Vitesse: The Story Continues...

[Tempelman]

Don't want to read a long introduction story? Click here for the first post!

 

A club with a long history...

In the beginning...

SBV Vitesse (Stichting Betaald Voetbal Vitesse) started out as a cricket club in 1892, but later that year they also focused on football. For two years they only played friendly matches, until in 1894 cricket was abandoned and a Gelderse league was established. Vitesse solely focused on football since then. They had some good players, such as Willem Hesselink and Just Göbel, who were also in the Dutch national team at that time. 

 

 
Vitesse in 1894

 

At first they were playing in blue and white jerseys, the colors of the city of Arnhem, but later moved on to yellow and black, which remain their colors until this day. In 1894 they moved to the Paasweide, and a year later organised their first international match, against English side Maidstone. Vitesse became champions in 1895 and 1896, and a new competition was formed: The Eerste Klasse Oost. More succes followed as they won the competition in 1898, 1903, 1913, 1914 and 1915, and since 1898 they were in the national kampioenscompetitie, a competition with all local champions.

In 1912 Vitesse reached the final of a national cup for the first time, but lost to HFC Haarlem (2-0). In 1914 and 1915 they narrowly missed the national championship, losing narrowly against HVV, and in 1915 to Sparta.

 

Picture of the 1914 team, narrowly losing the championship

 

In 1915 Vitesse rents a piece of land and the first stadium, Monnikenhuize is born. Also, some players picked up cricket again, and it wasn't until 1928 cricket was finally abandoned. 

After the 1914/15 season Vitesse played bad, often battling against relegation until in 1922 it happened: The club relegated.

 

Minor successes...

The year after they promoted again to the Eerste Klasse and under English manager Jefferson and played well for a couple of seasons, even making a cup final in 1927, but ultimately lost to VUC. But for the first time in Dutch history Vitesse managed to beat an English squad, West Ham United, 3-2. After the 1927 season Jefferson left and the club again had troubles sportively, often fighting relegation. In 1935 Vitesse again relegated.

The following years Vitesse had troubles getting promoted again, and the Second World War didn't make football easier either. Under the watchful eye of the Germans, the players once formed a big V, which stood for 'Vrijheid' (Freedom) and 'Victorie' (Victory), though the Germans thought it was a symbol for Vitesse instead. It's a sign we still see sometimes before some matches. 

Immediatly after the liberation, Vitesse promoted once again to the Eerste Klasse, and in 1950, a new stadium is built, Nieuw-Monnikenhuize. In 1952/53 Vitesse won their first title in the Eerste Klasse B, but lost their championship matches, with RCH becoming Dutch champions.

 

Stadium Nieuw-Monnikenhuize

 

Professional football...

In 1954 professional football was introduced in the Netherlands, and in 1956 the Dutch Eredivisie and First Division (Two competitions) were formed. Vitesse began playing in the First Division during its inauguration. In 1962 however, the KNVB wanted just one First Division and Vitesse were as such 'relegated' to the Second Division. In 1966 Vitesse promoted to the First Division, and in 1971 Vitesse were lucky enough to get promoted to the Eredivisie for the first time. Vitesse profited from a fusion of Holland Sport and ADO, who formed FC Den Haag, and as a result, a spot became available for the Arnhemmers. They did not fare well and ended rock bottom, relegating again, lost to Ajax 12-1 (Fuck you @VyKing), their biggest loss in history. After this Vitesse played different promotion matches, and in between 1977 and 1980 shortly played in the Eredivisie, then relegating again to the First Division.

 

Henk Bosvelt (right)

 

The rise with Karel Aalbers...

Financially the club didn't do well in the 80s, and in 1984 it came to a split of the professional and amateur division of the club, with the amateurs becoming Vitesse 1892. Meanwhile, many people were afraid that the club would soon be bankrupt, but the club was saved by the city council. Karel Aalbers, an entrepeneur of the city of Velp and new owner since 1984, had to convince the city council, who in turn wanted fans to show their true affection for the club. The next match against VVV-Venlo was for free and 7000 fans flocked to Nieuw-Monnikkenhuize. Aalbers (Also known as 'Emperor Karel') laid out his plans: To be a steady team in the Eredivisie, and perform consistently in Europe. NUON, the main sponsor, would help financially reaching these ambitions. Karel Aalbers once mentioned there is only room for one club in Gelderland (the province). This expression caused anger in Nijmegen (NEC) and Doetinchem (De Graafschap), and this is how the rivalry between (especially) Vitesse and NEC was born. 

