benefoot revelations

BENEFOOT

THE BEST OF BELGIAN AND DUTCH FOOTBALL - IN ENGLISH

jupiler pro league & eredivisie revelationS

BENEFOOT

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Yaya Tour, Luis Surez, Dante, Jan Koller and of course the

likes of Kompany, Van Persie, Robben and Courtois: all players educated in the Low

Countries, the breeding room of international football. Belgium and the Netherlands

are renowned for producing technically gifted and tactically intelligent players. Their

admirable devotion to developing youth and belief in giving their young players a

chance to prove themselves has lead the two leagues to produce a constant stream of

talent. The fast-paced attacking football the leagues teams play allows youngsters to

develop their technique, decision making ability and passing ability, among many other

valuable attributes.

As the richer teams from more lucrative leagues come scouring around for the next

rising stars, the Jupiler Pro League and Eredivisie clubs must keep pushing through

generation after generation of supreme talents to remain competitive and entertaining.

Due to the constant turnover of players and the selling nature of even the biggest

clubs, there are always a large number of young players emerging to entertain us and

light up the league. The JPL and Eredivisie dont buy stars, they make them.

Thus, we at BeNeFoot.net have produced this publication profiling who our writers feel

are the top 10 revelations of each of the Belgian and Dutch top flights in the 2013-14

season. Most of these players just enjoyed their first full season as regular starters for

their respective clubs and showed a great deal of promise. They have the potential to

go on and achieve great things in the game. We reckon this might be the first thing you

read on some of these prospects, but it definitely wont be the last.

PETER MCVITIE, EDITOR DUTCH FOOTBALL AT BENEFOOT.NET

This list was decided and written by BeNeFoot writers: Peter McVitie, Michiel Jongsma, Gary Niblock Luke Harvey, Bjorn De Cock, Chris Mayer. Designed by Laura Pera.

Images : Pro Shots, ANP, vitesse.nl, ANP, Reuters, Belga, RTBF, Standard TV, Sporting Charleroi TV, Club Brugge, AFP/F.CoffriniStatistiques : Soccerway

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BENEFOOT

EREDIVISIE revelations

Filip Kostic

Lucas Piazon

Joel Veltman

Kamohelo Mokotjo

Jasper Cillessen

Richairo Zivkovic

Hakim Ziyech

Quincy Promes

Davy Klaassen

Memphis Depay

681012141618202224

BENEFOOT

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FILIP KOSTICAge : 21Nationality : SerbianContract until : 30.06.2015Current club : FC GroningenPosition : Left Wing

STATISTICS :Appearances : 41Goals : 12Assists : 8Yellow cards : 3Minutes : 3,298

Filip Kostic

When you are brought in to a club to replace a player who delivered seven goals and 21 assists in his debut season, the latter a feat only Mesut Ozil and Lionel Messi only could top across Europe, you know there are bound to be high expectations. This was precisely the pressure bestowed upon Filip KOSTIC in 2012-13 when he was made the succes-sor of fellow Serbian countryman Dusan Tadic at FC Groningen, however, he failed to inflict a similar degree of damage on opponents in his maiden season.

KOSTIC, brought in at 19 years of age, came to the club but never lived up to the hype that had surrounded him in his first year. Struggling to adapt to his new environment, not able to speak a lot of English let alone Dutch and finding a manager in Robert Maaskant who has never really been in the business of polishing rough diamonds, his game time was limited to five substitute performances in the league. Rumours came out about the player lacking motivation and having trouble keeping his weight in check. FC Groningens 1 million investment was deemed redundant within 12 months.

A year on, the contrast couldnt be greater. Under new manager Erwin van de Looi, KOSTIC was given a chance in the first team and from the first time out he seemed adamant to cement a spot in the first-team. With unrelen-ting pace, effort and a lot of flair and skill, he started to run at defences, giving a league return of nine league goals and seven assists. KOSTIC has turned himself from a fringe player into an instrumental figure for Groningen and it is

a surprise to see the 21-year-old grace the green shirt for another season. His ability to run at defenders and show a will to power off every player coming his way is not as much reminiscent of Tadic, but of another FC Groningen alumni in Luis Suarez, albeit on another level.

After a tough year, it appears the diamond is smooth and ready to keep shining and with the robust left forward constantly improving in skill, delivery and finishing, it is hard to see where his ceiling lies.

EREDIVISIE REVELATIONS 10 BY MICHIEL JONGSMA

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6

Lucas Piazon

From mesmerising, electrifying, clinical, fascinating and generally magnificent to dull, ineffective, sterile and extremely disappointing, Lucas PIAZONs sea-son in the Eredivisie was one of two extremes.

The 20-year-old Brazilian joined Vitesse on loan from Chelsea last season and immediately began to shine in the Dutch league.

The skill of this left winger is really quite impressive, but when coupled with his speed and technical ability as well as his direct style, he left fans, pundits and even opponents in awe. Throughout the opening half of the season, PIAZON was on fire. By far Vitesses most productive player and simply a sublime performer, he was absolutely critical as the Arnhem club looked to challenge the likes of Ajax, Feye-noord and Twente for the league title.

With 11 goals and eight assists in the first half of the sea-son, he helped guide the club to the top of the table as they became one of the favourites to win it compared to a rather inefficient Ajax and an inconsistent Twente.

However, following the winter break, Vitesse and PIAZON essentially disappeared.The Brazilians last goal came in the final match of 2013, af-ter that, not only did he fail to hit the net, he also didnt rack up a single assist. As a result, his team also struggled as Vitesse completely capitulated in 2014, winning only three league matches.

FC Hollywood on the Rhine even ended the regular sea-son with a seven game winless streak, as they went from title challengers with dreams of playing in the Champions League, to having to fight for a place in the Europa League through the playoffs, which they lost having succumbed to FC Groningen 5-1 on aggregate.

Throughout the second half of the season, PIAZONs perfor-mances dropped so much that he began to be substituted off in games, then he was starting from the bench and, on a couple of occasions, not emerging at all.After such a magnificent start to life in Holland, its very difficult to say what the reason is behind such a dramatic drop in form. As a youngster, we can expect and forgive him for going through such periods of indifference, however this seems like much more than that.

It could be that he isnt happy, perhaps there are personal problems, issues between him and coach Peter Bosz or his team-mates. Netherlands has a completely different culture to that of Brazil, perhaps hes homesick. Perhaps, even, he feels his displays in the first half of the campaign showed that the Eredivisie is beneath him. However, not only does that seem to be at complete odds with his personality, gi-ving up completely isnt the best way to go about proving to Chelsea hes ready for the step up.

At this point, we can only really speculate. His decline has been beyond belief, but so has that of Vitesse.

PIAZONs remarkable performances throughout the first half of the current term showed that he is a player who, if he can come back after the summer break and find his form again, has incredible potential and really can go a long way in his career.

EREDIVISIE REVELATIONS 9 BY PETER MCVITIE

9 LUCAS PIAZONAge : 20Nationality : BrazilianContract until : 30.06.2017Current club : Chelsea- on loan at Vitesse in 13/14Position : Left Wing


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JOEL VELTMANAge : 22Nationality : DutchContract until : 30.06.2018Current club : Ajax AmsterdamPosition : Centre Back

STATISTICS :Appearances : 37Goals : 3Assists : 2Yellow cards : 5Yellow/red cards : 1Red cards : 1Minutes : 2,158 Joel Veltman

As far as breakthrough seasons go, there are few as rewarding and exciting as that of Ajax defender Joel VELTMAN.

If landing an Eredivisie winners medal in his first season wasnt good enough, the young centre-back put in some excellent displays in a tough Champions League group and even made his debut in the Netherlands national team. For a young player still developing, he has given himself quite the platform on which to build an excellent career.

While his tackling success rate last season was underwhel-ming, standing at 69%, his blocking (10) and interception (51) figures are very respectable, however, VELTMAN is more than just a standard defender - he is very much a typi-cal Ajax centre-back.

His strengths and importance to the Amsterdam giants stems from his technical ability and decision making on the ball. With a passing accuracy of 89%, he is excellent at bringing the ball out from defence and instigating moves for his side. There is also a hint of Jan Vertonghen in him as he shows no fear in bombing forward himself to inject some pace into Ajaxs attacks Vitesses Jan-Arie van der Heij-den is the only defender who has completed more dribbles than he, although VELTMAN completed a higher percentage of those he attempted.

