The 10 Series, brought to you by Just-Football.com, is our annual special feature scouting the best young players in Europe. Before we release our list of 10 Eredivisie best young players for 2014/15, how did The Class of 2013 get on? Follow this link for an introduction to The 10 Series (including last year’s criteria) and here for a full list of the articles published so far.

Memphis Depay

How’s he done since?



Dick Advocaat got a lot of stick for not giving Memphis Depay a chance in the 2012/13 season and Memphis showed why in 2013/14. After a first half of the season in which Depay was both creative and wasteful, 2014 saw an immense development in his game.

Depay turned into a more mature and economical winger. His name rose further during the World Cup, where he became the youngest goal scorer for the Netherlands ever in a match at the competition.

Success, Failure or Standing Still?

Little more than 12 months ago, Depay wasn’t deemed good enough to start for PSV. A year on, some suggest Memphis is too good for the Eredivisie. The boy from Moordrecht is quickly turning into a man and while he is still quite raw he is also very eager to improve.

With five goals in his first four league matches he is almost halfway to his total production of last season and the youngster extending his contract at PSV was arguably the biggest boost the Eredivisie got all summer as the league was further depleted of talent.

With Memphis set to eventually leave, the only question is whether he will depart with a league title, a Golden Boot or a Player Of The Year award, or maybe even all three?

10 Series Rating (1 = bad, 10 = a 10 Series Legend)

9/10

Viktor Fischer

How’s he done since?

It was only in January 2013 when Viktor Fischer looked odds-on to overtake Christian Eriksen as the most promising Dane at Ajax. Eighteen months later, he might be the most promising one, but that is mainly due to Eriksen leaving rather than Fischer’s development.

In what was meant to be Fischer’s first full season as a starter the winger has been plagued by injuries and a crisis in form and at the time of writing, a return to the first team is still far away. Due to a hamstring injury Fischer is not expected back until 2015 and after that the blond attacker will need to force his way back into the first team, battling the likes of Anwar El Ghazi and Ricardo Kishna, who filled the void that he left.

Success, Failure or Standing Still?

Fischer has hardly been fit for an extended period over the last 12 months and even when he was playing it was obvious that Eriksen was missed. The Aarhus-born player’s once sky-rocketing career has been as flat as the country he is staying in for a while now.

Fischer will face a big challenge once he gets back from his injury. Cementing a starting berth of any kind shouldn’t be the biggest problem, as the winger is also comfortable at playing through the middle, but whether he can follow in the footsteps of his former teammate Eriksen is highly doubtful.

10 Series Rating

5/10

Luc Castaignos

How’s he done since?

From 13 league goals in 2012/13 to 14 league goals in 2013/14: Luc Castaignos once was dubbed ‘the new Henry’, but for now seems nowhere near that level. Given that Castaignos scored 15 league goals in one season at Feyenoord when he was only 18, it is safe to say the career of Luc has not progressed as hoped.

In defence of the striker, the embarrassment of creativity he had around him at Twente last season wasn’t the type he would thrive on as Castaignos likes to be involved in transitional play rather than play a possession-based game in which he holds the ball up.

This season it looks like FC Twente are looking to accommodate him a bit more as the Eredivisie’s king of the throughball has been signed in Hakim Ziyech.

Success, Failure or Standing Still?

From the looks of it, Castaignos has hardly progressed since he joined FC Twente two years ago. The good thing is, he’s got time on his side as he only turns 22 this September.

Castaignos has the pace and positioning to still become a very good player and you can never fault the Dutch youth international for effort, but it is time for him to turn all that effort into something substantial.

10 Series Rating

6/10

Anass Achahbar

How’s he done since?

The Feyenoord reserves was hardly an ideal platform for Anass Achahbar to develop further as it was impossible to get a look-in in the first team due to the settled frontline of John-Paul Boetius, Graziano Pelle and Ruben Schaken ahead of him. A loan deal took Achachbar to Arminia Bielefeld, but the diminutive attacker didn’t impress and finished the season in the reserves at Bielefeld, where he scored twice in three games, a contrast to his one in 10 for the German club’s first team.

Success, Failure or Standing Still?

Feyenoord were willing to sell the attacker on the cheap when Turkish second-tier side Samsunspor came in, but Achahbar opted to stay and fight for his chance. The youngster was once Player of the Tournament during the 2011 under-17 European Championships, but whereas many of his former teammates and opponents are now playing first-team football fairly regularly, the left-footed attacker is still stuck in the reserves.

With only one year remaining on his contract Achahbar should be looking to leave Feyenoord in order to make something of his career and fulfil his talent. Achahbar’s next career step must be the right one.

10 Series Rating

2/10

Adam Maher

How’s he done since?

Huge fee, huge responsibilities. Adam Maher was a big signing for PSV ahead of the 2013/14 season and already a full Dutch international at the age of 20, there were few doubts he had the quality to carry the burden.

But as the young team of PSV came crashing down after a promising start to the season, so did Adam Maher. The six million euros signing was even benched for a brief period by manager Philip Cocu and looked nothing like the player that had carried AZ the year before. Maher missed out on the World Cup and even lost a starting place with the Oranje under 21’s.

Success, Failure or Standing Still?

Competition in midfield at PSV is fierce as Andres Guardado, Georginio Wijnaldum, Oskar Hiljemark, Jorrit Hendrikx, Marcel Ritzmaier and the currently injured Stijn Schaars are battling with Maher for a starting spot. But whereas last season was a huge disappointment, young Adam is now showing encouraging signs.

What 2013/14 has meant for the 21-year-old is still hard to define. Has he learned and will he now start to grow again? Or will Maher turn out to be one of those huge talents that never really cut it? We hope and kind of expect the former.

