Ajax won their third Dutch title in a row this season, keeping hold of their Eredivisie crown in impressive fashion. The Amsterdam side may have experienced a decline between 2005 and 2010, but since the appointment of Frank de Boer, they have bounced back with a bang and begun to dominate Dutch football. However, the Eredivisie doesn’t just mean Ajax. We select the 2012/13 campaign’s best eleven.
Goalkeeper – Kenneth Vermeer (Ajax)
13 clean sheets, three penalties saved (one in the Champions League against Borussia Dortmund) and a consistent level of performance have made the two-time European Under-21 Championship winner a key man in Ajax’s defence. Vermeer has finally learned to cope with the pressure that comes with being in the spotlight. Even the presence of rising talent Jasper Cillessen on the bench did not affect the 27-year-old.
Right-back – Daryl Janmaat (Feyenoord)
From free agent to Holland international within three months. Many eyebrows were raised last summer when Ronald Koeman snapped up the former ADO Den Haag and Heerenveen player. Janmaat is a fast defender, full of energy, who has looked more an attacking full-back than a traditional right-back. In Rotterdam, Janmaat removed all doubt over his talent, producing his best season so far and proving to be a serious competitor for Gregory van der Wiel’s number 2 shirt with the Oranje.
Central defender – Stefan de Vrij (Feyenoord)
Widely considered as amongst the best talents developed by Feyenoord’s academy over the last decade, at the start of the season the 1992-born De Vrij took over the captain’s armband from Ron Vlaar, who was sold to Aston Villa. A series of superb and solid performances at the heart of Feyenoord’s defence – De Vrij can be deployed as a right-back too – confirmed him as a gem, ready for a bigger league.
Left-back – Daley Blind (Ajax)
It took five years for the son of former Ajax and Holland international Danny Blind to progress from being awarded the Ajax Talent of the Year accolade (picked up in 2008) to becoming the club’s Player of the Season; sometimes the road that leads to a definitive breakthrough is longer and harder than expected. Blind made it, becoming the best left-sided player in the Eredivisie and making his debut for Holland. And his future looks bright; while at 23 his father was still playing for Sparta Rotterdam, Daley has just won his third Eredivisie title.
Right midfielder – Jens Toornstra (Utrecht)
At 20, Toornstra was Holland’s best kept secret, as he still turned out for amateur side Alphense Boys in the Tweede Klasse C (Dutch football’s fourth tier). Then, in the summer of 2009, Holland’s press officer Kees Jansma, suggested that ADO Den Haag snap him up. Since then Toornstra’s career has been on an upward trajectory. Last January he moved to Utrecht, where his tactical awareness and vision of the game were vital to keeping the club in the Europa League playoff zone.
Central midfielder – Siem de Jong (Ajax)
Ajax’s top goalscorer with 12 goals, sometimes coach De Boer deployed the all-round midfielder as a striker due to his nose for goal and aerial ability. In the last three seasons he scored in all of the games which saw Ajax clinch the title: twice against FC Twente in 2010, another brace against VVV Venlo in 2011 and one goal against Willem II this season. Only Johan Cruyff (seven) scored more goals in title-winning games. Ajax will face a tough task keeping hold of De Jong.
Central midfielder – Christian Eriksen (Ajax)
Ajax’s veteran youngster, the Danish starlet played his 100th official game for the Amsterdam giants in March against Twente. Born in 1992, only Iker Munian (Athletic Bilbao) and Thibaut Courtois (Atletico Madrid) in his age group managed their 100th game before him. None of the two however have Champions League and World Cup experience like Eriksen. 13 goals, 23 assists and a series of superb performances – two Champions League games against Manchester City above all others – contributed towards the Danish international’s best season so far.
Left midfielder – Tonny Trindade de Vilhena (Feyenoord)
In 1995, when Vilhena was a newborn infant, Mark van Bommel was playing his third professional season with Fortuna Sittard. However, when the pair met on the pitch this season, it seemed every inch a clash between two midfield veterans. A regular in the Feyenoord starting eleven despite his tender age, Vilhena impressed with his blend of physical strength, great technique and character. A brace scored against Willem II made him the youngest Feyenoord player ever (18 years and 31 days old) to score twice in a game.
Attacking midfielder – Filip Djuricic (Heerenveen)
Alongside Iceland striker Alfred Finnbogason, the Serbian number 10 saved Heerenveen (and coach Marco van Basten) from an extremely disappointing season. With the Frisian club close to the relegation zone for half the campaign, Djuricic was the man who led the way into the sunlight, pulling Van Basten’s men out of trouble. Attacking midfielder, left winger, striker when Finnbogason was injured: Djuricic performed superbly in every role he found himself being deployed. Labelled the “Balkan Johan Cruyff” due to his exquisite technique, next month he will join Benfica on a five-year contract.
Second striker – Wilfried Bony (Vitesse)
On paper Vitesse were not a better team than Twente, however the Arnhem-based side were serious title contenders until the end of the campaign. This was exclusively down to the superb performances of the Ivorian striker, whose 31 goals led to Vitesse going close to grabbing a Champions League spot. Bony has become the side’s most prolific striker of the last 15 years and when he missed games, January saw him head to the African Cup of Nations, Vitesse could hardly buy a win.
First striker – Graziano Pelle (Feyenoord)
From flop to top within two years: In Holland the Italian striker was widely remembered for his four disappointing seasons with AZ Alkmaar, scoring just 14 goals. When last summer Pelle joined Feyenoord to replace John Guidetti, few believed the Rotterdam club had made a wise move. Pelle however hit back at his critics with an outstanding season, in which he became, with 27 goals, Feyenoord’s most prolific foreign goalscorer in a season ever; he beat Swedes Harry Bild and Ove Kindvall, who each grabbed 25.
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