2015–16 AZ Alkmaar season


During the 2015–16 season AZ competed in the Eredivisie for the 18th consecutive season the KNVB Beker and the Europa League after qualifying for the 3rd qualification round due to finishing 3rd the previous season.

Background

European football returns 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 have been 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

NamePositionPrevious clubFeeDate
Joris van OvereemCM DordrechtReturn from loanJune 2015
Fernando LewisLW DordrechtReturn from loanJune 2015
Raymond GyasiRW Roda JCReturn from loanJune 2015
Denni AvdicST HeraclesReturn from loanJune 2015
Eli BabaljST PECReturn from loanJune 2015
Jonas HeymansLB Willem IIReturn from loanJune 2015
Jop van der LindenLB Go Ahead EaglesFreeJune 2015
Gino CoutinhoGK Excelsior RotterdamFreeJune 2015
Levi GarciaFW Central FCUndisclosedJune 2015
Vincent JanssenCF Almere City€100,000June 2015
Alireza JahanbakhshFW N.E.C.UndisclosedAugust 2015
Rajko BrežančićLB FK ČukaričkiUndisclosedAugust 2015

Departures

NamePositionNew clubFeeDate
Nemanja GudeljCMAjax€6 millionJune 2015
Wesley HoedtCBLazioCompensationJune 2015
Simon PoulsenLBPSVFreeJune 2015
Esteban AlvaradoGKUnattachedFreeJune 2015
Yves de WinterGKSint-Truidense V.V.FreeJune 2015
Steven BerghuisFWWatford F.C.undisclosedJuly 2015
Aron JóhannssonSTWerder Bremen€5 millionAugust 2015

Loans

NamePositionNew clubLoan period
Eli BabaljCFAdelaide United30/06/2017

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

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

Eredivisie

Statistics

League table

KNVB Beker

Statistics

Squad Performance

International Appearances

The following first team players either played or were involved for their respective national teams during the season:

Toulon Tournament">2015 Toulon Tournament">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.
DateNational TeamPlayerOppositionAppearancesGoalsResult
27 May 2015U213.Derrick LuckassenU2310U21 3-2 U23
27 May 2015U218.Thom HayeU2310U21 3-2 U23
27 May 2015U2110.Joris van OvereemU2310U21 3-2 U23
29 May 2015U2110.Joris van OvereemU2310U21 1-3 U23
31 May 2015U213.Derrick LuckassenU2310U21 5-1 U23
31 May 2015U218.Thom HayeU2310U21 5-1 U23
4 June 2015U213.Derrick LuckassenU2110U21 0-4 U21
4 June 2015U218.Thom HayeU2110U21 0-4 U21
4 June 2015U2110.Joris van OvereemU2110U21 0-4 U21

Gold Cup">2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup">Gold Cup

is the only internationalist from the CONCACAF association eligible to play in this tournament.
DateNational TeamPlayerOppositionAppearancesGoalsResult
8 July 20159.Aron Jóhannsson00 2-1
11 July 20159.Aron Jóhannsson10 1-0
14 July 20159.Aron Jóhannsson-- x-x

EURO 2016 Qualification">UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying">EURO 2016 Qualification

Friendlies

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 lead PSV following AZ, FC Twente and Feyenoord.
RankCountryTeamPoints
42Liverpool47.078
43Metalist Kharkiv47.033
44AZ45.612
45Twente43.695
46Roma43.602