 

Former owner Karel Aalbers

 

In 1988/89 the club promoted under the tutelage of cult trainer Bert Jacobs to the Eredivisie, and immediately after ended 4th in the Eredivisie, a feat no other promoted club has ever managed to do since. Also, Vitesse managed to reach the final of the KNVB Beker, but lost 1-0 to PSV, with Van Den Brom missing a penalty in the last minute of the game, he admitted recently he still has nightmares about it... Vitesse performed consistently thereafter and always was in the top six. In the UEFA Cup many memorable matches were played against teams such as Real Madrid, Inter, SC Braga and Sporting. Various players received invitations for the Dutch national team as well.

 

John van den Brom, also former manager of the club

 

In 1997 GelreDome was opened, a 25,000 all-seater with retractable roof. First scorer was Dejan 'DJ Superstar' Curovic, who also scored the last goal in Nieuw-Monnikenhuize. With Henk ten Cate as manager, and Nikos Machlas and Dejan Curovic as feared attacking duo, the club finished 3rd, their highest position to date. Machlas also received the Golden Shoe with his 34 goals.

 

1997/98 team

 

Financial troubles, fraud, and FC Hollywood near the Rhine...

This period was a nightmare for any supporter of any club, except if you're a Juventus fan, because shit hits the fan there on a weekly basis  Karel Aalbers was impeached in 2000 and suspected of fraud. During his reign he made a lot of debts due to the built of the very expensive GelreDome, purchasing expensive players, low transferfees in return, and he also made debts with NUON. NUON had paid their sponsership upfront and backed out of the contract, leaving Vitesse with a debt of 60M fld (26M Euro) to NUON. If it wasn't for the city council to step in, and the 'Vrienden van Vitesse' (Friends of Vitesse, three local entrepeneurs with a Vitesse heart), the club would definitely not exist anymore. Mr. Aalbers made a big financial mess of the club, but he is still in the hearts of many supporters, not mine, and that doesn't make my opinion popular with other fans. But on the other hand, it definitely had an impact on their fanbase as a whole, as from that point on, attendances in the stadium declined.

 

Vrienden van Vitesse

 

Sportively Vitesse still did okay, in charge was Mike Snoei at the time, and in 02/03 they had a decent European campaign in the UEFA Cup, first beating Rapid Boekarest. Werder Bremen was the next opponent, where at home Vitesse snatched a 2-1 win (I remember shouting Bück Dich (Rammstein song) at the German supporters ). The away match was a nailbiter as Vitesse didn't play well and were 2-1 behind. With Krstajic scoring with great shot from distance, which went in by hitting the crossbar. Vitesse was down to ten men, as Rankovic got a red card for a very stupid tackle from behind. What happened next was nothing short of amazing, Gert Claessens (A Belgian midfielder) scored with a scorcher from distance, and in stoppage time, Emile Mbamba scored the 3-3, when he seized the ball from a defender of Werder in midfield and scored. To this day, this is my favorite match ever, it is still in my memory and whenever I'm in the mood, I still watch the summary of this match. After this we faced @Derek's Liverpool, but we unfortunately narrowly lost 1-0 in both matches.

 

Match summary

 

That same season the decline started as the club nearly avoided relegation, and ended 16th and thus had to play playoffs. It was clear the the club's financial issues also had an impact on the players. The next seasons that followed Vitesse had difficulties both sportively and obviously financially. The club earned the nickname 'FC Hollywood near the Rhine' because at this time period there was always something to talk about, mostly negative.

In 2008 entrepeneur Maasbert Shouten had a 20% stake at the club and - together with his company Afab - tried to support the club financially. In 2009 Vitesse legend Theo Bos became the manager, I will tell more about him in a later section. In 2010 the club again was in debt and Schouten demanded a 99% stake of the club in return for a loan. That same year Schouten looked for a buyer...

 

Maasbert Schouten

 

In Russian hands...

That same year he found a buyer, and Georgian businessman Merab Jordania became the new owner of the club. I'm sure Schouten lost millions on the deal to sell. Anyway, the press conference with the announcement of Jordania became, well, legendary. 'From now on, Vitesse will go for the title'. The whole country laughed their asses off, including me. Vitesse is the first Dutch club to fall into foreign hands.

