Priske: 'We're going for the best possible start'

Feyenoord begins the new Eredivisie season at home against Willem II. In a sold-out Kuip, Gijs Smal and Julián Carranza could make their official debuts, the coach said. Both have trained fully and will be in the matchday squad on Saturday.

Positive news, then, for Priske, who looked back on a successful week of preparation for Saturday anyway. 'Winning the Johan Cruijff Schaal has given me energy, that seems logical. In addition, everyone is aware that we should not start as we did last season, when we were tied in the first two games. We now want the best possible start with three points.'

The coach realizes better than anyone that the selection with which he will start tomorrow may differ from what it looks like after the transfer deadline expires on September 1. 'Ideally, you work with a complete selection from day one, but that is not the reality. Players can still come and go, that doesn't only apply to us.'

There were a number of changes in the Feyenoord staff ahead of the season. Priske himself arrived as Arne Slot's successor, while the technical staff was completed by new assistants Lukas Babalola and Björn Hamberg following the departure of Sipke Hulshoff. Together with assistant coach John de Wolf and goalkeeper trainer Jyri Nieminen, they form the coaching staff.

They are supported by Analyst & Advisor technical staff Etiënne Reijnen and the video analysts. The video analysis team, led by video analyst Roderick van der Ham, has been expanded. Rick Mennes has transferred from Willem II.

The Medical & Performance department, headed by Stijn Vandenbroucke, also got some new faces with the arrival of Takahiro Nakada (physiotherapist) and René Petersen (Mindset performance coach). In addition, Jan Müller (Rehab physiotherapist & performance coach) and Jonas Heirbaut (performance coach) made the move from Feyenoord Academy to the first team.