Vitesse Arnhem

On-loan Vitesse Arnhem star Christian Atsu has revealed his desire to remain with the Eredivisie club next season.

As per BBC Sport, the 22-year-old joined Chelsea from Porto in 2013 on a five-year deal for a fee of £3.5 million. However, the Ghanaian was quickly shipped out to Vitesse Arnhem on a season-long loan in order to gain first-team football.

It is a decision that has certainly helped the midfielder’s personal development within the game. As reported by Umar-Farouk Atipaga of Goal.com, Atsu was named Vitesse’s Player of the Year last week—in spite of the fact he didn’t join the Dutch club until October.

Atsu has been one of the brightest sparks in the Eredivisie this season, claiming five goals and six assists (via Whoscored.com) in 25 appearances—of which the majority came from midfield. The young star's fine displays have seen him garner vast amounts of praise from across Europe, with Goal.com’s Edmund Okai Gyimah claiming that Serie A side Fiorentina are amongst those interested in the Chelsea man.

However, according to Michael Bell of Football Oranje, Atsu has declared his willingness to remain in Holland for at least another season.

The Chelsea man told Voetbal International, via Bell:

Here, I get the chance to develop myself and at Vitesse we play an attacking system. Suppose I move to a bigger club and am placed on the bench or I move to a team that plays counter-attacking football, that would leave me feeling like I am going to the office and taking a nap on my desk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTGpDa-raQU

Atsu is one of four Chelsea players currently on loan at Vitesse, alongside fellow youngsters Bertrand Traore, Patrick van Aanholt and Lucas Piazon. The close links between the English and Dutch clubs have been a hot topic in recent weeks, with the Dutch FA opening an investigation into the details of that partnership.

Regardless of those issues off the pitch, though, Atsu has been colossal on it for Vitesse this season; his return would certainly be welcomed by everyone at the GelreDome.

Would Atsu be wise to remain at Vitesse? Post your thoughts below.

Premier League club Swansea City are believed to be considering the possibility of signing Vitesse's Renato Ibarra.

The 17-cap Ecuadorian midfielder has been strongly linked with the Welsh club for some time, and it appears that Garry Monk's side is giving serious thought into a potential summer acquisition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvLI5gKwuss

According to Gerrit van Leeuwen of Sky Sports, the Eredivisie club is unaware of any interest from Swansea. However, with the 23-year-old's contract set to expire this summer, that won't stop the speculation of a possible move to the Liberty Stadium.

The Ambuqui-born winger joined Vitesse from El Nacional in 2011 and has been a major success at the GelreDome. In his three seasons in Arnhem, Ibarra has scored eight goals but is predominantly known for his exciting wing play—particularly his strong dribbling and crossing abilities—and has played a major part in the success of Peter Bosz's side.

Last season, the Ecuadorian's performances were a key asset to striker Wilfried Bony. The 6'0" Ivorian returned an incredible 31 goals in 30 Eredivisie appearances, partly thanks to the service of Ibarra, and was rewarded with a £12 million switch to Swansea last summer. The reunited pair could potentially terrorise Premier League defences next year should the winger follow his former teammate to South Wales.

The South Wales Evening Post has already reported that Monk recently sent scouts to watch Ibarra in action and is ready to offer him a contract (assuming the Swans retain their Premier League status).

Ibarra is unlikely to extend his stay in Holland and is almost certain to quit Vitesse this season. The fact he can leave on a free transfer will make him an attractive proposition to a host of clubs across Europe. Following the success of Bony, it wouldn't be a surprise if his next destination does turn out to be in South Wales.

Would Ibarra be a hit at the Liberty Stadium? Post your thoughts below.

Another exciting weekend of Eredivisie action kicks off on Friday night as PSV entertain Heracles; however, the pick of the action comes undoubtedly comes from De Grolsch Veste as Vitesse make the trip to FC Twente.