The 22-year-old is another product of the Amsterdam giants world famous youth academy, having been a member of the club since the age of nine. Along with cur-rent Ajax first-team players Stefano Denswil, Davy Klaassen, Lesley de Sa and Viktor Fischer, VELTMAN played a key role in the heart of defence as the Under 19s reached the final of the inaugural NextGen Series. After some solid displays in the competition, it seemed the youngster was destined for the first-team.

As the 2013-14 season approached and centre-back Toby Alderweireld neared the exit door of the Amsterdam ArenA, it seemed a big mistake from coach Frank de Boer that he had passed up on signing Groningen youngster Virgil van Dijk to replace the Belgium international. However, VELTMAN compensated for the loss of the current Atletico Madrid player, building an excellent partnership with Niklas Moisander and, when the Finnish defender was out injured, Denswil. Strong, defiant and developing great leadership skills, he has shown throughout the campaign that he can reach great heights in his career.

His performances in his first season in the Eredivisie and the Champions League in which Ajax narrowly missed out on reaching the second-round earned him his debut with the Netherlands national team and he was part of the World Cup squad that finished third, above all expectations. Joel VELTMAN got his first taste of World Cup football coming on as a substitution in the exhilarating game versus Spain the 5-1 that shook the world.

However, its just the beginning for the defender, who still has a long way to develop before he is anywhere near the finished product.


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10

Kamohelo Mokotjo

Having played in the Eredivisie for Feyenoord in each of the prior three seasons, it might appear pe-culiar to consider Kamohelo MOKOTJO a revelation in the Dutch league last term.

However, the 23-year-old has been such an illustrious, consistent and top notch performer for PEC Zwolle since his summer move that he simply has to be declared as such.The Overijssel club enjoyed an excellent first season back in the Eredivisie in 2012-13 but, despite losing their coach and a few key players, they improved even further ahead of last season, capping it off with an unbelievable 5-1 over Frank de Boers Ajax in the KNVB Beker final.

Coach Ron Jans has taken the team a step further since taking over from Art Langeler in the summer, with Mateusz Klich, Ryan Thomas, Guyon Fernandez and Mustafa Say-mak all having good seasons for the team in blue and white.Central to everything Zwolle did well last year, though, was MOKOTJO.

The South African midfielder played 35 matches in the Eredivisie over the course of three years in the Feyenoord first-team.

Clearly a talented player, he was never really able to impose himself upon the team and cement a place as a regular starter due to Jordy Clasies stranglehold on the central midfield position. Seeking better first-team opportunities, the midfielder opted to leave De Kuip, joining theBlauwvin-gersin the summer, joining on a three year deal.

The former SuperSport United player slotted perfectly into Zwolles midfield and began pulling the strings with his accurate and intelligent passing, setting the tempo of the games and playing a huge role in most of the sides attacks.In the cup final mauling of Ajax, he completely outshone his counterpart Daley Blind, who won the Eredivisie player of the year award at the end of the campaign. Throughout the meeting in De Kuip, MOKOTJO was quicker, more aware and vital in his sides electrifying display.

As well as adding a lot to Zwolles attacks, the 57 player has put in his fair share of defensive work for his team this season, having kept up a 91% tackle success rate and made 60 interceptions this term.

Although the 2013-14 campaign has been MOKOTJOs first as a regular starter at senior level, he has played like a seasoned veteran at times and has grabbed the chance of first-team football with both hands and it has benefited him and his team immensely.

The midfielder will play in the Europa League this season after the sides cup victory and, if they are to improve even further in 2014-15, he will be absolutely critical for the team.After his progress was stinted through a lack of first team opportunities in Rotterdam, he is finally getting his time to shine in Zwolle.


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KAMOHELO MOKOTJOAge : 23Nationality : South AfricanContract until : 30.06.2016Current club : PEC ZwollePosition : Central Midfielder


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JASPER CILLESSENAge : 25Nationality : DutchContract until : 30.06.2016Current club : Ajax AmsterdamPosition : Goalkeeper

STATISTICS :Appearances : 36Conceded Goals : 27Clean sheets : 17Minutes : 2,204

Jasper Cillessen

In the world of the Eredivisie, forking out 4 million for a player is quite a huge call to make. When that call surrounds a goalkeeper, it becomes a lot more significant and brave. When you factor in that the other goalkeeperstill has the confidence of the reigning manager, its even greater.

When Jasper CILLESSEN, a talented goalkeeper of N.E.C, was brought in at Ajax, the overall opinion was that this would either mean the end of Vermeer or Ajax had invested a lot of money for something they really didnt need. On hindsight, the latter was very much the truth for the first couple of seasons, while the former is the outcome of the third season.

CILLESSEN was basically the exclusive KNVB Beker keeper for Ajax when he joined, but in that role he excelled. While Vermeer was a standout in 2011-12 and 2012-13, his form faded away quickly at the start of the season next and it was here where CILLESSEN seized his chance. Curiously, the Groesbeek-born man was on the brink of leaving Ajax for Roda JC on loan only a couple of months earlier, with only a signature separating CILLESSEN from a permanent move. But things went in a completely different way. Lined up as a starter for the first time after a calamitous error from Vermeer saw the floodgates open in a 4-0 loss at PSV, CILLESSENwent on to keep seven clean sheets in his next 11 league outings, conceding only four in the pro-cess. Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal had alreadyiden-tified the talent of CILLESSEN earlier, but felt he was now given the excuse to turn the then 24-year-old Dutchman into his first choice keeperfor Oranje.

As the season progressed, the need for excuses became less and less. The new first choice keeper was hugely im-portant in Ajaxs title surge and stepped up whenever it was needed, putting in fine performances against PSV, Feye-noord and Vitesse. With CILLESSEN as their main goalk-eeper, Ajax lost only one of their 24 Eredivisie matches

resulting in a fourth consecutive league title. And in the wake of an excellent season with the league champions, he also picked up the mantle as the No. 1 goalkeeper of the Netherlands as he was trusted by Van Gaal to defend the goal in what turned out to be the first unbeaten World Cup campaign for the Dutch, finishing third.

It is the burden of every Dutch goalkeeper of this and the last generation to be named as Edwin van der Sars natural successor and it appears that in Jasper CILLESSEN one is finally found. Similarly to the current marketing director of Ajax, CILLESSEN lacks flair on the pitch and lacks, as did Van der Sar until his early 30s, a knack for stopping penal-ties, but he more than makes up for that with his all-round game as a keeper.

Blessed with incredible reflexes, confidence to attack every ball entering the box and good with both feet, and never panicking, it is only a matter of time before big European clubs see CILLESSEN as the answer whenever goalkeeping questions are raised.


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17-year-old Zivkovic readyto take Holland by storm

While loads of young footballers fade away after upon big clubs in their teens, there are always some exceptions. Richairo ZIVKOVIC was ru-moured to be approached by Manchester City, PSV and Ajax among others as a youngster, but chose to stay at FC Groningen and has now, at 17, finished his first full season in professional football with over 30 matches and 11 goals under his belt.

His excellent performances earned ZIVKOVIC a 2.5 million transfer to Ajax. The Amsterdam club is rumoured to have looked for other strikers, with Arkadiusz Milik coming in to give the teenager some extra time to develop. But given that ZIVKO-VIC has been more productive than Ajax top scorers Kolbeinn Sigthorsson and Lasse Schone with 10 league goals, is it really necessary to protect the Dutch U19 youth international from vying for a first team spot?

ZIVKOVIC is the youngest player to score 10 Eredivisie goals in the last decade and his talent was always quite obvious. When he joined his first football club, amateur club FVV Foxhol, as an eight-year-old, he almost immediately moved up an age catego-ry, going on to score 32 goals in one season. The Assen-born forward moved to Groningen at 11-years-old and when he was interviewed that year for FC Groningen TV, the commentator signed off with saying that maybe we could see him in the first team of in about 10 years.

The years that followed up to his debut were a bit rockier than the mere five years that separated his debut and the interview suggest. ZIVKOVIC, whose father stems from Curacao but was brought up by his Serbian mother, struggled to find the right motivation around the age of 15 and in an attempt to get him motivated again, was moved up an age class. It was then he started to show his class again.

Within months, he moved from the 14-16 age category to the Groningen reserves, prompting interest from some of the biggest clubs in Europe. In an attempt to win the young forward over, he was promised a chance to fight for a first team spot soon and after signing his first professional contract, he was handed his debut in the senior squad against Heracles by manager Robert Maaskant. With his six minute cameo in that game he became the youngest Groningen player ever (16 years and 88 days), breaking the previous record of Arjen Robben.

