Ajax beat SC Heerenveen 1-0 in the first round of the Dutch Eredivisie on August 12th. This marked Van Persie’s first game as manager of Heerenveen, which ended in a loss.
Ajax secured victory thanks to a goal from Christian Herlingsson just before the end of the first half. Ajax dominated the match, having an xG of 1.01, with 12 shots, 4 on target, and 5 corner kicks.
Heerenveen’s only statistic surpassing Ajax was possession (52%), but they had an xG of just 0.17, with 7 shots, 2 on target.
In a post-match interview, Van Persie stated that his team could have done better. “Based on the entire match, we could have done more. In the first half, we created a few chances, we wanted one of them to go in to boost the confidence. In the second half, you could see our intentions, but we didn’t really create any chances.”
Van Persie did not promise victories in every match but expressed his desire for the team to maintain the intensity displayed against Ajax. “Next week we will be going for it against Utrecht, playing like this. I can’t guarantee that we will win every game, but in terms of intensity and level, I think this is the football we should be playing, every week we will be displaying it.”
Van Persie signed a two-year contract with Heerenveen this summer. Previously, he served as assistant coach and youth coach at Feyenoord.
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