 

Maasbert Schouten and new owner Merab Jordania

 

So, what happened here? For me personally I really have no idea, and there's so much rumours about this deal, it's unreal. Having said that, this deal always felt 'off' for me. Some say it's Abramovic, others say it's Chygrynski (They are friends of each other, so I read), and that Jordania was in fact a puppet. There was an obvious Chelsea connection, as Chelsea loaned out some decent players to Vitesse. Anyway, various players, mostly low quality, came to the club, and in the first year with Jordania at the helm the club again nearly avoided relegation. The club parted with Theo Bos early in the season in favour of Albert Ferrer, who played for FC Barcelona as a rightback earlier. He has to be worst coach Vitesse ever had, in my opinion. When I played bowling once, he came to the center actually demanding a lane to play on, very arrogant dude. 

 

Albert Ferrer

 

The next seasons saw some good investments in the club, and with Fred Rutten as manager, and Wilfried Bony as a profilic striker, the club ended 4th in 12/13. Wilfried Bony was chosen as 'Footballer of the Year' that season, scoring 31 goals in 30 matches. Bony never made it a secret that he plays for money, and as such refused to sign a new contract, and was sold to Swansea. Fred Rutten left the club, because Jordania and Rutten had a difference in vision, and Peter Bosz was the next manager. Bosz made the team play very attacking football, and a demanding high pressing game, at around half the season Vitesse was 2nd and could take over 1st to become winter champions, but didn't (The crowd was actually booing their own players and I was like: what the actual fuck are you moaning about?) The play did receive a lot of praise, for example the dismantling of PSV: 2-6.

 

Match summary

 

In the meantime a whole new training ground was formed at Sportcomplex Papandal, costing 100M Euro, and replacing 'De Slenk', which was litterally a swamp.

 

Dalibor Stevanovic training at 'De Slenk'

 

Sportcomplex Papendal

 

Rumours say Jordania spent too much money on the club, and the club still was a financial mess, Chygrynski took over shares. Also, Jordania seemed to be a hothead and shouted at another director: 'I WILL CUT OFF YOUR FUCKING FINGERS!!' during a discussion. Also, earlier, when the club was taken over by Jordania, then director Ted van Leeuwen had a hilarious interview with a Powned reporter. The reporter was - very obviously - just looking for sensation and a visibly annoyed Van Leeuwen (Who was a reporter himself) answered his stupid questions with a lot of sarcasm. When the reporter didn't get the sensational answers he wanted, and Van Leeuwen wanted to walk away, he asked the question again ('I ask you a very simple question and you just walk away'). Van Leeuwen: 'You're just not getting the right answers'. In the end the reporter askes if he is afraid of Jordania, to which he sarcastically replies: 'Oh yes, a lot, I look under my car every morning before I drive away'. 

 

Said interview between Powned and Ted van Leeuwen

 

Success...!

The first success, and only prize to date came in 2017, a KNVB Beker win! With Henk Fraser as manager, the club won its first ever prize. Vitesse normally don't do well in the KNVB Beker, but this time the club went all the way to the final, where they proved to be too strong against AZ, with Ricky van Wolfswinkel bagging two goals for the win. For me this is also (Obviously) a match to remember, it wasn't a very good match though. 

 

Match summary

 

Loads of fans (including me) went to celebrate this win, though attendances in the stadium still continue to decline. A lot of people say the club lost its soul, I agree with them to a certain level, there is no connection with the city of Arnhem, though Vitesse still remains my favorite club. Looking at the video below, and the early Gelredome days, the fanbase is definitely there, but still the club does not manage to attract those fans back to the stadium.

 

Celebration with the fans

 

Vitesse qualified for the first time in history for the then newly formed Europa League, but proved to be not strong enough at all to be contenders in their group. Fraser was fired not long after, and was succeeded once again by another club legend Edward Sturing for the remainder of the season. Under his guidance Vitesse managed to reach European football once again. At the end of 17/18 Valeri Ojf took over shares of Chygrinski, and became the new owner of the club.

 

Succes in Europe...

