HEERENVEEN V NAC BREDA

August 21 ^st

In a Eredivisie double header that consumed a train journey from Leeds to Glasgow and back again the second part was the meeting between Heerenveen and NAC Breda, both teams lined up in a basic 4-3-3 however there was a different style to each system, more on that later.

Before the systems could be evaluated NAC were 1-0 up, Jong-a-Pin charged out to meet a clearance, Leonardo reacted fastest and laid the ball off to Matthew Amoah (blue), Jong-a-Pin (red) chased back while the other defenders tried to slow Amoah down (yellow) they forgot to pressure the ball. Amoah had time to take his shot, usually meat and drink for Steppe in the Heerenveen net however he made a meal of it, somehow managing to palm the ball into his own net, not the best start for the home side only 44 seconds gone.

NAC started the game really well, both Amoah and Leonardo pressure the ball from the front, giving the back four limited time on the ball, forcing them to pass the ball back to Steppe and then winning back the long clearances, Heerenveen making it easy for the Breda team to keep the ball.

With time to look at the formations the home side played a very traditional 4-3-3 with 6 foot 4 target man Bas Dost flanked by wingers Roy Beerens and Oussama Assaidi, Beerens is very talented able to use both feet, he seemed to always want to take the defender on, in this case Robbert Schilder was the player in his sights, in the opening 30 minutes Schilder did well against the right winger, attack after attack Beerens began to gain the upper hand gaining success by coming inside onto his left foot, linking up really well with Dost and Elm.

NAC Breda’s 4-3-3 set’s up slightly different, it is even a strain to call it a 4-3-3, without the ball the away team kept organised in what could be described as a 4-5-1.

Amoah (red) continued to pressure the back line, Kolkka, Kwakman, Gudelj, Luijckx and Leonardo (all yellow) spread the pitch trying to keep the game tight, Luijckx is the deep lying midfielder monitoring the runs of Assaidi and Dost dropping deep, playing between the lines if you will.

With the ball however the formation changed when they had the ball, Leonardo (red) tucks in from the right to join Amoah upfront, Kolkka (yellow) comes off the touchline and joins Kwakman and Gudelj as the three behind the forwards, Luijckx (blue) remains the deep lying midfielder.

Leonardo showed more desire to get forward and join the attack then Kolkka on the opposite side, Kolkka tended to move inside and link up down the centre, so although it may have been classed as a 4-3-3 when it comes to positions on the pitch it was certainly a little different.

With Beerens and Assaidi starting to take control of the game it wasn’t long until Heerenveen draw level, with the attentions of two defenders on him the Moroccan was still able to get his cross in, a perfect ball towards Dost who held of Breda captain Penders and directed the ball past ten Rouwelaar.

The end of the first half saw Heerenveen take command of the game, giving NAC very little time on the ball, keeping tight on each player, Breda found it very hard to push the ball forward, NAC created very little after the equaliser.

The second half started very slowly, interesting in the second half that Dost starting dropping deeper in deeper taking on the characteristic of the “false 9” Viktor Elm began to get forward into the space more often linking up well with Dost and Assaidi, is was Assaidi that combined well with Beerens for the second goal, cutting in from the left after a neat one two, in an attempt to intercept Luijckx stuck out a foot and unluckily for the midfielder, his attempt did more harm than good, the ball leaving ten Rouwelaar sprawling across his goal in vain as they could only watch it hit the net.

NAC showed no attacking intent in the second half, a mixture of poor movement and passing, and great defending from Heerenveen meant it wasn’t long before the Friesland club wrapped up the game and the three points. Full back Youssef El Akchaoui had been in charge of the set-pieces for the majority of the game and although he wasted numerous good opportunities with 13 minutes to go he finally made one count, the ball was swung in from the right, played into the danger area, it was Dost again who took advantage, sandwiched between Penders and Gudelj he did very well to get his head to the ball and steer it past the keeper, another great use of his physical strength and heading ability, I’m not sure there’s anything the defence could have done to stop him.

A very frustrating day for NAC Breda after a fantastic start they died away after losing the goal and couldn’t find a way back, Heerenveen deserved the points, it was an impressive performance from Ron Jans men, Beerens and Assaidi will cause other teams problems.