Everyone knows that the Eredivisie is a conveyor belt of great talent, even now in its reduced state.
Ajax, PSV, Feyenoord, everyone always has their eyes on these clubs. Scouts from Europe’s top sides are always interested in the players coming from these grand old Dutch sides, each of them former European Champions.
But what about smaller sides in the Eredivisie? They lack the profile of the Dutch giants, but they are still part of the cohesive and fruitful organism that is Dutch football.
One such club is FC Groningen, a small club from the north of the Netherlands.
Groningen are not a club used to success. They won the Dutch second division on two occasions, most recently in 1980, and they managed to shock everybody and win the KNVB Cup in 2015. Other than those rare moments of triumph, they are most known for the players they have developed.
Not just those from their youth system, but some who joined the club as a stepping stone before moving on to greater things, here are eight players who cut their teeth at Groningen.
1. Erwin Koeman
Joined from: Youth system + PSV (twice)
Groningen Appearances: 6 + 89 + 115
Left for: PSV in 1979 + Mechelen in 1985
The older Koeman brother came through the ranks at Groningen, debuting in 1978 as a midfielder. He lasted one season before leaving for PSV where he spent three seasons before returning to Groningen to play one season alongside brother Ronald and then two more before leaving for Mechelen. Here he won things, including the Cup Winner’s Cup, before returning to PSV to win a couple of Eredivisie and then returning home to Groningen for a third spell, lasting four years, before retiring.
2. Virgil Van Dijk
Joined from: Willem II in 2010
Groningen Appearances: 66
Left for: Celtic in 2013
The ball-playing centre-back first emerged for Groningen back in 2010/11, having joined them from Willem II as a youngster in 2010. At the time, he was linked with both Ajax and PSV but a move never emerged. His big move finally came when Celtic took an interest. He shone at Celtic Park before finally moving up to the big time with his transfer to Southampton.
Liverpool broke the world-record fee for a defender in December 2017, signing the Dutchman for a massive £75m fee from Saints. The 26-year-old made his dream mark with a match-winning FA Cup goal against Everton on his debut start for the club and has established himself as one of the best centre-backs in the English top flight after transforming Jurgen Klopp’s defence.
3. Ronald Koeman
Joined from: Youth system
Groningen Appearances: 90
Left for: Ajax in 1983
The younger Koeman brother debuted in 1980 and was an immediate success. He scored 30 goals for the club as a teenager, at least 20 more than any other has managed.
During his final season at Oosterpark, Ronald got to play alongside his brother Erwin who had returned for his second spell at the club. But Ronald soon departed to become of the greatest players in the world, winning everything he went for at club level during spells with Ajax, PSV and Barcelona.
8 – Most Eredivisie goals for @fcgroningen as a teenager:
30 – @RonaldKoeman
10 – Richairo Zivkovic
8 – Arjen Robben
8 – Ritsu Doan
Impact.— OptaJohan (@OptaJohan) April 15, 2018
After retirement, Koeman went into coaching and has carved out a respectable career for himself. Managing all three Dutch giants (just as he played for them all too) as well as Valencia, Benfica and in England, Southampton and Everton. He currently has brother Erwin working as an assistant coach for him, and even returned for a pre-season friendly against Groningen in 2015.
Koeman was dismissed as manager of Everton in October 2017 after a poor run of fixtures that left the Toffees languishing just a few points above the relegation zone. Now he is overseeing a complete overhaul of the Dutch national team after failing to qualify for the last two major tournaments.
4. Daley Blind
Joined from: Ajax (loan) in 2009
Groningen Appearances: 19
Left for: Ajax (end of loan) in 2010
He only joined for one season, but the younger Blind found his time in the northern part of the Netherlands a real grind. He did not play well and was suffering from low confidence. However, this ended up making him more mentally resilient, and all the time spent at right-back impressed upon him the importance of versatility – something which has served him well during his time at Ajax and Manchester United.
Blind returned to his boyhood club in July 2018 after making 141 appearances in four seasons for the Red Devils.
5. Dusan Tadic
Joined from: FK Vojvodina in 2010
Groningen Appearances: 76
Left for: FC Twente in 2012
The Serbian winger was a huge success for Groningen, thrilling fans with penetrative wing play and an absolutely absurd amount of creativity. In 2010/11, his first season, he finished with a whopping 22 assists which was third among all major European leagues (behind just Lionel Messi and Mesut Ozil).
He left for Twente, scoring twice against Groningen twice on his debut. After starring for Southampton having been brought to the club by fellow Groningen alumni Ronald Koeman, Tadic is another who has returned to the Eredivisie, again with another new side.
