John van den Brom named Rinus Michels Manager of the Month
John van den Brom has been named Rinus Michels Manager of the Month on Saturday. The FC Twente head coach received the award for his performances in the Eredivisie in February.
Three wins and one draw
John van den Brom can look back on an excellent month with FC Twente. The Tukkers started February with an emphatic 5–0 victory over sc Heerenveen. In that match, Twente scored as many goals as they had in their previous four encounters with Heerenveen combined. A week later, they drew 1–1 away at Telstar, before defeating FC Groningen 2–1 at home in matchweek 24. The strong run continued last Sunday with a 2–0 victory over Feyenoord.
With that result, the Tukkers secured their first league win against a traditional top-three club since 29 October 2023. It was also FC Twente’s first league victory over Feyenoord — while keeping a clean sheet — since 4 November 2012.
Best performances in February
With ten points from four matches, FC Twente were the best-performing team in the VriendenLoterij Eredivisie in February. Only FC Utrecht collected the same number of points, but they required one additional match to do so. Twente’s goal difference was also comfortably the best of the month: ten goals scored and just two conceded. That equals an average of 2.5 goals scored and 0.5 conceded per match.
Alongside the most goals scored (10) and the fewest conceded (2), FC Twente also recorded the lowest Expected Goals Against (0.9). In addition, Van den Brom’s side registered the second-highest number of shots per match (18.5) and Expected Goals (1.9), while goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall faced the fewest shots against (10). The team therefore stood out both offensively and defensively.
| # | Club | Matches | Points | Goal difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1) |
FC Twente |
4 |
10 |
+8 |
|
2) |
FC Utrecht |
5 |
10 |
+4 |
|
3) |
PSV |
4 |
9 |
+4 |
|
4) |
FC Volendam |
4 |
9 |
+2 |
|
5) |
Feyenoord |
4 |
9 |
+1 |
Seven different winner
Notably, John van den Brom becomes the seventh coach to win the monthly award this season. Each month so far has produced a different winner of the Rinus Michels Manager of the Month award. Before Van den Brom, the prize was awarded to Robin van Persie (August), Dick Lukkien (September), Maarten Martens (October), Hendrie Krüzen (November), Fred Grim (December) and Maurice Steijn (January).
John van den Brom with the award, presented by ESPN reporter Kenneth Perez.
About the awards
The Rinus Michels Manager of the Month is a new initiative introduced this season by Eredivisie CV, Coaches Betaald Voetbal, De Voetbaltrainer and ESPN. The award aims to provide additional recognition for coaches in the highest tier of Dutch football.
As with the nominations for the annual Rinus Michels Award, all eighteen coaches are assessed using a data model developed by Hypercube. This model takes into account factors such as match results, goals scored and conceded, and the strength of both the team itself and its opponents.
The latter is determined using the Euro Club Index (ECI). In this ranking, European clubs are assessed weekly based on their performances in domestic and international competitions. The score reflects the current strength of a club and whether a team is overperforming or underperforming.
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