Excelsior will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Feyenoord were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Successful dribbles: 31. 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.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Barış Alper Yılmaz 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Marley Cruz is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Feyenoord training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mika Mármol 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.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
10 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Two goals and a mark of 9.17 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The offer went to Sanfrecce Hiroshima this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Barış Alper Yılmaz scored in the 87th minute, Twente had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Feyenoord took the lot.
The offer from Baniyas for Fabiano Rust was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
6 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
$19.2M on the table at Estoril Praia. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Gjivai Zechiël is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Feyenoord this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Feyenoord training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mika Mármol 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.
The phone has started ringing about Fabiano Rust again, and this time the name on the line is Baniyas. Feyenoord are listening politely and promising nothing.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Givairo Read trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A clause somebody insisted on years ago, in a negotiation nobody remembers, has just paid Feyenoord $1.0M. Gaoussou Diarra left a long time ago; the paperwork stayed.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Feyenoord heard it as anything else.
Barış Alper Yılmaz 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.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.08, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mika Mármol was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Zwolle paid $150.0K and Feyenoord took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
“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 Feyenoord, and 1 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” De Graafschap had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Barış Alper Yılmaz 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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Feyenoord heard it as anything else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jordan Bos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Feyenoord will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mika Mármol was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Add another name to the list: De Graafschap have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Izu Onunta. The answer from Feyenoord has not changed — yet.
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 Mika Mármol is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Feyenoord, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Givairo Read signs something — a contract at Feyenoord or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Feyenoord hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Feyenoord this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at Feyenoord training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Raheem Sterling 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jaden Slory and Feyenoord agree another 5 years.
Squad12 Jul 2027
7 new faces, and Feyenoord are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
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 Tsuyoshi Watanabe is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Feyenoord know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Feyenoord heard it as anything else.
Barış Alper Yılmaz 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
At 21, Givairo Read is already the best thing here
An average of 7.08 in a first team he is several years too young for. Feyenoord have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Raheem Sterling was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
33 appearances and 3 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver it.
Nobody at Feyenoord will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Barış Alper Yılmaz 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mika Mármol was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 28 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
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 Givairo Read is on it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Feyenoord people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jordan Bos commits to Feyenoord for another 4 years.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Feyenoord training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zidane Iqbal 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Givairo Read signs something — a contract at Feyenoord or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gonçalo Borges trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Sem Steijn was one of the reasons people came, and $45.2M does not replace that by itself.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Feyenoord this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
At 25 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Add another name to the list: Al Nasr have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Tim Haksteeg. The answer from Feyenoord has not changed — yet.
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 Tsuyoshi Watanabe is on it.
“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 Feyenoord, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Barış Alper Yılmaz 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.
A season average of 7.08 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Feyenoord know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Nobody at Feyenoord will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Givairo Read 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mika Mármol was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
25 appearances and 0 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver it.
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 Givairo Read is on it.
He went out to keep goal every week and came back with 0 games and 0 of them shut out. Somebody at Feyenoord argued for this move last summer; nobody is arguing for it now.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mika Mármol was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Mika Mármol is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Feyenoord know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Feyenoord. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
This is the season the town will measure the next twenty against. The trophy travels home with the squad, and the route through the streets was agreed days ago.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Feyenoord had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Feyenoord this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Crysencio Summerville was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Sem Steijn is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Feyenoord know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
3 goals in 33 games at Utrecht — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Feyenoord updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Barış Alper Yılmaz 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mika Mármol was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Feyenoord will quote 17 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
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 Barış Alper Yılmaz is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Feyenoord know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
81 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Barış Alper Yılmaz 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Feyenoord training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mika Mármol 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.
Something was said to Sem Steijn and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“I watch every Feyenoord game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Heerenveen runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Nobody at Feyenoord will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Zidane Iqbal trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Barış Alper Yılmaz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Feyenoord training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Crysencio Summerville 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.
Nobody at Feyenoord will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Feyenoord know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Feyenoord have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Barış Alper Yılmaz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Mika Mármol falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gonçalo Borges trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Feyenoord. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad12 Apr 2027
At 20, Givairo Read is already the best thing here
An average of 7.08 in a first team he is several years too young for. Feyenoord have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Givairo Read 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Feyenoord training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mika Mármol 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.
Nobody at Feyenoord will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Feyenoord told Crysencio Summerville something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Feyenoord hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Mika Mármol 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.
Marked 10.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The first defeat in 19 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against NEC; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Successful dribbles: 28. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Feyenoord this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Feyenoord training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mika Mármol 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.
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Sergio Padt'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.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Pieter van Maarschalkerwaard has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Barış Alper Yılmaz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Feyenoord training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mika Mármol 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Luciano Valente has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.07, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Barış Alper Yılmaz 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.
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
8 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Zino Sneijer has agreed terms with Heracles for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Feyenoord have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Feyenoord this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Mika Mármol falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 93. Ajax had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
The first defeat in 4 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Ajax; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
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.
7 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Luciano Valente has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Crysencio Summerville was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Groningen will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Feyenoord were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
A season average of 7.05 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Feyenoord know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
3 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.