Ajax signed Tadic for €11m in June 2018 and made an impressive start, scoring five goals in his first eight games for the club.
6. Leandro Bacuna
Joined from: Youth system
Groningen Appearances: 126
Left for: Aston Villa in 2013
Bacuna was superb for Groningen. Debuting as a youth team product he helped lead the club to an impressive series of finishes, including 5th in 2011 and 7th in his final season in 2012/13. Joined Aston Villa when such a thing still seemed like a relatively decent idea before moving on to Championship rivals Reading.
7. Filip Kostic
Joined from: FK Radnički in 2012
Groningen Appearances: 49
Left for: VfB Stuttgart in 2014
This Serbian winger was signed to replace Tadic, the similarity of nationality and position made it too perfect a fit. He struggled in his debut season, barely playing and not managing to score.
The tough experience steadied him, though, and a much more promising sophomore campaign saw him score 12 and earn a move to Stuttgart. He broke Hamburg’s transfer record in 2016 after an £11.9m move, going on to score nine goals in 61 career appearances before being loaned to Eintracht Frankfurt for the 2018/19 season.
8. Arjen Robben
Joined from: Youth system
Groningen Appearances: 52
Left for: PSV in 2002
Fresh out of their youth academy, Arjen Robben debuted for Groningen as a 16-year-old and it didn’t take long for him to become a firm part of their first XI. His second season confirmed what a special talent they had on their hands, which is why PSV swooped for him that summer.
From PSV to Chelsea to Real Madrid, Robben was an electric dynamo held back only by injury woes. At Bayern Munich he got over those and his fear of big matches, leading to untold success and praise.
Little Groningen had produced one of the world’s finest.
Robben announced his retirement from international football as the Netherlands failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
9. Marcus Berg
Joined from: IFK Göteborg in 2007
Groningen Appearances: 69
Left for: Hamburger SV in 2009
The Swedish sensation looked to be the latest in a long line of lethal Eredivisie strikers. In his debut campaign with Groningen, he scored an impressive 18 goals in 31 games. His second was even better, with 26 goals filling out 38 games.
This incredible output earned him a move to Hamburg but sadly he did not adapt to the new level. Spent the next few years moving around before settling in Greece where he recovered that old Groningen rhythm for Panathinaikos, for whom he scored 95 goals in 151 games. He joined Al Ain in the UAE in the summer of 2017.
He led the line for Sweden at the 2018 World Cup but failed to score from 14 shots on goal – a far cry from his 25 goals in 21 games in the 2017/18 UAE Pro-League campaign.
10. Luis Suarez
Joined from: Nacional in 2006
Groningen Appearances: 29
Left for: Ajax in 2007
Groningen didn’t even want to sign Suarez when they went to scout Nacional, but saw potential in the spiky forward and signed him anyway. After early struggles with culture shock, Suarez became a relentless goalscorer and a huge part of their attack – held back only by his temperament which saw him constantly get in trouble (and which has stained his reputation for his whole career).
Luis Suárez has hit double figures for league goals and assists in five consecutive seasons:
13/14: 31 goals, 12 assists
14/15: 16 goals, 14 assists
15/16: 40 goals, 16 assists
16/17: 29 goals, 13 assists
17/18: 24 goals, 10 assistsThat’s nutty.
— Jake Entwistle (@JakeEntwistle) May 6, 2018
Suarez earned a move to Ajax after just one season and has been absolutely lethal ever since, achieving a total of 111 goals in 159 games for Ajax, 82 goals in 133 games for Liverpool, and a quite absurd 152 goals in 201 games for current club Barcelona.
11. Ritsu Doan
Joined from: Gamba Osaka in 2017
Groningen Appearances: 31
Left for: N/A
Still only 20 years old, Doan’s inclusion is more of a forecasting than a look through Groningen’s incredible alumni. However, after a debut campaign in which the Japanese international score nine goals and provide three assists – bettering Arjen Robben’s teenage tally by one goal – it seems obvious to include him now rather than revisit later.
So impressive was the 2016 Young Asian Footballer of the Year in his first season, in fact, that Man City approached with a co-ownership deal to secure a stake in his talent. This was rejected by the Eredivisie side and Doan completed his permanent switch to Groningen at the beginning of 2018/19.
A left-footed, attack-minded, tricky winger-cum-midfielder, Doan may not be the first of his kind to thrive in the north of the Netherlands, but he certainly looks like the latest.
The post From Arjen Robben to Luis Suarez: 11 players who cut their teeth at FC Groningen appeared first on Squawka News.
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