With 11 games remaining, the Eredivisie season is hitting crunch time, and for these two the stakes of Saturday's clash counter be higher. By full-time at least one of these clubs will effectively be ruled out of the title race.

In truth, even the winner will face an uphill battle if they want to dethrone Ajax—who lead FC Twente by four points, whilst Vitesse trail by a further point in fourth—but it's safe to say that whoever loses would need a miraculous turn around to lift the trophy in May.

For Michel Jansen's Twente, dropped points at Groningen in midweek mean that this is a game that they simply cannot lose. However, should they cut the champions' lead to just a solitary point, then the Amsterdam giants will feel the pressure heading into their equally difficult match against Heerenveen on Sunday. On the other hand, should Ajax win and FC Twente lose, then the 2010 winners are gone.

As for Vitesse, the Arnhem club is in dire need of a big result following a succession of poor performances since the winter break. Three points from a possible 12 has left Peter Bosz's side on the very edge, and if they cannot record a positive scoreline at De Grolsch Veste, then they too would see their dream ended.

The weekend's big winners could be third-placed Feyenoord, who travel to 10th-placed NAC Breda on Sunday. With the four teams directly around them all facing one another, points are going to be dropped so three points for Ronald Koeman's men would provide a big boost as they close in on a Champions League spot.

With only the top two qualifying for Europe's elite competition, sustaining good form is essential for every club involved.

At the other end of the table, the clash between Roda and Den Haag could be crucial in deciding which club is condemned to automatic relegation and which two will fight for survival in the dreaded play-offs.

Having stayed up via the end-of-season tournament last season, Jon Dahl Tomasson's Koempels will be particularly wary. The Danish legend took charge of Roda on Boxing Day; a win on Saturday would go a long way to securing their Eredivisie status next year.

The number of twists in recent weeks has ensured that this season heads toward a fascinating conclusion. You wouldn't want to predict the outcome of this weekend's action, but it should be another cracker. Game on!

On Friday night, Frank de Boer’s Ajax took another step towards a fourth successive Eredivisie title without even kicking a ball—thanks to the latest slip-up from rivals Vitesse.

Having already lost 2-0 at home to AZ on Tuesday, the Arnhem-based outfit fired another blank as they were held to a goalless draw by rock bottom Den Haag. After a dreadful week for Peter Bosz's side, Vitesse’s title challenge is quickly evaporating.

In truth, the stalemate with Den Haag is just the latest disappointment for a Vitesse side who have crumbled since the winter break.

Prior to that month break, Vitesse were going strong and posed a genuine threat to champions Ajax; when they started 2014 with a 2-1 victory away at Zwolle, Vitas fans began to believe that this could finally be their year.

At that stage, Bosz’s side had 40 points from 19 games and sat level on points with leaders Ajax. However, a streak of four winless matches since then has left Vitesse on the brink of seeing their title dreams evaporate once again.

The rot began with January 26th’s hugely disappointing 1-1 draw with local rivals NEC, which allowed de Boer’s Ajax to open up a two-point gap at the summit.

Further ground was surrendered just five days later, although this time a 1-1 away at Feyenoord signalled a relatively satisfactory night’s work for the Arnhem-based title hopefuls.

However, last week’s return of just one point from two home games—including one against Eredivisie’s worst team—has left Vitesse with almost no chance of claiming a first league title.

Equally worrying is the lack of goals in recent weeks.

Lucas Piazon’s 11 league goals is a decent return at this stage of the season, but it doesn’t even come close to Wilfried Bony’s 31 strikes during 2012/13. What Vitesse have done well, though, is to find goals from various sources all over the park, which arguably makes the pitiful two goals in four matches an even greater cause for concern.

Should Ajax and Twente win their respective weekend encounters, Vitesse will end the weekend seven points adrift of Ajax and three behind Twente—who will also have a game in hand.

Whilst that total won’t quite be considered unassailable, it is hard to see where both teams will drop enough points to allow Vitas back into the title race.

