It has been a week since Robin van Persie made his return to Feyenoord, and his first game as head coach was a disappointing goalless draw against NEC at De Kuip on Saturday.
The striker who had previously played for Arsenal and Manchester United oversaw a dominant performance that could have been improved by his own finishing abilities in front of the goal. After their victory over NAC Breda, Feyenoord entered the Dutch Eredivisie table in fourth place, two points behind Utrecht. Utrecht is currently in first place.
Despite the fact that Van Persie is already dealing with injury issues, he has refused to blame them for the points that were lost on Saturday or in the weeks to come. In the aftermath of the match, the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf came to a few conclusions, which Feyenoord maintained control over throughout.
“On the side of the pitch, he was oh so involved, and he urged his players to keep up the pressure, but apart from a large advantage, it did not lead to big chances,” Marcel van der Kraan reported after Feyenoord’s meeting with the NEC. He also described the “cat-like leap” that Feyenoord custodian Timon Wellenreuther made to keep out the only big chance that the NEC had during the match.
There were encouraging signs for Van Persie in the second half of the match; however, his Feyenoord players were unable to find the crucial breakthrough that would have boosted their chances of qualifying for the European Championship.
Feyenoord took their game to the next level after the halftime break. Van der Kraan wrote that NEC found themselves in a position where they had their backs to the wall, and that in the goal area, it was women and children taking precedence.
Despite the fact that NEC “slowly but surely parked the bus,” they were able to bury the ball in the net with 18 minutes remaining. Following a review by the video assistant referee (VAR), the goal was disallowed due to a handball. The game continued to wind its way to a point apiece, but not before Feyenoord had a goal of their own scrubbed off.
Stephano Carillo, a Mexican player who is only 18 years old, finished off a stunning attack and put the ball in the back of the net at the opposite end of the pitch a few seconds later. According to Van der Kraan’s report, there was no video assistant referee involved in this incident; however, one of Dieperink’s assistants was the one who flagged for offside.
When the Champions League match between Van Persie and Inter Milan takes place on Wednesday, Van Persie will be looking to win for the first time. The former Netherlands international, who is now 41 years old and has a long history with Feyenoord, made his way back to De Kuip at the end of February to take over for Brian Priske because he was a replacement for him. To accept the position, he resigned from his first head coaching position at Heerenveen, which he had held for a little over a year.
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