Football Season Guide

Sparta Rotterdam

In


Lennart Thy (att) PEC Zwolle; Danzell Gravenberch (att) FC Dordrecht; Maduka Okoye (gk) Fortuna Düsseldorf II; Michaël Heylen (def) FC Emmen; Reda Kharchouch (att) Telstar; Benjamin van Leer (gk) Ajax; Tom Beugelsdijk (def) ADO Den Haag;

Out


Ragnar Ache (k)(att) Eintracht Frankfurt; Jurgen Mattheij (r)(def) CSKA Sofia; Ariel Harush (r)(gk) released; Suently Alberto (def) released; Dante Rigo (r)(mid) PSV Eindhoven - end of loan; Patrick Joosten (r)(mid) Utrecht - end of loan; Joël Piroe (sp)(att) PSV U21 - end of loan; Khalid Karami (def) Vitesse - end of loan;

When the league was suspended in March due to COVOD-19, Sparta Rotterdam were in 11th place - an absolutely positive result considering they were a newly promoted team. The start of the season had been very bright, then there was an inevitable decline, however they always kept their distance from the relegation zone. Coach Henk Fraser has always been able to field a competitive and balanced team, conceding perhaps a few too many goals, but also with an attack capable of scoring 41 goals in 26 rounds (the seventh best attack of Eredivisie), even without a regular scorer (the best was Mohamed Rayhi with just 7 goals). During the summer transfer market they made three major transfers out. All three were immediately replaced by players of more or less the same quality. Goalkeeper Ariel Harush has been replaced with Benjamin van Leer from Ajax, central defender Jurgen Mattheij with experienced Tom Beugelsdijk, while team star striker Ragnar Ache, sold to Eintracht Frankfurt, was replaced by German Lennart Thy, coming from an overall positive season with PEC Zwolle. Sparta's biggest shortcomings appear to be in midfield, especially due to Dante Rigo and Patrick Joosten's loans ending. With the departure of these two players, the midfield loses quality, leaving mainly ball-winners.

Target


The Kasteelheren aim at consolidation. They might find it harder than the last campaign as they can no longer count on the surprise factor. Their attacking play will be increasingly based on the performance of trequartista, Bryan Smeets.