The next two seasons were not that successful, in 20/21 however, with German manager Thomas Letsch at the helm, that changed. In that season Vitesse ended in 4th place and managed to reach the final of the KNVB Beker again, though narrowly lost against Ajax 2-1. The next season Vitesse played in the newly formed European Conference League in a tough group with Tottenham Hotspur, Rennes and NS Mura, beating Dundalk FC and Anderlecht in quite impressive games to qualify. They beat Tottenham at home and narrowly lost away. Tottenham gave up their last game against Rennes, because of corona infections and Rennes received a reglementary win, and Vitesse, for the first time in Europe, went through to the next round. AS Roma was next after the winter break, and like I said before, they played like f-ing cowards, and won the tie luckily. Eventually Roma would be the first winners against Feyenoord in the final. 

 

Thomas Letsch

 

While impressing in Europe, the club didn't play too well in the competition, but managed 6th place, but lost the play-off final for European football.

Under pressure of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Valeriy Oyf was looking to sell his shares, and at the same time clear all debts (He invested 155M (!!) in the club during the 12 year Russian tenure), making an end to the Russian ownership.

 

In American hands...

The club was sold to the American investment company The Common Group, though the club is still waiting to this very day for approval of the KNVB. Which brings us to the current season (Finally, right??). A lot of strong players' contracts were expiring last season, and Vitesse had to be built up again. The club could not do much transfer-wise either because of the takeover, so had to rely on free transfers and loans. This season so far did not start out well, because of the quality of the selection, as well as how Letsch wanted to play. Bochum came and took over Letsch (At the right time, I believe) and former player Phillip Cocu is the new and current manager. Under his management so far Vitesse, with limited resources, managed to scrape a few more points in, and quite some impressive games (2-2 away to Ajax for example, they should have won that), but are close to the relegation zone in 13th place.

In the winter transfer period former Vitesse gem Davy Pröpper returned to the club, after retiring last season whilst at PSV, though he became injured with a nasty knee injury for the remainder of the season. Also, Marco van Ginkel returned, again a former player and Isimat-Marin was also brought in to strengthen the defence. 

 

Marco and Davy in a previous season

 

In 2018 Vitesse formally terminated their contract with the owner of stadium Gelredome, which is (I think) a suicidal action of the club. Vitesse believe the rent of the stadium is too high and want to pay a lower sum, and as such, they terminated the contract. if Vitesse didn't do that, the contract would be extended to 2043, with the same conditions. This issue has not been resolved to date, it will leave Vitesse without a venue, but Vitesse believe they have so called 'eternal playing rights' of the stadium. It has been a mud throwing contest in the media from both sides lately. Vitesse states Michael van der Kuit (Owner of Nedstede/Gelredome) does not want to talk to them at all, and he states Vitesse should come with a proposal. In my opinion this has been a dick measuring contest.. Vitesse has sued the owner, and the judge explicitly told them to talk. If Vitesse has no stadium to play in next season, before 1st March, the KNVB could take their license. However, I think it will not go this far.

 

Legends, icons and other former players

 

Vitesse has had quite a few famous players along the years, players you maybe know, or should know, or don't know at all...

 

Theo Bos

Theo Bos played his entire career at Vitesse as a defender, and is the true legend of the club. A no-nonsense center back. He also managed the club after his retirement, right before the club was taken over by Jordania. He went through all above transitions of the club, beginning with the promotion of the club in 1989. Unfortunately, he died in 2013, at the tender age of 47, of pancreatic cancer. The south stand (The most fanatic side) is named after him. 

 

Henk 'Charley' Bosveld

Another true legend of the club, who was a center midfielder and right winger. He has been chosen as the best Vitesse player of the 20th century. He died of a heart infarct at age 57 in 1998. The east stand is named in his honour.

 

Edward Sturing

While (Surprisingly) not a legend in the game, for me he is. Playing a total of 9 seasons for Vitesse, and was regularly (interim) manager of Vitesse after his playing career. He still is a coach at the club to this day, and actually, one of two legends still alive. The north stand is named after him.

 

Just Göbel

Former goalie, at the time (1920s) considered as one of the best goalies in Europe. The west stand is named after him.

 

Toon Huiberts

Former striker of Vitesse, and playing 17 seasons for them. After his career ended he became teammanager, scout, and host of the club. He died in 2005. The businessclub is named after him.

 

John van den Brom

An icon of the club, though before he moved to Ajax he flipped the middle finger to the Vitesse fans. Still, he also managed the club after retirement.

 

Guram Kashia

A more recent icon, also a cult player if you ask me. He came during the tenure of Jordania and just, well, impressed. Limited technically, but just a no-nonsense defender who has earned a lot of respect of the fans, including his (iconic) salute to a veteran in an Airborne match (More about that later).

