AZ's Disappointing Europa League Opener Against Sunderland
AZ left the Stadium of Light with nothing but regret. A 1-0 defeat to Sunderland in their Europa League opener, and a nagging feeling they had thrown away a result that was there for the taking.
They carved out chances. Plenty of them. They just didn’t finish.
For Khalid Boulahrouz, watching on in the Ziggo Sport studio, that wastefulness cut deep.
“At this level, at least one of them has to go in,” he said, as the analysts replayed chance after chance that AZ failed to convert.
The moment that stuck
One moment summed it all up.
Ten minutes from time, with Sunderland clinging to their lead, the ball fell to Mexx Meerdink. The striker had the opening every forward wants: time, space, the goal in front of him. Instead of burying it, he hesitated. One touch too many, one thought too long. His shot stayed low, too tame, and Robin Roefs threw out a leg to block.
The chance was gone. So, effectively, was AZ’s night.
“This chance from Meerdink,” Boulahrouz said, visibly irritated. “It is just hit too weakly, low to the ground. If you are ruthless, you just smash it into the roof of the net.”
Theo Janssen had already said it in the studio: a striker has to become a killer. Boulahrouz picked up the theme and pushed it further.
“Especially if he wants to get to the Netherlands national team. Then these are the chances in which you can set yourself apart.”
The criticism wasn’t just about the finish. It was about what the delay revealed.
“Delaying it once more, taking another touch, that means you are not quite in the right position yourself,” Boulahrouz argued. “Because of that, you can no longer strike it the way you want. This is simply wasting a 100 per cent chance.”
His verdict on Meerdink’s overall display was just as harsh.
“Looking at the whole match, he was simply too sloppy, not good as a focal point… And the chances he got, you have to finish them. These are things he really has to cut out.”
Meerdink owns up – but not enough for Janssen
Meerdink did not hide afterwards. He knew where the spotlight would fall.
“I think at some moments I lost the ball a bit too easily, but I also had a number of good moments,” he said. “My area for development is that I have to keep doing it consistently.”
He didn’t dodge the key incident either.
“That ball at the end, I have to smash it in. Not think and just hit it with the instep. In the box I have to be, become, deadly.”
Honest words. But they didn’t completely convince Janssen.
“Interesting,” Janssen responded in the Ziggo studio, picking up on Meerdink’s self-assessment. “He has the feeling that he still played quite a decent match. He is quite satisfied.”
Janssen’s advice was pointed.
“I would advise him to calmly watch this match back again, because it comes down to a number of moments in which, as a striker, you have to be deadly and in which you have to be strong to give your team some calm. Those few moments are not enough, my friend.”
Talent, but where is the hunger?
Janssen didn’t question Meerdink’s ability. Quite the opposite.
“He is a very enjoyable footballer, he is technically refined, has all the attributes to be a good player,” he said.
Then came the sting.
“Only he lacks that hunger. You have to do everything for it. He must always give everything for it, and I miss that a little with him sometimes. He has so much potential, but he is not getting everything out of it.”
For AZ, the night in Sunderland will be remembered for a narrow defeat and a long list of missed chances. For Meerdink, it might be remembered as something else: the night when the conversation around him shifted from promise to demands.
The Europa League doesn’t wait for anyone. Will he? Or does this become the moment he finally turns potential into the ruthless edge his critics are demanding?
