2015–16 AZ Alkmaar season explained

Clubname:AZ Alkmaar
Fullname:Alkmaar Zaanstreek
Club:AZ Alkmaar
Season:2015/16
Chairman:René Neelissen
Stdtitle:Ground
Stadium:AFAS Stadion
League:Eredivisie
League Result:4th
Cup1:KNVB Cup
Cup1 Result:Semi-final
Cup2:Europa League
Cup2 Result:Group stage
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Pattern B1:_az1415h
Pattern Ra1:_fiorentina61a
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Body1:FF0000
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Prevseason:2014 - 15

During the 2015–16 season AZ competed in the Eredivisie for the 18th consecutive season the KNVB Cup and the Europa League after qualifying for the 3rd qualification round due to finishing 3rd the previous season.

Background

European football returned after a one-year hiatus. John van den Brom finished third last season with Marco van Basten his assistant. Several key players moved elsewhere including captain Nemanja Gudelj and fan favourite Simon Poulsen.

Several youth players were promoted to the first team the same year the club won the Rinus Michels award for best youth academy and youth development programme in the Netherlands, beating Feyenoord who won this award each of the five preceding years.

Transfers

Arrivals

NamePositionPrevious clubFeeDate
Joris van OvereemCM DordrechtReturn from loan June 2015
Fernando LewisLW DordrechtReturn from loan June 2015
Raymond GyasiRW Roda JCReturn from loan June 2015
Denni AvdicST HeraclesReturn from loan June 2015
Eli BabaljST PECReturn from loan June 2015
Jonas HeymansLB Willem IIReturn from loan June 2015
Jop van der LindenLB Go Ahead EaglesFree June 2015
Gino CoutinhoGK Excelsior RotterdamFree June 2015
Levi GarciaFW Central FCUndisclosed June 2015
Vincent JanssenCF Almere City€100,000June 2015
Alireza JahanbakhshFW N.E.C.Undisclosed August 2015
Rajko BrežančićLB FK ČukaričkiUndisclosed August 2015

Departures

NamePositionNew clubFeeDate
Nemanja GudeljCMAjax€6 millionJune 2015
Wesley HoedtCBLazioCompensationJune 2015
Simon PoulsenLBPSVFreeJune 2015
Esteban AlvaradoGKUnattached FreeJune 2015
Yves de WinterGKSint-Truidense V.V.FreeJune 2015
Steven BerghuisFWWatford F.C.undisclosedJuly 2015
Aron JóhannssonSTWerder Bremen€5 millionAugust 2015

Loans

Pre-season friendlies

The first training session for the new season began on 28 June. Friendlies were arranged with smaller teams in the Netherlands as well as two additional friendlies against foreign teams touring the Netherlands. A training camp was also arranged the week before competitive football in the Europa League by 30 July.

Statistics

Top goalscorers
align=center Rankalign=center Playeralign=center (pen.)
1. Janssen10
2= van Overeem
Luckassen		3
=4. Lewis
Helmer
Mühren		2
=7. Gyasi
Dos Santos
Henriksen
Van der Linden
Gouweleeuw		1
1
1
0(1)
0(1)
Total
Total inc. pen.		25 (2)
27
Goals conceded
align=center Againstalign=center Scorersalign=center (pen.)
Dirkshorn Regional Selection XI De Bruin x22
AFC '34 Inecia 1
Fortuna Sittard NA0
Dundee United Spittal1
SC Telstar NA0
Al Wasl NA0
Total4

Europa League

AZ qualified for the 3rd qualification round of the Europa League after finishing the league in 3rd position in the previous season. Due to previous runs in the competition, the club had a high coefficient and was seeded for the draw meaning a favourable draw against weaker opposition was likely. The first game was scheduled for 30 July with the return leg on 6 August.

Statistics

Top goalscorers
align=center Rankalign=center Playeralign=center (pen.)
=1. Janssen
Van der Linden 		1
0(1)
Total
Total inc. pen.		1 (1)
2
Goals conceded
align=center Againstalign=center Scorersalign=center (pen.)
İstanbul Başakşehir
Total
Total inc. pen.

Eredivisie

Statistics

Top goalscorers
align=center Rankalign=center Playeralign=center (pen.)
1.
Total
Goals conceded
align=center Againstalign=center Scorersalign=center (pen.)

Total

League table

KNVB Cup

Statistics

Top goalscorers
align=center Rankalign=center Playeralign=center (pen.)
1.
Total
Goals conceded
align=center Againstalign=center Scorersalign=center (pen.)

Total

Squad Performance

PlayerLeague starts(pen.)Cup starts(pen.)European starts(pen.)
Goalkeepers
01.Sergio Rochet000000000000
16.Gino Coutinho000000000000
25.Nick Olij000000000000
Defenders
02.Mattias Johansson000000000000
000000000000
04.Jan Wuytens000000000000
05.Rajko Brežančić000000000000
14.Jop van der Linden000000000000
15.Donny Gorter000000000000
17.Djavan Anderson000000000000
000000000000
24.Ridgeciano Haps000000000000
33.Pantelis Hatzidiakos000000000000
34.Joris Kramer000000000000
Midfielders
000000000000
08.Joris van Overeem000000000000
000000000000
19.Dabney dos Santos000000000000
20.Thom Haye000000000000
26.Stijn Spierings000000000000
36.Alexander Sigurdarson000000000000
38.Thomas Ouwejan000000000000
40.Jeremy Helmer000000000000
Attackers
000000000000
09.Alireza Jahanbakhsh000000000000
11.Muamer Tankovic000000000000
000000000000
000000000000
22.Achille Vaarnold000000000000
27.Raymond Gyasi000000000000
28.Levi Garcia000000000000
29.Fernando Lewis000000000000

International Appearances

The following first team players either played or were involved for their respective national teams during the season:

Toulon Tournament

Three players were involved in this invitational tournament for youth teams throughout the world and all played for the Netherlands under 21s or Jong Oranje. The Netherlands team failed to progress from the group stages after two wins and two draws; France and The United States of America progressed from group A.

DateNational Team PlayerOppositionAppearancesGoalsResult
27 May 2015U21 U23 1 0 U21 3-2 U23
1 0
1 0
29 May 2015U23 1 0 U21 1-3 U23
31 May 20153.Derrick LuckassenU23 1 0 U21 5-1 U23
1 0
4 June 2015U21 1 0 U21 0-4 U21
1 0
1 0

Gold Cup

Aron Jóhannsson is the only internationalist from the CONCACAF association eligible to play in this tournament.

DateNational Team PlayerOppositionAppearancesGoalsResult
8 July 20150 0 2-1
11 July 20151 0 1-0
14 July 2015 - - x-x

Friendlies

DateNational Team PlayerOppositionAppearancesGoalsResult
5 June 20151 0 3-4
5 June 2015 0 0 3-4
10 June 20151 0 1-2
4 July 20150 0 4-0

UEFA Ranking

After the 2014-15 season where AZ did not compete in European competitions the club fell 8 places to 44th.

This places the club in third place overall in domestic terms: Ajax (26) lead PSV (30) following AZ (44), FC Twente (45) and Feyenoord (95).

Rank Country Team Points
42Liverpool47.078
43Metalist Kharkiv47.033
44AZ45.612
45Twente43.695
46Roma43.602
[1]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Archived copy . 2015-06-04 . 2020-07-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200724050743/https://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/uefarankings/club/index.html . dead .

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