It wouldnt be the last record he took from the current star player of Bayen Munich. In the rest of the 2012-13 season, he struggled with the sudden rise he had encountered, but on the

first matchday of the following campaign, he was back. He had set himself a few goals and ZIVKOVIC took his first objective scoring in his first league appearance that season (vs. N.E.C. 1-4). With that, he branded his name on another club record, becoming the youngest goalscorer for the Pride of the North. In the following matches, he was brought on by new coach Erwin van de Looi and quickly added to his tally, making his name as an impact sub.

On the 3rdof November, Van de Looi found the time right to trust his young prodigy with a starting place.With that, he became the youngest starter in the Eredivisie for over three years.ZIVKOVIC gave a decent account of himself over the course of a few matches, but when the more experienced Michael de Leeuw was back from injury the youngster was put out of the limelight for a while again.

From what they had seen in the playing time he was given though, Ajax had seen enough. This forward could become a top player for years to come. One and a half years after their earlier approach, Ajax sealed the deal, meaning the 17-year-old striker would join the Amsterdam club in the summer for a reported fee of 2.5 million plus add-ons. The confidence boost brought on by his pending transfer, he quickly reclaimed a star-ting spot in the Groningen team.

With five goals in seven matches, as many in his 22 matches before, he was instrumental in his sides bid to set a new club record of consecutive wins. Despite his age, ZIVKOVIC pre-sented himself as a very mature striker. From his first game, he had shown his ability. His pace, his strength, his vision and technique. But most of all, the youngster seems unimpressed by whatever happens on the pitch. He was pushed over out of nothing during the last league game of the regular season and instead of being angered, he later told a reporter that he saw it as a compliment, apparently he had a hard time stopping me.

Groningen finished seventh, earning a spot in the Eredivisie play-offs and eventually winning them by beating AZ 3-0 over two legs. In the semi-final for a Europa League spot, theTrots van het Noordenran rampant over Vitesse, beating them 4-1 in Arnhem after winning the home leg 1-0. In that match in the GelreDome, ZIVKOVIC once again showed his composure as he made it 2-1 to his side. Instead of celebrating wildly, he remained so calm afterwards that some thought the goal was ruled out. Some may confuse this with arrogance or a lack of joy. But the young attacker just feels he should be able to score in each and every game.

Judging by his first full season as a professional player, he might be right.


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RICHAIRO ZIVKOVICAge : 17Nationality : DutchContract until : 30.06.2017Current club : Transfered to Ajax AmsterdamPosition : Centre Forward


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HAKIM ZIYECHAge : 21Nationality : DutchContract until : 30.06.2015Current club : SC HeerenveenPosition : Attacking Midfielder

STATISTICS :Appearances : 38Goals : 11Assists : 10Yellow cards : 8Minutes : 2,728 Heerenveens Hakim Ziyech

outshines Finnbogason

Despite his 29 goals and ten assists in 31 games in the Eredivisie, it is really no huge shock that the leagues top goalscorer and Heerenveens star stri-ker, Alfred Finnbogason, didnt win the clubs Player of the Year award.

Instead, the Icelandic goal machine was left in the wake of 21-year-old attacking midfielder Hakim ZIYECH, who won the hearts of the clubs fans as well as the acclaim from pu-ndits with his remarkable performances in his breakthrough season.

The versatile youngster, who is most effective in the at-tacking midfield role but can play deeper in midfield or on the left wing, has been a critical part of Marco van Bastens squad as club from the north of the Netherlands reached the Europa League playoffs.

Having been with the Frisian club since he was 11-years-old, the Dutch youngster of Moroccan descent broke into the first team this season, playing an increasingly crucial role as the campaign wore on.

As Finnbogason set the league alight with 14 goals in his first 12 games,De Superfriezenbegan to build an overre-liance on their talisman and, as he grew unhappy and frus-trated at the club for several reasons and opponents began to mark him more closely, the team began to struggle.

However, the young apprentice stepped forward, ready to take the brunt of responsibility from the frontmans shoul-ders and place them on his own.

With his excellent dribbling ability and pace as well as his creativity and passing accuracy, the attacking midfielder is developing into an all-round fantastic player. He is extre-mely effective in the opponents final third as he can pull the strings and link up with the striker or burst forward with pace and threaten on his own.

With nine goals and nine assists in the league this season, he was by far Heerenveens most productive and important player after Finnbogason and the speed at which he has de-veloped and taken on that role in his first season has been incredibly impressive.

As the season progressed and his performances improved, there were growing fears that, with his contract expiring in the summer, he would head for the exit door of the Abe Lenstra to join one of the leagues giants for free. Ajax were said to be interested, with coach Frank det Boer praising him earlier in the season. Hes a true technician, with a lot of creativity and skill in his left foot. Hed definitely fit in at Ajax.

As well as the Amsterdam powerhouse, PSV also showed their interest in the player, contacting his agent about his availability.

Heerenveen managed to convince the attacker to sign a one year extension, suggesting they would have another season with him.

I think I will stay for another year, ZIYECH toldFox Sportsbut refused to rule out a move this summer. Never say never. You never know how it will go.

There is still a chance he could leave, though, with FC Twente sniffing around as they look to replace Dusan Tadic, but Heerenveen will do their utmost to prevent him from joining Van Basten and Finnbogason on the way out. With players like Bilal Basacikoglu, Daley Sinkgraven, Joost van Aken and Luciano Slagveer coming through, ZIYECHs im-portance will only increase next season.

Although a young player himself, having more youngsters in the squad will make Heerenveen a quick and dangerous team and with Finnbogason having joined Real Sociedad, even more responsibility will be heaped upon ZIYECHs shoulders. The teams main creative outlet may be called upon to hit the back of the net more often as well.

However, if ZIYECH continues to develop at this rate, next season will be a prosperous and exciting one for him, with even more to follow.


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From playing in the Dutch second tier to gearing up for a Champions League final within 12 months, the rise of Quincy PROMES has been quite remarkable. But according to his agent, Ersin Akan, it was all possible for his protg Quincy PROMES.

The 22-year-old FC Twente winger made a seldom specta-cular entrance in the Eredivisie, returning from a loan spell at Go Ahead Eagles. Atletico Madrid and Napoli were quick to show interest and while a transfer in the winter break didnt materialize, he did get a reward in receiving his first call-up for the Dutch national team. In Stade de France, the youngster gave a good account of himself, despite the 2-0 loss against France.

As with most footballers whose careers skyrocket at a certain point, PROMES talent was never in doubt. The Amsterdam-born winger grew up in the west side of the city and his potential was quickly identified. He was brought in at Ajax and trained and played there for six years, hoping he could achieve the ultimate dream of playing in the Ams-terdam ArenA. In the end, he would fulfil that wish, but in a whole different way to what he wouldve imagined.

In 2008, PROMES was told by Ajax that his stay at the club was over. Whereas other talents like Joel Veltman, Davy Klaassen and Stefano Denswil were deemed good enough to progress, it was an attitude problem and lack of maturity that held him back. That summer, PROMES was done with football. But in HFC Haarlem, a second tier club nearby, he re-gained some of the fun in the game. According to then first team manager Jan Zoutman, he was close to making his debut for the Haarlem club, such a flourishing talent was the 17-year-old. But things turned out differently.

The club of renowned former players such as Ruud Gullit and Gregory van der Wiel went bankrupt in 2009. FC Twente had seen enough though and decided to offer PROMES a second chance in the youth system of an Eredivisie club. Under the wings of Theo ten Caat and Cees Lok among others, the teenager matured. In 2011-12, he even became

captain of the FC Twente reserves, managed by Patrick Klui-vert. That season, he was handed both his first professional contract and his debut, although his first team involvement remained restricted to three appearances.

Deemed not ready for a chance in the first team by Steve McClaren, a manager known for favouring experience over youth, he was loaned out at the start of 2012-13. And at Go Ahead Eagles, the frivolous right winger exploded. Thirteen goals in 32 appearances and numerous assists, PROMES proved that he was right for the step up, guiding his tempo-rary team to the Eredivisie.

With McClaren gone and Michel Jansen and Alfred Schreu-der in charge for the season after, PROMES was given a chance to show he was worthy of a starting berth at Twente. Eleven Eredivisie goals later, it is clear he has taken that chance. The creative forward has pace, is technically excellent, has incredible skill and has the power to go on and become a force on the international stage too. His crea-tivity and inventiveness turned him into a serious contender for Brazil, with Van Gaal one of his admirers.

PROMES meanwhile shows he isnt fazed by all of the attention. In a last bid to convince Van Gaal of his talent, he scored a majestic hat-trick leading the Netherlands u21s to a 6-1 win over Scotland u21. Van Gaal had ad-mitted PROMES had made it difficult for him not to take the youngster, but unfortunately the 22 year old wasnt part of the Dutch their surge to a bronze medal. In the meantime, PROMES remains cool and composed as ever.