 

Dejan Curovic

Another cult player of Vitesse, is DJ Superstar. He formed a deadly attacking duo together with Nikos Machlas. He died in 2019 at age 51 with sudden leukemia.

 

Other notable players

Other notable players include Jan Dommering (Still holds the record for most goals for Vitesse, 155), Nikos Machlas (Most goals in a season, 34), Theo Janssen, Nicky Hofs, Roy 'Das Phantom' Makaay, Phillip Cocu, Bob Peeters, Bosko Bursac, Ben Hofs, Frans de Munck ('The Black Panther'), Jan de Natris, Louis Laros, Stefan Nanu, Willem Hesselink, Pierre van Hooijdonk, Wilfried Bony, Mason Mount, Nemanja Matic, Piazon, Giorgi Chanturia, Valeriy Quazaishvili, Kelvin Leerdam, Matthew Amoah, Bryan Linssen, Mahamadou Diarra... The list goes on.

 

Players I met

I have met a few players over the years. Aleksandar Rankovic lived in my neighborhood when I was a kid, and I saw him sometimes. Tomas Kalas, while on loan from Chelsea, came into my store, and he was a very friendly, down to earth guy, and very polite. Renato Ibarra also visited my store, but he was like a stereotypical dude from the ghetto (Ecuador). Albert Ferrer I already told you about. Kashia, Quazaishvili and Chanturia (All Georgian) regularly played bowling together while at Vitesse. Piet Velthuizen (Former goalie) also came to play bowling and asked me questions about my style of play (I play bowling two-handed), as well as Theo Janssen and Nick Hofs.

 

Stadium and training ground

 

Stadium Gelredome

 

Opening in 1997 at the cost of 95M, stadium Gelredome was a very ambitious project of then-chairman Karel Aalbers. It has a retractable roof, and 25,000 seats. When it opened it was one of the most modern stadiums in its excistence. In 2000 it also hosted some UEFA Euro Cup matches. Dubbed the biggest theater in the Netherlands, it has hosted some memorable concerts and other events as well. Nowadays Vitesse rents the stadium of Nedstede, and in the event if Vitesse wants to own the stadium, Vitesse will have to pay a multi-million penalty, incured by the province of Gelderland, because of past financial problems. 

In the beginning Gelredome was mostly sold out, but as I pointed out before, people have lost connection with the club, I think it is averaging around 14 to 16,000 at the moment.

 

Sportcomplex Papendal

Replacing former training ground De Slenk, opening in 2013 at the cost of 100M. At the time one of the most modern training grounds in the Netherlands. Though Papendal also houses other sporting complexes for a lot of professional Olympic athletes.

 

Rivalries and other special matches

Rivals

NEC (Or Nek) from Nijmegen (Shitmegen) are Vitesse's most hated rivals and most heated derbies. It can be compared to 'De Klassieker' between Ajax and Feyenoord. Memorable matches include a nosebite of Sebastien Sansoni (Vitesse) against Roy Beerens (NEC, later played for Vitesse by the way), and a last minute winner of Piazon. Past season it came to riots when NEC lost, and their fans turned to the police. And, one of the stands of their stadium collapsed. Vitesse fans were celebrating the win, when suddenly the stand collapsed, luckily there was a container right under the stand which broke the fall, it could have been a lot worse! Make no mistake, this is the second most heated derby in my country, and hooligans of both clubs hate each other a lot. A match win can make an entire season for either team.

Other rivalries include De Graafschap. Both matches are named the Gelderse Derby, though me personally, don't find these very interesting. Though not a rival in the game, for me personally Ajax is also a massive rival, but that is perhaps because they're the club to beat here.

 

Yearly Airborne match

This match is played in September, and to remember the Second World War. Veterans are (or were) invited to this special occasion, and Vitesse always plays in a special kit in light blue and purple. 

 

 

I think I'm done here, unless I think of anything else, I'll update this post! I will start my game tomorrow!

[Derek]

Looking forward to this one mate! 

Can't wait to see the insane transfer fees you get in a few seasons! 

[Tempelman]

First post updated... More soon  

[Derek]

Brilliant start to this mate. I never would have imagined Vitesse started as a cricket club.

Was Willem Hesselink a relation of Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink? Think that’s the spelling

 

[Johno]

Looking forward to this  

[Tempelman]

20 hours ago, Derek said:

Brilliant start to this mate. I never would have imagined Vitesse started as a cricket club.