Especially as only 11 games remain.

Whatever happens, Vitesse should at least qualify for a Europa League spot by equalling last year’s 4^th placed finish. However, for a team that were favored for such long periods of this campaign, it will be a tragedy if they cannot at least secure a Champions League berth.

Bosz will still be hopeful of becoming the first coach to bring the Eredivisie title to GelreDome, but following a simply catastrophic week for the Arnhem side, he may need a miracle for that dream to become reality.

Then again, stranger things have happened.

It's only a matter of time before Wilfried Bony leaves the GelreDome and takes the next step in his footballing career.

The Vitesse striker has been rumored to a number of clubs, most recently Newcastle (h/t Alex Hankin of the Daily Mirror) and various Russian clubs (h/t Sky Sports). Nothing came to fruition, so Bony is left to finish out the season in the Eredivisie.

Vitesse should consider itself quite lucky as well. The club is pushing for a Champions League place and losing Bony would have crippled that campaign. He's been in scintillating form this season, scoring 24 goals in 23 matches. When looking at the biggest leagues across Europe, only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have more, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic tied.

With Bony on the radar of many clubs across Europe, it's only appropriate to break down exactly what kind of player he is and whether or not he can succeed in a better league.

The Eredivisie Bump

Bony would be far from the first player ever to look great in the Eredivisie, scoring bunches of goals, only to flop upon moving to a different league. The lack of defensive quality means that good finishers can run roughshod over opposing back fours.

Bas Dost scored 32 goals for SC Heerenveen last season and earned himself a move to Wolfsburg. In 23 Bundesliga matches, Dost has only managed eight goals. Luuk de Jong has similarly struggled in the German league, but injuries have helped to curtail part of his 2012/13 season.

For every Luis Suarez, there's at least two like Afonso Alves, who was a massive flop upon moving to Middlesbrough in 2008.

In terms of Bony, you have to wonder how much of his numbers are based on playing against inferior competition. In addition, the Ivorian has already doubled his output from last season at Vitesse. Prior to this year, the most goals Bony scored in one league season was 13, which he scored across both the Czech and Dutch first divisions.

Dutch football blog 11tegen11 had an interesting post speculating that if Bony were a professional cyclist, people would claim some form of performance-enhancing drug was being used. The article doesn't try to argue that Bony is taking PEDs, but rather that his numbers would be questioned much more heavily if viewed in a different context.

Playing Style

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKWodin3QOk

The best comparison one could make about Bony in terms of style is Radamel Falcao. While Bony is nowhere near El Tigre in terms of quality, their playing styles are similar.

Both are compact, physical strikers who always find themselves around the ball. Neither are exceptionally quick, but their strength allows them to bully defenders around. They're also very good headers of the ball. Falcao and Bony are both deployed as poachers near the penalty area.

Bony's ball skills are good, but he's not going to dazzle with his darting runs through the defence. Additionally, he really benefits from having time on the ball. A move to the Premier League could really prove problematic because Bony's not extremely gifted technically. The time on the ball he gets in the Eredivisie would be halved in England.

His strength is great for the Dutch first division. He can easily outmaneuver and outwork opposing back fours. Should he come up against more organized, stronger centre-backs, he'll likely run into trouble.

Another of Bony's strongest assets is his awareness. As a goalscorer, he's been exceptional with Vitesse at finding spaces in the defence and exploiting them, creating scoring chances for himself. Much more skilled defenders wouldn't allow him that space, though. They would mark him much more tightly.

When you combine it all together, you have a great striker in the Eredivisie, but one whose skills might limit him in more competitive leagues.

Conclusion

It's not blind luck that has netted Bony 24 goals. He is a good footballer but far from world class. Anybody referring to Bony as world class at this stage is absolutely nuts. The striker can be a very dependable finisher down the road, but he needs to make the right choice as to which club he moves to next. Making a wrong step can seriously curtail his potential.

