Willem II were by far the biggest disappointment of the season. They were coming from an extraordinary season suspended due to the Covid pandemic when they were in 5th position, therefore they qualified directly for the Europa League's preliminary rounds. Here things did not go well, after an easy first round against Luxembourg's Progres Niederkorn, they were swept away by Rangers Glasgow with a peremptory 0-4.
Of a completely different level this season, in which they fought until the last round to avoid relegation to Eerste Divisie, and finished in 14th position thanks to a last-gasp effort.
That it wasn't going to be an easy season had already been seen in the first months, but the situation worsened in December when they crashed into the relegation zone where they remained for 14 rounds. They managed to avoid playing the playouts by just one point.
At the end of January experienced coach Adrie Koster decided to leave and the bench was entrusted to Željko Petrović. The new coach changed the system of play, switching from the 4-3-3 to a more cautious 4-2-2.
Their participation in the KNVB Cup also failed, eliminated already in the second round by Vitesse.
In partial justification of this disastrous season, it must be said that the Tricolores have had a very high number of injuries that have never allowed the coaches to field the ideal eleven. The long absences of goalkeeper Ruiter, midfielders Llonch and Saddiki and defenders Heerkens and Peters particularly weighed.
Forwards Pavlidis and Wriedt did their duty by scoring 20 goals together, while the attacking contribution of the midfielders was almost nil. The defensive phase was in particular the Achilles heel of Willem II, 68 goals conceded in 34 games, exactly two per game, are really too many. More was expected from the talented Ndayishimiye who, however, only managed to show his value with the switch to the 4-4-2.