Was Willem Hesselink a relation of Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink? Think that’s the spelling

 

 no mate, two different surnames Vennegoor of Hesselink and just Hesselink. I'm actually a little surprised you know Jan!

2 hours ago, Johno said:

Looking forward to this  

Me too, but I wanted to let you know a bit (a lot) of the history first, it is interesting, for me, and hopefully for all of you too  

[VyKing]

I look forward to seeing you avenge that 12-1 pal or at least better the score and lose 12-2 

[Tempelman]

16 minutes ago, VyKing said:

I look forward to seeing you avenge that 12-1 pal or at least better the score and lose 12-2 

Tbh, I did record a 10-0 win two FMs ago against Ajax 

[VyKing]

4 hours ago, Tempelman said:

 no mate, two different surnames Vennegoor of Hesselink and just Hesselink. I'm actually a little surprised you know Jan!

Me too, but I wanted to let you know a bit (a lot) of the history first, it is interesting, for me, and hopefully for all of you too  

Didn't Jan play a season or two in the prem, think it was for Hull? Joined them from Celtic if I remember correctly.

Ettiene Esajas, Regi Blinker and Wim Jonk are my fave dutch players

[Tempelman]

 

59 minutes ago, VyKing said:

Didn't Jan play a season or two in the prem, think it was for Hull? Joined them from Celtic if I remember correctly.

Ettiene Esajas, Regi Blinker and Wim Jonk are my fave dutch players

Esajas is a youth player of Vitesse and Ajax actually!

And you are correct about Jan! I see him as a cult player

[VyKing]

1 hour ago, Tempelman said:

 

Esajas is a youth player of Vitesse and Ajax actually!

And you are correct about Jan! I see him as a cult player

Cult hero just for doing this 

 

[Tempelman]

19 hours ago, VyKing said:

Cult hero just for doing this 

 

Wow, nice strike! The goalie saw the ball way too late there! I have to admit that I don't remember much about him actually...

[Tempelman]

First post updated... The next thing I will talk about is a dark page in Vitesse's history. While the former things I talked about is not all in my own words, from now on I will, because I have conciously experienced this crap. I'm going to make a fun article out of this and hoping you'll read it... This is when all shit hits the fan, almost literally...

[Johno]

Interesting insight with Vitesse history! 

[Tempelman]

Continueing the story!

[Tempelman]

Almost there...

[VyKing]

More suspense than the Fast franchise..... 

[Tempelman]

Last update, I won't bore you with records and other statistics, as they can be found in the game. Tomorrow I will load the game up and let's go from there. I hope you enjoyed the looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong introduction and history of my club  

[Tempelman]

 

Well, here we go! Loaded the database with England, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Portugal, Brazil, Argentina and obviously Holland. All top two leagues have been selected as playable, and I selected a large database to have as much players loaded as possible. Made a new profile with me having a Continental License and International Footballer experience. 

I've edited the database a little bit as I usually do before a game, to my liking. Obviously I'm not going to cheat the game and make everyone wonderkids and such, but I believed some editing was in order to make the game feel like it is more real for me. I have improved or decreased player stats slightly. I am going to start with the players I have and have the first transfer window disabled. The players I have slightly increased are Meulensteen and Tronstad. Both are pretty important team players and this is not reflected ingame. The player I have decreased is Ferro. Since I have the ingame editor as well, maybe I will change a little more, but it will probably stay the way it is right now. 

 

Squad/First XI/Tactical

Okay, in real life the 'team' played like loose sand, but looking at the squad there is some decent potential for this level. A lot of loan players though... But as said before, Vitesse's team had to be built back up again. I don't know much about all these new arrivals, as most of the team are entirely new players. Mitchell Dijks, Matus Bero and Million Manhoef are the key players of this squad.

Manhoef can play all over the right and left wings, and seems to have decent potential too. By the way, when editing the database, I did not look at these values. The player whom I believe has the biggest potential is loanee Gabriel Vidovic, coming in from Bayern.

I've chosen a 4-3-3 formation with a lot of pressing, but the team as a whole lacks wingers as backup. I'm contemplating about creating a secondary formation with two wingbacks and two strikers, but let's see how this goes first.

For added realism, I've also added the three future transfers in January. 10th of January Nicolas Isimat-Marin will arrive. 

