ErediVision: Relegation rumblings, will the real top teams please stand up?

[h2]1: Early relegation worries[/h2][p]In years gone by, relegation battles have often taken all 34 rounds to be decided. Just look at last year's madness with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/telstar/Aw0qTPat/"]Telstar[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/excelsior/nNlLsRUr/"]Excelsior[/a], and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/fc-volendam/6VbkuOqa/"]FC Volendam[/a]. Utter carnage, and entertaining carnage at that.[/p][p]This year might not be as tense.[/p][p]There's a clear trio of teams that looks way off the mark. [b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/den-haag/lAgLCkT3/"]ADO Den Haag[/a][/b] were promoted after a dominant title win in the second tier, but do not look the part and seem to lack quality across all three lines. [b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/cambuur/QRyYgO7J/"]Cambuur[/a][/b] comfortably finished second and look the best of the three promoted teams in the early stages, but just seem to fall short of the pack as well. Play-off winners [b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/willem-ii/6u3qag0G/"]Willem II[/a][/b] might genuinely challenge [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/roosendaal/dYI4cKEO/"]RBC Roosendaal[/a]'s woeful record of 9 points, yielded from 1 win and 6 draws in 34 games.[/p][image alt="Willem II's barely put up a fight against NEC" id="63d13df3-3f44-47be-a442-0dd2a1d023f1" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="e854d767-a1c5-488d-875f-5b1636578971" original-width="3840" original-height="2160" /][p]It's not looking good at the bottom of the table. Telstar could challenge the three teams mentioned above with a bad run, but Henk Brugge seems to have it somewhat under control. [/p][h2]2: Where are the top teams?[/h2][p]The Netherlands has a clear top tier of teams in the picking order. It pretty much always has. [b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/psv/M9UEHJWi/"]PSV[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ajax/8UOvIwnb/"]Ajax[/a], and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/feyenoord/8zjySeoN/"]Feyenoord[/a][/b] rule the Eredivisie. It takes a small miracle for one of those three not to end up on top.[/p][p]It shouldn't be any different this year, but all three have already fallen short of expectations. Oddly, PSV, Ajax, and Feyenoord all failed to win their first home games of the new season, drawing 2-2 against three midtable teams ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sittard/YH8HX5iP/"]Fortuna Sittard[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/heerenveen/EDjXSyWG/"]Heerenveen[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sparta-rotterdam/KK4FaFV3/"]Sparta Rotterdam[/a]).[/p][infobox id="7e3b12a0-8b09-4d80-a9ed-f734b143168f" /][p]Adding to their sorrows are the departures of some key players. PSV are losing star midfielder [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/veerman-joey/AgXeAAQR/"]Joey Veerman[/a] to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/dortmund/nP1i5US1/"]Borussia Dortmund[/a] and will thus lose an average of 12 assists per season. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sano-kodai/vBwiuxMd/"]Kodai Sano[/a] isn't filling that gap. Ajax, meanwhile, have lost [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/godts-mika/CIrbY1Ml/"]Mika Godts[/a] to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/psg/CjhkPw0k/"]Paris Saint-Germain[/a] and saw 30 goal contributions walk out the door. Both players are nigh irreplaceable.[/p][p]Feyenoord have kept most of their key players so far, but will [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ueda-ayase/8Ssd0upn/"]Ayase Ueda[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/moussa-anis-hadj/0vqEKboE/"]Anis Hadj Moussa[/a] stay beyond September 2nd? Only time could tell.[/p][embed guid="e3318746-c031-4d54-8942-d665c16cc484" url="https://x.com/ESPNnl/status/2089306805646073904?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][h2]3: I don't recognise [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/utrecht/p6QXMgOj/"]FC Utrecht[/a][/h2][p]There is something seriously wrong in Utrecht. Anthony Correia looked so promising at Telstar, but was the step to FC Utrecht too big for him? His team has been awful in both opening rounds, with their latest shocking performance being a 4-1 home defeat to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/az-alkmaar/2RxOow1i/"]AZ[/a].[/p][p]It didn't help that FC Utrecht captain [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/de-wit-dani/Egd7aMH9/"]Dani de Wit[/a]'s huddle speech was caught on ESPN's camera. [b]"They don't want to be here. I was on that side five years ago. They don't want to be here. K*ll them!"[/b], he shouted 45 minutes before failing to keep an inswinging corner from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/koopmeiners-peer/ba7Bnigm/"]Peer Koopmeiners[/a] from flying directly into [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/barkas-vasilios/GlJbQAOg/"]Vasilis Barkas[/a]' goal.[/p][image alt="FC Utrecht's stats against AZ" id="27107c20-1e0c-451a-8593-d8f3b0d419c9" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="5918db38-31ca-4126-aad2-2f7adb4201d3" original-width="3840" original-height="2160" /][p]It was a terrible showing. Utrecht created little and gave away a lot. Their attacks seem to have no rhyme or reason, while the approach looks to prevent goals instead of scoring them. There's hardly any creativity, and just one front-footed player who dives head-first into duels, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/alarcon-angel/lCyqZI3I/"]Angel Alarcon[/a], who was the only Utrecht player to find a way past opponents and totalled 4 completed dribbles, as much as all of his teammates combined.[/p][p]Correia said afterwards that his team[b] "needs to pull through, stick together, to [i]really [/i]step on the gas, and to [i]really[/i] show guts in possession."[/b] I agree, even though a lot more needs to be done. [/p][h2]Bonus: Mats Seuntjens[/h2][p]Football can be so much more than a game. But sometimes, it can mean nothing at all. For NAC Breda striker [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/seuntjens-mats/63JPjZot/"]Mats Seuntjens[/a], football meant even less than that last week.[/p][p]On August 12th, the terrible, heartbreaking news was shared of the passing of Celine Inaya Seuntjens Silva, the newborn daughter of Mats Seuntjens and his wife, Elba. Two days later, Mats Seuntjens was back on the pitch for NAC Breda's game against VVV-Venlo.[/p][embed guid="ff2dd3a8-ba6f-4d60-ae22-bfeaeba4c7b9" url="https://x.com/ESPNnl/status/2088362767044735027?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]For a moment, NAC's loss meant absolutely nothing to the city of Breda and all 19,000+ in attendance. The entire stadium came together to support Mats and Elba after their terrible loss.[/p][p]Flashscore wishes Mats, Elba, and the entire family love, strength, and courage in the face of this unimaginable loss. The thoughts of every single one of us are with you.[/p][infobox id="383e2abc-afe3-4139-8e06-aa4254ac57ee" /]