MVV’s match against FC Volendam, who are at the top of the table of the Dutch Keuken Kampioen Divisie, ended up in a heart-breaking loss. MVV had a difficult start against FC Volendam. Both teams lined up in a 4-3-3 and Volendam created a few good opportunities in the first 30 minutes. Later in the first half the home side had some chances of their own, but both teams didn’t find the net. In the second half MVV was getting more and more dangerous, but late on in the game Walid Ould-Chikh scored the only goal of the game for Wim Jonk’s FC Volendam. After a poor clearance from centre back Dzepar, the midfielder kept his cool in the box and slotted the ball in the bottom corner. MVV tried their best in the last few minutes of the game, but didn’t find an equaliser. MVV has now lost their last five league games and sit in 15th place.
Ratings:
- A1 – Very good, could play higher
- A2 – Strong potential to play higher
- B1 – Good, strong player at level
- B2 – Potential to be strong player at level
- C – Average for the level, re-watch
- D – Below average in this match
Matteo Waem
Player profile:
- Nationality: Belgian
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 21/06/2000
- Current club: MVV Maastricht
- Career: Royal Antwerp (Y), MVV Maastricht
- Position: Centre Back
- Secondary position: Left Back
- Preferred foot: Left
Matteo Waem played as the left sided centre back in MVV’s 4-3-3. Together with Orhan Dzepar the 21-year-old was tasked with stopping Volendam striker Robert Mühren from scoring. Waem didn’t have the best of starts to the game. In the 8th minute Waem lost track of Mühren in the box, who then had a header on goal, but the goalkeeper Matthys made a good save. There was also a similar moment where he didn’t mark Gaetano Oristanio, who made a run, when Robert Mühren moved to the left side. In the second half Waem played significantly better and he was one of the better players on the pitch.
Waem played quite safe in possession, but started taking some more risk in the second half. He dribbled the ball forward a few times and played some more long and forward passes. His short passing looked fine overall, but his passes over a longer range lacked some consistency. In the 93rd minute he almost saved a point for his team. After a very good long pass to the right MVV’s captain, Sven Blummel, should’ve scored the 1-1, but his shot went over the bar. In the second half Waem looked very composed on the ball, where he looked a bit insecure in the first 45 not asking for ball as much This confidence also translated to his defensive duels. The Belgian played quite passive throughout the match, really being MVV’s last line, but saw some more opportunities to step out of the defensive line. The two examples below are some of those moments where he shows both confidence whilst defending, and also on the ball setting up an attack for MVV.
Matteo Waem isn’t the most physical defender. The 21-year-old is 6’2” tall and could definitely benefit from gaining some muscle mass. Against Volendam he did well in his defensive duels, patiently looking at the ball waiting for the right moment to make his tackle. Aerially he showed very good timing and a decent leap winning all of his aerial duels.
Rating – A2
I wasn’t very impressed with Waem when I saw at the start of the season, but in the second half of this game he played really good. If he keeps this up he can probably make a nice move up in the league or even to the Belgian Pro League at the end of the season.
Arian Kastrati
Player profile:
- Nationality: Dutch/Kosovar
- Age: 20
- Date of birth: 15/07/2001
- Current club: MVV Maastricht (On loan from Fortuna Sittard)
- Career: Fortuna Sittard, NK Jadran Dekani (Loan), MVV Maastricht (Loan)
- Position: Striker
- Preferred foot: Right
After coming on after halftime in MVV’s last game against Telstar, Arian Kastrati now made his debut in MVV’s starting line-up. The youngster from the Fortuna Sittard Academy was often in Fortuna’s squad last season, but made only around 50 minutes over the season. At the start of this season the 20-year-old, who featured for Kosovo’s U21’s, was loaned out to NK Dekani, who play in Slovenia’s second tier. Here he scored three goals in twelve games, in the first half of this season. Now Kastrati is off to MVV Maastricht, who also have an option to buy Kastrati at the end of the loan.
It certainly wasn’t an easy game for Kastrati. The 20-year-old is a tall striker, standing at 6’4” and MVV really tried to utilise this. He received a lot of high passes, which he had to control or extend with his head. He did quite well in his aerial duels, winning around half of them, but struggled especially against Volendam’s left centre back Benamar, who used his body very well. Kastrati has quite a lean build and had a hard time against the more physical Benamar. We didn’t see a lot of hold up play on the ground from him. MVV’s midfield had a hard time getting the ball to their forwards and most of the balls Kastrati received were from their goalkeeper.
Even though Kastrati didn’t register a single shot, he was still really close to getting a goal or two. After around ten minutes in the first half a good cross from the left just went over his head. Around 15 minutes later he was one shoe size away from sliding in another good cross from the left. He was also very close to an assist in the second half after he played a nice backheel pass towards the edge of the box, but the shot that followed was blocked.
Rating – B1
Kastrati had a promising debut in MVV’s starting line up and was quite unlucky not to get a goal or assist. However, I felt like he could’ve been a little more active in possession, dropping back or moving to the sides and supporting MVV’s wingers a bit more often. I’m curious how he will do the rest of the season.
Allan Delferriere
Player profile:
- Nationality: Belgian
- Age: 19
- Date of birth: 03/03/2002
- Current club: MVV Maastricht (On loan from Standard)
- Career: Standard, MVV Maastricht (Loan)
- Position: Centre Back
- Secondary position: Right Back, Defensive Midfield
- Preferred foot: Right
Allan Delferriere normally plays as one of MVV’s centre backs, but played as right back today. He played a decent game overall, but it was quite clear that this wasn’t his natural position. In the first time he had quite a hard time defending Volendam’s left winger van Mieghem, who made some good runs behind Delferriere. The 19-year-old defender was defending a bit naïve, stepping out of the defensive line a few times when he really shouldn’t have and gave too much space to van Mieghem. Delferriere recovered quite well though, playing a little more safe. The 6” tall defender overall did well in his duels, urgently pressing just before or after his opponent took his first touch.
As right back Delferriere wasn’t playing very offensive and he rarely popped up on FC Volendam’s half in possession. On the ball he tried to play forward most of the time, but kept his passing quite simple. His longer passes often lacked either range or precision and weren’t very good. Technically Delferriere did quite well in the smaller spaces on the right. He played some smart one-two passes to create some space for himself and barely lost the ball.
Rating – B2
Delferriere had a hard time defensively at the start, but managed to recover quite well. It’s clear he isn’t a natural right back and he could be a good centre back for MVV.
Thomas van Bommel
Player profile:
- Nationality: Dutch
- Age: 19
- Date of birth: 11/07/2002
- Current club: MVV Maastricht
- Career: MVV Maastricht
- Position: Defensive Midfield
- Secondary position: Centre Midfield, Centre Back
- Preferred foot: Right
Thomas van Bommel, son of Mark van Bommel, played as one of MVV’s central midfielders and didn’t play a good match. The midfielder struggled to get the ball forward and was very sloppy with his passing throughout the whole match. Defensively van Bommel was a liability for MVV. A few times where an opponent would change direction while dribbling it looked like the youngster was just stuck in the ground. He also looked quite slow on the first few meters, which didn’t help him defensively. In the 42nd minute the midfielder had two good chances to open the score for his side. His first shot was saved by the goalkeeper and his second shot went over the bar.
Rating – D
After Nicky Souren had to go off injured, MVV really missed a playmaker in midfield. Thomas van Bommel offered too little on the ball and looked very vulnerably defensively.