Marked for Daan Visser
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Erik Ahlstrand
61 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Heracles lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match12 Dec 2026
The wait goes on for Heracles
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Heracles training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mike te Wierik is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match12 Dec 2026
Heracles caught on 87 minutes
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Utrecht scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Heracles
Kenny Teijsse and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daan Visser, and the manager let it.
Match12 Dec 2026
It needed Sam Lammers to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Utrecht, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Half-satisfied: Rick De Jong on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Nov 2026
Erik Ahlstrand damages knee ligaments — 77 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 77 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match29 Nov 2026
The wait goes on for Heracles
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Heracles
Daan Visser and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Mario Engels
“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.
Match29 Nov 2026
Heracles caught on 86 minutes
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then PSV scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Marked 7.66. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lassana Faye and Heracles agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Heracles are still strangers to each other
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match21 Nov 2026
The wait goes on for Cambuur
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Cambuur
Mathieu Maertens and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Market23 Nov 2026
No place for Mark Diemers in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Mark Diemers has his answer from Cambuur; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Match21 Nov 2026
Level with 91 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Cambuur had all but put away. Zwolle will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Loan watch23 Nov 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 Cambuur, and 5 appearances in 15 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Adam Maher commits to Cambuur for another 2 years.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Cambuur are still strangers to each other
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Match21 Nov 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Heracles lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Heracles may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad16 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Heracles this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sava Čestić, and the manager let it.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Mario Engels knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Heracles, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
Heerenveen next, and one man in the Heracles dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market16 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Fabian de Keijzer’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
Next up at home: Heerenveen, who go into it in position 3. The kind of fixture a season is quietly built on or quietly loses its shape in.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Sam Lammers keeps his manager's vote
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Sam Lammers plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
29 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Heracles lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Alec Van Hoorenbeeck was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match7 Nov 2026
Heracles rescue it on 93 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 93. Vitesse had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Thomas Bruns's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rhys Bozinovski, and the manager let it.
Match7 Nov 2026
It needed Sam Lammers to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Vitesse, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Squad
No place for Jesse Schuurman in the new shape
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Squad
Daan Visser has had enough of the bench
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Luka Kulenović
37 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Heracles lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Up for the corner, and Daan Visser delivers — 7.65
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Daan Visser scored, was marked 7.65, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Luka Kulenović was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match31 Oct 2026
Heracles caught on 88 minutes
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then AZ scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jesse Schuurman and Heracles agree another 3 years.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“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.
Match31 Oct 2026
It needed Daan Visser to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against AZ, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Rick De Jong after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
The terraces19 Oct 2026
The crowd has taken to Naci Ünüvar
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Ninety minutes of Naci Ünüvar at his very best
Marked 8.10. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Heracles.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Jop Tijink was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match17 Oct 2026
A 2‑2 draw with Excelsior leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Rick De Jong was not hiding it after 2‑2, and nobody in the Heracles dressing room was either.
Looking ahead19 Oct 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Cambuur in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
No place in the plan for Mario Engels
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cambuur this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Skye Vink is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
“I watch every Cambuur game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Heracles runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Furdjel Narsingh and Cambuur agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Kjeld Dries 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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Billy van Duijl is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
Daan Visser in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Heracles this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Heracles are still strangers to each other
7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
Excelsior next, and one man in the Heracles dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market12 Oct 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Fabian de Keijzer signs something — a contract at Heracles or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Heracles that is a harder question to answer.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Oct 2026
There were 11 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Thomas Bruns commits to Heracles for another 1 years.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Heracles
Alec Van Hoorenbeeck and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match4 Oct 2026
Twente left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market5 Oct 2026
No place for Mario Engels in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Mario Engels has his answer from Heracles; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Daan Visser
“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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Erik Ahlstrand's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Heracles can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Heracles asked and KAA Gent said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match22 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Daan Visser was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Rick De Jong to a room that had heard them before.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
SC Freiburg have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
AZ have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Squad24 Aug 2026
No place for Daan Visser in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Heracles are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.