The Dutch Eredivisie always leaves plenty to discuss, ask, and wonder. In ErediVision, we discuss five burning questions and hot topics that the Eredivisie leaves us with each weekend.
Everyone's a winner now
It took seven rounds, but at last, everyone's a winner in the Eredivisie.
Heracles Almelo and promoted side FC Volendam were the last teams waiting for their first win of the season. Heracles were still waiting to win their first point of the season, but both teams breathed a big sigh of relief last weekend.
Thanks to a Jizz Hornkamp brace, Heracles stunningly beat Sparta Rotterdam 3-0, doubling their goals tally from the first six rounds. In Volendam, veterans Henk Veerman and Brandley Kuwas led their team to a 2-1 win over PEC Zwolle, bringing an end to a two-game losing streak and grabbing their first top-tier win since April 2024.
There is still a long way to go for Heracles, who are at the bottom of the league and have a tricky schedule coming up with the derby against FC Twente up next and a home game against league leaders Feyenoord after the international break.
Clock is ticking for Ajax
Another week, another disappointing performance for the once mighty Ajax.
Against NAC Breda, a team that's only won three Eredivisie games all calendar year, Ajax played a horrible first half after a quick start. John Heitinga's men only fired two shots at NAC's goal in the first half - a total matched only four times by Ajax in the Eredivisie since 2010.
The Amsterdam side came away with a 2-1 win following a sending-off for NAC, but were left with a very sour taste in their mouths. It has been four months since Heitinga was installed as Francesco Farioli's successor, and the former Netherlands international seems to have thrown every piece of progress made under the Italian manager out of the window.
Heitinga finally saw the light and started Gloukh, who scored after just four minutes, but kept faith in the likes of Anton Gaaei, Owen Wijndal, Davy Klaassen, and Oliver Edvardsen, who have all failed to convince anyone in recent weeks.
Ajax were lucky to beat NAC, and it should prompt people within the club to consider whether Heitinga is the right man to bring Ajax back to the very top of Dutch football. The clock is ticking for Ajax, because with the current brand of football, it's going to be another long and trophyless season for the Amsterdam giants.
Is anyone impressed?
Besides Ajax, the two other clubs that make up the traditional top three also failed to make a lasting impression over the weekend.
PSV scraped a win away at Excelsior, who were beaten 2-1 after a 71st-minute winner from Ismael Saibari, whereas Feyenoord took home a 1-0 win following a rather dull 90 minutes in Groningen. Neither team showed to be that with the pedigree of a champion.
Winning these games without showing much high-quality, you could say, is the mark of a champion. But shouldn't PSV be blowing Excelsior, who lost four of their six games prior to the one against the champions, out of the water? Shouldn't Feyenoord do more after Van Persie rested all but four of his starters against Braga?
Truth is, no one is truly impressing anyone in the Eredivisie at this point. No one from the traditional top three teams, no one from the group of AZ, FC Utrecht, FC Twente, and Go Ahead Eagles, and not even NEC, who won their first game since August.
It's a wide-open league.
The Spartan rollercoaster
I don't think there's a harder team to gauge than Sparta Rotterdam this season, maybe in the past few seasons.
Maurice Steijn's team are an enigma - they lost 6-1 to PSV, but beat red-hot FC Utrecht 2-1 the following week. They beat Europa League outfit Go Ahead Eagles 3-0 and then lost 4-0 to Feyenoord at home. They beat Excelsior 1-0 the following week, but have gone the wrong way again.
Like after the 464 BC Sparta earthquake and the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC, the Spartan fortress has completely fallen apart. Last week, FC Twente beat Sparta 5-1 in their first game under John van den Brom, and just last weekend, Heracles Almelo grabbed their first win of the season after a 3-0 stomping of Sparta.
The Rotterdam outfit has looked dire defensively and own the worst defensive record of the league with 19 conceded goals. It's up and down and up and down for Sparta, who are desperately looking for some rhythm and could book a statement win when Ajax come to town on Saturday.
AZ miss discipline
It has not been AZ's season so far, but that's not all down to bad fortune. It could be down to bad discipline, however.
After the first seven games of the season, AZ lead the league in yellow cards by a country mile - the Alkmaar side have collected 24 yellow cards, at least eight more than any other team. Left-back Mees de Wit will already serve a one-game suspension after picking up his fifth yellow card over the weekend, and Jordy Clasie topped it against NEC with a red card.
Ten Eredivisie players have received three or more bookings this season, and a staggering four of them are AZ players. Mees de Wit (5), Alexandre Penetra, Jordy Clasie, and Kees Smit (all 3) make AZ the only team in the league with more than one player on three bookings.
It'll need to change sooner rather than later.
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