Back in May, Heerenveen made an exciting decision about who would replace the previously announced outgoing Kees van Wonderen as their new head coach.
They appointed Robin van Persie, a Dutch footballing legend and the nation’s all-time leading scorer.
Although van Persie had been coaching at youth level with Feyenoord for the previous three seasons, this was, in fact, his first senior-level head coaching gig, which made it all the more interesting that Heerenveen was the club willing to offer him that platform.
Eight rounds into the Eredivisie season, and so far, it’s been a gamble that thus far hasn’t paid off for Heerenveen or RVP.
The club currently sits in 15th place in the standings, just one point off the relegation play-off spot.
Offensively, they’ve been performing at a league-average level with 10 goals, but what’s really been alarming is their abysmal defensive record.
With 17 goals allowed, Heerenveen currently has the third-worst defensive record in the league, only worse than the two teams at the very bottom of the Eredivisie, Almere City and Waalwijk.
To make matters worse, Heerenveen has already suffered its worst league defeat in club history, a 9-1 reverse at AZ in Alkmaar in mid-September.
This tactical analysis and scout report will provide an analysis of some of the tactics and reasons behind Heerenveen’s atrocious defensive stats this season and look at why van Persie’s men have shipped in so many goals already.
Heerenveen High Pressing Strategy: The Good And Bad
Robin Van Persie’s coaching style has also prioritised an attacking approach with Heerenveen thus far.
One element that has been a crucial part of his team is their high pressing approach.
The data viz above looks at the high regains from the last eight games of last season under van Wonderen and the eight games this term under van Persie for an even comparison.
We can see that although Heerenveen did press high up under their previous manager, they’re more aggressive under Robin van Persie’s tactics.
The telling number is in the bottom left corner, with 127 counter-pressing recoveries on the left graphic compared to 83 on the right, and a lot more of them coming in the final third in comparison.
They are winning the ball back quicker after losing it, much more often within five-second intervals, and in more advanced areas of the pitch this season.
Statistically, the evidence suggests this has brought some improvement for the side.
Heerenveen’s PPDA (passes allowed per defensive action) has decreased considerably from last season, from 12.99 to 7.96, yet their goals against per game average remains relatively the same.
On the surface, this seems odd, given that they are retaining the ball at a much quicker average pace as a result of the pressing strategy adopted this year.
Looking at some of the goals they’ve conceded, it’s clear their defensive structure isn’t stable when they press higher.
This leads to significant gaps that teams have been able to exploit.
First, let’s look at this example above from the AZ game.
At this point, Heerenveen had just gotten back on level terms, only a few minutes earlier, and AZ had the ball in their half.
There, we can see their German left-back, Mats Köhlert, pushing higher up to try to win the ball off the opposition on the left flank, with centre-back Pawel Bochniewicz supporting him by moving into the space Köhlert left behind.
This leaves Heerenveen exposed for a ball behind the defensive line, which is hanging around the halfway line, while AZ has three options who can make a run behind them to receive in space.
In the end, Ibrahima Sadiq is the one picked out by Jordy Clasie.
Because he started his run from his own half, he’s left onside, and the result is, as we can see on the right side, a 3v1 situation for AZ in front of goal that leads to them retaking the lead.
It is a very risky approach from Heerenveen to press without enough coverage at the back, and this has been a running theme for them all season, albeit not always to the extreme in this situation above.
Here’s another example from the Heracles game: the score was level with just a few minutes to go, and the ball was in Heracles’ half.
We can again note Köhlert and Bochniewicz pushing up to try to nick possession in case Heracles tries to play a pass down the line.
The ball instead makes its way to the Heracles forward Thomas Bruns, positioned on the blind side of Bochniewicz, before releasing a quick pass to the opposite side, before being put under pressure by Mario Engels.
Mario Engels is then put in a 1v1 situation against Denzel Hall, who started the season at right-back before taking a substitute role for Oliver Braude.
The match ends in a Heracles goal after Engels wins the battle.
There is insufficient awareness among the key defenders in these situations, leading to opportunities for their opponents to score on their weaker, underloaded side.
This showcases some of the defensive problems their pressing scheme brings about.
Heerenveen Struggle Defending Wide Areas
Another problem for Heerenveen, which has led to multiple goals being conceded in similar situations, is their struggle to defend in wide areas.
Having already noted Köhlert’s desire to push up and Hall’s relegation to the bench after starting the season on the other side, it’s clear that the full-back positions lack defensive solidity, especially in 1v1 situations against wingers with pace, flair, and dribbling ability.
The data viz above tells that story quite well.
Both sides’ high xGs came from shots against them: 9.4 from the left and 8.32 from the right.
