Football Season Guide

Excelsior

In


Django Warmerdam (def), Sparta Rotterdam), Nesto Groen (att), Feyenoord), Calvin Raatsie (gk), Utrecht)

Out


Couhaib Driouech (r)(att), PSV), Siebe Horemans (r)(def), Utrecht), Raphaƫl Eyongo (sp)(att, La Louvre), Stijn van Gassel (gk), NEC Nijmegen), Ian Smeulers (sp)(def), Volos), Julian Baas (r)(mid), Sparta Rotterdam), Sven Nieuwpoort (r)(def), retired), Norbert Alblas (sp)(gk), retired), Yassin Ayoub (sp)(mid), Redouan El Yaakoubi (r)(def), Troy Parrott (k)(att), Tottenham - end of loan), Kenzo Goudmijn (r)(mid), AZ - end of loan), Cisse Sandra (sp)(mid), Club Brugge), Mimeirhel Benita (sp)(def), Feyenoord - end of loan)

Excelsior suffered a pretty heart-wrenching relegation in the play-off final last season at the expense of a NAC Breda side that took full advantage of their meltdown in the first leg to hand them a 6:2 loss. Excelsior gave it their all in the second leg and actually went close to forcing extra time but a 4:1 scoreline was not enough to prevent a return to the Eerste Divisie. The new season also brings a managerial change in Kralingen as long-serving coach Mariunus Dijkhuizen is passing the torch and moving on after more than ten years with the Red and Blacks. His assistant, Ruben den Uil, takes over as a manager and will be the youngest one in the league at just 33, with no real experience of leading a team so far. Naturally, as one of the teams coming from the upper division, Excelsior will e considered a favourite for a quick return but they did lose quite a lot of quality over the summer that will be hard to replace, most clearly in goal-getter Troy Parrot, lively winger Couhaib Driouech and in consistent miffeld dynamo Julian Baas. That said, retaining a very potent attacking player like Lance Duijvenstijn and adding the likes of Calvin Raatsie and Django Warmerdam, the Red and Blacks have the skeleton of a pretty strong starting 11. The issue for Den Til is more about the lack of real depth in some areas and how they will cope over the course of a long season. Yet, Excelsior do look capable of a quick return to the Eredivisie as long as they hit the ground running early.

Target


Establish themselves as major contenders and try to accomplish an immediate return to the Eredivisie.