Football Season Guide

FC Groningen has been a steady force for years now in the top half of the table and Erwin van der Looi's men showed this once again in the 2015/16 season when they sealed the seventh spot for the third time in four years. That position was more than enough to claim the Europa League play-off spot, but FC Groningen wasn't able to grab the ticket as Heracles Almelo knocked them out of the competition in the semi-final. Groningen participated in the Europa League last season due to their KNVB Cup win in 2015, but that won't be the case after the summer. Manager Van der Looi decided to leave the club as well, but the staff managed to respond well to this departure to be honest. Ernest Faber, a former PSV Eindhoven assistant and NEC Nijmegen trainer, performed well with his team last year and he should be able to show his qualities in the Euroborg Stadium. Faber even played for FC Groningen in the past, which is a bonus as well. Groningen has been more than steady as mentioned before during the last years as they sealed ten top ten spots in the last eleven seasons. A finishing spot in the top half of the table will be the main mission again and Groningen's staff will now look for a way to maintain the quality in the side. Faber will have to start the season without the experienced team captain Rasmus Lindgren however. The 31-year-old defender decided to leave to play for BK Häcken in his own country and he surely will be missed at the back. Lorenzo Burnet left the club as well, but Groningen's squad contains enough quality to deal with this on the left. Former top scorer Michael de Leeuw already left the club during the season, but Groningen managed to cope with that as well. The staff already brought in some new promising players to maintain the quality level in the squad. Ruben Jenssen, a Norwegian international, came over from 1.FC Kaiserslautern and he's expected to push for a starting spot in Faber's formation. Another promising signing is Tom van Weert. The striker managed to bag 24 goals in two seasons for the struggling Excelsior side, which is actually a more than decent achievement, and he will get a chance now to show his skills in a more dominating and attacking side. Van Weert could become the new leader in attack, but he will have to battle with Alexander Sorloth and Nicolo Pozzebon for that position. Decent Eredivisie players like Sergio Padt, Hans Hateboer and Simon Tibbling are still in Groningen and youngsters like Kasper Larsen and Oussama Idrissi will be more experienced this time around, which is a bonus as well. Faber is set to focus on the attack in Groningen, just like he did with NEC Nijmegen last campaign, and this formation should be able to win against all the other teams if they have a top day.