During the 2015–16 season AZ competed in the Eredivisie for the 18th consecutive season the KNVB Cup and the Europa League after qualifying for the 3rd qualification round due to finishing 3rd the previous season.
Background European football returned after a one-year hiatus. John van den Brom finished third last season with Marco van Basten his assistant. Several key players moved elsewhere including captain Nemanja Gudelj and fan favourite Simon Poulsen.
Several youth players were promoted to the first team the same year the club won the Rinus Michels award for best youth academy and youth development programme in the Netherlands, beating Feyenoord who won this award each of the five preceding years.
Transfers
Arrivals
The following players moved to AZ. NamePositionPrevious clubFeeDate Joris van OvereemCM DordrechtReturn from loan June 2015 Fernando LewisLW DordrechtReturn from loan June 2015 Raymond GyasiRW Roda JCReturn from loan June 2015 Denni AvdicST HeraclesReturn from loan June 2015 Eli BabaljST PECReturn from loan June 2015 Jonas HeymansLB Willem IIReturn from loan June 2015 Jop van der LindenLB Go Ahead EaglesFree June 2015 Gino CoutinhoGK Excelsior RotterdamFree June 2015 Levi GarcíaFW Central FCUndisclosed June 2015 Vincent JanssenCF Almere City€100,000June 2015 Alireza JahanbakhshFW N.E.C.Undisclosed August 2015 Rajko BrežančićLB FK ČukaričkiUndisclosed August 2015
Departures
The following players moved from AZ. NamePositionNew clubFeeDate Nemanja GudeljCM Ajax€6 millionJune 2015 Wesley HoedtCB LazioCompensationJune 2015 Simon PoulsenLB PSVFreeJune 2015 Esteban AlvaradoGK Unattached Free June 2015 Yves de WinterGK Sint-Truidense V.V.Free June 2015 Steven BerghuisFW Watford F.C.undisclosed July 2015 Aron JóhannssonST Werder Bremen€5 million August 2015
Loans The following players moved to new clubs whilst under contract at AZ. NamePositionNew clubLoan periodEli Babalj CF Adelaide United 30/06/2017
Pre-season friendlies The first training session for the new season began on 28 June. Friendlies were arranged with smaller teams in the Netherlands as well as two additional friendlies against foreign teams touring the Netherlands. A training camp was also arranged the week before competitive football in the Europa League by 30 July.
Statistics Top goalscorers Rank Player (pen.) 1. Janssen 10 2= van Overeem Luckassen 3 =4. Lewis Helmer Mühren 2 =7. Gyasi Dos Santos Henriksen Van der Linden Gouweleeuw 1 1 1 0(1) 0(1) Total Total inc. pen. 25 (2) 27Goals conceded Against Scorers (pen.) Dirkshorn Regional Selection XI De Bruin x22 AFC '34 Inecia 1 Fortuna Sittard NA 0 Dundee United Spittal 1 SC Telstar NA 0 Al Wasl NA 0 Total 4
Europa League AZ qualified for the 3rd qualification round of the Europa League after finishing the league in 3rd position in the previous season. Due to previous runs in the competition, the club had a high coefficient and was seeded for the draw meaning a favourable draw against weaker opposition was likely. The first game was scheduled for 30 July with the return leg on 6 August.
Statistics Top goalscorers Rank Player (pen.) =1. Janssen Van der Linden 1 0(1) Total Total inc. pen. 1 (1) 2Goals conceded Against Scorers (pen.) İstanbul Başakşehir Total Total inc. pen.
Eredivisie
Statistics Top goalscorers Rank Player (pen.) 1. Total Goals conceded Against Scorers (pen.) Total
League table
KNVB Cup
Statistics Top goalscorers Rank Player (pen.) 1. TotalGoals conceded Against Scorers (pen.) Total
Squad Performance
Player League starts(pen.) Cup starts (pen.) European starts(pen.) Goalkeepers01.Sergio Rochet00000000000016.Gino Coutinho00000000000025.Nick Olij000000000000Defenders02.Mattias Johansson00000000000003.Jeffrey Gouweleeuw 00000000000004.Jan Wuytens00000000000005.Rajko Brežančić00000000000014.Jop van der Linden00000000000015.Donny Gorter00000000000017.Djavan Anderson00000000000023.Derrick Luckassen 00000000000024.Ridgeciano Haps00000000000033.Pantelis Hatzidiakos00000000000034.Joris Kramer000000000000Midfielders06.Celso Ortiz 00000000000008.Joris van Overeem00000000000010.Markus Henriksen 00000000000019.Dabney dos Santos00000000000020.Thom Haye00000000000026.Stijn Spierings00000000000036.Alexander Sigurdarson00000000000038.Thomas Ouwejan00000000000040.Jeremy Helmer000000000000Attackers07.Guus Hupperts 00000000000009.Alireza Jahanbakhsh00000000000011.Muamer Tankovic00000000000012.Vincent Janssen 00000000000021.Robert Mühren 00000000000022.Achille Vaarnold00000000000027.Raymond Gyasi00000000000028.Levi García00000000000029.Fernando Lewis000000000000
International Appearances
The following first team players either played or were involved for their respective national teams during the season:
Toulon Tournament Three players were involved in this invitational tournament for youth teams throughout the world and all played for the Netherlands under 21s or Jong Oranje. The Netherlands team failed to progress from the group stages after two wins and two draws; France and The United States of America progressed from group A.
Date National Team Player Opposition Appearances Goals Result27 May 2015 U21 3.Derrick Luckassen U23 1 0 U21 3-2 U238.Thom Haye 1 0 10.Joris van Overeem 1 0 29 May 2015 10.Joris van Overeem U23 1 0 U21 1-3 U2331 May 20153.Derrick Luckassen U23 1 0 U21 5-1 U23 8.Thom Haye 1 0 4 June 20153.Derrick Luckassen U21 1 0 U21 0-4 U218.Thom Haye 1 0 10.Joris van Overeem 1 0
Gold Cup Aron Jóhannsson is the only internationalist from the CONCACAF association eligible to play in this tournament.
Date National Team Player Opposition Appearances Goals Result8 July 2015 9.Aron Jóhannsson 0 0 2-1 11 July 20159.Aron Jóhannsson 1 0 1-0 14 July 20159.Aron Jóhannsson - - x-x
EURO 2016 Qualification Date National Team Player Opposition Appearances Goals Result12 June 2015 17.Steven Berghuis 0 0 0-2
Friendlies Date National Team Player Opposition Appearances Goals Result5 June 2015 9.Aron Jóhannsson 1 0 3-4 5 June 2015 17.Steven Berghuis 0 0 3-4 10 June 2015 9.Aron Jóhannsson 1 0 1-2 4 July 2015 9.Aron Jóhannsson 0 0 4-0
UEFA Ranking After the 2014-15 season where AZ did not compete in European competitions the club fell 8 places to 44th.
This places the club in third place overall in domestic terms: Ajax (26) lead PSV (30) following AZ (44), FC Twente (45) and Feyenoord (95). Rank Country Team Points42Liverpool47.07843Metalist Kharkiv47.03344AZ45.61245Twente43.69546Roma43.602
References