Cyriel Dessers named as Player of the Month

Cyriel Dessers has been named as Eredivisie Player of the Month for November. The Heracles Almelo striker was statistically the best performing player. Owen Wijndal once again took the Player of the Month U21 prize and AZ was the main supplier of players for the Eredivisie Team of the Month.

Cyriel Dessers was involved with nine goals in November. With a hattrick and two assists against VVV-Venlo (6-1 win) and two goals and one assist against ADO Den Haag (4-0 win), the 24-year old forward won the support of the home crowd. Dessers made fourteen attempts on goal in four matches, the highest of all players in the Eredivisie. The striker also realised 42 ball contacts in the opponent's penalty area.  

With eleven goals, Dessers is currently the top-scorer in the Eredivisie and a new club record holder. The Belgian forward is the first player from Heracles Almelo to score eleven times in his first fifteen Eredivisie matches. The previous record was held by Herman Morsink, with ten goals in 1963-1964.

This is the first Player of the Month award for Dessers. The Heracles player was closely followed in November by AZ left-back Owen Wijndal and Ajax striker Quincy Promes, who took second and third place respectively in the statistical rankings.

OWEN WIJNDAL WINS PLAYER OF THE MONTH U21 AGAIN

Owen Wijndal has been named as Eredivisie Player of the Month U21 for the second time. He previously won this award back in August. The 20-year old left-back was regularly seen in front of his opponent’s goal in November. With 29 ball contacts in the opponent’s penalty area, he was more prominent than all of the other defenders or mid-fielders in the Eredivisie. The AZ player also offered two assists and achieved a passing accuracy of 87%.

Wijndal also stood his ground defensively. In an unbeaten series, without conceding any goals, the left-back realised 13 interceptions and 7 successful tackles. Wijndal beat other players such as Ché Nunnely (Willem II) and Sven Botman (SC Hereveen) in the monthly overview.

4 PLAYERS OF AZ IN TEAM OF THE MONTH

AZ, with four players, has provided most players for the Eredivisie Team of the Month. As a result of the presence of Svensson, Hatzidiakos and Wijndal the impenetrable line of defence was well represented in the team. AZ striker Teun Koopmeiners stand alongside the other three players. After AZ, there is Ajax (Promes and Van de Beek) and Heracles Almelo (Dessers and Merkel), each with two players.

The Eredivisie Team of the Month: Timon Wellenreuther (Willem II), Jonas Svensson (AZ), Pantelis Hatzidiakos (AZ), Sven Botman (sc Heerenveen), Owen Wijndal (AZ), Alexander Merkel (Heracles Almelo), Donny van de Beek (Ajax), Teun Koopmeiners (AZ), Steven Berghuis (Feyenoord), Cyriel Dessers (Heracles Almelo) and Quincy Promes (Ajax).

The Player of the Month award is an initiative of Eredivisie CV in collaboration with Opta Sports (data supplier) and FOX Sports. The scores are assigned to players objectively on the basis of more than 60 different statistics. Only players who have played at least two-thirds of the total number of game minutes are eligible for a prize. The prize for U21 Player of the Month is only awarded to players who are 21 or younger at the start of the Eredivisie.