Something strange is going on in Dutch football, a quick look at the top of the premier league reveals. FC Groningen lead the division, followed by NAC Breda, AZ of Alkmaar and FC Twente – none of them household names outside the Netherlands.

So what’s happened to the big three Dutch clubs – reigning champions PSV of Eindhoven, Amsterdam’s Ajax and Rotterdam’s Feyenoord – who have, between them, won every league title since 1980-1981?
Today Feyenoord are languishing just above the relegation zone and Ajax and PSV are fifth and sixth respectively.
The top three still have the biggest budgets and can therefore employ the most star players in their line-ups. But the stars they can afford are less sparkly than those in the real big money football nations England, Spain and Italy. So maybe the playing field has become more level for Dutch clubs.
Management might also play a role. The top three all have new managers who obviously need time to get their teams playing the way they want.
But over the past few years Ajax have regularly ditched their managers in search of something better, and PSV are on their third manager in less than a year.
And given the relatively low European ranking of Dutch club football, the best managers in the game will stay away.
Maybe the managers of Groningen and NAC are better at forging a team from relatively less talented players. And they don’t have the burden of expectation that PSV, Ajax and Feyenoord have.
Come the end of the season and who knows, we could see a real revolution in Dutch football.