Marked for Jesper Tielemans
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Nov 2027
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Sem Westerveld: 4 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Squad1 Nov 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Lucas Rosa
49 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Volendam lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad1 Nov 2027
40 days out for Roshon van Eijma after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Volendam will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match27 Oct 2027
Cup progress for Volendam
A 0‑0 win over ADO Den Haag, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
Joel Ideho runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 31. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
No sign of nerves from Paul Wanner at 21 — 8.23
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Paul Wanner did not need any: 8.23, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market1 Nov 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Volendam, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
“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 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Volendam
Lucas Rosa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market25 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Volendam can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Volendam may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market25 Jan 2027
The phone has started ringing about Yannick Leliendal again, and this time the name on the line is Twente. Volendam are listening politely and promising nothing.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Volendam
Gibson Yah 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Volendam can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Volendam
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and André Franco was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
A loan move for Stije Resink is in the works
Volendam have made the call to AZ. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
Nowhere to hide for Volendam
0‑3 against Ajax, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad28 Sep 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 Volendam this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Volendam training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bilal Ould-Chikh 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.
Boardroom28 Sep 2026
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Bas De Vrij after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market28 Sep 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Silvinho Esajas has his answer from Volendam; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Déron Payne, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead28 Sep 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Sparta Rotterdam in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.