Lassina Traoré is named Eredivisie Player of the Month

Lassina Traoré was named Eredivisie Player of the Month on Friday. The striker from Ajax put in the best performance in October, according to the statistics. FC Twente striker Danilo took the prize for Player of the Month U21. With two players, Ajax, FC Twente, sc Heerenveen and Vitesse, provided the most players in the Eredivisie Team of the Month.

Traoré began in October as an Ajax substitute (1-0 loss against FC Groningen), but was sent into the game repeatedly by coach Erik ten Hag during the last three rounds. Together with his team, the 19-year-old Burkinese won against sc Heerenveen (5-1), VVV-Venlo (0-13) and Fortuna Sittard (5-2). In the historic victory against VVV-Venlo, Traoré impressed through his involvement in eight goals, the first player to achieve this accomplishment this century.

All five of Traoré’s shots on goal were successful in Venlo. At 19 years and 286 days old, he ranked among the top three youngest Eredivisie players with five goals in an Eredivisie game. Only Hans Venneker (17 days younger) and Marco van Basten (91 days younger and also the last Ajax player since 1985 to score five goals in an Eredivisie game) outperformed him. “That I rank up there with Marco van Basten is reason enough to be extremely proud,” said Traoré, beaming. Traoré also helped three other players score, making him the first Ajax player with three assists in a single Eredivisie match since Frenkie de Jong in 2017.

Traoré remained just ahead of Henk Veerman (sc Heerenveen) and Ridgeciano Haps (Feyenoord) in the battle for the official Eredivisie Player of the Month title.

DANILO (FC TWENTE) IS PLAYER OF THE MONTH U21

Danila Pereira da Silva was awarded for his excellent play with FC Twente with the Eredivisie Player of the Month U21 award. In October, Danilo shot six times towards the goal, scored four times and gave two assists.

These accomplishments make this Brazilian attacker the most valuable player in the Eredivisie (MVP) at present, with a total of six goals and four assists.

For both Danilo and FC Twente it is the first official (U21) monthly prize in the four-year anniversary of the election.

Team of the Month: Ajax, FC Twente, sc Heerenveen and Vitesse provided the most players

Seven different teams provided players for the Eredivisie Team of the Month. Of the current top four, Ajax, sc Heerenveen and Vitesse provided two players each. Surprisingly, the third top team, PSV, is not in this list: the corona-ravaged club had only nine players with the minimum number of game minutes and only keeper Yvon Mvogo came close to a spot in the Team of the Month.

The full Eredivisie Team of the Month: Kostas Lamprou (RKC Waalwijk), Tyronne Ebuehi (FC Twente), Riechedly Bazoer (Vitesse Arnhem), Jan Paul van Hecke (sc Heerenveen), Ridgeciano Haps (Feyenoord Rotterdam), Rai Vloet (Heracles Almelo), Davy Klaassen (AFC Ajax), Loïs Openda (Vitesse Arnhem), Henk Veerman (sc Heerenveen), Danilo (FC Twente) and Lassina Traoré (AFC Ajax).

The Player of the Month award is an initiative of Eredivisie CV in collaboration with FOX Sports (media partner), Stats Perform (data supplier) and KPN (main sponsor Eredivisie). Players are assigned objective scores based on more than 60 statistics. Only players who have played at least two-thirds of the total number of game minutes are eligible for the title. The Player of the Month U21 title is only awarded to players who are 21 or younger at the start of the season..