Unlike Falcao, you have to question exactly where Bony's ceiling is. He doesn't have thrilling Europa League campaigns that have illustrated his skill against tougher opposition. And unlike Suarez prior to his Liverpool move, Bony's lacked transcendent performances internationally.

Bony's goal numbers are massively inflated by him being the main attacking threat at Vitesse. The second-leading goalscorer on the club is Jonathan Reis, who has seven. If Bony's only scoring 15-18 goals at this point, he's not getting anywhere near the kind of attention he currently commands.

Fans and clubs alike shouldn't expect this guy to hit the ground running as soon as he moves, especially should he move to the Premier League. A fee in the £10 million range is probably the best price at this point. Anything above that is overpaying for an unproven striker.

Bony can easily grow into a fantastic finisher capable of scoring in any league. On the other hand, you can just as easily see him ending up in the nether reaches of the footballing world after flopping on a big-time move this summer.

You can follow me on Twitter @JZuckYNWA.

IMScouting’s latest Player to Watch is “the future Oranje number one” Piet Velthuizen.

Piet Velthuizen has emerged as one of the major Dutch talents in the last two years and undoubtedly the hottest young goalkeeper in Holland.

The 22-year-old, 6'2" custodian, joined Vitesse Arnhem in 1999 and made his breakthrough into the first team during the 2006/2007 season. Vitesse were quick to tie him down to a long contract as soon as he established himself as the club’s number one and he has a contract until 2010/2011.

According to IMScouting, Velthuizen’s market value is €4,000K. Numerous scouts in the Netherlands have confirmed he is a top keeper who is tipped by many to be the future Dutch number one.

Velthuizen can appear a little slow but he has fantastic reflexes, he has been accused of making showy saves, playing to the cameras, but this can be normal for a keeper his age. Physically and mentally he’s very strong, passionate and works very hard at training as he is convinced that every detail will improve his game. He has been described as a fanatic who is always aiming to improve.

The Dutch press have been talking him up over the past few seasons but he is level headed. In response to the praise he said: “Even when folk are saying good things about me, it doesn’t matter as I still want to continually become better because I’m a perfectionist. I don’t want to be just a top keeper, I want to be the world’s best. And if you want to achieve that then you should never be content.”

This season, he is being worked extremely hard as Vitesse Arnhem are second bottom of the Eredivisie, Velthuizen has been offered very little protection and on a number of occasions this season he has kept his team in games or limited the damage.

The overriding sentiment from scouts in Dutch football is that Velthuizen is certainly good enough to become the national keeper. Like many Dutch goalkeepers, for example Edwin Van der Sar, Velthuizen is also good with the ball at his feet. He has not been afflicted by a major injury in his career so far and has great confidence in his own abilities which can be a crucial virtue for a goalkeeper.

Last season he really announced himself to Dutch football and he was voted the goalkeeper of the year in the Eredivisie. This has of course led to interest from a number of major clubs. Feyenoord have been linked with this promising goalkeeper and scouts from Arsenal reportedly watched the custodian in Vitesse’s 2-2 draw with Ajax in January 2008.

Velthuizen has received international recognition for his performances at club level. He played four times for the Under-23 Dutch national team, letting in just one goal. The young custodian has also come close to full international recognition as he sat on the bench for the friendly in Austria in March 2008. And he was included in the Holland B squad for the recent game against Sweden.

This week, Edwin Van der Sar pinpointed Velthuizen as one of the young Dutch goalkeepers who can cement their place as the Dutch number one. National team coach Bert van Marwijk has a number of keepers to choose from including Maarten Stekelenburg and Kenneth Vermeer.

The competition may be fierce, but Piet Velthuizen seems ready to claim Holland’s number one shirt, if he can keep Vitesse Arnhem in the Eredivisie this season and continue his consistent form he can look forward to playing abroad and representing his country on a regular basis.

Video evidence of Piet Velthuizen in action can be seen here.