The trainer change has done ADO Den Haag good. Alfons Groenendijk has already scored almost as many points in nine games as his predecessor Zeljko Petrovic did in twenty-one. Still, ADO will not be looking forward to the clash with PSV: Groenendijk's teams traditionally struggle against top clubs.
Four in a row
ADO Den Haag won its last three duels, all of which fell in one week. The last time the Hague won four duels in a row was from December 2010 to February 2011. Also then, PSV was the fourth opponent. Wesley Verhoek gave ADO a 1-0 away win in injury time.
Groenendijk surpasses Petrovic
Partly because of the three wins in one week, Groenendijk can boast a handsome average: he averaged 1.56 points per major league game with ADO. That is almost twice as many as his predecessor Zeljko Petrovic, who scored 0.81 points per game. Whereas Petrovic needed 21 duels to reach 17 points, Groenendijk now stands at 14 points after nine games. One more win and Groenendijk equals his predecessor.
Havenaar on a roll
Striker Mike Havenaar also seems to be benefiting from the new coach. The Japanese Dutchman has scored more in his eight games under Groenendijk (four times) than in the 16 before that (three times). ADO's club top scorer scored in each of the last four games he played in. Should Havenaar also score against PSV, he will match the last ADO striker to score five games in a row: Michiel Kramer. The current Feyenoord player scored five in a row for ADO in 2014.
Five winter transfers
ADO Den Haag's good performance in recent times, by the way, cannot be attributed solely to Groenendijk's arrival. In the winter break, ADO reinforced itself with five new players: Abdenasser El Khayati, Guyon Fernandes, Donny Gorter, Randy Wolters and Abel Tamata. The latter is well known to PSV. Between 2011 and 2015 he played 28 duels for PSV and became champion in his last season.