Utrecht maintained the position conquered last season, at the time of the suspension of the championship due to the pandemic in fact they were in 6th place, the position in which they finished this year. However, it can be considered a disappointing season, as, given the summer purchasing campaign, a quantum leap was expected. Thanks to the 6th place they played the playoffs for access to the Conference League, in the semifinals they eliminated Groningen, but in the final were clearly defeated by Feyenoord.
Even worse went in KNVB Beker, if last season they had surprisingly defeated Ajax and reached the final, which was not played due to Covid, this year they were eliminated already in the second round by Ten Hag's team.
The final outcome was undoubtedly conditioned by a very negative first half of the season, before the winter-break they had collected just 17 points from 13 games. Then things started to go better, they gained several positions in the table, but didn't manage to have the necessary continuity.
Utrecht started the season with John van den Brom on the bench, but the Amersfoort coach left everyone stunned by leaving the team in early November. Renè Hake took over and needed a lot of time to fix the team.
At the players level, the forwards disappointed the most, in particular Dalmau and Mahi, who scored only 11 goals in two, also due to the continuous physical problems of the Spaniard. From the realization point of view the best was Sander Van de Streek (11 goals). Much more was also expected from two talented players like Gustafson and Elia, who have been inconsistent throughout the season. Good news came from the defense where St. Jago and Hoogma, two youngsters with excellent prospects, emerged alongside experienced Janssen.