10 Series Rating

5/10

Filip Đuričić

How’s he done since?

A star of the 2012/13 season, Đuričić left quite a void when he left sc Heerenveen and many were expecting the playmaker to do big things at Benfica. A year later, his successor has earned a transfer too (Hakim Ziyech, to FC Twente) and Đuričić is still struggling to take the next step.

Initially impressing at the Portuguese club the 22-year-old Serb found himself on the fringes in 2014 and to re-ignite his career the number 10 has been loaned out to Mainz. One of many players once dubbed ‘the Cruijff of the Balkans’, the neutral can only hope that Đuričić will find himself a stage again soon on which he can star.

Success, Failure or Standing Still?

Adjusting to a higher level and still impressing from time to time it is wrong to say that he has learned nothing, but one expects that Đuričić himself expected more from his first season at Benfica. He’ll be allowed to show at Mainz what he has learned in Lisbon.

10 Series Rating

5/10

Rodney Sneijder

How’s he done since?

From ‘the next Sneijder’ to ‘that brother of Wesley Sneijder’, Rodney has not exactly set the world alight over the last couple of seasons. After a promising start at RKC Waalwijk, last season saw him relegated to the reserves and eventually, the Wesley look-a-like moved to Almere City in the Dutch second division to get some playing time.

Sneijder claimed he has once again found his joy in football at the club in Flevoland, but it is safe to say he has not revived the form he showed when he made his first steps in senior football.

Success, Failure or Standing Still?

A few years ago, Sneijder would probably only consider his career a success if he reached the first team of Ajax. Currently, any contract at an Eredivisie side would probably suffice. A huge drop for a player blessed with a similarly great shot technique as his brother.

10 Series Rating

2/10

Jordy Clasie

How’s he done since?

Jordy Clasie proved himself as the midfield maestro at Feyenoord last season, offering balance, steel and creativity. Although there is still enough for Clasie to improve on, few people ever discuss his size which is a huge compliment in itself.

Despite being 5’7, he has shown he can more than hold his own against physically strong opponents. Clasie impressed at the World Cup when he filled in for Nigel de Jong, coming on against Argentina and starting against Brazil. His performances sparked a debate on whether Louis Van Gaal should’ve started him ahead of De Jong against Argentina, as Nigel wasn’t fully fit and a substitution was wasted.

Success, Failure or Standing Still?

At 23, many would’ve expected Clasie to move away from the Eredivisie over the summer and FC Porto and Southampton among others were eager to sign the pint-sized deep-lying playmaker.

But to everyone’s surprise, Clasie decided to extend his contract at Feyenoord. On the one hand this was great news for the Eredivisie, on the other hand it is slightly disconcerting that no club that Clasie was prepared to go to was impressed enough to take a punt on the Haarlem born.

To say it is a do-or-die season for Clasie is maybe a bit harsh, but this is the time for him to take his team by the hand and show he is ready to make the step up.

10 Series Rating

8/10

Marco van Ginkel

How’s he done since?

From Vitesse to AC Milan in the space of 14 months doesn’t sound bad at all for a Dutch footballer of 21, but it only tells half of what has happened to Marco van Ginkel in just over a year. After impressing at the under 21 European Championships it was Chelsea who snapped up the Justin Bieber look-a-like for 8 million euros and some even gave him a chance of breaking into the first team at Stamford Bridge.

Unfortunately, an anterior cruciate ligament injury ended his season and by the time Van Ginkel was again fit to play, competition had soared as Mourinho had brought in Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas. The central midfielder was eventually loaned out to AC Milan.

Success, Failure or Standing Still?

An initially promising start to his Chelsea career was curtailed due to injury, but Van Ginkel came back as a man rather than the boy that got injured and now looks better suited physically to top level football. The trust in his qualities has been underlined by his inclusion in the initial 30-man preliminary squad for the World Cup and although he missed out on the tournament, he has now been rewarded with the captaincy of the Oranje U21 side by Adrie Koster.

If Van Ginkel can return to his pre-injury form, Koster will be asked to appoint a new captain soon as Van Ginkel has everything one can desire from a modern midfielder.

10 Series Rating

6/10

Tonny Trindade de Vilhena

How the season went

‘He’ll become a more complete version of Edgar Davids’. Former Ajax, PSV and Anderlecht manager Aad de Mos gave glowing reviews of Tonny Vilhena in March 2013 as the then 18 year old impressed the Netherlands with solid displays in the centre of midfield for Feyenoord, earning himself a call-up for the Dutch national team.

A year later, Vilhena is still waiting for his first game in the Oranje shirt. Vilhena had a solid but unspectacular season with Feyenoord and one feels that the ‘number 8 role’ in which he has played over the last one-and-a-half seasons isn’t ideal for the youngster who originally was a 10.

The all-rounder can do a good job in any of the midfield spots, but it is a while since we’ve seen that swagger Vilhena showed when he burst onto the scene as a starter away against FC Twente in 2012.

Success, Failure or Standing Still?

Vilhena might be 19, but he has over 60 Eredivisie appearances to his name. Impressive and reminiscent of Georginio Wijnaldum, who also broke through at Feyenoord at a very tender age. The struggle with finding the right position is another trade the two share, but whereas Wijnaldum never had any real competition it is now up to Vilhena to step up in order to keep his place.

With Karim El Ahmadi, Jens Toornstra, Lex Immers, Clasie and Vilhena fighting for three spots in the team (although there are suggestions that El Ahmadi will be used as a centre back) the competition should see Vilhena come out on top, as only Clasie comes anywhere near his potential.

10 Series Rating

7/10

How would you rate the Eredivisie best young players performances since? Let us know below, on Google+, Facebook or Twitter and check out all our 10 Series picks including 2014/15 best young talents in world football here.