1: Goals, goals, goals!
We always knew that the Eredivisie was an entertaining league, but has it reached new heights?
Last weekend was an absolute goal-fest, with the final tally of 43 goals making an average of 4.7 goals per game. Bonkers numbers, but also bonkers goals. What about Lequincio Zeefuik delivering two fantastic goals, one from a solo assist and one from a lob, AZ's Mateo Chavez and Ro-Zangelo Daal's beauties against Go Ahead Eagles, PSV's masterclass against FC Utrecht, ADO Den Haag's Sekou Sylla's shocking 2-0 against Feyenoord, and Twente's pair of pearlers against Cambuur.
After four rounds, the Eredivisie is on a historic trajectory. Everyone scores, and it shows - since five teams kept clean sheets in round 1, there have been just three total clean sheets since (AZ and PEC Zwolle in round 3, Ajax in round 4).
2: Ajax's lessons
Last season was one to quickly forget for Ajax, but they look to be on the right path again. Michel Sanchez has the Amsterdam giants playing attractive football, with Ajax scoring at least twice in every game so far this season, though they lack defensive awareness at times, conceding 12 goals in nine games.
The upward trajectory saw Ajax keep their second clean sheet of the season against Telstar and finally break a bleak old tradition: entering the second half on the back foot. Ajax were often caught coming out of the dressing room without much bravado or awareness, conceding 10 goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half. That's about a quarter of their 41 conceded goals in the Eredivisie.
Across all competitions, Ajax conceded 18 goals in just the first 15 minutes of the second half, while scoring just 14. Now, though, they've absolutely turned it around - in 9 games this season, Ajax have scored 8 goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half, while conceding none. They added two goals in that timeframe again against Telstar. Good signs.
3: Signs of life and worry
Now onto bad signs, starting with those coming from Utrecht. Anthony Correia has not got his team playing the way he wants to yet, I'm sure, but Sunday's showing against PSV was appalling. Everything about it was dire, as these metrics show.
Nothing seems to click right now. Utrecht showed nothing after scoring in the 6th minute, which was their only shot of the entire game. They just invited pressure from PSV, who even admitted that they piled everything onto FC Utrecht once they noticed them breaking down in the second half: "If an opponent breaks at some point, it’s often a free-for-all up front. That’s the moment when the opponent breaks and takes risks. You then get space up front," Guus Til told ESPN.
Another worrying sight is how much trouble Cambuur has with the level of the Eredivisie. They're currently nothing more than a pushover, having lost all four games and conceded 16 goals already after their latest 4-1 defeat to FC Twente. It's still August... It'll take a lot for this young team to show up in this league.
Some signs of improvement came from Tilburg and Rotterdam, where Willem II and ADO Den Haag earned their first points of the season with impressive outings. Willem II held Heerenveen to a 2-2 draw after a strong game in which they welcomed the return of Calvin Twigt, who immediately made a difference.
In Rotterdam, ADO Den Haag grabbed the unlikeliest first point of the season, holding Feyenoord to a 2-2 draw and still keeping the Rotterdam giants from winning their first home game of the season. ADO could've even won, had Illaijh de Ruijter kept his cool right before Anis Hadj Moussa's equaliser.
It's only the start, but maybe this is the spark they need to keep this form up.
