NEC coach Dick Schreuder admitted his team was struggling to find the right blend after the Nijmegen club crashed to a 5-0 Europa League defeat against Italian club Juventus.
“I don’t see any uncertainty in the squad, but the new players are having a tough time,” Schreuder told Omroep Gelderland following Thursday night’s match in Turin.
“They haven’t had time to develop, they’ve had to be ready for European football right away when some of them are already finding the Eredivisie challenging. They’ve came from the under-21s or the Danish second tier.”
NEC have had to rebuild since losing several key players in the summer transfer window, including midfielders Kodai Sano and Sami Ouaissa to PSV. Their star recruit was former Ajax midfielder Dusan Tadic, who will be 38 in November.
They also took the field in Italy with a stand-in goalkeeper, Nikolas Polster, after Gonzalo Crettaz was sent off in the last European match against Bødo/Glimt.
Polster was at fault for the first two Juventus goals, before the match was ended as a contest 10 minutes before half-time when Nick Woltemade scored from the penalty spot after Almugera Kabar clearly fouled Nico González.
Juve strolled through the second half, adding two goals in the last 15 minutes to complete a humbling night for NEC.
Their next Europa League match is at home to Bulgarian club Levski Sofia on October 15.