Davy Pröpper returns from retirement and will arrive 27th of January. I had to recreate him from scratch so decided to load up last years database, and copied all of his statistics, though slightly decreased current ability, and playing statistics.

And lastly Marco van Ginkel's future transfer has been added, he will be joining 31st of January.

 

Excited about this new game, let's see how it goes!

[VyKing]

1 hour ago, Tempelman said:

 

Well, here we go! Loaded the database with England, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Portugal, Brazil, Argentina and obviously Holland. All top two leagues have been selected as playable, and I selected a large database to have as much players loaded as possible. Made a new profile with me having a Continental License and International Footballer experience. 

I've edited the database a little bit as I usually do before a game, to my liking. Obviously I'm not going to cheat the game and make everyone wonderkids and such, but I believed some editing was in order to make the game feel like it is more real for me. I have improved or decreased player stats slightly. I am going to start with the players I have and have the first transfer window disabled. The players I have slightly increased are Meulensteen and Tronstad. Both are pretty important team players and this is not reflected ingame. The player I have decreased is Ferro. Since I have the ingame editor as well, maybe I will change a little more, but it will probably stay the way it is right now. 

 

Squad/First XI/Tactical

Okay, in real life the 'team' played like loose sand, but looking at the squad there is some decent potential for this level. A lot of loan players though... But as said before, Vitesse's team had to be built back up again. I don't know much about all these new arrivals, as most of the team are entirely new players. Mitchell Dijks, Matus Bero and Million Manhoef are the key players of this squad.

Manhoef can play all over the right and left wings, and seems to have decent potential too. By the way, when editing the database, I did not look at these values. The player whom I believe has the biggest potential is loanee Gabriel Vidovic, coming in from Bayern.

I've chosen a 4-3-3 formation with a lot of pressing, but the team as a whole lacks wingers as backup. I'm contemplating about creating a secondary formation with two wingbacks and two strikers, but let's see how this goes first.

For added realism, I've also added the three future transfers in January. 10th of January Nicolas Isimat-Marin will arrive. 

Davy Pröpper returns from retirement and will arrive 27th of January. I had to recreate him from scratch so decided to load up last years database, and copied all of his statistics, though slightly decreased current ability, and playing statistics.

And lastly Marco van Ginkel's future transfer has been added, he will be joining 31st of January.

 

Excited about this new game, let's see how it goes!

Van Ginkel now that's a name. So much potential unfortunate to be injured most of his time at Chelsea 

[Tempelman]

And here we go to the start of the season... After working off the pre-season, which was not very promising, we faced Feyenoord at home in the first match. The match started out even but we edged it in the first half, with Vidovic opening the score. Feyenoord got red carded and me a penalty, and after that it was just playing the match out, totally dominating, but no goals after this. The next match against Excelsior we lost two points, we dominated, but managed to save a draw with a goal from Kacper Kozlowski, with a screamer, in the final minutes. Then we faced Heerenveen, they were no real match for us, 3-0 win, with a hattrick of Polish loanee Bialek. At the moment we are 1st, but it will probably not stay this way...

Schedule, results and league table

[VyKing]

Vitesse has a nose bleed up that far

[Tempelman]

Had to replay the match against Heerenveen (Forgot to save), but the result was almost the same: 3-1 this time and again a hattrick of Bialek. The next matches were easily won, until we faced Twente... We had the better of the game and dominating, but still managed to lose 1-0. We did pick it up soon after though. Shoutout to Bialek, two hattricks so far, and 10 goals in 10 matches overall!

 

Schedule and results

 

In the competition we are doing much better than I expected, second place is really awesome considering the quality of the squad! Though, we did not really have a difficult start of the season with opponents...

 

League Table

 

We're doing a lot better than real life, that's for sure! 

 

[Johno]

Decent start!

[Tempelman]

5 games left until the World Cup starts, beginning with FC Emmen. We dominated but drew the match, pretty disappointing.. Our first match in the KNVB Beker saw us win against PEC Zwolle, after that it was time to face @VyKing's Ajax... JUST a narrow 1-0 loss, can't say I'm too disappointed with that one! Sparta was easily defeated next but Go Ahead was a boring draw.

 

Schedule and results:

 

We're in third place at the moment and rivals NEK have taken over second place from us. How? How the fuck should I know! Their striker Dimata has scored 18 goals in 14 matches, it's crazy..

 

League Table: