From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match11 Sep 2027
AZ cannot stop winning
9 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Match11 Sep 2027
AZ get the job done against Utrecht
A 3-2 win over Utrecht, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Maarten Paes gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad13 Sep 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Anthony Smits commits to AZ for another 4 years.
Loan watch13 Sep 2027
“I did not go to Preston to sit and watch. I want to come back to AZ and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
Squad13 Sep 2027
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Squad13 Sep 2027
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market13 Sep 2027
The Jordy Clasie talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AZ know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market13 Sep 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match6 Mar 2027
Still nobody has beaten AZ
The unbeaten run reaches 11. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Rio Robbemond: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AZ have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Maarten Paes commits to AZ for another 4 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Wouter Goes
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Matěj Šín is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.31 with 7 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
AZ release $2.5M for the manager
The board have put money on the table rather than an encouraging word. What happens to it now is somebody else's problem, and somebody else's job.
Loan watch8 Mar 2027
“I did not go to Espanyol to sit and watch. I want to come back to AZ and fight for my place.” 9 appearances in 28 matches say the rest.
Match6 Mar 2027
AZ and Zwolle take a point apiece
It finished 1-1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Loan watch8 Mar 2027
30 appearances at Excelsior and the goals keep coming. AZ are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match27 Feb 2027
Still nobody has beaten AZ
The unbeaten run reaches 10. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A season average of 7.02 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. AZ know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Match27 Feb 2027
Three points for AZ, 3-1 the final word against Mlada Boleslav in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad1 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Isak Jensen
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Troy Parrott left out for the big one
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Troy Parrott will call it something else in private.
Loan watch1 Mar 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at AZ, and 7 appearances in 29 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Jordy Clasie asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Match27 Feb 2027
AZ and NEC take a point apiece
It finished 1-1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Market1 Mar 2027
The name of Jordy Clasie keeps appearing in other people's back pages. AZ say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Feb 2027
Denso Kasius says AZ went back on their word
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Patati signs a new deal
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Patati commits to AZ for another 5 years.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Jordy Clasie gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Loan watch1 Feb 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at AZ, and 11 appearances in 21 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Sven Mijnans asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Match30 Jan 2027
AZ and Ajax take a point apiece
It finished 1-1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Market1 Feb 2027
The name of Jordy Clasie keeps appearing in other people's back pages. AZ say nothing, which says plenty.
The terraces1 Feb 2027
Everybody has an opinion about Mexx Meerdink
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Loan watch1 Feb 2027
25 appearances away from home and 6 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market28 Sep 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match26 Sep 2026
Three points for AZ, 1-0 the final word against De Graafschap in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Loan watch28 Sep 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at AZ, and 1 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Ibrahim Sadiq
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market28 Sep 2026
Kees Smit linked with a move away
The name of Kees Smit keeps appearing in other people's back pages. AZ say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Jordy Clasie unhappy with how he is being used
Asked to play a role that is not his, or taken off before the hour once too often — Jordy Clasie has let it be known that he does not like the way AZ are using him. Managers hear this long before the press does.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Mees de Wit asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Loan watch28 Sep 2026
3 appearances at Bolton Wanderers and the goals keep coming. AZ are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Market28 Sep 2026
AZ have made Rio Robbemond available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.