Although we’ve already seen some examples of spaces left behind out wide defensively being exploited, let’s look at more to gather further evidence of their struggles in this area.
Here’s another one from the AZ game, from early on in the game when the score was still 0-0.
An attacking throw-in for AZ was played short on Heerenveen’s right, and it’s immediately noticeable that all four near-side players, in total, are looking to win the ball back for the side.
What we can also notice is that Sven Mijnans is completely unguarded at the edge of the box, and one pass away from creating a difficult situation for Heerenveen.
Eventually, the ball arrived at his feet, and by the time either of the midfielders nearby noticed him, it was too late to stop a shot at goal, which ended up in the back of the net to make it 1-0 to AZ.
This is another example of Heerenveen players paying too much attention to the ball and leaving opposing players dangerously unmarked.
Another example here from the same game, this time in a slightly different context.
Sadiq receives the ball from deep as part of AZ’s build-up, and Köhlert is left on his own to defend him 1v1 as AZ were able to release the ball early enough to create this duel on the flank.
Köhlert tries to step in and win the ball, but instead gets turned on the outside, leaving Sadiq with plenty of space to run into and eventually pick out Troy Parrott, who finished well for AZ’s third.
This, coming early on in the second half, too, couldn’t have been endearing for van Persie to watch.
His side completely unravelled over the next ten minutes as the game got away from them, and it’s all down to defending, as we can see above.
One last example of their poor defending from wide areas comes from their last game against PEC Zwolle, and once again it comes from their left side, this time from an attacking throw-in for the opposition.
Just as in the example that led to AZ’s opener, we can similarly see several Heerenveen players crowding that side to try and win the ball back through sheer numbers.
The ball eventually arrives at Dylan Mbayo, who is 1v1 against Köhlert.
With one turn, he is able to free himself off his marker to create an opening to put a cross into the box.
Bochniewicz again pushes up and leaves a gap that his central defensive partner, Nikolai Hopland, has to cover by coming across, which leaves room for a Zwolle player to attack centrally with a late run into the box.
This ends up with Davy van den Berg, who gets on the end of the cross unmarked and puts the chance away to give Zwolle the lead.
Several patterns emerge across these goals, from poor 1v1 defending and anticipation from the fullbacks to the lack of awareness from the centrebacks and midfielders of opposing players running into spaces.
These have led to numerous goals conceded already in a similar fashion all season for Heerenveen.
Heerenveen Defending Set Pieces
Conceding from their own mistakes and poor defending in open play have undone Heerenveen many times this season, but they’ve also had trouble defending from set-pieces.
Let’s take a look at a few of those examples.
Here’s one from the second game of the campaign at home to Utrecht.
We can see a group of players from both sides around the penalty spot area trying to get on the end of the corner.
We can also see Paxten Aaronson free as a bird on the edge of the box, moving into the penalty area to attack any second ball that may come into that space.
Eventually, the corner misses everyone and arrives at Aaronson, who plays it back across the six-yard box for Ole Romeny to tap in from close range and give Utrecht an early lead.
Once again, a lack of awareness and attentiveness led to a conceded goal, as no one in sight even spotted Aaronson until the ball arrived at him, and by then, it was too late to avert danger.
Another example of their poor set-play defending comes from the AZ game, albeit with the match already 7-1.
Good movement from the AZ players at the near post allows them to drag out a couple of Heerenveen defenders, leaving Kristijan Belić with a 1v1 opportunity to win the header from the delivery and loop it over the hapless goalkeeper Mickey van der Hart to run the score up even further.
Lastly, in the Heracles game, we can see another example of an opposing player at the near post making a run towards the ball, which drags out a Heerenveen defender and creates space for players behind to attack.
In this situation, Heracles creates a 3v2 situation just outside the six-yard box by pulling out a marker, which leads to a headed chance and goal for Damon Mirani.
The last two examples showcase smart movement by the opposing players, which allows them to pull Heerenveen defenders out of their positions and create space for their teammates to attack.
But it also shows a lack of basic defensive awareness and coverage on Heerenveen’s part, as they struggle to defend regardless of whether the ball is in play.
Van Persie’s side will have to work long and hard on the training ground to iron out this.
Conclusion
Last season, Heerenveen’s defence was one of the worst in the Netherlands, conceding 70 goals throughout the Eredivisie campaign.
And so far this season, it doesn’t seem like they’ll fare much better on the evidence so far, with over two goals allowed per game on average.
Defending was their Achilles heel under van Wonderen last term, and it looks to be the same under van Persie this time as well.
Finding the balance between pressing high and remaining well-covered defensively will be crucial to RVP’s turnaround.
Otherwise, his new side will probably have a long and challenging season ahead.