Even though there was plenty of interest, the attacker has decided to sign a new three year contract with FC Twente. The youngster has been good, but wants to be better. And his dream of once playing in the Amsterdam Arena? That has been fulfilled, but with the 3-0 defeat his team suffered, you can expect PROMES to come back motivated next sea-son to show that he is of an international standard.


3Promising Promes has risen

to the top

QUINCY PROMESAge : 22Nationality : DutchContract until : 30.06.2017Current club : FC TwentePosition : Right Wing


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DAVY KLAASSENAge : 21Nationality : DutchContract until : 30.06.2018Current club : Ajax AsterdamPosition : Attacking Midfielder

STATISTICS :Appearances : 42Goals : 12Assists : 4Yellow cards : 4Minutes : 2,102 Davy Klaassen The shining star of

the Ajax midfield

The winner of the 2013-14 Johan Cruijff Award for Talent of the Year, Davy KLAASSEN has proven beyond doubt in his first season in the Ajax starting XI that he is the latest graduate of the clubs youth system capable of reaching great heights.

The youngster first emerged in 2011-12, an excellent first taste of first-team football as he featured against Real Madrid, Lyon and Manchester United in Europe and even scored a few minutes after emerging in his Eredivsie debut. He alsocaptained Ajaxs youth side to the final of the first edition of the NextGen Series.

However, just as he was set to announce himself to the wor-ld and become a regular for theGodenzonenthe following season, disaster struck. A groin injury in the third week of the 2012-13 campaign came as a massive blow, wiping out an entire year of his development at a crucial stage.Furthermore, such a massive upset was a mental disas-terfor a young player on the cusp of breaking into the team for which he had played since the age of 11.

For a long time I thought it was all over, he toldNOS. But he soon had extra motivation to recover and emerge from his long recovery period even stronger as he was sent to Barcelona to see a specialist about his injury, recommended personally by Ajax and general football icon Johan Cruijff. Incredibly, Cruijff visited him twice in the hospital in Cata-lonia, something which had a huge lasting effect on the midfielder.

It was a huge boost that Mr. Cruijff was going to do his best for me, he toldVoetbal International.The first two times he came in person to the hospital to see if everything was going well. I had never met him before. Then suddenly the biggest Dutch footballer of all time is there in front of your nose, coming to the hospital specifically to see you. That impressed me.

KLAASSEN bounced back this season and played a crucial role in his side claiming another Eredivisie, stretching their streak to four consecutive league titles for the first time in their history.

The 21-year-old had played only one full game before being included in the starting XI for the Amsterdam sides 1-0 win over Celtic in November. It was a significant encounter as, after a series of horrendous performances following the sale of star player Christian Eriksen, coach Frank de Boer made some important tactical changes.

With left-back Daley Blind being moved into midfield and midfielder Lasse Schone moving onto the wing while attacking midfielder Siem de Jong moved into the centre forward role, it freed up some space in the centre of the team for KLAASSEN, as he became the heir to Eriksens throne.

From then on, KLAASSEN and Ajax never looked back.Acting as the link between the attack and the rest of the team, with his quick brain, exquisite close control, great speed and intelligence, the dynamic midfielder played a cru-cial role from that Champions League match as Ajax sailed to another league title.

With his 10 goals and three assists, he is his sides joint top scorer in the league, level with striker Kolbeinn Sigthorsson, an excellent return for a midfielder in his premier season.

His hat-trick in the Eredivisie match against NAC in No-vember remains his standout performance. Three brilliant goals which showed how broad his skillset is. A neat run from deep to capitalise on the gap left in NACs backline and tidy finish, then a spectacular volley followed by a delicate first touch to bring down a long pass and set him up perfec-tly to knock beyond Jelle ten Rouwelaar. It was a glorious display overall which drew further comparisons to club legend and current assistant coach Dennis Bergkamp.

The youngster has a long way to go before he can be held in such regard as the former Netherlands star, but in a league renowned for bringing through some exceptional young talents, KLAASSEN is certainly one of the brightest.

A remarkable season and a Talent of the Year award is just the beginning for the Hilversum-born midfielder who has an exciting future ahead of him.


2

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A 20-year-old with remarkable skill, speed and talent, PSVs Memphis Depay is certainly one of the standout talents in the Eredivisie, as this campaign has proven.

DEPAY first emerged as a frequent late substitute towards the end of the 2011-12 campaign, chipping in with three goals in his eight appearances to help PSV secure a third place finish.The following season he was used much often but again gene-rally as a substitute as he made just to league starts, scoring twice and setting up three.It was clear throughout that integration that he was a player to watch, although, his attitude seemed a potential hazard in his formative years as he was seen as a cocky, pretentious youngster.

The attitude problems appear to have abated, however, as this season he has shown to be a bright, tricky winger with dazzling skills, impressive pace, a good touch and, on occasion, an excellent shot. The youngster has not only been PSVs best player throughout this tumultuous campaign, but is clearly one of the best young players in a league full to the brim of bright prospects.

The Netherlands international is the most dangerous winger in the league by some distance. FC Groningens Filip Kostic, with 225, was the only player last season to attempt more dribbles than DEPAY, who tried to beat his man 198 times. However, he completed a staggering 101 of those dribbles (51%), while Kos-tic has a success rate of 39% and Renato Ibarra of Vitesse is the only other of the Eredivisies top ten dribblers to keep their completion rate over 50%.While there have been several positives from DEPAY, it hasnt been all smooth for him. He didnt spend the last campaign as a consistent maverick who has taken the world by storm. Far from it. Throughout the opening half of the campaign, he was really quite a frustrating to watch.

DEPAY hit more shots than any other player in the Eredivisie last season. The youngster racked up 132 shots and scored only 12 goals. That he hit 28 more shots than the next highest shooter in the league shows that he is indeed too trigger-hap-py. It is startling that not only were more than half of them off target but that he has a shot conversion rate of just 9%.By comparison, PSVs central striker Jurgen Locadia played a game less than DEPAY and hit only 53 shots and scored one more goal.

This is merely a snapshot of his troubles last season, however. Clearly a remarkably talented player, throughout the opening

half of the campaign it appeared he was simply a one trick pony. Justified by his bright performances which saw him net four goals and grab two assists in PSVs first 12 games in all competitions, he developed a habit of tearing down the left wing, cutting inside and firing towards goal. This tactic worked fine during PSVs misleadingly magnificent start to the season. However, as this team of young players who had never played together before and were led by a coach in his first full season in charge settled in, performances started to drop and victo-ries eluded them. Regardless, DEPAY continued with his habit of charging down the flank, bringing the ball inside and firing towards goal, but without it leading to something.Too flashy, inefficient, and seemingly incapable of learning that his persistence wasnt paying off, fears grew that he was growing into a one-dimensional player.

In some ways, DEPAY looked as if he was struggling to find his identity. He appeared caught in the middle of trying to be a crossbreed of Arjen Robben and Cristiano Ronaldo instead of taking it slow, developing fully and becoming his own player.Since the turn of the year, however, it appears someone at PSV has taught him how to think, or, more likely, with some good coaching, he has gained the confidence to try something new, look up, and pass, cross, or shoot, depending on the situation, not just pulling the trigger immediately.

Since then, DEPAY has become a much more productive player, scoring six goals and setting up three goals in the last 11 ga-mes of the season as PSV shot up from as low as tenth place near the halfway mark in the season to fourth, securing Europa League football for next season.

The 2013-14 campaign has proven that DEPAY is an excep-tional talent, arguably the most talented youngster in the Netherlands at the moment. If he can replicate his form from the second half of the campaign and throughout the entirety of next term, he will develop even further over the next year.

His first steps towards stardom have been set. In the Eredivisie, but also after an impressive World Cup that saw the youngster coming on twice to score a goal and Van Gaal even trusted him to start versus Mexico. It earned the 20-year-old a nomina-tion for the FIFA Young Player award at the World Cup, but the youngster eventually lost out to Paul Pogba, not bad company for a player that was still a reserve in the Eredivisie last season. Rumours are Van Gaal has been so impressed by the youngs-ter, who progressed during the competition learning from the likes of Robin van Persie and especially Arjen Robben, that he is now a candidate to move to Manchester United. It might be a bit early for Memphis, but it is certainly the stage he will reach in the next few years.


