‘Today is a blow, I really mean that’ – Voetbal International

Marco van Ginkel and Edward Sturing certainly do not want to throw in the towel on Vitesse despite ‘a real knock’ after the defeat handed out by Sparta in the GelreDome (1-4). The coach and captain of the Arnhem team were very shocked by the defensive performance of their club.

‘We’ve been suffering from it all year. It is not without reason that we concede so many goals. You don’t make many yourself, so that makes it difficult’, Van Ginkel begins in front of the cameras ESPN. The midfielder is accused of not putting much energy into his team, but according to him that is not the case. ‘I tend to disagree. The energy was there, but we gave away the goals far too easily. We are passive on our sixteen and they score the goals far too easily.’

Just after half time, Vitesse had the opportunity to make it 2-3 through Van Ginkel, but his shot was deflected by Arno Verschueren and then parried by Nick Olij. Shortly after that moment, Mike Eerdhuijzen dealt the final blow on behalf of Sparta. “If you give them away like that, it will be very difficult,” continues the captain, who cannot deny that direct relegation is becoming an increasingly realistic scenario. ‘It’s not over yet, but it’s getting harder. Let that be clear.’

Steering
Sturing, who starts by complementing the ‘fantastic’ crowd, saw, just like Van Ginkel, that Vitesse made a big mistake, especially in the defensive area. ‘How we defend, or rather, how we don’t defend… It is not Eredivisie-worthy. We made a lot of mistakes in the first half,” begins the Vitesse coach, who saw his team fall behind within ten seconds for the eighth time this season. ‘Then you see again how vulnerable the team is, with the season they have had so far. It then gets into the players’ heads and then you see the uncertainty.’

Sturing also remains fighting for Vitesse’s survival, but Tuesday evening’s defeat hurts him a lot. “It is becoming increasingly difficult and today is really a bit of a blow, I really mean that and I am shocked by that,” continues the born Apeldoorn, who states that things have not been that bad defensively since he has been at the helm. ‘We lost a lot of games, but then things were good. Today I really thought it didn’t look right at all. We conceded those goals so easily.’

Next Sunday they will have to win in an important match against arch-rival NEC. ‘We cannot lose hope. We still have six games to go and we will get paid, we are professionals,” answers a combative Sturing, who warns his players. ‘If players can no longer afford it, I will make other choices, but not at the moment. I think you have to fight until the last match and do your job. Until the last day.’

* Current until April 2. 2024

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