As the 2013/2014 season pushed into March, FC Groningen found themselves in a frustrating pattern. They were playing well, taking leads, but struggling to kill games off. Manager Erwin van de Looi used his column ahead of the massive clash against Feyenoord to address this exact issue, demanding absolute concentration under the headline “Tot de laatste seconde strijden” (Fight until the last second).
Van de Looi reflects on a recent string of home fixtures. “Three times FC Groningen took the lead in Euroborg in the past matches. Three times it remained at one goal,” he writes. He notes that while one goal was enough in the Home match vs Go Ahead Eagles 2014, the team dropped agonizing late points in the Home match vs FC Twente 2014 and the Home match vs SC Cambuur 2014, both ending in 1-1 draws. “We still create enough chances in the home matches, but fail to definitively throw the games locked in the final phase.”
The challenge of facing Feyenoord was compounded by severe personnel issues. Van de Looi laments the loss of his midfield engine, Maikel Kieftenbeld (suspended), and his top scorer, Michael de Leeuw (injured). He also reminds his players of the reverse fixture, the Away match vs Feyenoord 2013, where a single moment of inattention in Rotterdam proved fatal. It is a column written by a manager begging his team to maintain their tactical discipline until the referee’s final whistle.
A Look into the Future
The inability to kill off matches was a growing pain for Van de Looi’s relatively young squad. However, the lessons learned during these frustrating 1-1 draws in early 2014 were vital. The team eventually developed a much more cynical, hardened edge. By the following season, they had mastered the art of defending narrow leads, a skill that proved absolutely essential during their historic, gritty run to winning the 2015 KNVB Cup. The frustration printed on this page was the catalyst for their future defensive mastery.