1Memphis Depay is the Netherlands

brightest youngster

MEMPHIS DEPAYAge : 20Nationality : DutchContract until : 30.06.2017Current club : PSV EindhovenPosition : Left Wing

STATISTICS :Appearances : 43Goals : 14Assists : 10Yellow cards : 3Yellow/Red cards : 1Minutes : 2,704

24

BENEFOOT

jupiler proleague revelations

Neeskens Kebano

Dino Arslanagic

Sbastien Dewaest

Fernando Canesin

Julien De Sart

Chancel Mbemba

Bjrn Engels

Alexander Scholz

Youri Tielemans

Hans Vanaken

28303234363840424446

BENEFOOT

26

NEESKENS KEBANOAge : 22Nationality : FrenchContract until : 30.06.2015Current club : RSC CharleroiPosition : Midfielder


Neeskens Kebano

Sporting Charleroi signed no less than fifteen players in the last summer transfer window and added six more during the season when the win-dow briefly reopened, all up they essentially signed a whole new team, and then some a risk for a club looking to establish themselves in Belgiums top league.

Amongst the summer signings was French attacking mid-fielder Neeskens KEBANO who had just been released from his contract at Paris St. Germain. Unsurprisingly found not needed at the French giants he came to Belgium following a fleeting spell with Ligue 2 side Caen.

As is often the case nowadays, players can find themselves struggling in the major European leagues but are able carve out a home for themselves in Belgiums top flight. Not that this is a detriment to Belgiums premier competition but there is certainly a lot less pressure on a player to perform in this environment, and it can often be that mental side of the game that a player needs to overcome before he can find his feet.

And find his feet KEBANO did. Named after Dutch star Johan Neeskens, the younger version has also managed to flourish in his role in the middle of the pitch. With a touch less defensive instincts KEBANO makes up for it with his tireless running and attacking drive that can cause issues for his opponents.

Making his debut off the bench in Charlerois first game of the season, replacing Mohamed Daf another new signing KEBANO was unable to influence the outcome of the match which ended in a 0-0 draw with OH Leuven. However he must have convinced Felice Mazzu of his worth as he started the following week and then scored the opening goal in a 2-0 win over Cercle Brugge. Neeskens KEBANO had truly arrived in the Pro League, but could he sustain it ?

The answer is he sustained his form as much as a 22-year-old in his first full league season could be expected to. Much like his club he had some ups and downs and ma-naged to score five league goals in total and one in the cup. Not a massive amount but not a total drought. His brightest spark surely scoring the second goal in a 2-1 victory over Anderlecht, arriving late in the box and then thundering a shot in off the post made a lot of fans sit up and take notice and should KEBANO perform next season as well as he did this season, while improving on certain areas of his game and perhaps adding a few more goals to his statistics then Charleroi could be in for a happier looking season.

PRO LEAGUE REVELATIONS 10 BY LUKE HARVEY

10

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Dino Arslanagic

The central defender of Standard Lige was highly impressive this season, nobody would have thought that Dino Arslanagic would have played more than 15 matches this year least of all Arslana-gic himself.

At the club Antonio Kanu and Laurent Ciman were the undisputed central defenders last season but ARSLANAGIC showed this season that they will have to perform at their very best if they want to keep their spot in the starting ele-ven. ARSLANAGIC had to wait until November 3 2013 for his first start of the season where he played against KAA Gent, a match which Standard won 1-0.

Following that match ARSLANAGIC got more chances and produced some impressive performances and Laurent Ciman and ARSLANAGIC became the new central duo of Standard Lige. Guy Luzon probably had enough of Kanu, whos a great defender, but his aggressive playing style makes him a liability. ARSLANAGIC is a young defender who has played for Excelsior Mouscron and Lille OSC be-fore moving to Standards youth academy.

Johan Walem, Belgium U21 coach, is a big fan and predicts a bright future for the youngster. Arslangic already played 11 matches for the Belgian U21 side, which is impressive when you factor in how many matches a player usually plays for the U21 side. The defender is now 21 years old and is eager to become Standards next central defender for the foreseeable future.

Laurent Ciman and Antonio Kanu are respectively 28 and 30 years old, entering the twilight of their careers. Both players still have some years to play but ARSLANAGIC will give them a hard time next season and is undoubtedly the future heart of the Standard defence. Hes a very intelligent de-fender with very accurate passing and a precise tackler. He also reads the game very well for a defender which makes it much easier for his defending midfielder(s).

In a central defending duo you always have a leader and someone who blocks every ball with every little piece of his body if necessary. Dino Arslangic is the first one. Winning the title with Standard Lige would be a great achievement for the youngster but even if his side dont close out the league it will still be a great breakthrough year for him.

In his seventeen starts so far, Standard Lige only lost two matches and conceded just ten goals. He was also responsible for ten clean sheets: some nice statistics for a young defender. Another astonishing stat is that he only takes a yellow card every 382.5 minutes, an impressive feat when you consider his position. A bright future is waiting for this young defender of Bosnian origin. Hopefully for Standard Lige they can still keep him a couple of years, he can still improve here in the Jupiler Pro League and the experience of someone like Laurent Ciman and Jelle Van Damme will only make him a better player.

PRO LEAGUE REVELATIONS 9 BY BJORN DE COCK

9 DINO ARSLANAGICAge : 21Nationality : BelgianContract until : 30.06.2018Current club : Standard LigePosition : Centre Back

STATISTICS :Appearances : 29Assists : 4Yellow cards : 4Minutes : 1,530

30

SEBASTIEN DEWAESTAge : 23Nationality : BelgianContract until : -Current club : RSC CharleroiPosition : Centre Back

STATISTICS :Appearances : 32Goals : 5Yellow cards : 3Minutes : 2,272

Sbastien Dewaest

Before this 2013-2014 season Im sure that a lot of people had never heard from this 23-year old defender. Last season, Sbastien Dewaest was still a second tier player in Belgium where he played for Belgacom League club KSV Roeselare. Sporting Charleroi bought him in April last year and signed him for two years with an option for another two years.

Sbastien DEWAEST is one of the many Belgian players who had left Belgium to join Lille OSC. The French club are famous because of their highly rated youth academy where players can often flourisjh, but Sbastien Dewaest couldnt bring what Lille expected from their youth players and they let him move back to Belgium. DEWAEST needed to find a new club and joined KSV Roeselare in 2011.

His first season he only played a couple of games. His se-cond and third season were much better and he impressed with his over my dead body mentality. Sporting Charleroi has an eye for good defenders and the choice for Sbastien Dewaest was easy for the Carolos.

The central defender didnt play the first five matches for his new club. Since his debut against KRC Genk, after Steeven Willems got injured, he started every single game in the Jupiler Pro League for his team. His move to Spor-ting Charleroi seemed to have turned out very well for the Belgian defender and the club will be happy to have a young defender who can either perform for them long term or they will be able to sell on for profit if the time comes.

Sbastien DEWAEST is not only a typical hard tackling defender but is also very dangerous on set pieces. He has already scored five goals in his debut season with Charleroi, not bad for a centre back and he likes to make war in the

18-yard box of his opponents. Before you start to think hes a brutal defender I can tell you that Dewaest only received three yellow cards after having played 30 matches for Spor-ting Charleroi.

I dont know yet if the central defender is set for a big career in Belgium or Europe but he certainly has the fighting spirit to do everything to achieve that goal. It would be a nice sto-ry for him after Lille OSC didnt think he was good enough for their side. Philippe Albert, Daniel Van Buyten and Dante from Bayern Mnchen showed that Sporting Charleroi is a perfect club to start your career.


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Fernando Canesin

Who was going to win the title this season was unpredictable but what everybody certainly ex-pected was for newly promoted KV Oostende to be relegated immediately after their first year in Belgiums top flight.

During the summer there were even rumours that KV Oostende would sell their license to a new club in Antwerp and that KV Oostendes former president, Yves Lejaeghere, didnt had the finances to run a club in the Jupiler Pro League and was desperately seeking for an investor.

Most of us were surprised when Marc Coucke showed his interest in the newly promoted club, the former pharma-cist has built his empire in that realm and is the owner of the giant Omega Pharma. KV Oostende finally found their wealthy president, who immediately signed some impres-sive players for a newly promoted club: Brazilian midfielder Fernando CANESIN was one of them.

Anderlecht had previously signed the playmaker in 2009 where he made a good impression in the Anderlecht youth team and also had a promising debut season under Aril Jacobs. He didnt play much under Dutch coach John van den Brom and a loan period was the best option for both Anderlecht and CANESIN at the beginning of this season. But nobody expected the talented youngster to join KV Oostende.

