Analysis | Andy Brassell's bitesize European preview | AZ Alkmaar
Thu 24 October 2024, 13:45|
Tottenham Hotspur
One of the voices on European football on talkSPORT and Sky Sports, well known for The Football Ramble podcast and a writer for The Guardian - and a regular contributor here at Spurs for almost 10 years - Andy Brassell will give us a short, sharp view on our opposition ahead of every UEFA Europa League match this season.
Next up, Dutch Eredivisie side AZ Alkmaar make the trip to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in Matchday 3 of the UEL league phase on Thursday evening (8pm UK). Fourth in Holland last season, AZ have a good recent record in European competition, as Andy explains...
AZ Alkmaar
Manager - Maarten Martens
Domestic form – Currently fifth in the Eredivisie, having finished fourth in 2023/24
Europa League form – Beat Elsborg 3-2 in MD1, lost 2-0 at Athletic Club Bilbao in MD2
Andy: “They have a really good history in Europe in recent seasons - one of the teams for which the introduction of the UEFA Conference League has worked really well. They’ve done well in that, you’ll remember they played West Ham in the semi-finals in 2022/23 (West Ham won 3-1 on aggregate) and they’ve been decent in European competition as well. They have experience in there, the likes of Jordy Clasie (formerly with Feyenoord and Southampton), Bruno Martins Indi (Feyenoord, Porto, Stoke) and young players including Mark van Bommel’s son, Ruben and, of course, Republic of Ireland striker Troy Parrott from Spurs. They have an interesting mix and the fact that their standards have gone up so much, I think they were probably disappointed to finish fourth in the Eredivisie last season. They’ll be a tough enough test for Spurs at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, I believe.”
