 May 2015. Source: NUsport
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner.
Notes:
  1. ↑ Four teams play for a spot in the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round.

KNVB Cup

AZ were drawn against the winners of the first round match on 27 August 2014 between Limburg amateurs EVV Echt and Spirit'30, amateurs from Hoogkarspel for the second round of the KNVB Cup.[42][43] EVV Echt were victorious in the match, winning 4–0, and AZ will visit the 2,000 capacity Sportpark "In de Bandert" on 24 September 2014.[44]

Statistics

Top goalscorers

Rank Player (pen.)
1. Isle of Man -(-)
Total -(-)

Goals conceded

Against (pen.) Scorers
NetherlandsEVV - Isle of Man-
Total -(-)

Squad Performance

Player League starts (pen.) Unused sub. Cup starts (pen.) Unused sub.
01.Costa Rica Esteban Alvarado 3 -6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
02.Sweden Mattias Johansson 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
03.Netherlands Jeffrey Gouweleeuw 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
04.Belgium Jan Wuytens 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
06.Paraguay Celso Ortiz 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
07.Netherlands Guus Hupperts 4 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
08.Serbia Nemanja Gudelj (c) 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
09.United States Aron Jóhannsson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10.Norway Markus Henriksen 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11.Sweden Muamer Tanković 4 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12.Sweden Viktor Elm 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0
14.Netherlands Wesley Hoedt 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0
15.Denmark Simon Poulsen 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
17.Netherlands Djavan Anderson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
18.Netherlands Mikhail Rosheuvel 1 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
19.Australia Eli Babalj 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
20.Netherlands Thom Haye 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0
21.Netherlands Robert Mühren 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
22.Netherlands Steven Berghuis 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
23.Netherlands Derrick Luckassen 1 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0
24.Netherlands Ridgeciano Haps 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
25.Uruguay Sergio Rochet 1 -1 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0
16.Belgium Yves De Winter 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0

Squad Numbers

Loanees

Domestic

Player Team League starts (pen.) Unused sub. Cup starts (pen.) Unused sub.
Netherlands Joris van Overeem Dordrecht 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Belgium Jonas Heymans Willem II 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Sweden Denni Avdić Heracles Almelo 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Netherlands Fernando Lewis Go Ahead Eagles 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0

Foreign

Player Team League XI (pen.) Unused sub. League Cup XI (pen.) Unused sub. European Competition XI (pen.)
Netherlands Donny Gorter Denmark Aalborg BK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Accurate as of matchday four.

International appearances

The following first team players played for their respective nations during the 2014–15 season:

Player National Team Position Time Played Goals
- - - - -

UEFA current ranking

As of 04/07/2014[45]
Rank Country Team Points
34TurkeyGalatasaray47.980
35UkraineDynamo Kyiv47.166
36NetherlandsAZ45.612
37ItalyLazio45.568
38SpainAthletic Bilbao43.299

Recent Eredivisie results

7
13
10
10
5
3
2
3
11
1
5
4
10
8
00010203040506070809 1011121314
Eredivisie

References

  1. ↑ Soccer-Van Basten to be unveiled as new AZ Alkmaar coach-reports | Reuters
  2. ↑ Special: Het langste AZ-seizoen - AZ
  3. ↑ Eredivisie: AZ appoint Dick Advocaat as their new coach | Football News | Sky Sports
  4. ↑ 2013–14 UEFA Europa League#Play-off round
  5. ↑ 2013–14 UEFA Europa League#Group L
  6. ↑ 2013-14 UEFA Europa League#Knockout phase
  7. ↑ Dutch Legend Marco Van Basten to Become AZ Manager | Bleacher Report
  8. ↑ AZ trekt Hupperts aan - AZ
  9. ↑ Hupperts van Roda naar AZ - NOS Sport
  10. ↑ Robert Mühren tekent bij AZ - NOS
  11. ↑ AZ haalt Mühren naar Alkmaar - AZ
  12. ↑ AZ contracteert Anderson - AZ
  13. ↑ Djavan Anderson goes from Ajax to AZ - english.ajax.nl
  14. ↑ AZ versterkt zich met Tankovic - AZ
  15. ↑ Fulham FC : Muamer Tankovic signs for AZ - Fulham FC Latest News
  16. ↑ Transfer news: AZ sign Muamer Tankovic on free transfer | Football News | Sky Sports
  17. ↑ AZ haalt doelman Rochet naar Alkmaar - AZ
  18. ↑ Uruguayaanse doelman op proef bij AZ - Nieuws.nl
  19. ↑ Ajax signs Nick Viergever - english.ajax.nl
  20. ↑ Beerens naar Hertha BSC - AZ
  21. ↑ http://www.ad.nl/ad/nl/5617/FC-Utrecht/article/detail/3662729/2014/05/27/F
  22. ↑ Zwolle neemt Lam transfervrij over van AZ - AD.nl
  23. ↑ Gudmundsson naar Charlton Athletic - AZ
  24. ↑ http://www.cambuur.nl/nieuws/sc-cambuur-versterkt-zich-met-eti%C3%ABnne-reijnen
  25. ↑ NAC strikt Erik Falkenburg - NAC Breda
  26. ↑ Veel nieuwe gezichten op eerste training MVV
  27. ↑ Goalie Erik Heijblok tekent contract bij FC Volendam
  28. ↑ RTV NH - Sport - Paul Kok aan de slag bij FC Oss
  29. ↑ AZ ontbindt contract Overtoom - NOS.nl
  30. ↑ 'Vergeten voetballer' AZ is bijna fit: "Ik hoop op een club uit de Eredivisie" - SoccerNews.nl
  31. ↑ Willem II huurt Jonas Heymans van AZ
  32. ↑ FC Dordrecht huurt jeugdinternational Van Overeem | RTV Rijnmond
  33. ↑ Heracles huurt Avdic van AZ - NOS Sport
  34. ↑ Gaarde: Donny Gorter løfter os - tipsbladet
  35. ↑ AZ verhuurt Lewis aan Go Ahead Eagles - AZ
  36. ↑ Maandag 30 juni: eerste training - AZ
  37. ↑ AZ oefent tegen VVV-Venlo - AZ
  38. ↑ AZ on Twitter: Onze aanvoerder @nemanjagudelj pakt zijn eerste prijs van dit seizoen: de Herman Teeuwen Bokaal. #talisman http://t.co/ECougOVpGP
  39. ↑ AZ oefent donderdag tegen Hoffenheim - AZ
  40. ↑ Nieuwe uitshirts nu verkrijgbaar - AZ
  41. ↑ Wedstrijden 1e elftal - AZ
  42. ↑ Draw for the second round of KNVB cup made - Football Oranje
  43. ↑ AZ bekert tegen EVV of Spirit ‘30 - AZ
  44. ↑ http://www.az.nl/nieuws/az-bekert-tegen-evv-echt/1?catid=
  45. ↑ "Club coefficients 2013/14". uefa.com. 4 July 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
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