Robin van Persie's managerial debut ended in defeat on Sunday as Heerenveen lost their opening game of the new season in the Netherlands to Ajax Amsterdam.
A Kristian Hlynsson goal was enough to send Heerenveen home without a point and leave the former Dutch international striker, who played for Arsenal and Manchester United, feeling like he had missed a chance.
“Judging by the game as a whole, there could have been more,” Van Persie told television reporters after the match. “We had a few chances in the first half. We were hoping that some of them would have gone in and built a bit more confidence.”
“In the second half our intentions were evident but we did not create many chances.”
That's what he said he would work on for the next game.
“Next week we will face FC Utrecht with our morale sky high.
“With this style of play I can't promise that we will win every game, but in terms of intensity and sometimes also quality, this is football as I believe it should be played. We will prove it every week,” he added.
Van Persie, 41, who scored 50 goals in 102 international appearances for the Netherlands, was part of Feyenoord's coaching staff as an assistant and youth team coach after retiring as a player in 2020, before joining Heerenveen.
They will play their first home game of the season on Saturday against Utrecht.