Marked 10.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
The unbeaten run reaches 12. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Feyenoord close the window on a squad of their own making
4 in and 3 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Feyenoord heard it as anything else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Feyenoord this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Getting past Sergio Padt has become the hardest job in the division
15 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Crysencio Summerville was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The chase for Zidane Iqbal ended with $9.9M changing hands and Utrecht out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Zidane Iqbal has just signed for Feyenoord, and for once the answer mattered.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 7 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Mika Mármol falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The clubs have shaken hands with Utrecht; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
7 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Barış Alper Yılmaz provided it, and the 9.03 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Givairo Read did not need any: 7.90, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Tristan van Gilst has just signed for Feyenoord, and for once the answer mattered.
Feyenoord asked and AZ said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Barış Alper Yılmaz 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.
In brief
SquadAt 20, Givairo Read is already the best thing here
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Crysencio Summerville is a Feyenoord player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Heracles have accepted the money. What Feyenoord do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
52 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
The offer from VfL Wolfsburg for Sem Steijn was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
6 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Feyenoord have gone to Utrecht with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Crysencio Summerville has just signed for Feyenoord, and for once the answer mattered.
Feyenoord have gone to Al-Hilal with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
5 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Feyenoord had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
The phone has started ringing about Sem Steijn again, and this time the name on the line is VfL Wolfsburg. Feyenoord are listening politely and promising nothing.
In brief
Transfer targetsAn offer of $2.2M for Wouter Prins
Marked 8.04 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Barış Alper Yılmaz 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.
At 20 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Barış Alper Yılmaz. 1‑0 against Excelsior, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.11, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Getting past Sergio Padt has become the hardest job in the division
11 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Feyenoord training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jerry St. Juste 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.
In brief
The dugoutSem Steijn has become a man the manager trusts
40 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Givairo Read, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.78
A mark of 7.78 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Barış Alper Yılmaz 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Mika Mármol falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
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.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Shaqueel van Persie did not need any: 8.61, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Feyenoord this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.36 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
Position 2, 37 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
In brief
SquadWords at Feyenoord training over how hard people work
Marked 8.10 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Victor Jensen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Nobody at Feyenoord will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
A mark of 8.07 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Barış Alper Yılmaz 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Fabiano Rust has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Victor Jensen falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Successful dribbles: 41. 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.
Barış Alper Yılmaz 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Mika Mármol falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“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 Feyenoord, and 0 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
Willem II will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Feyenoord were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Shaqueel van Persie did not need any: 8.32, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Feyenoord heard it as anything else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Feyenoord this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Feyenoord hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Feyenoord told Sem Steijn something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Sem Steijn has come out of that comparison in the side, and Feyenoord have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Nobody at Feyenoord will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
De Graafschap will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Feyenoord were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Two goals and a mark of 9.40 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Position 2, 25 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Barış Alper Yılmaz 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.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Feyenoord training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mika Mármol 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.
At 19 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.
Barış Alper Yılmaz 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Victor Jensen falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Feyenoord this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Nacho Ferri. 3‑1 against Utrecht, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“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 Feyenoord, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
At 22 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.
Marked 8.11 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Feyenoord training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Victor Jensen 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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Feyenoord heard it as anything else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mika Mármol was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.31 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Victor Jensen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Feyenoord will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Jordy De Vrij was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Feyenoord dressing room was either.
Two goals and a mark of 9.34 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Barış Alper Yılmaz 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Barış Alper Yılmaz. 3‑1 against Heerenveen, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
At 19 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.
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.
Nothing about the week ahead is ordinary. PSV on Saturday, a town that has already started talking about it, and a dressing room that does not need telling what it means.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Feyenoord this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mika Mármol was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.48 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Jordy De Vrij could afford to be generous.
In brief
The dugoutGonçalo Borges dropped after a run of poor form
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Feyenoord will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 4 arrived, 9 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The deal that would have taken Tobias van den Elshout to Cambuur has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Feyenoord with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
The name of Shaqueel van Persie has come up in conversations Feyenoord were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Sem Steijn was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.18. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Victor Jensen falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Feyenoord lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Feyenoord will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Feyenoord people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Tsuyoshi Watanabe scored, was marked 7.65, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
The offer from Ankaragucu for Ismail Ka was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
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.
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Feyenoord lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Excelsior will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Feyenoord were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
The deal with Sanfrecce Hiroshima is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Hellas Verona had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Feyenoord this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
36 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Feyenoord lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $31.4M has been paid because Barış Alper Yılmaz is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Porto have kept their man, and Feyenoord go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Feyenoord offered $8.7M; AZ said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
The chase for Victor Jensen ended with $4.9M changing hands and Utrecht out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Barış Alper Yılmaz is living that version at Feyenoord, and it tends to show in the first month.
The offer from Wolfsberger AC for Shaqueel van Persie was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Tsuyoshi Watanabe 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.
Bohdan Budko is 20, and Feyenoord have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
The words a physio says slowly. 43 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.
The offer went to AZ this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Feyenoord have done the hard part with AZ, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The offer went to Utrecht this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Sergio Padt has just signed for Feyenoord, and for once the answer mattered.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Feyenoord heard it as anything else.
$16.6M on the table at Galatasaray. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Feyenoord heard it as anything else.
Sem Steijn 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.
In brief
SquadMika Mármol falls out with a teammate over standards