CANESIN was that type of player who needed a club who dominated and like most Brazilian players he also needs a lot of confidence from his coach to perform at his best, his feeling of self worth is directly linked to his standard of performances. The first thing was not going to happen with KV Oostende, they just did not have the financial clout or reputation to attract the best players to dominate in the Pro

League, in fact they would go into nearly every match as the underdogs. Yet the second part turned out, surprisingly, very well. Fred Vanderbiest had clearly made CANESIN one of his key players in the squad and the Brazilian thanked him on the pitch with his performances.

CANESIN had a big impact on KV Oostendes good season. The club ended ninth (of sixteen) in the regular competition, a massive achievement for a club with such a small budget. The Coastboys Brazilian star was, together with Franck Berrier, the engine of coach Fred Vanderbiests team with CANESIN the creative hub of KV Oostende.

Some weeks ago KV Oostende bought CANESIN from Anderlecht. Despite the fact that Anderlecht still own 50% of his transfer rights KV Oostende have clearly made a great signing. Fans couldnt believe the news that CANESIN is now officially a KV Oostende player. A great signing for the low budget club and a great opportunity for CANESIN to become a better player in a club where gets a lot of res-ponsibilities.

EREDIVISIE REVELATIONS 7 BY BJORN DE COCK

7 FERNANDO CANESINAge : 22Nationality : BrazilianContract until : -Current club : KV OostendePosition : Attacking Midfielder


34

JULIEN DE SARTAge : 19Nationality : BelgianContract until : 30.06.2019Current club : Standard LigePosition : Goalkeeper

STATISTICS :Appearances : 18Goals : 2Assists : 3Yellow cards : 4Yellow/Red cards : 1Minutes : 2,215

Julien De Sart

Julien De Sart was always a good youth player but nobody thought that he was talented enough to ever make it in Standard Liges first team. Thanks to Israeli coach, Guy Luzon, who rotated a lot in the first half of the season De Sart got his first chances this season to show everybody his potential.

The son of Jean-Franois De Sart, ex Wsportive director of Standard Lige, impressed everybody and showed that he has the qualities to become an important player for the Bel-gian club and proved that it isnt just his family name that has him where he is now.

Johan Walem was also surprised of Julien DE SARTs performances and added him to his Belgium U21 squad. A magical moment for the midfielder. His father had been the Belgium U21 coach for a very long time and by this virtue the younger DE SART had always watched the U21 games from the sideline and it was a dream to wear the Belgium jersey. He had already been capped for younger versions of the Belgium national squad but it is when you make the U21 squad that you become fully aware how limitless your potential might actually be.

DE SART got his first club appearance in Standard Liges league match against Mons on 25th of August. DE SART replaced Yoni Buyens in the 40th minute after the latter got injured and the young midfielder probably had other things in his mind to start the season. His debut ended in relative ignominy as he was sent off in the 83rd minute for picking up two yellow cards. It was hardly the dream debut that he probably had in mind, but Standard won the match 2-0.

After his red card Guy Luzon give the youngster some time to think, it took five games before his coach give him some playing time against Sporting Charleroi. Since that match DE SART has played most of Standard Liges matches showing that Luzon did not rule him out of his future plans based on a less than stellar first impression. Yoni Buyens

and William Vainqueur also had some injury problems but even when both players were fit he didnt had to move to the bench again. For Guy Luzon his two hard working men in his 4-2-4 formation were William Vainqueur and Julien DE SART, the experienced Yoni Buyens had to take a step aside for the 19-year old defensive midfielder which should be praise enough for DE SARTs abilities .

DE SART scored his first goal this season against Mons, the same opponent where he received his red card on his debut. This time young midfielder had a match to remember, scoring an amazing goal from outside the box and ultima-tely DE SART was voted as man of the match. Since then the youngster became one of the fans favourite players and Standard Lige were proud to have another talented youngster out of their own academy and impressing in the first team.

I expected more playing time for Ibrahima Ciss in that position this season but Julien DE SART made a huge step forward this season and got usurped the very talented Ciss in the hierarchy. DE SART works very hard to reach his goals and shows everyone that you need more than only talent to succeed in this game. He will probably never have the same career like Junior Malanda or Michy Batshuayi who are of a similar age and have been courted by some of the continents biggest teams. Yet after what Ive seen this season he could maybe surprise us all in a few years, and regardless, not every player can be a superstar. Teams need those dependable players who will bring them stability when its called for, and Julien DE SART could very well be one of those players for Standard.


6

36

Chancel Mbemba

Chancel Mbemba has had a debut season to re-member for Anderlecht. Regardless of whether or not his side lift title number 33 this season he will always be able to look back at the 2013/14 season as the year he truly arrived.

With Anderlecht having lost Kouyat to West Ham it was im-perative that Anderlecht solved their defensive issues quickly. Since Kouyat has moved into his preferred defensive midfield role it is allowing Chancel MBEMBA to flourish at centre back with Bram Nuytinck and the pair have formed an authoritative partnership, evidenced by their 4-0 demolition of Genk recently.

Like many Belgian based players these days MBEMBA is from Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, which to the learned amongst us will know as a former Belgian colony and thus explains the high proportion of players of Congolese descent within the Pro League. And like many countries on the conti-nent, it suffers from rather lax record keeping when it comes to dates of birth. As such Chancel MBEMBA has come under scrutiny having previously played with a date of birth of 1988 and now playing registered as having a birthday in 1994.

Now this article isnt here to condemn a player, who likely has no control of the situation, for an issue that may or may not be prevalent. No. This article is instead to lay praise on the 19-year-old, which we will take as correct from here on out, for his stellar first season in Belgian football.

Like many young central defenders these days there is a com-mon word that can be used to describe MBEMBA. Power. Most of it raw. Hes a monstrous proposition and incredibly strong, any picture you see of him in action will quickly prove testa-ment to his sheer strength but masks his phenomenal athletic ability. MBEMBA truly looks like the sort of player who, had he not been a footballer, could probably have succeeded in any sporting path he chose such is his all rounded athleticism.

He only arrived at Anderlecht in 2012 from the Congo so his ascension from hopeful prospect to essential player has been nothing short of rapid. One of Anderlechts most important players this season he has on the whole been dominant and re-liable in his centre back role and as such has made a health 38 total appearances this season the vast majority of them as a starter, and in matches he didnt start he was often brought on as a substitute showing how relied upon he was by former coach John van den Brom and former assistant and now cur-rently head coach Besnik Hasi.That MBEMBA has come from a difficult background and a much lower level of footballing ability it would seem likely that

it would take MBEMBA some time to adapt but there were no such dramas. He slotted into the team like he had been in this high pressure environment his entire life and lived up to the An-derlecht fans lofty expectations. Like any 19-year-old playing in a demanding position in the centre of a team he is prone to ups and downs but no matter how many times his rollercoaster ride takes a dip he is always ready to put things right.

Towards the tail end of the season his performances had begun to take a dip after his initially faultless performances, perhaps a sign of weariness showing through after a long first season but it is one of several highs as well. Chancel MBEMBA has scored four goals for the club in the domestic league, and scoring against Standard Lige and Genk in previous encoun-ters shows he is as evident in the big games as the not so big games.

Perhaps his greatest moment in an Anderlecht shirt came 18 minutes into his Champions League match with Benfica at the Stade Constant Vanden Stock. He chested down an NSa-kala pass on the edge of the area, a major whiff of handball going undetected by the referee, and then poked the ball past the onrushing Artur Moraes with a calmness even the most ruthless striker may not have possessed. His lowest moment perhaps followed just after half time when he inadvertently scored an own goal to put Benfica 2-1 up such is the cruel nature of football.

Benfica have since gone on to cement a place in the Euro-pa League final, Olympiakos were narrowly knocked out by Manchester United, PSG unfortunate to lose out to Chelsea and thus Anderlecht were never likely candidates to escape their group. But MBEMBA did feature five times, showing the trust and faith placed in him by his team.

Already capped for his national team four times MBEMBA is crossing achievements off his list with increasing speed. A league title may be on the horizon this season and if it is that would be another target achieved. It may be that MBEMBA starts to outgrow Anderlecht at a quicker pace than expected if his performances continue to dazzle like they have so far this season, and it may only be a matter of time before more repu-table clubs with higher expectations and higher bank balances give his agent a call.

JUPILER PRO LEAGUE REVELATIONS 5 BY LUKE HARVEY

5

CHANCEL MBEMBAAge : 19Nationality : BelgianContract until : 30.06.2017Current club : RSC AnderlechtPosition : Centre Back


38

BJORN ENGELSAge : 19Nationality : BelgianContract until : 30.06.2017Current club : Club Brugge KVPosition : Centre Back

STATISTICS :Appearances : 35Goals : 5Assists : 2Yellow cards : 7Red card : 1Minutes : 2,937

Bjrn Engels got his first minutes of his football career from Georges Leekens, the former Bel-gium national coach. Club Brugge were losing 2-0 against Bordeaux in the Europa League and Leekens thought it was time to bring in a youngs-ter and give them some game time in a pressure situation.

