Van Persie Calls for Improvement After Heerenveen Defeat

SC Heerenveen coach Robin van Persie has expressed his disappointment after his team’s 3-0 defeat to NEC Nijmegen, urging his players to raise their standards as they push for a place in the European play-offs.

Despite the heavy loss, van Persie remains confident in his squad but acknowledged that they must improve significantly if they are to achieve their goals this season.

Heerenveen travelled to Nijmegen with hopes of turning their season around, but the match got off to a difficult start. NEC took an early lead, and despite some decent moments from Heerenveen in the first half, they were unable to find a way back into the game. Van Persie reflected on the early stages of the match, saying, “This defeat is very annoying. Apart from the first five minutes, we played a good first half. We created a number of chances—not huge, but there were moments when the ball could have fallen our way.”

The second half proved to be even more challenging for Heerenveen. NEC doubled their lead shortly after the break, and from that point onwards, it became an uphill battle for van Persie’s side. “When you’re 2-0 down, you know it’s going to be a difficult evening, but we still had half an hour to play,” van Persie noted. “At that point, it’s crucial to win your duels and second balls. That didn’t happen enough, and that’s what let us down.”

Although the scoreline may suggest a comprehensive defeat, van Persie felt the final result did not reflect the full story of the match. “If you look at the game, I honestly think that 3-0 is too much. But we have to force those moments ourselves. We had a few opportunities, but not enough,” he admitted.

Van Persie’s frustration was evident as he addressed his team’s performance, expressing disappointment not only in the result but also in the lack of fight shown by his players. “I expected more from this match, especially after a good week of training. I hope that everyone within the club is disappointed about this result. We must not be satisfied too quickly. Our standards, our bar, must be higher, and we have to do everything we can to get back to our level,” he emphasised.

Despite the team currently sitting in a disappointing 16th place, van Persie remains optimistic about Heerenveen’s chances of reaching the European play-offs, a goal he reiterated before the match. “I still stand by that statement because I believe in this group. But we can talk for hours about playing style and patterns—what really matters is winning duels and taking control of crucial moments. NEC handled that better than we did today,” he said.