Alkmaar Aims To Keep Johannsson

Dutch club AZ Alkmaar recently managed to get US star Aron Johannsson on a new contract. The forward has been included in Jurgen Klinsmann’s US squad for the World Cup 2014. The 23-year-old is eligible to play for both US and Iceland. He was born in the United States, but he has been living in Iceland since the age of three. The club has announced that the forward has extended his contract by four more years. The 23-year-old has been one of the consistent goalscorers for the club last season. He ended up getting 26 in all competitions last season.

This impressive run of form has seen him being linked with several clubs in Europe, but AZ Alkmaar have been keen to keep him on a long-term contract. This news comes as a major boost for the club, which will be hoping to challenge for the title next year. A poor end to the season with no wins in the last five matches was the reason for AZ Alkmaar finishing outside the top four. They could have secured Champions League football had it not been for this poor form towards the end of the season. Meanwhile, the club recently revealed that they would be bringing in Dutch coach Alex Pastoor as the assistant to Marco van Basten.

“My decision has absolutely nothing to do with the current situation at Slavia. I’ve received an excellent offer from Alkmaar, which is 15km from my home in the Netherlands,” said Pastoor, who is currently the manager of Slavia Prague. The 47-year-old has been in charge of the team since March of last season. However, under his regime, they have managed just three wins in total. This poor run of form has seen him leave the club just a few months after his appointment.

Van Basten Joins Alkmaar As Manager

AZ Alkmaar have announced that they have managed to secure the services of former Dutch national team star Marco van Basten as the new manager of the club. Regarded as one of the greatest players in the world, van Basten has not been hugely successful as a manager. However, he will be hoping that his spell at AZ Alkmaar will be much more rewarding than his previous jobs. Van Basten will be replacing Dick Advocaat, who announced several months ago that he would be stepping down from his post at the end of the season.

Advocaat will be going out with his head held high after helping the team reached the quarter-finals of the Europa league. They were ultimately knocked out by Benfica, who have now gone on to reach the finals of the competition for the second consecutive year. Van Basten revealed a few months ago that he would not be extending his contract with Heerenveen. It has been a very successful season for the club, as they have qualified for the Europa league play-off places. They managed to go on the brink of automatic qualification after winning the last four matches in succession.

AZ Alkmaar, meanwhile, could only finish eighth in the table and qualify for the Europa league play-off by the skin of their teeth.

“AZ and Marco van Basten on Thursday reached a verbal agreement on a contract as head coach until the summer of 2016. The 49-year-old will succeed Dick Advocaat. The final formalities will be completed over the next few days, after which he can be presented,” said a club statement on the official website of the club. AZ Alkmaar managed to win none of the last five matches and this contributed to their downfall. Van Basten will be hoping to kickstart the club back to Champions League.

BERG WILL NOT SIGN

Johann Berg joined AZ Alkmaar in 2009 but the club has announced that the 23 years old midfielder will be leaving at the end of the season during the summer. The Eredivisie club was planning on extending the contract of the young player but Berg will not be penning a new deal.

Berg has spent time playing in the Premier League with Fulham and it is expected that he will be joining the English club on a free transfer. Erik Falkenburg, Raymond Gyasi, Erik Heilblok and Paul Kok are other players of AZ Alkmaar that will be also be seeing their way out of the club in the summer.

AZ Alkmaar is one of the remaining clubs battling it out in the Europa League but they suffered a 0-1 loss against Benfica and have to face off against the Portuguese club on March 10 in order to play the 2nd leg but only this time it will be played on the home turf of Benfica.

The Portuguese side are favorites on winning the match and advancing into the next stages of the Europa League but the head coach of the squad, Jorge Luis stated that even though his team are clear favorites on marching their way past AZ Alkmaar, it will still be a big accomplishment if they do manage on getting into the semifinals of the Europa League.

AZ Alkmaar’s Dick Advocaat considers Benfica to be a powerhouse of a team as he praised his opponents.

‘’Last season Benfica went into the finals of the Europa League as well as their league and right now they are at the top of the Primeira League ( Portuguese league) which shows just how well they have been and still are performing throughout the past few years’’. Advocaat said.