Perhaps it wasnt Leekens smartest decision as ENGELS was unlucky and ended up scoring an own goal. We wouldnt see ENGELS start a game again that season.

Lately Club Brugge have been the only top club in Belgium who havent produced a lot of their own youth talents from their academy. Anderlecht, Standard Lige and Racing Genk are all famous for their youth academies in Europe, in fact they are vital for the teams survival. Club Brugge felt that they urgently needed to rectify their philosophy, and so club president Bart Verhaeghe has two main goals, firstly to build a new stadium and secondly, improve Club Brugges youth system, on top of winning prizes of course.

This season Club Brugge played with one of the youngest defending lines of all teams in the Pro League: goalkeeper Mathew Ryan, Thomas Meunier, Brandon Mechele, Bjrn ENGELS and Laurens De Bock. All of them talented youngs-ters who have made a good impression this season. Ryan and ENGELS in particular can look back at a great individual season.

Up until 2006 ENGELS played for Sporting Lokeren and it was there that Club Brugge spotted his talent and asked him to move to their youth academy. Today we all know ENGELS as a purely central defender but he was more of an attacking player in his younger years and transformed from an attacker to a defender during his youth. This process made him a complete defender, not only is he developed in his defensive skills where he anticipates the game very well but he knows how an attacker thinks from his time playing those positions. In addition to his great reading of the game ENGELS also possesses a good header, great tackling skills and manages to scores from time to time.

The defender got his first minutes this season against KV Oostende. ENGELS had an immediate impact on his team after scoring a header against the team known as the Coastboys, and his side went on to win the game 2-1. Michel Preudhomme believed in ENGELS and would make him the leader of his defence despite his young age. Already played more than 2800 minutes this season and scoring 4 goals in the Jupiler Pro League ENGELS has taken just seven yellow cards and one red card.

Club Brugge have heavily relied on the central pairing of their aforementioned young defensive line. Brandon Mechele and ENGELS have done a great job and coach Preudhomme always had the intention to continue with the two youngsters. Due to some injury problems both Mechele and ENGELS have missed some games which is to expec-ted from a long season, and it was during their absence that their team came to miss their presence, Oscar Duarte and Timmy Simons were only ever a temporary solution.

U21 coach Johan Walem was so impressed by the central defenders performances and called him up for the squad. Together with centre back team mate Brandon Mechele he had the chance to play against the best youngsters in Europe. Walem is a big fan of Club Brugges central duo and finds theyre very mature for their age. Both players, to-gether with Dino Arslanagic, have a big chance to for a spot in Marc Wilmots Belgian national squad.Club Brugge ended third this season which is enough for a Europa League berth. ENGELS will have a chance to show that his own goal against Bordeaux was only an accident de parcours or an unlucky change from coach Georges Leekens.

For ENGELS he definitely seems like a player who could become the leader of Club Brugge over the next years, the 19-years old defender is very mature for his age and certainly seems to have it in him to lead his team to beau-tiful things. Club Brugges Australian goalkeeper Mathew Ryan already said that he feels very comfortable when Bjrn ENGELS plays and while the experienced Timmy Simons is the currently captain of Club Brugge, I have the feeling that Bjrn ENGELS could possibly take over his role next season.

JUPILER PRO LEAGUE REVELATIONS 4 BY BJORN DE COCK

4

Bjrn Engels

40

Last season Alexander Scholz already tasted a bit of the Jupiler Pro League with Sporting Lokeren, showing some promising things but this season was definitely his breakthrough year.

Sporting Lokeren coach Peter Maes started the Danish defender in 36 of his 40 league matches, proving just how vital SCHOLZ has become to the Lokeren defence this season. SCHOLZ is a stylish defender whose first duty is to protect his goalkeeper and ensure a clean sheet is kept, but while his defending skills are considerable, SCHOLZ is also very dangerous in the opponents eighteen yard box. He may only have scored one goal himself this season but he contri-buted in the build up to several more goals and his presence when coming forward is undoubted.

The Dane has an excellent disciplinary record, especially considering his position. He only recieved three yellow cards during the entire season and not a single red card, which shows not only how well he can time his tackles when needed but also how he gets his head down and plays the game, rather than shouting at the referee over decisions. The 22-year-old is known for his secure defending skills, you will never see him make an aggressive tackle and ins-tead he always tries to be one step ahead of the opponents attackers, reading the game and looking to cut out a key pass before it can do any damage. This combined with his accurate distribution of the ball makes him one of the best defenders of the Jupiler Pro League.

SCHOLZs life story is rather interesting. Some years ago the central defender stopped playing professional football unsure if a football career was really a dream for him. He travelled the world so he could clear his mind and decide what he wanted to do with his life. Having missed football greatly when he returned from his backpacking he realised it was what he wanted to do long term and decided to pursue his dream. Something we are all grateful for. Peter Maes, coach of Sporting Lokeren, started the season with SCHOLZ at leftback. Mijat Maric and Jeremy Taravel formed the central duo but the 21-year-old shone thanks to his versatility.

In December 2013, Taravel tweeted that he would leave Lo-keren for Dinamo Zagreb and SCHOLZ had already showed his potential as a central defender when either of the starting duo were injured. Peter Maes was confident that SCHOLZ was ready to take over Taravels role at the back. Alexander SCHOLZ is a very solid defender. He also tries to infiltrate from time to time which makes him unpredictable for the opponents. Hes dribbles very well for a defender and his passing is excellent. You wont find many more with his capaci-ties here in Belgium, he told Sporting Telenet.

SCHOLZs highlight this season was the final of the Cofidis Cup against Zulte Waregem. Sporting Lokeren won the Cup after beating Zulte Waregem 1-0 and it was a SCHOLZ goal that separated the two teams, scoring with both his shoul-der and ear. There are already some Belgian clubs linked with SCHOLZ. Both Anderlecht and Racing Genk are eager to sign the central defender. Anderlecht would like him to replace Cheikhou Kouyat and Racing Genk need a new central defender after Napoli bought Kalidou Koulibaly so there is serious interest there from reputable teams with the finances to back it up.

The former Danish youth international started his profes-sional career in his own country with second tier Velje BK. He made his first appearance in 2010 and then moved to Iceland in 2012 to play for UMF Stjarnan. Sporting Lokeren scouted him that season and bought the defender in 2013 when they had some injuries at the back. Today, May 20th 2014, hes one of the best defenders in Belgium. It will only be a matter of time before SCHOLZ makes his first Danish international appearance having already played for the underage teams. Both Bjrn Engels and Alexander SCHOLZ deserved this third place but weve chosen SCHOLZ be-cause he had a similar season to Engels but with a club with a much smaller budget. SCHOLZ probably had more difficult situations to cope with as Bjrn Engels but I wouldnt dare to say who has the biggest potential. One thing is sure, the two have a bright future ahead of them.

JUPILER PRO LEAGUE REVELATIONS 3 BY BJORN DE COCK

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Danish defender Alexander Scholz

ALEXANDER SCHOLZAge : 21Nationality : DanishContract until : 30.06.2016Current club : KSC LokerenPosition : Centre Back


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YOURI TIELEMANSAge : 17Nationality : BelgianContract until : 30.06.2016Current club : RSC AnderlechtPosition : Defensive Midfielder


Sensation Youri Tielemans

Youri Tielemans rise from a promising youngster in the Anderlecht youth team to an indispensable part of the senior teams midfield has been remarkable. His aura on the pitch is so great that when this vital cog is missing from the An-derlecht midfield, the whole thing can break down.

From the moment he made his debut in the Pro League against Lokeren at the start of this season you could tell there was something special about this player. Keen fans would have known about him earlier, but the rest of the world didnt take long in waking up to TIE-LEMANS undoubted talent.

One of TIELEMANS biggest assets seems to be his ability to drift in and out of space at will. Like a trequartista will find space between the opponents defence and midfield, TIELEMANS seems able to find the space there as well as between the opponents midfield and attack lines. He reads the game well, sees where he is needed and always looks like he wants the ball like any good central midfielder should. Hes also the delivery man between the defensive section of the team spearheaded by Cheikhou Kouyat and the more attack minded area of the team, hes a ball courier who links the team together like a fine thread and this is why hes such an integral part of the Anderlecht eleven.

