Winners & Losers 2008/2009: Holland

Just-Football's six part series looking at the winners and losers in 2008/2009 across European football's major domestic leagues continues now with Part 4 - analysing the winners and losers in Holland. NB - for parts 1 (England), 2 (France) and 3 (Germany) follow the links by clicking the name of the country. Do also look out for Parts 5 and 6 later this week. So without further ado let's take a look at 2008/2009 in Dutch football, which will largely be remembered for the fall of the mighty and the rise of the provincial:

WINNERS

AZ Alkmaar

It was never meant to end this way. Back in the earlier months of 2008, when AZ Alkmaar were struggling in mid-table and coach Louis van Gaal had tendered his resignation, if you predicted to the average AZ fan that one year later he/she would be celebrating the Eredivisie title and doing this sort of thing in the street, he/she would almost certainly have laughed in your face. However, the players begged the manager to stay one more year, Van Gaal dutifully agreed and re-jigged his tactics, AZ hit an unstoppable run of form (28 league games without losing) and the rest, as they say, is geschiedenis (history in Dutch).

It really was an unbelievably successful year for AZ Alkmaar. In the nightmare season that was 2006/2007 AZ turned gold to dust. They threw the title away on the final day, lost the KNVB (Dutch) Cup on penalties and then failed to even qualify for the Champions League after defeat in the playoffs. Would this Northern Dutch provincial outfit ever get a better chance to win silverware?

The following season AZ finished 11th. It was the end of the line for AZ Alkmaar as a threat to the big guns, people thought. But this year Van Gaal proved them wrong, developing a side full of skill and resolve, a force to be reckoned with built on slick passing and cold-blooded counter-attack football. Not to mention a supremely robust defence; AZ conceded 22 goals all season and kept 22 clean sheets in 34 games - a superb ratio.

The star of the show however was undoubtedly Mounir El Hamdaoui, the Dutch-Moroccan sensation who bagged 23 league goals playing as a support striker. Two-footed, inspirational and full of flair, El Hamdaoui was a key cog in AZ's title winning machine who not only scored goals but was handy with assists. Van Gaal may now have left for Bayern Munich but he oversaw a golden final season in charge at AZ Alkmaar, the first championship win since 1981 and only the club's second ever.

FC Twente

The 'wally with the brolly' Steve McLaren reinvented himself pretty well in his first season in Holland, spearheading FC Twente to runners-up in the Eredivisie. That represents Twente's highest league placing since 1974. Not only this but McLaren also guided the Entschede outfit to the KNVB Dutch Cup final, where ultimately they lost on penalties to Heerenveen. All things considered an impressive feat and one worthy of praise.

McLaren's style of management won rave reviews in Holland. A staunch advocate of the traditional, quintessentially Dutch 4-3-3 attacking system, the former England manager organised his players into a system that was thrilling to watch - a purist's dream. At the end of the campaign his elated players lifted McLaren on their shoulders as if welcoming a war hero back from the trenches, a sign not just of his popularity at Twente but also the sheer sense of achievement at the club. They were a penalty shootout away from the club's greatest ever year.

FC Twente turned into a model of consistency during 08/09. For over half a season The Reds lurked around the top 3, before pushing up to second with 13 games remaining. It was a spot they would not relinquish. The key men? Well, it is hard to look beyond goal-getters Blaise N'Kufo and Marko Arnautovic who bagged 28 league goals between them, but honourable mentions should also go to attacking left midfielder Eljero Elia and centre back Douglas, who both excelled throughout the campaign. Imminent moves abroad all round, one imagines.

Heerenveen

Fifth place and winners of the KNVB Dutch Cup; it wouldn't be right not to include Heerenveen on a list of winners from Dutch football in 08/09. Daniel Pranjic was the main man for the Frisian outfit. His 16 league goals fired Heerenveen to the upper echelons of the Eredivisie and himself to Germany to play for Bayern Munich. Trond Sollied's men, consequently, will participate in the inaugural Europa League next season. But winning the Dutch Cup was the main achievement. The first piece of major silverware in Heerenveen's 89-year history was won courtesy of a penalty shootout triumph against FC Twente at De Kuip stadium in Rotterdam after a 2-2 draw.

LOSERS

It all went wrong for Dutch legend Van Basten at Ajax

Ajax Amsterdam, Feyenoord, PSV Eindhoven

2008/2009 was an awful year for the aristocracy of Dutch football. None of the so-called 'Big Three' could even make it into the top two, putting together performances so comically inept it kept the rest of the league amused for most of the season.

At Ajax, Marco Van Basten made a gargantuan effort to prove the old mantra 'great players don't make great managers' completely true, and the mess he made before resigning could take some time for new boss Martin Jol to sort out. For a start there will be no Champions League football, again. Ultimately, Van Basten's departure from the club was the best thing for everyone involved. Not even the club's own fans could bear to watch by the end, boycotting 45 minutes of the final game of the season vs FC Twente in protest. Jol has a huge job on his hands if he is to lift the club from it's recent malaise.

In Eindhoven, PSV's stranglehold on the title finally loosened after four straight years of domestic dominance. Huub Stevens' ill-fated spell in charge was chief reason for PSV's failings. Stevens fell out completely with a belligerent squad of players who practically formed a munity to get him ousted, and while clearly it was not all his fault Stevens goes down as statistically the fourth worst manager in PSV history. Post-Stevens the Rood-witten sparked a mini-recovery, including a 6-2 thrashing of Ajax, but it was not enough to stop them finishing 4th.

As for Feyenoord, well they were just as dreadful and finished 7th, meaning no Champions League, no Europa League, no nothing. A horror show pretty much from start to finish, Feyenoord lost over 1/3 of all their league games in 08/09, registering an embarrassing 13 defeats. In fact until March 2009 they were still realistic candidates for relegation. Pre-season, many thought the unison of storied veterans like Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Kevin Hofland and Roy Makaay would propel Feyenoord to a higher plane, but that couldn't have been further from the truth. Experience did not directly translate to competence, much to Feyenoord's chagrin. Gertjan Verbeek's sacking in January 2009 did steady the ship to some degree, but the damage was already done and Feyenoord's centenary year ended in grave disappointment.

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Comments welcome. Next up in the Winners and Losers 2008/2009 series - Italy.