After a spell of 41 straight years in the Eredivisie, the top flight of Dutch football, Roda JC were relegated to the Eerste Divisie at the conclusion of the 2013/14 season. They quickly bounced back the top tier before suffering relegation again in 2017/18 — the last time they appeared in the Eredivisie. This season may be when things change. Under first-year head coach Bas Sibum, a former Roda player himself, the Kerkrade-based side finally look set to return to the top table in Dutch football.
Through the first seven matchdays of the 2023/24 Eerste Divisie campaign, Roda sit top, with six wins and one loss. They are the leagues top scorers with 19 goals, along with conceding the joint fewest with four shipped through the first seven matches. This early form has put them in the drivers seat to win the title, with this tactical analysis and scout report looking at the tactics of Sibum, analysing what the first-time senior manager has done to get his side firing on all cylinders to start the 2023/24 season.
Taking a deeper look at Rodas attacking success
As mentioned in the introduction, Roda have been the best attacking side in the Eerste Divisie so far early into this season, with the Dutch side scoring 19 goals through the first seven matches. Roda have attempted 102 shots in the Eerste Divisie this season, good for 5th out of all sides, but their 48% on-target rate is the highest in the division, illustrating how clinical Sibums side have been putting shots on target.
Many of the Dutch sides attacking impetus have focused on two players, Enrique Manuel Peña Zauner and Walid Ould-Chikh. Both have been vital to the success for Roda going forward, with former Borussia Dortmund youth player Peña Zauner contributing five goals and one assist and Ould-Chikh chipping in with four goals and two assists.
The data viz graphic above shows the heat maps from both Roda players this season, highlighting the areas they have both operated in thus far. Under Bas Sibum, Roda have tended to set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Peña Zauner operating on the left side of midfield and Ould-Chiki through the centre. The German-born Venezuelan has tended to find himself in the penalty area more often than the Dutchman, with this due to the rotations that often occur between the wide midfielders and central striker of Roda.
Though these two have stood out for Roda in the attack thus far this season, it should be noted that they are not the only two who have been impressive, with the majority of the Roda attacking players chipping in with goal contributions through these first seven matches of the new season. Under Bas Sibum, the Roda attacking midfielders and forwards have all played vital roles in how Roda have looked to attack, with positional rotations up top and pushing numbers onto the backline causing plenty of issues for opposition sides defensively.
