A useless KZ must look in the mirror after a painful contraction

A brutal 0-3 penalty against rival Rotterdam sent small Switzerland last year into more trouble. After last summer’s run-off, the Eredivisie big number 12 still has no points. The club needs to take a good look in the mirror.

When a few players from Klein Zwizzerland crouched on the field for seconds after the trumpet blew, the defeat shook them with hard numbers, their thoughts automatically returned to last season. At the time, little Switzerland performed excellently under coach Jorge Nolte. However, it was announced during the winter break that the club would bid farewell to Nolte at the end of the season.

Curiously, after his departure, the club failed to keep the skeleton of the selection on board. Hockey player after hockey player said goodbye to little Switzerland. That’s after a season in which Klein Zweitzerland did surprisingly well as a PhD student, by avoiding direct relegation and playing safely in matches. From last season’s success squad, there are only four players left (!) this year: captain Sabine van Selphhout, goalkeeper Anna-Louis Negdam, Bernice van Aken and Kirsen Ender. Remarkably little.

I see so little experience with us Little Switzerland captain Sabine van Selvut

“The decision to say goodbye to Jorge was a surprise for our team. I don’t blame the club, but he did something for us. We went through a difficult period, especially because we were in the middle of the season,” says Van Sylvhout. “In the end we did everything we could to stay in the big league for Jorge. This is for a subscriber to cut care b. We were really a team.

“I’m missing that experience a little bit this season. We are playing for Little Switzerland Ladies 1. I want to see how cool this is on the pitch. Marl Keatman – I think she’s an official sophomore B – is so proud to be playing with the Ladies 1. Anyone who has A hundred caps for any country should do that too. I think we should give everything to all those people along the line who come to visit us privately. I still don’t see this experience enough.

Got too many players that don’t seem to be a boost

Little Switzerland is the foreign legion this season. After the mass exodus last summer, the club attracted no less than thirteen players, including eight foreigners. Among them, only Australian international Kaitlyn Nobbs has impressed him so far. South African Kristen Button hasn’t played for a minute all season because she still doesn’t have a visa. Sometimes it is difficult to communicate with Japanese Moeka Tsubouchi and Kaho Tanaka, because their English can be improved.

Not being able to score is also painful. Despite the eight players brought in from abroad, the team missed a good penalty kick. The number of goals scored in the first nine rounds is very low: six. Twice as many as rival Rotterdam (eleven goals), the number 11 in the competition, who has already made a five-point gap with Little Switzerland.

In retrospect, some statements on hockey.nl by Captain Van Silfhout at the start of the season created very high expectations. I thought little Switzerland would not be a candidate for relegation. It won’t surprise you, but we want the best that can be achieved. We’re not going to talk about not being relegated or playing playoffs. We don’t want more. “Higher than that,” she said at the time.

She now says she has no regrets about the comments. Nor does she think she put too much pressure on the group with these statements. No, as a team we really believed in that. Now you can no longer say that we are not a candidate for relegation. But we still have a lot of games ahead. Stay positive.

Australian international player Kaitlyn Nobbs was hit hard. Photo: William Vernes

It was really a search for players. We had to work hard all summer to make a team together. Switzerland coach Ridwan Ahmed

From the sidelines, you sometimes feel sorry for poor coach Radwan Ahmed. When Australia’s Alice Arnott started running with the ball at the end of the first half instead of hitting a teammate, it exploded (“because she didn’t respect our tactical agreements”). She was allowed to switch immediately.

You can hardly blame him this season. He’s saddled with a team of lesser quality than last year. When he was appointed, it was already known – according to himself – that at least ten players would be leaving in the summer. Later, a handful of hockey players were added.

And while he insists he doesn’t want to use it as an excuse, injuries are also mitigating circumstances. Talents Feliz Kohney and Pepita Rademakers were injured. Vossen Gouvert was injured against Rotterdam. Mike Tjaberenga is engaged again after a five-week absence. Ahmed also expects to complete the South African Patton’s visa next week. After the winter break, Baby Donrat (currently in the US) and Felien Finkestein (currently in Mexico) will be added to the selection.

Small Switzerland coach Ridwan Ahmed. Photo: William Vernes

Aren’t you just struggling with a lack of quality?
Ahmed: In front, yes. Not just today, but for weeks. Due to the disappearance of the midfielders, I had to bring back strikers Alice Arnott and Mike Tjaberenga to the midfield. This is why we are coming. When a few quarterbacks come back into the selection, I can bring them back to their familiar spot and thus strengthen the vanguard.

How do you see the term Foreign Legion?
“The way it went last summer certainly isn’t perfect. We knew a lot of girls were going to quit. It was really a search for players. We had to work hard all summer to make a team together. In the Netherlands, there were a few girls at the top level who They like to play hockey in little Switzerland. So we didn’t have much choice and ended up with eight foreigners. We reported some, we got close to ourselves. When we finally thought we had a team together, two players pulled out at the end of July. So that didn’t work either. In fact, we were busy collecting picks until the first day of the match.

In fact, I’ve been mainly busy getting a team to ever get back on its feet, rather than a good enough team?
‘number. I am convinced that this team is good enough. Today was the sixth week that one of us got infected in the first quarter. We are unlucky with injuries. When we’re done, we’ll have enough quality to get out of last place. I still think so. It would be great if we could put together a decent team for once.