AZ have sacked head coach Maarten Martens following the 3-1 defeat away to PEC Zwolle. The club released a statement explaining that the decision was made based on โdisappointing league resultsโ. The sacking ends Martensโ two years in charge of the clubโs firs team, having also been part of the sides academy and Jong AZ for a few seasons. In his place, AZ have turned to Leeroy Echteld, who was leading the Jong side in the second tier of Dutch football.
Former AZ player Martens leaves the club having won 54 games, drawn 22 and lost 27, with an average points per game of 1.8 and a win percentage of 52. Sadly for Martens, his numbers have been trending downwards in the past few seasons. After averaging 1.9 points per game when he took over from Pascal Jensen during the 2023/2024 season, he saw an average of 1.7 over the course of last year. This season, AZ under Martens are averaging 1.6 points per game. Last season the side finished in fifth place and qualified for the Conference League. This season they have won eight of their 18 games so far in the Eredivisie and sit 8th. They are still in European football and face FC Noah in the first knock out stages of the Conference League.
GBeNeFNย |ย Ben Jackson