Before TIELEMANS it was mostly Sacha Kljestan in that role for An-derlecht. Now the United States midfielder is undoubtedly a talented player and could probably forge a starting role in one of the bigger leagues in Europe albeit with a bottom-half side, but when you have a proposition as exciting as TIELEMANS in your squad it would be wise to play him. True, the pair have often featured together in the league this season but with Chancel Mbemba, our number five in this top ten countdown, forging a brilliant partnership with Bram Nuytinck and allowing Kouyat into his former midfield position it has gradually squeezed Kljestan out of the squad. The affable American may now be off to Genk.

As we have often seen in the past, burnout can be a major problem for players given their head at such a young age. TIELEMANS is a fragile and precocious youngster of the most delicate kind and overplaying him is not the way to make him comfortable within the squad. I think it was a real danger that former coach John van den Brom may have given the player his first minutes of senior football but similarly, like Dennis Praet and Massimo Bruno previously, was on the borderline of possibly giving TIELEMANS too much, too soon.

As it transpires Besnik Hasi was the man to guide Anderlecht to the title. TIELEMANS has already played in the Champions League and won a Belgian league title all by the age of 17. A frightening prospect when you compare that to what you or I were probably doing on our 17th birthday. Its even more frightening to think that he was born after Tony Blair became the UKs Prime Minister. That TIELEMANS is the

future of Belgian football seems pretty obvious, or as much the future of a sport as you can be when the country is fast producing creative central midfielders of his ilk at a rate of knots.Is TIELEMANS the future of Anderlecht, though? Well its unlikely. Weve written here before about Youri TIELEMANS and how he is walking in the footsteps of Vincent Kompany and that is true, TIE-LEMANS parents seem adamant that their son will finish is education in the country before making a move abroad to a bigger club. That means it is likely he will remain with the club for one more season while he finishes his education before Europes elite make their undoubted interest concrete even if Borussia Dortmund are already preparing a big-money bid. He could, you think, walk into nearly any team and force his way into the starting eleven relative early. That he is Anderlechts greatest talent for a while would probably be unders-tating it, he will undoubtedly be compared to fellow Belgian players such as Charly Musonda Jr., or Thorgan Hazard amongst others but TIELEMANS really does have it all and his price tag will be a clear reflection of his abilities.

It seems the best Anderlecht can hope for is one more amazing season from their gem before selling him for a massive profit. And Anderlecht will be okay with that. Every team in Belgium, even the biggest, know how the game works and once TIELEMANS flies the nest it will be onto the next talented player to shape and mould before selling on for a massive profit again, such is the life of a Belgian football club. So what can you expect from TIELEMANS? Hes a future leader you feel. I say a future leader but as Besnik Hasi explained on VRT show Extra Time, he is already exhibiting leadership qualities among many others.TIELEMANS will become even better. Players who come from the youth teams often have problems with their positioning when they lose the ball and Youri needs to be more aware of what is behind him. He can only de-velop though. He is also well protected by his parents and coaches. Com-pared to (Lucas) Biglia, Youri has a better long-range pass. He is also more talkative in the dressing room. Youri is not shy of opening his mouth.When the team needs to raise their performance he can nearly always be counted on to find that defence shattering pass after dropping into space that seemingly didnt exist moments earlier. He wont pull the rest of the team up by their bootstraps and carry them all on his back, its more a case of him helping each man up individually, dusting them down and whispering some encouraging words before sending them on their way with a pat on the back. While his character may not seem as tenacious you can see a sense of influence about the way he plays. How he would stand over set pieces earlier in the season, aged just 16, as if he was born with a ball at his feet and that it was birthright to take set pieces for the most successful club in Belgium.

When TIELEMANS does hit the ground in Europe youll know about it. And itll be tempting to cast him as another Belgian player set to show how good they are at creating youth players, but theres a different feeling about TIELEMANS. He just feels a little bit special.

JUPILER PRO LEAGUE REVELATIONS 2 BY LUKE HARVEY

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Every season in Belgium even the biggest and best teams have to shuffle their deck constantly, the best players are snapped up by bigger teams and so everybody down the food chain needs to read-just accordingly.

So to be voted the biggest revelation in the Belgian Pro League is a big deal. To have beaten the likes of Alexander Scholz and Youri Tielemans to the prize after the mammoth seasons they have had is fantastic, so congratulations to BeNeFoots number one Belgian revelation of the 2013/14 season Hans VANAKEN.

What VANAKEN brings to the party is seemingly what every young Belgian star is doing right now. Hes flourishing in the number ten role on the pitch, dropping into the spaces between the oppositions defence and midfield and he guile to find the openings when they present themselves. The influx of Belgian players who all adapt in the same role can only be the years and years of training as youngsters where they are encouraged to play with the ball at their feet, create neat passing triangles and looking for the open man.

VANAKEN seems to be the whole package for Lokeren and was a major reason for their success in the Cofidis Cup, which they won this season. It was the 21-year-olds first taste of silverware after finishing runners up in the second division with previous club Lommel United and you figure it may not be his last. To say Lokeren have thrown their attacking maestro in at the deep end is an understatement, VANAKEN has started 46 matches for the side this season in both the league and cup and doesnt seem fatigued one iota it must be his youth.

His rise to prominence this season caught many by surprise only those who followed Belgiums lower leagues would have caught a glimpse of VANAKEN. Originally learning his craft alongside many other Belgian prospects at PSVs youth acade-my, VANAKEN returned to home soil join second tier side Lom-mel United, featuring alongside his older brother Sam. It was clear that the younger sibling was above this level, excelling in his last two seasons scoring 10 goals in each campaign for Lommel. His consistently excellent performances caught the eye of Lokeren boss Peter Maes in 2013. Maes, who had played at Lommel alongside Hans father Vital, had seen enough to warrant bringing VANAKEN to the Tricolores.

Given the reasonable step-up in quality between the first and second tier in Belgium, you could forgive VANAKEN for taking time to adjust to new surroundings. His league debut for Lo-keren came against the reigning champions Anderlecht at the Constant Vanden Stock. Some youngsters would be overawed by the challenge laid down in front of them. However this No. 10 had other ideas, causing panic for the Anderlecht defence

with his cultured feet. VANAKEN headed in the opener just 20 minutes in, combining with fellow Lokeren newcomer Jordan Remacle to stun the home faithful. He gave Lokeren the lead a second time with a fierce half-volley, helping Maes side to a memorable opening day win over Paars-wit.

Making his inaugural appearance even more impressive was the fact that he had stitches in his foot on the day, caused by stubbing a toe on stone with flip-flops.

VANAKENs double set the tone for Lokerens season, scoring 11 times in 44 appearances for the club in his rookie year. The calibre of opposition he found the net against is also impressive Anderlecht and Genk numerous times, as well as Standard and Zulte Waregem. His presence arguably aided Lokerens Tunisian front man Hamdi Harbaoui on his way to the Golden Boot in Belgium, playing in great final passes for him and many others. His distribution is second to none, something which was overlooked on his debut due to the arrival of Youri Tielemans on the field, a fellow revelation of the season.

Former coach Franky van der Elst didnt take long to heap plenty of praise on VANAKEN after this game, stating it was no surprise to him that hed made such a quick impression. Just not that quick.He is physically strong, has good vision and when you see his technical ability in terms of his movement and his shooting, it really cant be faulted, the former Belgian international said. Ne-vertheless, the speed with which he has made the position his own has surprised me a little.

VANAKENs stellar contribution to Lokerens season was acknowledged with his nomination for Player of the Year. Though he lost out to Zulte Waregems Thorgan Hazard, VANAKEN can claim his first foray in the Jupiler Pro League has been a rousing success. His international career is in rude health also, with a solid appearance for Johan Walems U21 side against Israel.

Its no surprise to see other suitors swarming, with rumours of Club Brugge closing on a 5m deal for him. Peter Maes hopes VANAKEN will stay put for a while, hinting at club stability but Club Brugge and Michel Preudhomme look set to break open the coffers to land their target, after another championship near miss. Its a story that could run and run for much of the summer.

VANAKEN wouldnt look out of place at either team next season competition for places at Club Brugge shouldnt him back. Lokeren does feel like a stepping stone to something greater in the long-run for VANAKEN his ability with either foot, his creativity and goalscoring from midfield should see him beco-me one of Belgiums brightest stars in seasons to come.

JUPILER PRO LEAGUE REVELATIONS 1 BY CHRIS MAYER

1Hans Vanaken

HANS VANAKENAge : 21Nationality : BelgianContract until : 30.06.2016Current club : KSC LokerenPosition : Attacking Midfielder


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